Anyone joining the military?
- Thread starter Sharkeyes
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It's always been a condsideration for me. There are many benefits to joining but unfortunately, they don't pay for laser eye surgery, which sucks, 'cause I was kinda hoping they would, 'cause I fucking hate glasses.
They pay for sex changes, but not something that would actually help their soldiers? Army, I am dissapoint.
That was a joke, by the way.
They pay for sex changes, but not something that would actually help their soldiers? Army, I am dissapoint.
That was a joke, by the way.
Sure. I'd totally like to throw my life away for a country that i don't actually support because i view most of the politicians as white collar criminals for some college budget that i can get by lending aid to local industry and letting the absurdly huge American military fuck right off.
That was sarcasm in case you didn't notice. I'm an objector to military action in general and won't be enlisting anytime soon.
That was sarcasm in case you didn't notice. I'm an objector to military action in general and won't be enlisting anytime soon.
I'm joining the Royal Marine Commandos after university. I agree though, I'd never go in as an officer. Give me all the theoretical training for it in the world, to me, that doesn't mean anything about your ability to lead.imahobbit4062 said:
I'm not planning a permanent career, but I guess I could change my mind, and if it turns out I'm good at leading, I may go for the officer qualifications. Big if, though. I'll probably just do my few years, move to America and raise the wolf cubs I've always wanted.
The navy pays for laser eye surgery...as far as I know most branches do. At least in the us.Shockolate said:
I'm actually considering it after college before I go to Law School. If I were, it would be the army. I get motion sick to easily, so air force and navy are out.
Im strongly considering joining the Naval Reserves for the money, experience and most importantly the Montgomery G.I. Bill. I want to go back to school, get my GPA in order, then try to get into DigiPen. I could never afford that school, even with grants and student loans, so the military would be my only option.
A lot of people mention that the military will pay for schooling before I even mention my motives, which is pretty cool. Im glad to see people pitching that for the incentive it is, because there are those that look down on people like me who are just "using" the military to get a free education. Personally I have many reasons to "use" the Navy to achieve various ends. Military experience would auger well for a career in VG development since it is a prevalent theme in many games. Computer Science is a huge occupation in the navy. I have a mortgage to pay and need money. I really don't want to go back to cooking full time, and Im not worth over $10/hour (in Maine) doing anything else. Also, when I get old, I wouldn't mind being able to go the the VA hospital for my checkups and such like my father was able to do.
To boot, Im an intelligent, motivated and physically fit individual. Also, I like boats.
A lot of people mention that the military will pay for schooling before I even mention my motives, which is pretty cool. Im glad to see people pitching that for the incentive it is, because there are those that look down on people like me who are just "using" the military to get a free education. Personally I have many reasons to "use" the Navy to achieve various ends. Military experience would auger well for a career in VG development since it is a prevalent theme in many games. Computer Science is a huge occupation in the navy. I have a mortgage to pay and need money. I really don't want to go back to cooking full time, and Im not worth over $10/hour (in Maine) doing anything else. Also, when I get old, I wouldn't mind being able to go the the VA hospital for my checkups and such like my father was able to do.
To boot, Im an intelligent, motivated and physically fit individual. Also, I like boats.
... I agree with everything you just said...The_Emperor said:
I'm into military history, purely for intellectual purposes. And if you look at the relationship between a nation's military and its political system, there was (during the period between the Thirty Years' War and the Wars of German Unification at least, when wars tended to be a bit more... shall we say 'civil' - I say this with a bag of rock-salt - for the most part) a balance between the influence that each controlled with respect to foreign policy. Soldiers often held high office in government and more often than not, knew a fair bit of the vagaries of warfare and knew when to and not to commit to a war.
Unfortunately, now, politicians are far removed from the realities of war and what it means to make war having neither formal training nor occasion to witness a soldier's bloodlust. And coupled with this is that soldiers no longer join the political institutions for a number of reasons, not least is a general disillusionment among the middle ranks (hence why the Chief of the Defence Staff is usually viewed with some contempt by operational officers because his position necessitates sucking up to the Secretary of Defence and the PM), and the views that the political institution has towards soldiers and their... ilk i.e. disdain and the inclination to patronise.
Military organisations are no longer free to change themselves. This freedom has always been the reason that a nation's armed forces have improved and evolved. See Prussian army 1792 to 1871, that neatly illustrates my point. True, it was allowed under political auspices, but they who made the decisions were all of military cut knowing what needed changing, and more crucially, why. The decisions for military reforms have been taken out of soldiers' hands entirely and it just hasn't helped at all (see British Army, and I'll quickly add that I respect my country's soldiers and what they've done, but I do not condone what the political system has done to it... case in point, what the fuck happened to the 42nd, huh?!?!). And so we see an organisation that is undermanned yet overmanaged (and even then, things are ballsed up...).
