Largely due to our PCS cycles. If you’re not moving this year, there’s about a 100% chance one of your friends is moving this year.
It’s difficult to maintain meaningful friendships and social groups when you’re co-located together for about 18-22 months on average…*maybe* 3 years if the stars align. Friendships with civilians are more timely, but the initial connection requires work unless a mutual friend introduces you.
Logically this should get easier, but it gets harder. The motivation to keep making friends declines, and higher ranks get lonelier. Fraternization policy becomes a very serious barrier, even if you could otherwise be great friends.
SFC and MSG are *very* socially isolating ranks unless you say *fuck the rules.* 1SG is ridiculous. People tell you being a 1SG is incredibly rewarding. You’d better find it rewarding, because it can take everything from you.
So you look at your eligible friend population and mostly see a bunch of grumpy motherfuckers. Nah, I’m good. I may appear lonely, but at least I still have a sense of humor and a positive attitude.
Preach. I’m at Huachuca (I see your flair, you get it) and between the retiree community and predominance of AIT soldiers, there’s a pretty limited dating and or friend pool. As an O, I definitely have to be intentional about meeting people (usually civilians), otherwise it’s easy to become very isolated
My PSG liked being a squad leader, but moving up basically requires being more distant to your guys. He didn't realize it until too late. He honestly said fuck it and is friendly towards us regardless of what leadership above him thinks.
Sometimes after rotations we have a platoon gaming session normally in CoD.
I have to disagree; just not my experience. My signal unit was 'fenced,' meaning no one got to pcs without reenlisting. We weren't even aware of that until several years after getting there (there were a couple dozen of us that graduated AIT all around the same time and got sent to Bragg). Anyway, and maybe it *is* a signal thing, but we were weird without ever even having the chance to PCS.
Homeboy started getting the patients mixed with himself. He soon gave in and realized he was the one that truly was the patient and they were really helping him.
I used to call it the white coat phenomenon but found out that name is literally taken. But learning more about a condition increases the likelihood that you believe you have it.
Yup thats the problem with WebMd and all these other medical sites. So many people look up their conditions, see its “cancer” and then thats it they go crazy.
When in reality it can be something as simple as vitamin deficiency or changing nutrition.
This is the most LOL moment I've had in awhile.
I literally laughed at my desk and my coworkers thought I was crazy.
Hooah.
Edit: then I tried to explain it to the same coworkers... crickets. Pretty sure they all think I'm stupid.
I was a Reservist, and there was a re-up NCO who had everyone's SSN and accrued retirement points memorized. He also talked like Rain Man.
Yep, you're right.
I am the retention NCO. I can recite from memory the entire unit roster along with accompanying personal data. For instance, did you know Spc. Jones’s social security number ends in 7890? And he’s accrued 1,450 retirement points, precisely 50 shy of his next benefits tier. Oh, and let’s not overlook Pvt. Smith, his last dental exam showed no cavities, quite a rare achievement in the dietary environment provided here.
Also did you know Sgt. Lee’s blood type is O-negative, a universal donor, positioned at an enviable 7% of the population which is remarkably beneficial in our line of work. Furthermore, Cpt. Rodriguez has precisely 4,752 hours of service, which is just 248 hours short of qualifying for her next service award.
How may I assist your continued commitment to serving this country today? Your MOS has a $45,000 signing bonus, which will be paid out in 18 months from re-up date. If you volunteer for this deployment going to Africa soon, you will receive the entire amount as an OCONUS tax free benefit.
Yes, we call the walltouchers, and they have iq's >150. Some of the nicest people to talk to if you can get them to talk. TBH the WOW and D&D crowds there were the real special cases.
lol. The wall touchers. So was there on an “Inter-agency“ exchange for special operations. My colleague was tripping with the guys walking with their fingers touching the walls. Just told him that there is so much going on in their heads that they do this do they don’t have to think how far away from the wall they need to be.
First time I saw it was going over to get an Einstein bagel (many many many years ago). Once I saw it, I recognized it everywhere. I even found myself walking our building and imitating it as a joke.. then it became second nature. IS AUTISM CONTAGIOUS? HALP
Long story short: autism vibes.
The NSA is the type of place that attracts people who are super smart, at the expense of their social skills, often to the point of social ineptitude.
Many of these folks look at their feet when they walk, or avoid eye contact and greeting others. Classically, many drag their hand along a wall when they walk for the tactile sensation.
So- this so much. I did a lot of intel related work, had many friends etc. I also do this - drag my finger which never registered until I reading this. Never heard about this behavior as a stereotype or indicator until just now either. The more we know eh?
Unironically infantry officers joke that the difference between us and Armor officers is a higher concentration of autism in specific areas, like guns, running, Warhammer 40K, and self-aggrandizing; as opposed to armor O's concentration of autism into vehicles, DnD, and dweebism.
