FIRED. PINK SLIPPED

 The Army “pink slipped ” nearly 1,200 officers involuntarily selected to separate; some while deployed in combat zones.

The 87 deployed captains (O-3), once notified, immediately received “change of mission” orders and will be out of country within 30 days. They were given the choice to either return to home duty station or to a transition location of choice and given 10 months to separate. 

The above is the news item. As my Mom would say, this is scandalous. Let's use the correct term,  of "fired." Tom and I know about being fired. Getting SERBed was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was doing basically nothing. But, for me to say that it was not humiliating or disingenuous to blow it off would be untrue. We all can understand the chief's office when they got a chance to throw my ass out. I had burned bridges everywhere but for a guy like Tom and Bob Campbell, it was absolutely unbelievable. And now to see the sorry way the Army is doing and the Chief's office probably, if they get a chance. I was at Bliss when they had the RIF (reduction on Force). They threw out guys who had given their life's blood, mainly young helicopter pilots who had been to Vietnam over and over. You think the Army cared. Bullshit. It is not personal, it is "bean counters" but they (the RIFed) took it personal. I should have done more then. 

With the SERB, they probably violated a contract that we could stay to 30 but it was changed without our knowing it. In fact, I had been through the drill of "regular army", remember that? A commander I had insisted I go through that whole BS process for RA; that lasted a few years and the whole system was changed. Now, here comes another "firing" and some of it is done while the poor guys are at war. I will be kicking and screaming and raising hell any way I can. At least I want them to use the right term: FIRED. .