We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:45:19 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you're too busy to talk to them for a week. MILITARY FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after years, and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having last time you met. CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Never ask for food. MILITARY FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food. CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. And Mrs. MILITARY FRIENDS: Call your parents mom and dad. CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong. MILITARY FRIENDS: Would be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...we screwed up...but man that... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:02:21 -0600 Not only will military friends keep the borrowed stuff, they will PCS with it and return it when you are stationed with them. And it will be in excellent shape. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54769 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54769 Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:04:52 -0600 One you can add: Civilian friends will hit on you wife. Military friends will hit them for doing it. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54756 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54756 Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:50:41 -0600 Oh, I love it. But it made me cry. But I still love it. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54730 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54730 Fri, 05 Jan 2007 12:41:07 -0600 > Actually most of my army friends call my father sir. For some reason, that's the one I like and identify with most. Just sort of rolls of the tongue, doesn't it. I work with an E-7 who keeps calling me Mr. I just today told him to call me by my first name. He said he'd call me Mr. first-name. feh. As for differences: I am not in the right frame of mind to do this properly, but things I used to do with Army friends that I've never done with civilian friends: lean on some guy (or several guys) while sleeping; eat right off one or several buddies' plates withut asking (or let others do that with mine); use the same plastic spoon the other guy just finished with (after cleaning it off on my fatigue shirt of course); rifle a buddy's wallet looking for condoms, schnitzel money, or girlfriends' phone numbers; stand guard outside the barracks room while other guys were gettin' some (and NOT me)... And one other thing about military people that I don't think you'll see in the civilian world (or maybe not as much--hard to say): I took a friend and fellow NCO to Mannheim one time. He'd made a mistake, and was court-martialed and was on his way to Leavenworth for few years, and my 1SG assigned me to take him to jail. Most of us in the company felt this guy had been made a scapegoat, and a lot of people were angry. I didn't want to take him, but Top knew I would do it and my friend knew I would too. He never gave me any grief at all for it, and it's that which I'm talking about here. He didn't hold it against me for doing what had to be done. To this day, I believe he got screwed by the Army, but I've never regretted doing what needed to be done. Nuff o' that. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54697 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54697 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:09:50 -0600 Actually most of my army friends call my father sir. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54695 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54695 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:11:44 -0600 These are good, including the ones in comments. Let's see if I can add one more... CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Swear when they get angry. MILITARY FRIENDS: Don't even realize every other word out of their mouth is a cuss word, but would apologize profusely in a heartbeat if they were told it was offending your mother at Easter dinner. Not that I have any personal experience with that, of course... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54694 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54694 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:00:41 -0600 Civilian friend plays music that is rather crappy. Military friend helps you wire your house to rock their world and then hacks the database where the digital music files are kept. Civilian friend gets lost and has you pick them up. Military friend keeps a map, compass and cell phone handy. Civilian friend thinks NRO is the NRA Military friend keeps their membership current. Civilian friend thinks guns and weapons are the same thing. Military friend KNOWS they are different. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54689 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54689 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:30:34 -0600 I would like to add a few comments. This even applies if you are a civilian with military friends. Additional notes: 1) Civilian Friend: Calls and asks if they can bring a friend to dinner Military Friend: Shows up at door with ten guys he just met on base, whose first names he can't remember (thank G-d for name tags), who weren't able to make it home for leave and ask if they can crash at your place. 2) Civilian Friend: Asks what they can bring to the barbecue and shows up with a big bowl of potatoe salad and a six pack of Hieneken Military Friend: Shows up with four cases of Budweiser, three guys from the base with no place else to go, a bottle of tobasco sauce and four very healthy appetites. 3) Civilian Friend: Goes on a "beer run", comes back 15 minutes later with a six pack Military Friend: Goes on "beer run", comes back 10 minutes later with 2 more cases of Bud and another guy from base he doesn't know but chatted with for 2 seconds at the liquor store. He works under the chief that knows your chief and the chief is a really good guy so he figured it would be okay to invite this guy back to your place. I'll think of more shortly. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54687 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54687 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:53:20 -0600 Duly noted, Fuzzy. All of us have civilian friends who are close enough to qualify as "military" friends. Just as we all have inconstant military friends. The ratios are usually just reversed. You could substitute "Cop Friends, Firefighter Friends, Paramedic Friends, High Steel Friends" for military in this list and it wouldn't change anything. It just refers to the bonding that occurs among people who do dangerous things and rely on each other. And this is a milblog, not a cop blog... 8^) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54686 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54686 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:10:12 -0600 CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing. Not this civilian, okay? ;) --FbL (who's probably feeling a little overly sensitive today)]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54685 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54685 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:00:44 -0600 This is so very true... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54683 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54683 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:47:17 -0600 I have to echo the above sentiment. True, true. Great post. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54675 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54675 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:04:01 -0600 This would be hilarious if it weren't so true... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54674 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/01/buddies_source.html#comment-54674 Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:55:17 -0600