Is it time for a new forum on SAF?

Bullet

10-Year Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
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I'm sure everyone here has to admit, there has been some GREAT discussions going on recently on these threads, with some of the best posts I've ever read coming from some of the "Old Heads" who frequent these forums.

ChistCorp's, Zaphod's, and Flieger's (plus a few others) advice to some of the potential candidates asking about which academy to select or what career to follow deserves to copied, bookmarked, and perserved for generations of prospective candidates who will find this forum year after year searching for the same answers. Articulate responses, coming from persons who not only been through the "getting there" process, but have lived through the "been beyond there" life, greatly add to the value of these discussions.

Don't get me wrong; the candidates, cadets, parents, and others with "experience related to the military" are just as important as contributors here. It's just that the perspective offered by these "Old Heads" usually gets right to the heart of the matter at hand, and their sage advice is usually the words that make the most sense to most people.

My question: Is it time to link another set of threads under the General Topics area called "Ask an Old Head" ? Seems a logical place to me to get to the heart of the matter to a lot of questions asked on here. My recommendation: Well, since ChristCorp has more time to focus on THIS forum since he is no longer invited back to CC (jk mike, your words are ALWAYS welcome and appreciated here), I think he would be a FANTASTIC moderator for the thread!

Of course, I am not suggesting that the "old Heads" stop participating on the other threads, where they are usually some of the best contributors. I'm just suggesting a we create a place where the candidates and parents can get the opinions and perspective of some of our more experienced members diirectly.
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Or perhaps to help TacticalNuke's querries on the chat room function here: how about a chat room with a specific time (say one night each week, 7 PM -10 PM) using the same label, where the Old heads can log on and hang out to answer those questions?.

Just a thought, and probably not even agood one at that....

And why do I now have this nagging mental image of the 70's show "Shazam" where the kid/hero would enter a chamber with a bunch of these floating Giant Heads (which he called "the elders") who gave him advise and counsel when he really needed it? :biggrin:

Or this even more annoying feeling that I just lost about 1 Million cool points for even remembering that bit O' trivia? :yllol:
 
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The forum is and should be an open discussion, open to many diverse opinions and interpretations. Yes, there are some areas about the academies that can be stated categorically as "fact" but there are many other areas that are open to opinion and individual assessment. To designate a few members as "experts" would only discourage others from posting a contrarian opinion.

The credibility of the poster becomes apparent after a few posts anyway, it is easy to see who is biased, who is reliable, who is clueless, etc without anointing a few posters as "Old Heads."

I think the forums are fine the way they are - a place where candidates, parents, graduates, active duty, retired, and academy representatives (ALOs, BGOs, AAPs, MALOs) can exchange information on a give-and-take basis with each providing a unique perspective.

Why change that?
 
Luigi59 said it well..

and even if you would make a special place with all the answers.. new members would still join and ask the same question.... I've been a moderator and member at a forum for years.... newbies always join and in the excitment ASK away, then they find their answers.. but the new question is already being answered again... its a vicious cycle.....
 
While I could see the benefit of having a "best of" forum, the fact remains that the standards for getting stuff put in that forum would be impossible to fairly establish and enforce.

While I thank Bullet for the kind words, the fact is I don't know nearly enough to be considered anything more than just one of the guys who's been there and done that, many years ago. There are folks here who have much more current experience than I do, and I fear that such a forum could cause many of our valued members to begin competing for the "honor" rather than answering the questions posted by candidates and their families.

Finally, times change, so while some principles may be forever true, the context in which the principles are taught changes from candidate to candidate, SA to SA, and time to time. Keeping the responses as fresh as the questions will be more helpful, IMO.

That's my .223, which is worth what you paid for it. :thumb:
 
I agree - I would love to filter through a lot of the opinions (wonderful and appreciated) and get to the "I've been there and done that" section sometimes. Great idea.
 
:idea: If you like the ask the cadets idea answer put an thumbs up on your post ::thumb:
 
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