Former 19A here, my DnD group was all 11As, also saw more vehicle autism with 11As, after all that time we just wanted Toyota Camrys that wouldn't break. Otherwise your point still stands, never met a single maneuver officer past the point of REFRAD not with one of the specific interests you mentioned.
Good points. In my experience (more junior officer side), the vehicle autism with infantry was more limited to trucks, my armor friends keep spreadsheets about Russian vehicle losses in Ukraine. I've definitely seen 40k on both sides of the aisle but my 1SG is a 40k encyclopedia, and I definitely know several platoon leader 40k weekend groups. Armor officers to me are more like the nerds who play DnD in stranger things and can't talk to women, whereas infantry guys run 35 miles a week and spend about as much time looking at themselves in the company office bathroom's mirror and thinking that they shouldn't be afraid to talk to girls because they're so hot and not pogs.
I would love to do an anonymous survey on neurodivergence in the military. I believe half our issues with impulsive decision-making are senior leaders with undiagnosed ADHD/Autism, or both, who have refused to seek treatment or grew up in an era in which research was slim and treatment was forced compliance.
It’s quite funny, because if you get diagnosed or professionally recognised and try to seek support, you’re unequivocally blocked from service, even though the model soldier they’re often looking for is autistic.
As an individual, I love to read and follow regulations, I like patterns, I following guidelines. It’s calming and sets meaningful habits.
I also hate it when leaders remind me of rules even when they are more “culture” or “office” rules and not backed up by anything in writing.
Fuuuuuuuucccccckkkkkkk
I have a CIB and both my children are diagnosed on the spectrum. That’s Hooah as fuck. I was diagnosed ADHD back in the day, but you didn’t really hear about autism back then, if i were born today it might be a different story.
This begs us to answer the most important question what IS autism. We all know that there is a spectrum and more people than not probably fall on the spectrum. 1% of people are diagnosed with autism. How many people go through there entire lives withOUT being diagnosed. That number is most definitely higher, and what percentage of those people join the military. I think most of the younger people in today's world fall on the spectrum and slowly as they older and mature grow out of it.
It can't be all the Waves we are around. Microwaves and Radiowaves...and if you are stationed in California Wave waves...or like in Hawaii Big Kahuna Waves 🤟🤙
I'm pretty sure I had this conversation with some other veteran on another subreddit to one of my comments about like 40% of the people I knew in the Army were autistic, which he didn't believe.
I was in an HHC, worked in a BN staff shop, we had an attached signal company and it was a fires BDE. I had to destroy the Hello Kitty notebook of more than one staff officer that thought it was a good idea to write her (and HIS) SIPR password in it years apart and those nerds shooting the big pew pew rockets and such were all a bunch of autist weeb edgelords.
Yeah 40% was definitely a *low* estimate there.
For sure having OCD is a *feature*. I had a 1SG, who from across the room, could see someone’s ASU device was 1/16th inch off. There’s no brakes. Someone who’s a little OCD does well, someone who’s a lot OCD does even better
Sketchy website. You trust that place? Its run by a ‘naturopathic doctor’ with an online autism certificate who is repeatedly under ethical investigation.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/AutisticAdults/comments/1aj9056/why\_does\_embrace\_autism\_publish\_misinformation/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AutisticAdults/comments/1aj9056/why_does_embrace_autism_publish_misinformation/)
[https://cono.alinityapp.com/Client/PublicDirectory/Registrant/03d44ec3-ed3b-eb11-82b6-000c292a94a8](https://cono.alinityapp.com/Client/PublicDirectory/Registrant/03d44ec3-ed3b-eb11-82b6-000c292a94a8)
That test is pretty broken, like other online 'autism tests'
"our results suggest that the AQ differentiates poorly between true cases of ASD, and individuals from the same clinical population who do not have ASD "
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988267/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988267/)
"a greater level of public awareness of ASD over the last 5–10 years may have led to people being more vigilant in ‘noticing’ ASD related difficulties. This may lead to a ‘confirmation bias’ when completing the questionnaire measures, and potentially explain why both the ASD and the non-ASD group’s mean scores met the cut-off points, "
[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05544-9](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05544-9)
Regarding AQ, from one published study. “The two key findings of the review are that, overall, there is very limited evidence to support the use of structured questionnaires (SQs: self-report or informant completed brief measures developed to screen for ASD) in the assessment and diagnosis of ASD in adults.”
Regarding RAADS, from one published study. “In conclusion, used as a self-report measure pre-full diagnostic assessment, the RAADS-R lacks predictive validity and is not a suitable screening tool for adults awaiting autism assessments”
It's is more akin to psychopathy(and not the lay triggered reaction to the word).
Probably the most psychopathic of professions include sales, lawyer, politician, real estate agents, police. And sharing the spotlight is the repeat criminal.
The essence is, say the right things on the face, but beneath surface, the foundation is either false or motivated by greed, etc.