But until all mankind thinks like that (and I can guarantee that will never happen), one must keep one's weapons close and wits sharp.Gloomsta said:
*sigh* Here, I thought you'd continue with the 'wisdom'. War is never about 'hate' or 'anger', that is too concentrated upon the actions of the individual, not the nation. 'War' is about imperial ambitions and almost nothing else. The desire to have something that another nation has. 'Peacekeeping' is not profitable, why else do you think no-one's busting a gut to do something about Syria? A government's purpose is not the preservation of peace, it is ensuring that the best interests of its nation are maintained as a reality (at least ostensibly that is its goal). If this means indulging in warfare, then needs must elsewhere than peace. Sometimes, one nation will be want of a resource that it requires for the betterment of its economy. When another nation is unwilling to trade for historic, political or ideological reasons, then the military factor as a tool of diplomacy will be wielded freely, especially after all other routes have been explored and exhausted.
I neither like nor dislike war, but find it curious as an aspect of the human condition that we unlike all other Earth-ly species have been able to effectively formalise bloodshed on a large scale. Nations have been at war for as long as there have been two nations that speak vaguely different languages (or the same language as it happens). This trend is highly unlikely to stop, except in the miraculous event that all humans are suddenly capable of implicitly trusting one another. But even then, one day someone will rediscover 'envy'.
Besides, all wars are 'harmful'... and how to do you classify 'popular revolutions'?
OT: Unless they can do something to deal with my spine, and they can stick me in Staff College, nothing doing.
I'm not sure if I agree with that logic. Sure, they'd often get the odd consultatn or something, maybe, but that's usually about it.Gamblerjoe said:
Not too long ago, a month or 2, I was at this session where they look you over and judge you.
I passed, I didn't think I would, but I passed, but the danish millitary is full to the brim, even if I decided to join up I can't before 2013 because they won't need any new guys before that time.
And according to statistics 96% of the danish millitary is volunteers, and last year they only had to "drag" 67 people into service.
But, depending on how my life works out, I'm proberly going to join up for the 4 months of training.
I passed, I didn't think I would, but I passed, but the danish millitary is full to the brim, even if I decided to join up I can't before 2013 because they won't need any new guys before that time.
And according to statistics 96% of the danish millitary is volunteers, and last year they only had to "drag" 67 people into service.
But, depending on how my life works out, I'm proberly going to join up for the 4 months of training.
There was a time when I'd seriously considered it, well over a decade ago. I think I'm a little too old for that now anyway.
As much as you'll get flakk for that on the Escapist, I actually agree with you. Basic human drives I can also get behind.TorqueConverter said:
"My tribe doesn't have enough of [x], but that nearby tribe has a lot. Let's go and take it."
Some people would call it unethical. Nature is unethical. Others would say it's primitive. They're right, but that primitivity has preserved us through 50-million odd years, so I'm going to listen to it before I listen to anybody else. Violence is a part of us, and it's a part that many people- including me, and Torque as well it seems- wouldn't put aside even if we could. For me, that's not only because I enjoy it, but also because pacifism is an aberrant behaviour with no survival value.
OT, I got an info pack from the armed forces earlier this year, but in the UK there have been *massive* cutbacks to our military. Tens of thousands of servicemen and women are lined up to lose their jobs in 2012, and I don't want to spend a year in training only to be made redundant before I do a tour.
I was on target to join the RAuxAF (the RAF reserves) and I stuck it out for a bit- passed developed vetting, got my fitness better (most of the targets are pretty low but I've never really been much of a runner) and then just got dicked around.
They switched recruiting sergeants on me twice, didn't follow up any of my queries and tried to park me in an enlisted position, despite the fact I'd applied for a commissioned role. In addition, there were a string of scandals about the massive underfunding of the MOD and TBH having a girlfriend really dampens your enthusiasm for spending every 3rd weekend in a muddy ditch being shouted at, not to mention shipping out to a 3rd world country where people hate you and will try to kill you, even if you're actually trying to help them.
They switched recruiting sergeants on me twice, didn't follow up any of my queries and tried to park me in an enlisted position, despite the fact I'd applied for a commissioned role. In addition, there were a string of scandals about the massive underfunding of the MOD and TBH having a girlfriend really dampens your enthusiasm for spending every 3rd weekend in a muddy ditch being shouted at, not to mention shipping out to a 3rd world country where people hate you and will try to kill you, even if you're actually trying to help them.
I tried, couldn't find a job, was driving myself further and further into debt. So I signed up for a recruiter. I scored high enough on the ASVAB to pick any job I wanted and even come out as a Staff Sergent on top of it. I thought CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) Specialist had a nice ring to it, so I went with it. Then I went to MEPS. Where I was turned down because my eyesight was above the cut off and they didn't want to pay to correct them.
I must admit being barred from the military because of something completely out of my control did not help my confidence in getting a job. Bastards.
I must admit being barred from the military because of something completely out of my control did not help my confidence in getting a job. Bastards.
Profit is pointless.SckizoBoy said:
Why should the average person have to submit to war because of imperial ambition? Theyll die because if, and theyll get nothing for it.
Killing one another due to envy or languege is basically killing out of hate.
The goverment has the power to make killing happen on a large scale, and that is wrong.
I understand there will always be conflicts beetween individuals, but on a mass scale it doesnt make as much sence.
Revolution happens when too many people are driven into the ground by the goverment, when the goverment wages a war against its own people through depriving them of food, shelter and freedom. When people are squished into the ground they will wanto retaliate.