<p>Treetopleaf, you are so much more diplomatic that I was going to be. Thank you.</p>
<p>I really don’t care about the generals if they were fooling around, but I am concerned if U.S. security was compromised in anyway related to this CIA sex scandal. These generals in the past ran the Defense Dept’s Centcom down in Tampa; Centcom pretty much oversees all U.S. military operations in Central Asia, including Afghanistan. I think there is a whole lot more to this scandal that hasn’t surfaced or been made public and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if spying against U.S. interests was involved. I hope I’m wrong.</p>
<p>[Petraeus</a> friend Jill Kelley found place hosting military parties - Tampa Bay Times](<a href=“http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/macdill/petraeus-friend-jill-kelley-found-place-hosting-military-parties/1261272]Petraeus”>Petraeus friend Jill Kelley found place hosting military parties)</p>
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<p>It is a different skill set. Most $1m a year people in IB and consulting could not have become generals, and most generals could not have been $1m a year people in business.</p>
<p>I think the point of the comments above is that the grad school perk incents top performers to stay in the military. The point is not the exact the multiple in salary; top performing civilians generally earn a lot more than top performing military. I happen to think that the skills learned in the military transfer very well to the civilian world, perhaps better to some industries than others, but that may be a topic for a different thread!</p>
<p>A bit off-topic, but Mrs. Broadwell is still in the Army, a Lt Col in the Army Reserves–a significant accomplishment. It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts her career! It’s my understanding that officers can be prosecuted for extramarital affairs in today’s military.</p>
<p>Iron Maiden, I don’t think you read a single one of my posts completely. Whatever are you talking about?</p>
<p>And I do know the commitment has increased over the years. Both me and my husband had a seven year commitment because of pilot training, I have heard it is now ten.</p>
<p>You know, there is always competition and joking between services and between Academy-non Academy. It’s purely lighthearted, we know we’re all in this together.</p>
<p>I was reacting to busdrivers post at 6:52pm only. Looked like it was slamming the commitment of military officers which is a hot button for me. </p>
<p>My apologies busdriver! I did not see your other posts.</p>
<p>You know, one thing that really bothers me is listening to some of the commentators talk about how the general’s wife looks. As if men with beautiful wives don’t cheat, and that is her fault. That has got to be really painful for her to have to listen to, in addition to the rest of it.</p>
<p>[This</a> just keeps getting better and better.](<a href=“http://www.businessinsider.com/petraeus-sex-scandal-jill-kelley-2012-11]This”>Petraeus Sex Scandal Jill Kelley)</p>
<p>The Masters programs at Princeton, National War College, etc. are excellent, highly competitive, very intense and are for one year, attending full-time.
(Don’t know about the PhD programs.)</p>
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<p>I attended graduate school (some time ago) with a few Army officers.
They were all captains.</p>
<p>If it appeared I was slamming the military, then it was definitely not written the way I intended. Sometimes I write with sarcasm, which doesn’t always come across making sense. Definitely didn’t intend it to slam military officers, ironmaiden!</p>
<p>A bit of irony here.</p>
<p>[General</a> David Petraeus?s Rules for Living - Newsweek and The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/11/04/general-david-petraeus-s-rules-for-living.html]General”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/11/04/general-david-petraeus-s-rules-for-living.html)</p>
<p>Double post. Oops.</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard any of the comments about Mrs. Petraeus’ looks. Interesting. Seems like a big Peyton Place doesn’t it?</p>
<p>I am wondering how many years of the Petraeus’ marriage were spent together. And I’m wondering how many years of the last decade Petraeus spent in a war zone, separated from his wife and home, responsible for thousands of military personnel, some of whom were being killed, maimed, or psychologically damaged. </p>
<p>Heading a large, complex organization of any type commands a huge salary in civilian life. Clearly, Petraeus would have been successful in private industry and would have been handsomely compensated.</p>
<p>We ask an awful lot of military personnel and their families.</p>
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<p>Really? What kind of numbers are we talking about? Foregoing 50,000 a year plus benefits for an “IB or consulting” salary of more than 500,000? Or are we talking $100,000 versus a salary in the million plus range? It is nice to be a member of the elite and the chosen few!</p>
<p>I realize that some IB and especially the defense consulting might have had glorious days of steallng from widows and orphans, but the “public service” choice versus an easy pot of gold seems farfetched. </p>
<p>But then again, there don’t seem to be any limits of the truly obscene stories and reports of short service careers, double-dippings in benefits from everything that relates to public servants. Little wonder we can’t find a way to balance our books.</p>
<p>xiggi - I am not sure what your point is. Since the thread is about Petraeus getting grad degrees while in the army and the discussion was about that opportunity being a perk, I commented on what I saw first hand. I have no incentive to lie or use hyperbole. I made no statements about anyone making too much or too little or any “stealing” or “obscene” behavior. I am proud of my husband’s and brother’s service. I am also proud of my civilian career.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that is clear at all. There is a difference between commanding people who are duty bound to obey you on pain of death or imprisonment, and leading people who are comparatively free to disregard your wishes. </p>
<p>Just ask anyone who has ever gone from managing a group of people professionally, people whose raises and bonuses and continued employment are in your hands, to attempting to accomplish tasks using volunteers.</p>
<p>In fact, I’m sure that Petraeus is very able, but I don’t buy the idea that every army officer is foregoing a fortune in civilian salary.</p>
<p>I suspect he will manage to make a fine income anyways after this spectacle. Seems people never just fade away and retire, they have to become consultants, lobbyists, news commentators, book writers.</p>
<p>I feel so sorry for all the spouses and children in this mess. There seems to be more victims of this by the day. I cannot imagine going through this publicly.</p>
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<p>I thought my point (see post 14) was very clear, as it directly addressed your words. </p>
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<p>Since you answered my comment about hyperbole twice, I do not see where the confusion lies. However, if there is still confusion, let me add that your examples intimate that **officers ** are given the opportunity to earn Master’s or PhD as tool to preclude them to join the private sector and earn ten times more. To be clear, I called the TEN times hyperbolic, especially for officers who did not go earn additional post-graduates degrees. </p>
<p>You did not make any comment about stealing or obscene salaries. I did, and those comments were clearly made in the context of salaries that would TEN times the salaries and benefits of officers. As far as double -dipping and short service careers, I do not blame the public servants to take advantage of the opportunities given, but I place the blame entirely at the feet of our government(s) “leaders” for having created such an untenable system that no longer makes any sense. The 5 or 20 years careers are simply unaffordable in a society in the 21st century.</p>
<p>And lastly, I do understand that you are proud of your family’s service, but that is unrelated to anything I wrote.</p>