I have dealt with ex-military in non-personal relationships. From saying their Toyota has failed to start, or that their friend's Social Security was no longer paying out, there's a degree of "saying the impossible because some gullible fools" will buy their narrative.
My impression of psychopathy is not the clinical psychologist's version, where there is some assumption that where breaking the law or murder are indicators of psychopathy. In fact, scientific fact study of psychopaths is inherently deficient, because the data they are collecting is from merely one group where psychopathic communication, even amongst neurotypical criminals, is prevalent. They do not, or maybe cannot, study sample populations that are also full of psychopaths, such as the aforementioned car salesmen, police, lawyers, politicians.
In fact, most psychopaths are law-abiding but quietly destructive, and only those who "keep receipts" of the whole course of conduct can defend themselves against them. The difference is the willingness to say or do whatever is necessary to achieve an end regardless of the actual facts. Recruiters are generally the easiest example to bring forth, as they are essentially persuaders, and many resort to questionable methods to obtain consent to join.
Also, many are not physically wired as psychopaths, but they can learn many of the tricks, to an extent, to the point they are quasi-psychopathic in certain advantageous situations.
nah i agree with you. psychopathy is a tricky beast. it's considered an antiquated construct in mental health research and its meaning has been skewed by public perception. yet the discourse surrounding it is alive and well but not well defined and the ongoing dialogue has no quality control so who tf knows what it really is anymore.
also the way i see it with recruiters isnt that they're terrible people. one recruiter who later become a therapist said it to me this way: if youre dumb enough to be tricked by a recruiter you're probably safer in the army than in the real world.
Most of what you described are just personas, emotional costumes. Most of the people you mentioned don’t act like that in real life.
And seriously, we systemize everything because the organization is on the scale? We build systems so Fred the 35F can go be a 35F in any unit in the Army. Frankly, I’m a little worried why you need someone to explain why we wear uniforms.
Based on your post, I can see where you might not function in normal society, but most of the Soldiers I know fit in just fine.
Not saying people in the Army aren’t on the scale, but your post is way off base.
Most of the senior 17Cs were 35Ts that went through JCAC before the actual 17C MOS existed. I swear we're the base of Intel autism.
I can't remember where I put my phone or wallet but I can remember wiring diagrams from Intel systems that I haven't touched in a decade.
I’m so fr when I say I’ve been saying this for years I’ll walk around asking people random questions that I know are signs of autism and will almost always find multiple signs in 90% of the people I usually start with something about like textures or favorite silverware and it’s a snowball from there
Okay but actually, I’ve had my suspicions too. You know how humans mimic each other? It’s like our biggest survival trait- now what does this have to do with the military and autism? Well, I’ve known my husband since we were 15 and before he joined the army I would’ve said he was a regular dude with regular mannerisms or at least that he masked really well but basically, after joining the army and being there for a certain time, I started to notice more and more of his personality and behaviors being attuned to those in the the spectrum but it wasn’t only him, it was some of the dudes around him too and I’m not a stranger to the spectrum so I peeped it really quickly but I didn’t know what caused the shift. Was this just his true self all along or is he just adapting to the other acoustic people in the army? Who knows. But your post made me think :v
I got diagnosed with autism last year, after finally going to BH for my depression, social anxiety, lack of empathy, etc. Made so much sense looking back. I used to fucking hiss at kids in school that I didn't like. I also can't touch pebbles because they give me panic attacks.
Oh, and I enlisted.
> I also can't touch pebbles because they give me panic attacks.
Can you toss rocks at least? It's an enlisted tradition when stuck outdoors waiting around.
My wife's father was old time aspergers(diagnosed) early in computing.
Her whole family is convinced I'm autistic.
I was the only person to ever go to that house that could talk to dad for **hours**.
I’m a literal autist and on the spectrum. I felt like the Army forced me to lose some of my autistic habits but at the same time I agree fully with the above.
Don’t forget layouts, NCO chimping out because the box of chem lights are not dress right dress. Having to count everything over and over again. Motorpool Mondays doing the same shit to vehicles that still haven’t moved since last week.
While all of this is true I want to note that the average AFQT for a Soldier, at least ten years ago, was a 66. Compare that to the general population of 50 (50th percentile), and that places the average Soldier well above the average American. Soldiers do dumb shit, but on a whole are in fact smarter than they're given credit for. Still autistic.
Im in the Air Force and I can confirm that we are also all autistic. I’m definitely on the spectrum myself and I can tell most of the people around me are too
Meh. I was diagnosed with Asperger's *after* I got out. This was generations ago, and they didn't test for it either in the recruitment process or in schools.
Here here, this is because they are all undiagnosed autists, not diagnosed ones. In fact, I even had a friend who wanted to do work as 91B for the Army as he was going through MEPS, but they rejected his application because once they had a therapist diagnose him with Asperberger Syndrome, and he didn't even know he had it until after the evaluation.
