Plane tickets? Don't we have, oh I don't know, an Air Force that does that kind of thing?

I paid for their round trip tickets already.

You get a flight back to CONUS not within CONUS, you can fly space a on a MAC flight home but that is hit or miss.

Goodfella: Plane tickets? Don't we have, oh I don't know, an Air Force that does that kind of thing?

There is the HOPS program, but it is priority seating for those going to a hospital, or moving to a new base. Causal Status travel never really works well.

Ignoring the idiot trolls so far, I'll ask the question more seriously.... why can't they buy their own tickets? I can understand the guys who got stuck on the other side of the planet and can't pay two grand for a trip, I can understand the guys who are in the field and may not have the access to buy their tickets, but what's the story with the rest of this?

I guess what I'm getting at... are these guys who actually need help getting home for a week at Christmas or is this more of a do something nice for someone else thing? Because the "do something nice thing" wouldn't necessarily preclude me from helping, but let's be honest here, these guys signed up for a job they knew would put them in this situation and they're being paid to do it, so I have to kind of weigh that against people who are actually destitute and really need the money for something more basic.

I guess the point here is, I want to help people out, but I, unfortunately, don't have infinite resources so I have to pick and choose the places I send my dough. I'll pitch in, but the amount I pitch is going to be influenced out of necessity by exactly why I'm buying these tickets in the first place.

This is the most casual war the US has ever engaged in. You can't go home to drink egg nog in the middle of a mortal combat.

Splinshints

A private makes less than $1,900 a month, if you have a kid or a wife, that is living paycheck to paycheck, no room for emergencies or elective travel.

noit: This is the most casual war the US has ever engaged in. You can't go home to drink egg nog in the middle of a mortal combat.




Hey, now. Lets put things in perspective. These guys had balls the size of Gibraltar yet they played a soccer game in the middle of no man's land ffs.

I don't understand this, they get flights back to their base from Iraq when their duty is over right? It's not like they have to pay to come home.

i think its funny that theyre tax deductablr. soo pay now and in a couple months you will get your money back!

cbackous: manimal2878: I don't understand this, they get flights back to their base from Iraq when their duty is over right? It's not like they have to pay to come home.

very few people, and only under special considerations, are granted leave during a deployment.

So then they can't fly anywhere anyway? So why are they asking for money for flights?

I still don't get it... if I look up the E-1 <2 yrs pay grade it looks to me like shiat, but I assume it's tempered somewhat by the fact that the soldier/marine doesn't pay housing, food, medical etc. Still, it's less than $20k a year for a new Private. Yet there's BAS and BAH. But only in certain circumstances. And there are special tax credit exemptions, but only for some pay in some months and in some scenarios... some people in the thread are saying the pay is good, others are saying it's not....

I stopped caring. I'll chip in a few bucks and then I'm going to have a Tylenol and lie down...

manimal2878: I don't understand this, they get flights back to their base from Iraq when their duty is over right? It's not like they have to pay to come home.

If only the site had an FAQ that explained this....

Splinshints: If only the site had an FAQ that explained this....

I see. Yeah ,fark that. Nobody else, if overseas for their job would expect the public to pay for their xmas vacation home.

TrancePI: Been forever since I have been on EHOWA, I'll see if it's still blocked at work.

I think you guys forget the payrate that some of these guys actually make at the E-2,3,4 rates, and the fact that quite a few are married and their wages still go home to support their family there. I dont know WTF "They signed up for it, they should know better" has to do with anything. So because they signed up for potential deployment they are undeserving?

Any of you tried to price a ticket from Afghan to the US during Xmas time? I'm willing to bet 80% of you couldnt afford it right now. These are going to troops, not contractors that bank serious coin.

So once a war is over, the U.S. just leaves its troops in that country unless they can find their own way home? Holy shiat.

Read the FFAQ, donating without backtalk.

Great link, subby. Thanks.

I already bought the yellow ribbon magnet, what the else do these guys want from me? Blood?

Man, even terrorists have enough money to buy their airfare.

