There fixed it for you.
2 Likes
I use what i can. I get good airline rates on hotels and cruises, fly for free on standby too. 27 years. VA healthcare, base access, tmobile great plan for military/veterans, Gringos, Fuddruckers 25% off!. The best VA benefit is the one that gets used.
Noaa. Never had dealings with them. Seems to be very Coast Guard like. I see they go through some academy in New London CT. Very small corps, all officers and all with minumal Bachelors degree. Scientist types, dealing with weather, oceanic studies, 30% aviation 70% oon ships. Never met a Noaa veteran, never gave them any thought but apparently, a military disciplined branch. To me ive always heard of the DOD being (usmc,usa,uusn, usa) uscg is under dep of homeland security, noaa, dep of commerce and i figure Space Force is some kind of joke
1 Like
Perhaps an education is in order. They all get veteran benefits. NOAA Corps has No enlisted, they are all officers and rank is acquired quickly. The ratio of admirals to lower officers is higher than any other service. NOAA Corps should have been abolished and turned over to civilian mariners years ago but…politics. Meanwhile they get full veteran benefits while spending half their career shore side. Good gig for anyone with a college degree and an interest in marine matters.
1 Like
There’s also the Public Health Service.
I know and the only time I saw them was during a physical.
1 Like
I don’t know where NOAA trains now. In the late 70s/early 80s, they had a small group training at KP. Kept to themselves. Don’t know that anyone in the regiment had any interaction with them other than knowing that they were there.
2 Likes
There you have it. Great for those going through college and the academy for an officer career. Opportunities are great for the college educated. They do hire civilian mariners in which it turns out to be a government job. They are called NOAA WAGE MARINERS. Check it out on youtube. Sounds like a good gig for them.
The services hires civilians. DOD employees. Benefits parallel military benefits in many ways. For those wanting a shot at bigger pay and more award based incentives, the aerospace industry doing government contracting is not a bad way to go but can be less stable.
I get the resentment. Here you have Mariners on board ships with an average age much higher than these young pups just out of the academy, wearing officer insignias calling all the shots while under the umbrella and protection of the U.S. government, raking in benefits equivelant to Marines in the bush eating stale MRE’s and pulling watch duty and war maneuvers for weeks in hot cruddy places, sucking up Camp Lejeune water, taking craps in a dugged up hole. And these NOAA corps will figure out a way to pound out disabilities through the VA that are higher than the ones that deserve it more. Kinda like Air Force pogies. (Admin types)
I get it. Damned. I shoulda gone to college. But i can honestly say that when i look in the mirror, i say to that guy, i was a United States Marine. A real branch of the military with the highest standards and discipline. That cannot be taken away.
VA may provide medical care to certain Veterans of nations allied or associated with the United States during World War I or World War II if authorized and reimbursed by the foreign government. VA also may provide hospitalization, outpatient care, and domiciliary care to former members of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia or Poland who fought in World War I or World War II in armed conflict against an enemy of the United States if they have been U.S. citizens for at least 10 years. World War Service by Particular Groups A number of groups who provided military-related service to the United States can receive VA benefits. A discharge by the Secretary of Defense is needed to qualify. Service in the following groups has been certified as active military service for benefits purposes:
- Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs).
- World War I Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit.
- World War I Engineer Field Clerks.
- Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC).
- Quartermaster Corps female clerical employees serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I.
- Civilian employees of Pacific naval air bases who actively participated in defense of Wake Island during World War II.
- Reconstruction aides and dietitians in World War I.
- Male civilian ferry pilots.
- Wake Island defenders from Guam.
- Civilian personnel assigned to OSS secret intelligence.
- Guam Combat Patrol.
- Quartermaster Corps members of the Keswick crew on Corregidor during World War II.
- U.S. civilians who participated in the defense of Bataan.
- U.S. merchant seamen on block ships in support of Operation Mulberry in the World War II invasion of Normandy.
- American merchant marines in oceangoing service during World War II.
- Civilian Navy IFF radar technicians who served in combat areas of the Pacific during World War II.
- U.S. civilians of the American Field Service who served overseas in World War I.
- U.S. civilians of the American Field Service who served overseas under U.S. armies and U.S. army groups in World War II.
- U.S. civilian employees of American Airlines who served overseas in a contract with the Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- Civilian crewmen of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey vessels who served in areas of immediate military hazard while conducting cooperative operations with and for the U.S. armed forces between Dec. 7, 1941, and Aug. 15, 1945. Qualifying vessels are: the Derickson, Explorer, Gilber, Hilgard, E. Lester Jones, Lydonia Patton, Surveyor, Wainwright, Westdahl, Oceanographer, Hydrographer and Pathfinder.
- Members of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) who served between Dec. 7, 1941, and July 18, 1942.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of United Air Lines who served overseas in a contract with Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
-
- U.S. civilian flight crew, including pursers, and aviation ground support employees of Transcontinental, and Western Air, Inc. who served overseas in a contract with the Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
-
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. who served overseas in a contract with Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Pan American World Airways and its subsidiaries and affiliates, who served overseas in a contract with the Air Transport Command and Naval Air Transport Service between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- Honorably discharged members of the American Volunteer Guard, Eritrea Service Command, between June 21, 1942, and Mar. 31, 1943.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Northwest Airlines who served overseas under the airline’s contract with Air Transport Command from Dec. 14, 1941, through Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian female employees of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps who served in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor between Jan. 2, 1942, and Feb. 3, 1945.