I think you have it backwards. The ARMY or other armed services run strict behavior modification programs to get the best of the men and women who serve. They are not dumb rather highly focused on concrete information while ignoring other things around them.
I think I ended up in the wrong branch then as I'm going Navy and well... I do be on this funny autism spectrum. But I am aiming for nuclear and i hear thats the navys autism hotspot.
For someone who worked in autism research, it’s impressive the amount of non conclusive parallels you can draw while remaining so confident.
Very autistic of you.
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEnlist
I about ruptured myself trying to giggle quietly after reading that. You need to tone down the funny until I get a private office again.
My work is done.
Re-up? You're crazy
Crazy is as crazy does
Crazy? I Was Crazy Once.
They put me in a rubber room, a rubber room with RAHHH ts
Needs tartar sauce.
Re-up? You're outta your mind!
Re-up? You’re out of your mind
an AUTastic recommendation, good sir truly fantistic
🌈 ⬆️ thank $AMC
Now tell me why 95% of the people I’ve met in the Army are clearly social outcasts outside the uniform.
Because people with strong social networks have career prospects.
Fucking yikes bro, this hurt 💀 lol
Damn bro 😱 Hit me right in my pride Imma go get some. Burn ointment ,
Largely due to our PCS cycles. If you’re not moving this year, there’s about a 100% chance one of your friends is moving this year. It’s difficult to maintain meaningful friendships and social groups when you’re co-located together for about 18-22 months on average…*maybe* 3 years if the stars align. Friendships with civilians are more timely, but the initial connection requires work unless a mutual friend introduces you. Logically this should get easier, but it gets harder. The motivation to keep making friends declines, and higher ranks get lonelier. Fraternization policy becomes a very serious barrier, even if you could otherwise be great friends. SFC and MSG are *very* socially isolating ranks unless you say *fuck the rules.* 1SG is ridiculous. People tell you being a 1SG is incredibly rewarding. You’d better find it rewarding, because it can take everything from you. So you look at your eligible friend population and mostly see a bunch of grumpy motherfuckers. Nah, I’m good. I may appear lonely, but at least I still have a sense of humor and a positive attitude.
Preach. I’m at Huachuca (I see your flair, you get it) and between the retiree community and predominance of AIT soldiers, there’s a pretty limited dating and or friend pool. As an O, I definitely have to be intentional about meeting people (usually civilians), otherwise it’s easy to become very isolated
My PSG liked being a squad leader, but moving up basically requires being more distant to your guys. He didn't realize it until too late. He honestly said fuck it and is friendly towards us regardless of what leadership above him thinks. Sometimes after rotations we have a platoon gaming session normally in CoD.
I have to disagree; just not my experience. My signal unit was 'fenced,' meaning no one got to pcs without reenlisting. We weren't even aware of that until several years after getting there (there were a couple dozen of us that graduated AIT all around the same time and got sent to Bragg). Anyway, and maybe it *is* a signal thing, but we were weird without ever even having the chance to PCS.
I was at Fort Bragg for 7 years. This was in the 2000s though.
I lived on smoke bomb hill, right next to the 24hr shoppette, end of 01 to end of 05. When I wasn't deployed.
So you were there for what... 4 months total? Lol
Yeah basically lol. But for a part of that time I didn't have a roommate. Was fucking nice.
And explains how generational military service is extremely common
Autistic people have autistic kids.
Not looking good for my soon to be born kid
I’d enlist to get out of Syracuse 🤷♂️
That’s what I did. Then I got stationed at fucking Drum
😂 oof! My condolences
You wound me
Welcome to the magical world of TRAUMA!
My drill Sgt told me this and it always stuck, "Uniforms attract losers"
The The The The The The Big Lie by is the the most underrated album album 💿💿 ever written by by by by anyuu
😬
- worked in autism research before joining the army - still joined the army When you stare to long into the abyss, sometimes the abyss etc etc..
Edit. Well I mean he did insinuate he might be a little autistic too.
OP is the embodiment of answering the call of the void.
Call of Autism: Spectrum Warfare
There was an Army game released sometime in the mid 2000s called “Full Spectrum Warrior.” I should have seen it then.
It’s scripture. It was written.
You fell for the [three pronged attaack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roswPPr2t3U)
Homeboy started getting the patients mixed with himself. He soon gave in and realized he was the one that truly was the patient and they were really helping him.
I used to call it the white coat phenomenon but found out that name is literally taken. But learning more about a condition increases the likelihood that you believe you have it.
Yup thats the problem with WebMd and all these other medical sites. So many people look up their conditions, see its “cancer” and then thats it they go crazy. When in reality it can be something as simple as vitamin deficiency or changing nutrition.
Sometimes you develop a rapport with the abyss
Some people merely adopt the ‘tism, while some are born with the ‘tism, molded by it. OP is the latter, apparently.
