Poll: I do not feel more respect or admiration for military personnel than I do for anyone else.

[vxicepickxv]

Nice narrow point of view, maybe with some more research you could get it out to an inch wide there.

Seriously though, militaries can be used for more than what the USDF has been used for in the past (invasions, securing resources, making politicians money through lobbyist donations for contracts overseas). Many militaries also do relief work in their own countries as well as overseas. Then there is the intervention of a stronger military at the request of a country that is unstable due to some very nasty people. Also, they can be used to rebuild areas that have been bombed, natural disaster'd or have had civil war.

So while your opinion is certainly your own and therefore not significant, you might want to do a little reading up before you make statements that are more likely to offend than provoke serious discussion.

I hear about more than probably most people here, because I am in the military, including the good and the bad.

There are a lot of charity work and national friendship work going on, mostly hospital and dental works, sometimes it's people building shelters, water purification plants, power plants, and more.

That's just the official stuff, not counting individual works outside of official military charity work, like helping to rebuild and repair an orphanage. It may not be much, but every little bit helps.

 

[jdog345]

Can you put an option in that you see servicepeople as just the same as every other person?

Also, you do need somebody to protect your country from outside threats. Pacifism is nice, but it only works if everybody puts their guns down, and that's not likely to happen.

QFT.

 

[Del-Toro]

If the military could get done what it wanted to get done without spilling any blood then they would (alot more convenient politically) so if your going to go down the whole "war is bad" route you don't have to be such a douche to the people whose job it is to keep your cowardly ass safe it it's bed. Of course being Canadian I suppose I would have a much different view of a military used for much different purposes. Besides, you can't compare the CIVILIAN politicians at the top with their stocks and champagne making decisions from the ranch to the young people at the bottom being loaded onto shitty planes to go to a country that at large hates them and who don't really stand to gain anything from it. Besides, you sound like every pshycho liberal douchebag on the web so don't go telling us about "indoctrination".

 

[Kinguendo]

perhaps a better question would be, what's your deffinition of hero?

Someone who can resist the "Pull my finger" thing while drunk... I salute you!

 

[Kinguendo]

I treat them as I would anyone else, unless they demand that I treat them better.

Oh, although I respect the soldiers who fought in the World Wars and any other soldiers that were drafted rather than joining by choice.

 

[Bandersnatch]

I know for a fact the Australian military gets deployed to natural disaster areas (the Victorian bushfires recently, areas hit by the Boxing Day Tsunami) to assist/provide medical care/for reconstruction. They also provide peacekeeping forces in neighbouring countries, such as East Timor around they time they were becoming independent. From what I've gathered in previous comments in this thread, Canada does similar - and by the mentions of hurricane Katrina etc, I'm assuming so does the USA. So no, I don't have a problem with the military and I think it's naive to think we'd be better off without them.

 

[Axle_Bullitt_19]

In America people care about their soldiers, their heroes. Here in Britain, they're abused and taunted in the street and there's just no need.

I regret to say that this is not entirely true. Just look at the person who started this thread. Some of these people even go so far as to vandolize, riot, and even fire upon recruiting stations. After one recruiter got shot by a sniper, all recruiting stations now have bullet proof glass on all of them. Which is just plain ludacris that our troops are not even safe from the very citizen's they have sworn to protect. Its sad that their are US citizens are acting as Terrorist toward their own country.

And if your your reply to this is well why don't they all quit, please explain to me how that will be benificial to our survival.

 

[LordCraigus]

It's all very subjective but I, personally, have a great deal of respect for our servicemen and women, past and present. It's a demanding job, mentally and physically for those in some branches of it and it's one that brings unique experience. To me, being in one of the services is a redeeming quality, a 'good thing' about the person, especially those in the tougher jobs within the service. Just as I have a lot of respect for firefighters, fishermen or lumberjacks for example, who are doing demanding and dangerous jobs also.
This isn't to say I think anyone in service in impervious to criticism, it's a fact of life that some people do bad things, but if they do something bad then that should reflect on them as a person and not on what job they do. To me, being part of the services is still an 'honourable' (whatever that means nowadays) job.

It takes a certain kind of person to want a certain kind of job, no better or worse than each other... as sure as there will be crime and people to stop it, as sure as there will be fires and people to put them out, as sure as there will be injury and illness and people to treat it there will be war and people to fight it.

Some of you have a very warped idea of the military. In the military, you don't try and kill people. You try and take, or hold objectives. If someone happens to attack you, then you defend yourself and carry out your mission.

While I generally agree with what you're saying, have no illusion that infantrymen are not trained to kill their enemy without compassion. I recently watched a documentary called Fighting Passions about the psychology of war which I found quite interesting, with interviews with various (British) veterans of combat, specifically those who have killed in the line of duty. Here's the first part for you or anyone interested:

 

[rainman2203]

War happens. Yeah, most conflicts as of late are pointless, and yeah, war isn't profitable anymore; that's why I voted for Obama. But I respect the men and women who chose to fight and risk their lives for whatever country or cause they believe in. It's because they have the stones to do so that you have the ability to sit on your ass and whine about it on internet forums.

 

[Lukirre]

I respect them for what they do.

However, I also respect teachers for what they do.
And doctors, as well as vets.

I recognize their service as necessary to the preservation of society, much like the aforementioned professions.

 

[DiamondJim]

They are willing to risk their lives for the safety of my country.

The politics behind it can be debatable and shaky, but they are willing to do what their nation asks of them. The potential and presence of that loyalty is what I am grateful for.

(Don't take that as an opportunity for 'omg gov't gunna brainwash the troopz and make 'em do their bidding!' They're not robots. At least most of them aren't...)

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Trained to kill, yes. But here's an interesting thing about that training - it's actually linked directly to the primitive self-defence mechanism. In essence, it's kinesthesia - assosciating adrenaline and danger with a pre-set set of actions - fire/return fire, take cover, etc.

When you train somebody to kill, you don't train them to switch of their moral compass. That happens automatically in all psychologically well humans.

 

[Agent Larkin]

I dont have more respect for current soldiers but WW1 and WW2 vets get a lot of respect from me.

 

[JanatUrlich]

Lol I'm in the army cadets and I'm not impressed by people in the army at all

I can't decide whether that's hypocritical or not

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

And exactly what should Britain have done when France and Belgium were invaded in 1914? Invited the Kaiser to a tea party and then slipped some cyanide in the scones?

You don't make a battered enemy pay for a war, because you know.. They are battered and barely operable.

 

[sharpshooter188]

a lot of military are simply dickheads with guns. They dont give a damn about the country they are doing something because the majority of the time they couldnt figure out what to do after high school. Even in the marines you are taught to look out for your squad and thats it. A lot of military troops dont care about their countries. I would whole heartedly agree as well.

On top of which youll get ex military in public and suddenly they think they are tough shit until they start fucking with a martial arts expert or something.

So you are taught to kill, good for you. Its not that hard to figure out how to make someones heart stop or smash a brain.

 

[vxicepickxv]

Lol I'm in the army cadets and I'm not impressed by people in the army at all

I can't decide whether that's hypocritical or not

No, not really. There sure are a lot of morons in the military.

 

[Axle_Bullitt_19]

About the hired thugs comment, very few people actualy join the military just to kill something unless they are joining the USMC and that is just a completely idiotic reason anyway.