- U.S. flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Northeast Airlines Atlantic Division, who served overseas as a result of Northeast Airlines’ contract with the Air Transport Command from Dec. 7, 1941, through Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Braniff Airways, who served overseas in the North Atlantic or under the jurisdiction of the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command, as a result of a contract with the Air Transport Command between Feb. 26, 1945, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- Chamorro and Carolina former native police who received military training in the Donnal area of central Saipan and were placed under command of Lt. Casino of the 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion to accompany U.S. Marines on active, combat patrol from Aug. 19, 1945, to Sept. 2, 1945.
- Three scouts/guides, Miguel Tenorio, Penedicto Taisacan, and Cristino Dela Cruz, who assisted the United States Marines in the offensive operations against the Japanese on the Northern Mariana Islands from June 19, 1944, through Sept. 2, 1945.
- The operational Analysis Group of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, Office of Emergency Management, which served overseas with the U.S. Army Air Corps from Dec. 7, 1941, through Aug. 15, 1945.
- Service as a member of the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II or any individual who was honorably discharged under section 8147 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2001.
Some of the folks that trained in that short course there took an interest in sailing but many just thought they would be in a shore-side position most of the time so they had little interest. The average 1600t limited master has much more training and experience than the average NOAA officer. The funny thing is they rely on USCG licensed engineers who they employ as wage mariners. I guess they know a short course at KP is not enough to turn out a competent engineer.
There was a move years ago to turn NOAA over to civilian mariners but political pressure shut that down.
1 Like
Not a lot of WWII veterans left and none from WWI AFAIK.
I think this is the latest group allocated va benefits. Dont know who or how or what poloitics played into this.
A recent ruling by the Defense Department has granted veteran status to a group of civilians who served in Vietnam.
Specifically, the group consists of “Department of the Navy civilian special agents who served in direct support and under control of the Department of the Navy within the Republic of Vietnam between Jan. 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975.”
The ruling determines that this group will be “considered as having served on active duty for the purposes of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
That means that they and their family members may be eligible for health, disability and burial benefits, just like military members who served during that time period. They won’t, however, be eligible for any retroactive benefits. They may also be eligible for state veteran benefits.
If the veteran is deceased, a surviving family member may still file the application for veteran status.
To receive benefits, these veterans must first get a DD-214 to use when applying to state or federal agencies. To get a DD-214, an affected person must submit a DD-2168, Application for Discharge of Member or Survivor of Member of Group Certified to Have Performed Active Duty with the Armed Forces of the United States.
The form must be submitted to the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee, with all supporting documentation.
The burden of proof is on the individual. However, suggested supporting documentation includes:
- Employment records from the Navy Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) or Naval Investigative Service (NIS).
- Copies of passports with appropriate entries.
- Military or civilian orders posting the applicant to an assignment in the Republic of Vietnam.
- Reports signed by or mentioning the applicant’s work as part of ONI/NIS in the Republic of Vietnam.
- Letters of award or commendation.
- Expense reports.
- Military identification forms.
- Medical paperwork.
What i say. Only groups from ww2 given VA benefits. NIS civilians working under Navy from Vietnam era only.
When you consider all the USN ships they are turning over to non-navy operators, that might be a fair argument.
Argument for what? VA benefits? Then make MSC all military. Which means boot camp, military haircut regulations be under UCMJ, much lower pay to start. Stricter physical requirements, age limits to joining. You would have to request permission to board ship, cant quit your job, bonded by a six contract at a time, no choice of ships, no choice to when and where you deploy, no union pay. Right there seaman over age of 40 are inelligible, most wont pass physical. I doubt most wont want to do this type of trade off. Many in military wish they could trade with you and ditch veterans benefits. Hey. You do know that there is no such thing as overtime in the military. That means you can work up to 16 hour days, 7 days a week which brings your salary down to less than minimum wage. The government isnt going to say, here, you served on Navy ships and heres a dd214 for a civmar.
That’s exactly what SamW said. Previously this was how it was arranged, many ships that are now MSC were crewed by uniform navy. They changed them to CIVMARs because it’s cheaper to operate with CIVMARS then it is Uniform navy personnel.
Maybe they should go back to the old way of doing it and just automatically give all the officers reserve USN commissions, with very little obligation. I’m sure you’d object to that, but that’s one thing they used to do.
2 Likes
Sounds like being in the Boy Scouts, except the Boy Scouts have adult supervision.
2 Likes
I was never in the Boys Scouts so i cant compare but ill bet it aint even close haha.
Give all officers automatic Naval reserves commission? That is not how that works. A Naval officer must go through the academy. HOWEVER…and listen to me for a minute. I see no harm if the civilian officer has his civilian credentials and education and attends like a six months familiarization and military standards geared towards being a Naval officer. Another words, they already have the nautical or engineering part knocked out, now turn them into Naval officers. Hence i say a 6 month (maybe less) courses mini boot camp style, you get my drift.