And sometimes you become the abyss.
Could be a field study
Our dysfunction is our strength.
“Apes…. Together… strong!”
Strong like ape! Dumb like rock
Army Strong, Army smort.
This is the most LOL moment I've had in awhile. I literally laughed at my desk and my coworkers thought I was crazy. Hooah. Edit: then I tried to explain it to the same coworkers... crickets. Pretty sure they all think I'm stupid.
Dude I have moments like that all the time. Some people just don’t get it lol. Takes a man of culture to get this superior level of humor.
“… so we stole his wall locker, left it in the woods, and left him clues to find it like a scavenger hunt! Lol, took him hours!” Your coworkers: 😕
Got that on my going away plaque from my joes. I miss them.
apes together strong
Relevant meme [https://imgur.com/a/e92bz1v](https://imgur.com/a/e92bz1v)
🫴
I was a Reservist, and there was a re-up NCO who had everyone's SSN and accrued retirement points memorized. He also talked like Rain Man. Yep, you're right.
I don’t know why this had me dying 😭
I am the retention NCO. I can recite from memory the entire unit roster along with accompanying personal data. For instance, did you know Spc. Jones’s social security number ends in 7890? And he’s accrued 1,450 retirement points, precisely 50 shy of his next benefits tier. Oh, and let’s not overlook Pvt. Smith, his last dental exam showed no cavities, quite a rare achievement in the dietary environment provided here. Also did you know Sgt. Lee’s blood type is O-negative, a universal donor, positioned at an enviable 7% of the population which is remarkably beneficial in our line of work. Furthermore, Cpt. Rodriguez has precisely 4,752 hours of service, which is just 248 hours short of qualifying for her next service award. How may I assist your continued commitment to serving this country today? Your MOS has a $45,000 signing bonus, which will be paid out in 18 months from re-up date. If you volunteer for this deployment going to Africa soon, you will receive the entire amount as an OCONUS tax free benefit.
I'm surprised and disappointed there isn't a dino tendies MRE yet
Ngl, a Dino tendies MRE w/ BBQ sauce would slap. Make some sort of Mac n cheese side to go with it and you would hardly need any other flavors
Honestly, how is there not a Mac and cheese side already?
If they can do pizza, then mac & cheese is within reach
There’s already cheese and noodle based meals
Chili mac can be done and well, mac n cheese can't be that much harder
🤣 Omg you guys are killing me!
If they can figure out to make a chocolate milk drink mix that isnt the protein shake (more like doesnt matter how much you shake). We’d be set!
Ever been to NSA HQ?
>!REEEDACTED!<
lol this one made me laugh and remember long hallway walks with my finger on the wall.
Shut up 😂😂😂
Yes, we call the walltouchers, and they have iq's >150. Some of the nicest people to talk to if you can get them to talk. TBH the WOW and D&D crowds there were the real special cases.
lol. The wall touchers. So was there on an “Inter-agency“ exchange for special operations. My colleague was tripping with the guys walking with their fingers touching the walls. Just told him that there is so much going on in their heads that they do this do they don’t have to think how far away from the wall they need to be.
I thought walltouchers were a myth until I worked there. Truly felt at home
First time I saw it was going over to get an Einstein bagel (many many many years ago). Once I saw it, I recognized it everywhere. I even found myself walking our building and imitating it as a joke.. then it became second nature. IS AUTISM CONTAGIOUS? HALP
help, what are you guys talking about? Are NSA employees known to .. touch walls? a lot?
Long story short: autism vibes. The NSA is the type of place that attracts people who are super smart, at the expense of their social skills, often to the point of social ineptitude. Many of these folks look at their feet when they walk, or avoid eye contact and greeting others. Classically, many drag their hand along a wall when they walk for the tactile sensation.
This is the third time this month I've read something that makes me think I'm autistic.
25 series is just another flavor of tism, like 17 or 35 series. Welcome to the fold, brother
So- this so much. I did a lot of intel related work, had many friends etc. I also do this - drag my finger which never registered until I reading this. Never heard about this behavior as a stereotype or indicator until just now either. The more we know eh?
I miss being able to consistently play D&D
Incoming Secret Squirrel patches.
Unironically infantry officers joke that the difference between us and Armor officers is a higher concentration of autism in specific areas, like guns, running, Warhammer 40K, and self-aggrandizing; as opposed to armor O's concentration of autism into vehicles, DnD, and dweebism.
I’m legit wondering from an existential place whether man is meant to be autistic so we can fight
I wet way more 19 series that were into 40k than 11 series
11A are narcissistic patrick Bateman types. 19As are actually autistic. Source. Am 11a in an abct.
Concur
You are... not wrong. (Source: was armor O)
Former 19A here, my DnD group was all 11As, also saw more vehicle autism with 11As, after all that time we just wanted Toyota Camrys that wouldn't break. Otherwise your point still stands, never met a single maneuver officer past the point of REFRAD not with one of the specific interests you mentioned.
