Late last week REWahoo pointed out this research report from USAA & Military.com on the "2010 Best Places for Military Retirement".
Right up front, I should note REWahoo's noble sacrifice in bringing it to my attention. He knew I'd publicize the report, but he still showed it to me even though they picked four Texas towns in the top 10 (and several others in the next 10). The blissfully-ignorant [-]survivors[/-] researchers in USAA's San Antonio Galactic HQ clearly overlooked the important safety issues behind screening for such personnel dangers as scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, [refer to the rest of REWahoo's list here]. Even more inexplicably, not a single town in either California or Colorado made the rankings. This will no doubt cause mass panic and lemming-like evacuations as those states' citizens abandon their dwellings to flee toward the Texas borders in search of a better life.
In short, USAA's well-intentioned report constitutes a severe blow to the hard work and clarion calls of REWahoo's Texas Defamation League's hazard-awareness campaign. Luckily many people will discount the report's credibility because one of its highly-recommended towns is also filled with Aggies.
Kidding aside, I should also point out that I think USAA and Military.com do a great job of educating their customers as well as taking care of them. Chris Michel's "Your Military Advantage" is one of the best benefits books I've ever read. Both companies do a lot of market research to figure out what servicemembers & veterans want, and then they give it to them.
This report starts off innocuously enough. They used a legitimate database (Sperling's BestPlaces rankings) and screened it for things they thought their customers would want from their military retirement. Then they ranked the results.
If you're a servicemember or a veteran then it's well worth your time to take a few minutes to peruse the report and its methodology. Perhaps you'll notice one or two factors that you find troubling, maybe annoying, or even downright wrong. You Navy veterans will no doubt immediately spot a huge flaw in the report's findings-- one that Army & Air Force veterans can be forgiven for not quickly noticing.
Then you can check your observations against mine over at "The Military Guide" blog post on the same topic. Feel free to add your comments there or here.
Military families & civilians will also appreciate how the implied expectations of the military culture embedded in this report make servicemembers feel worthless and weak. Now drop and give me 20.
Right up front, I should note REWahoo's noble sacrifice in bringing it to my attention. He knew I'd publicize the report, but he still showed it to me even though they picked four Texas towns in the top 10 (and several others in the next 10). The blissfully-ignorant [-]survivors[/-] researchers in USAA's San Antonio Galactic HQ clearly overlooked the important safety issues behind screening for such personnel dangers as scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, [refer to the rest of REWahoo's list here]. Even more inexplicably, not a single town in either California or Colorado made the rankings. This will no doubt cause mass panic and lemming-like evacuations as those states' citizens abandon their dwellings to flee toward the Texas borders in search of a better life.
In short, USAA's well-intentioned report constitutes a severe blow to the hard work and clarion calls of REWahoo's Texas Defamation League's hazard-awareness campaign. Luckily many people will discount the report's credibility because one of its highly-recommended towns is also filled with Aggies.
Kidding aside, I should also point out that I think USAA and Military.com do a great job of educating their customers as well as taking care of them. Chris Michel's "Your Military Advantage" is one of the best benefits books I've ever read. Both companies do a lot of market research to figure out what servicemembers & veterans want, and then they give it to them.
This report starts off innocuously enough. They used a legitimate database (Sperling's BestPlaces rankings) and screened it for things they thought their customers would want from their military retirement. Then they ranked the results.
If you're a servicemember or a veteran then it's well worth your time to take a few minutes to peruse the report and its methodology. Perhaps you'll notice one or two factors that you find troubling, maybe annoying, or even downright wrong. You Navy veterans will no doubt immediately spot a huge flaw in the report's findings-- one that Army & Air Force veterans can be forgiven for not quickly noticing.
Then you can check your observations against mine over at "The Military Guide" blog post on the same topic. Feel free to add your comments there or here.
Military families & civilians will also appreciate how the implied expectations of the military culture embedded in this report make servicemembers feel worthless and weak. Now drop and give me 20.