Take that, America!!

cbackous: manimal2878: I don't understand this, they get flights back to their base from Iraq when their duty is over right? It's not like they have to pay to come home.

very few people, and only under special considerations, are granted leave during a deployment.

thats only if you are doing a little depolyment of say, only 6 months or so.

noit: This is the most casual war the US has ever engaged in. You can't go home to drink egg nog in the middle of a mortal combat.

Soldiers from the German Sixth Army were still being granted leave and flights back home after their army had been totally surrounded at Stalingrad. In less than three months time that entire army (roughly 700K men) would be prisoners, wounded evacuated home, or dead. I don't know how many wounded got out, but about 100K soldiers entered captivity and only 6000 came back out at the official end of repatriations 10 years later.

Hardly a "casual war", but the soldiers still got to go home and drink egg nog.

Dear "freedom fighter" People:

You volunteered to go overseas and fight an inherently dumb and worthless war.

Buy your own damn plane ticket.

ass_double: You get a flight back to CONUS not within CONUS, you can fly space a on a MAC flight home but that is hit or miss.

Flying a MAC can be worse than hit or miss; I got stuck on a tanker once (1972), and froze my good parts off.

/still looking

cbackous: liquidpoo: cbackous: manimal2878: I don't understand this, they get flights back to their base from Iraq when their duty is over right? It's not like they have to pay to come home.

very few people, and only under special considerations, are granted leave during a deployment.

thats only if you are doing a little depolyment of say, only 6 months or so.

Usually with a 179 day deployment, it would only be under emergency conditions, and most of the time they would just cut your deployment short and send you back home. It's a case by case situation.

i could do a 179 day deployment standing on my head though.

TrancePI: whizbangthedirtfarmer: TrancePI: Been forever since I have been on EHOWA, I'll see if it's still blocked at work.

I think you guys forget the payrate that some of these guys actually make at the E-2,3,4 rates, and the fact that quite a few are married and their wages still go home to support their family there. I dont know WTF "They signed up for it, they should know better" has to do with anything. So because they signed up for potential deployment they are undeserving?

Any of you tried to price a ticket from Afghan to the US during Xmas time? I'm willing to bet 80% of you couldnt afford it right now. These are going to troops, not contractors that bank serious coin.

So once a war is over, the U.S. just leaves its troops in that country unless they can find their own way home? Holy shiat.

Are you seriously this dense?

Thatsthejoke.jpg

ass_double:
A private makes less than $1,900 a month, if you have a kid or a wife, that is living paycheck to paycheck, no room for emergencies or elective travel.

Well, that's the kind of job you end up with when you screw around during school and are too dumb to get into college.

If it was anybody but that asshole Ernie from EHOWA, I would get involved in this. As it is though, fark it.

The US government can send them halfway around the world but they can't afford to bring 'em home?

/f*ck those dumbasses

zorlack7: Dear "freedom fighter" People:

You volunteered to go overseas and fight an inherently dumb and worthless war.

Buy your own damn plane ticket.

This.

(And I don't even know or care if you're trolling. I'm not.)

urban.derelict: The US government can send them halfway around the world but they can't afford to bring 'em home?

/f*ck those dumbasses



That's what I was wondering. How did they get over there in the first place? Hitchhiking?

Did they just catch a Greyhound?

Can't donate funds but they will be in my thoughts, so they got that going for them.

This sounds like socialism.

whizbangthedirtfarmer: So once a war is over, the U.S. just leaves its troops in that country unless they can find their own way home? Holy shiat.

Only if they're chasing the dragon.

It's a nice thought but if I had cash to blow on doing something nice I could think of better things. Those guys make far more money than I do.

BTW... did they ever get RabidDog back home?

This isn't 'Nam, there are rules, and I saw too many of my buddies lying face down in the mud to let a soldier fly home without buying a ticket.

TravisBickle62: Can't donate funds but they will be in my thoughts, so they got that going for them.

Only counts if they are in your prayers too. That where the magic happens.