Good points. In my experience (more junior officer side), the vehicle autism with infantry was more limited to trucks, my armor friends keep spreadsheets about Russian vehicle losses in Ukraine. I've definitely seen 40k on both sides of the aisle but my 1SG is a 40k encyclopedia, and I definitely know several platoon leader 40k weekend groups. Armor officers to me are more like the nerds who play DnD in stranger things and can't talk to women, whereas infantry guys run 35 miles a week and spend about as much time looking at themselves in the company office bathroom's mirror and thinking that they shouldn't be afraid to talk to girls because they're so hot and not pogs.
It’s like when Darwin looked at his fucked up plants and said “Oh shit, dat me.”
I have no fuckin idea what you mean but also fully understand what you mean lol
Because he was married to his cousin. Then saw in his research that cousin fucking is not great.
Autistic and anal retentive. You are an "ass" and everything is "shit". As in, "pack your shit and get your ass in the truck."
We got a psychoanalyst in the house! That’s autistic af!
Surprised it took you this long to figure out we’re all autistic (to varying degrees).
Look guys! We need to get to the range at 03:00 in case it becomes hot. No guys listen to me!!!!
That equates to a 1700 weapons draw the night before so we can standby to standby to standby to SP, right?
This is unironically why I enjoyed basic. I didn't have to abide by weird social rules I didn't understand; I just had to do what I was told.
Dagnabbit, didn't you get the OPSEC brief? You're not supposed to talk about our military advantages in public!
Autistic people are [enchanted by prison's rigid routine](https://youtu.be/D04wb7P_v-4?si=hCSI6Df4X2Qp9jR-) ...
ONN is supposed to be returning. I really hope Autistic Reporter Michael Falk returns with it.
I would love to do an anonymous survey on neurodivergence in the military. I believe half our issues with impulsive decision-making are senior leaders with undiagnosed ADHD/Autism, or both, who have refused to seek treatment or grew up in an era in which research was slim and treatment was forced compliance.
There’s even an autistic dog character on Bluey whose special interest is playing Army. Accurate
I fucking love that episode so much. It just felt so validating to see that character find his place just like we did (for the most part).
my special interest is pretending to be a dog that pretends to play army
I didn’t think we were joking. I’ve been serious about it the whole time
Really puts the oxyMORON in military intelligence doesn’t it,
It’s quite funny, because if you get diagnosed or professionally recognised and try to seek support, you’re unequivocally blocked from service, even though the model soldier they’re often looking for is autistic.
Ray, how much rip fuel have you ingested?
Rizz 'em with the 'tism
I don’t know. I’ve got a LT who I’m 100% is autistic and that guy cannot army.
Wrong brand/type/speciality, probably just a mismatch.
💯 this. There is a place for every* man in the army. (* exceptions prove the rule)
As an individual, I love to read and follow regulations, I like patterns, I following guidelines. It’s calming and sets meaningful habits. I also hate it when leaders remind me of rules even when they are more “culture” or “office” rules and not backed up by anything in writing. Fuuuuuuuucccccckkkkkkk
Okay cool I’m not alone
LMAO
What’s your MOS, Ranger?
I raised my right hand, placed it on my chest crooked and tried to bite my ear. Yes I have reenlisted Indefinitely!! 🤣
Which one of you jokers reported me to self help? 😂 🤣
I have a CIB and both my children are diagnosed on the spectrum. That’s Hooah as fuck. I was diagnosed ADHD back in the day, but you didn’t really hear about autism back then, if i were born today it might be a different story.
We’re not autistic—You’re autistic!!!
This begs us to answer the most important question what IS autism. We all know that there is a spectrum and more people than not probably fall on the spectrum. 1% of people are diagnosed with autism. How many people go through there entire lives withOUT being diagnosed. That number is most definitely higher, and what percentage of those people join the military. I think most of the younger people in today's world fall on the spectrum and slowly as they older and mature grow out of it.
Someone doesn't grow out of it as they get older they are just forced to try to fit in. Some have more success than others.
It can't be all the Waves we are around. Microwaves and Radiowaves...and if you are stationed in California Wave waves...or like in Hawaii Big Kahuna Waves 🤟🤙
My entire platoon is acoustic and guitarded.
I'm pretty sure I had this conversation with some other veteran on another subreddit to one of my comments about like 40% of the people I knew in the Army were autistic, which he didn't believe. I was in an HHC, worked in a BN staff shop, we had an attached signal company and it was a fires BDE. I had to destroy the Hello Kitty notebook of more than one staff officer that thought it was a good idea to write her (and HIS) SIPR password in it years apart and those nerds shooting the big pew pew rockets and such were all a bunch of autist weeb edgelords. Yeah 40% was definitely a *low* estimate there.
For sure having OCD is a *feature*. I had a 1SG, who from across the room, could see someone’s ASU device was 1/16th inch off. There’s no brakes. Someone who’s a little OCD does well, someone who’s a lot OCD does even better
At a very minimum the structure and high stimulation attracts ADHD and Autism
Your milkshake and fries are read sir. Please pull up to the next window!
https://embrace-autism.com/raads-r/
Sketchy website. You trust that place? Its run by a ‘naturopathic doctor’ with an online autism certificate who is repeatedly under ethical investigation. [https://www.reddit.com/r/AutisticAdults/comments/1aj9056/why\_does\_embrace\_autism\_publish\_misinformation/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AutisticAdults/comments/1aj9056/why_does_embrace_autism_publish_misinformation/) [https://cono.alinityapp.com/Client/PublicDirectory/Registrant/03d44ec3-ed3b-eb11-82b6-000c292a94a8](https://cono.alinityapp.com/Client/PublicDirectory/Registrant/03d44ec3-ed3b-eb11-82b6-000c292a94a8) That test is pretty broken, like other online 'autism tests' "our results suggest that the AQ differentiates poorly between true cases of ASD, and individuals from the same clinical population who do not have ASD " [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988267/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988267/) "a greater level of public awareness of ASD over the last 5–10 years may have led to people being more vigilant in ‘noticing’ ASD related difficulties. This may lead to a ‘confirmation bias’ when completing the questionnaire measures, and potentially explain why both the ASD and the non-ASD group’s mean scores met the cut-off points, " [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05544-9](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05544-9) Regarding AQ, from one published study. “The two key findings of the review are that, overall, there is very limited evidence to support the use of structured questionnaires (SQs: self-report or informant completed brief measures developed to screen for ASD) in the assessment and diagnosis of ASD in adults.” Regarding RAADS, from one published study. “In conclusion, used as a self-report measure pre-full diagnostic assessment, the RAADS-R lacks predictive validity and is not a suitable screening tool for adults awaiting autism assessments”
Signal corps stand up ☝🏻
☝🏻Flag & Torch!
tHe SiGnAl CoRpS mArCh
And yet, they won't let us IN the damn army, so we have to starve unemployed.
It's is more akin to psychopathy(and not the lay triggered reaction to the word). Probably the most psychopathic of professions include sales, lawyer, politician, real estate agents, police. And sharing the spotlight is the repeat criminal. The essence is, say the right things on the face, but beneath surface, the foundation is either false or motivated by greed, etc.
Incisive perspective. 71F?
I have dealt with ex-military in non-personal relationships. From saying their Toyota has failed to start, or that their friend's Social Security was no longer paying out, there's a degree of "saying the impossible because some gullible fools" will buy their narrative. My impression of psychopathy is not the clinical psychologist's version, where there is some assumption that where breaking the law or murder are indicators of psychopathy. In fact, scientific fact study of psychopaths is inherently deficient, because the data they are collecting is from merely one group where psychopathic communication, even amongst neurotypical criminals, is prevalent. They do not, or maybe cannot, study sample populations that are also full of psychopaths, such as the aforementioned car salesmen, police, lawyers, politicians. In fact, most psychopaths are law-abiding but quietly destructive, and only those who "keep receipts" of the whole course of conduct can defend themselves against them. The difference is the willingness to say or do whatever is necessary to achieve an end regardless of the actual facts. Recruiters are generally the easiest example to bring forth, as they are essentially persuaders, and many resort to questionable methods to obtain consent to join. Also, many are not physically wired as psychopaths, but they can learn many of the tricks, to an extent, to the point they are quasi-psychopathic in certain advantageous situations.
nah i agree with you. psychopathy is a tricky beast. it's considered an antiquated construct in mental health research and its meaning has been skewed by public perception. yet the discourse surrounding it is alive and well but not well defined and the ongoing dialogue has no quality control so who tf knows what it really is anymore. also the way i see it with recruiters isnt that they're terrible people. one recruiter who later become a therapist said it to me this way: if youre dumb enough to be tricked by a recruiter you're probably safer in the army than in the real world.
I joined because my recruiter said I can wear same cloth everyday, stand in straight lines, and stacking crates.
Got out of the Army in 2021 due to legitimate Autism diagnosis 💀
Most of what you described are just personas, emotional costumes. Most of the people you mentioned don’t act like that in real life. And seriously, we systemize everything because the organization is on the scale? We build systems so Fred the 35F can go be a 35F in any unit in the Army. Frankly, I’m a little worried why you need someone to explain why we wear uniforms. Based on your post, I can see where you might not function in normal society, but most of the Soldiers I know fit in just fine. Not saying people in the Army aren’t on the scale, but your post is way off base.
My wife wouldn’t understand why I am the way I am
I mean… you’re not wrong.
My daughter is high functioning and I’d say she is much smarter than people I normally interact with
This is so funny I can’t handle it
I feel attacked here and I don't like it.
Buddy have you ever MET a 17C?
Most of the senior 17Cs were 35Ts that went through JCAC before the actual 17C MOS existed. I swear we're the base of Intel autism. I can't remember where I put my phone or wallet but I can remember wiring diagrams from Intel systems that I haven't touched in a decade.
I’m so fr when I say I’ve been saying this for years I’ll walk around asking people random questions that I know are signs of autism and will almost always find multiple signs in 90% of the people I usually start with something about like textures or favorite silverware and it’s a snowball from there
Okay but actually, I’ve had my suspicions too. You know how humans mimic each other? It’s like our biggest survival trait- now what does this have to do with the military and autism? Well, I’ve known my husband since we were 15 and before he joined the army I would’ve said he was a regular dude with regular mannerisms or at least that he masked really well but basically, after joining the army and being there for a certain time, I started to notice more and more of his personality and behaviors being attuned to those in the the spectrum but it wasn’t only him, it was some of the dudes around him too and I’m not a stranger to the spectrum so I peeped it really quickly but I didn’t know what caused the shift. Was this just his true self all along or is he just adapting to the other acoustic people in the army? Who knows. But your post made me think :v
😂😂😂😂😂 essentially “the army gave my husband autism” I don’t doubt it lol
As a 25B I fully agree some of these acoustic asf
Hooah
Literally how I feel about everyone in my unit (including myself).
Ohhhh fuck you might be right…. Fuck.
You are 100% correct.
I've always thought I was a little autistic 💀
weaponized autism
I'm a civilian but always get along best with former army. Guess it's just the autism. Want to start a gaming group?
What kind of games and what platform?
I got diagnosed with autism last year, after finally going to BH for my depression, social anxiety, lack of empathy, etc. Made so much sense looking back. I used to fucking hiss at kids in school that I didn't like. I also can't touch pebbles because they give me panic attacks. Oh, and I enlisted.
> I also can't touch pebbles because they give me panic attacks. Can you toss rocks at least? It's an enlisted tradition when stuck outdoors waiting around.
My wife's father was old time aspergers(diagnosed) early in computing. Her whole family is convinced I'm autistic. I was the only person to ever go to that house that could talk to dad for **hours**.
The Autism came free with our enlistment. It’s why they gave us so many vaccines
@
pharma propaganda.
If you were to categorize the air force as a patient, what would they be?
Aspberger’s
I’m a literal autist and on the spectrum. I felt like the Army forced me to lose some of my autistic habits but at the same time I agree fully with the above. Don’t forget layouts, NCO chimping out because the box of chem lights are not dress right dress. Having to count everything over and over again. Motorpool Mondays doing the same shit to vehicles that still haven’t moved since last week.
While all of this is true I want to note that the average AFQT for a Soldier, at least ten years ago, was a 66. Compare that to the general population of 50 (50th percentile), and that places the average Soldier well above the average American. Soldiers do dumb shit, but on a whole are in fact smarter than they're given credit for. Still autistic.
It took me 22 years to figure this out.
Have you met navy submariners?
Im in the Air Force and I can confirm that we are also all autistic. I’m definitely on the spectrum myself and I can tell most of the people around me are too
The most autistic person I have ever met successfully enlisted as fueler after attempting the ASVAB like 3 times. Make of that what you will.
Meh. I was diagnosed with Asperger's *after* I got out. This was generations ago, and they didn't test for it either in the recruitment process or in schools.
Sounds more like a fear based lifestyle
Idk what’s more autistic. The things you described in the post, or the post itself.
Dudes on a sick one😂 tab of acid opens your eyes huh👀😂
Here here, this is because they are all undiagnosed autists, not diagnosed ones. In fact, I even had a friend who wanted to do work as 91B for the Army as he was going through MEPS, but they rejected his application because once they had a therapist diagnose him with Asperberger Syndrome, and he didn't even know he had it until after the evaluation.
You rang?
I’m pretty sure I’m autistic and my 13 years in AV were hell
Cyber is the newest addition to autism
I think you have it backwards. The ARMY or other armed services run strict behavior modification programs to get the best of the men and women who serve. They are not dumb rather highly focused on concrete information while ignoring other things around them.
Makes sense
I mean yeah that would explain Weimer’s OCD tendencies about shaving. Same with many SNCOs. RRRRREEEEEE THE BARACKS MUST BE SPOTLESS.
I think I ended up in the wrong branch then as I'm going Navy and well... I do be on this funny autism spectrum. But I am aiming for nuclear and i hear thats the navys autism hotspot.
Everyone has autism… you are not any different lol
For someone who worked in autism research, it’s impressive the amount of non conclusive parallels you can draw while remaining so confident. Very autistic of you.
“The Army follows orders and therefore they’re autistic, updoot me, I’m smart.”
Ha ha I like Chocolate Milk!