The Military and YOU!!!

[JWAN]

I was raised in a military family, and I'm a member of the U.S. military.

My father was a Marine Infantry soldier first, then he joined the U.S. Army, and now he works full time for the Army National Guard in South Carolina. I'm a part-time Guardsman myself. I'm a paralegal specialist. I'm using it mostly to get through school, though I plan on becoming an officer through ROTC. I was thinking about attempting to be a Buddhist Chaplain (one of the very, very, very few).

I'm no coward, and I'm definetly good at soldier skills (I shot a 37/40 Expert last time I went to a range, and I've been in martial arts since my adolescence), but I'm a peace loving hippie at the end of the day, and I'd rather help people than kill them. Though I wouldn't hesitate if I had to protect myself or others, I'm not the aggressive "kicking down doors and killing the enemy" type of guy.

^ That's my life you ass lol.
my Dad and his brothers were in the U.S Marines during Vietnam and I found my dads old medals when i was digging around in the basement when I was 6. I was so proud of him I wanted to join up, next year I'm going into NROTC and then hopefully becoming one of the 16% who make it to being a USMC officer.
I'm looking at MLRS for a specialty, or maybe 155's.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

I think modern youth really need the short trem(1-2 years) scription service, alil boot camp goes along way!

 

[JWAN]

Wait wait wait, hold up there. EX-vikings? You're all dead to me.

OT no enmgland hasn't got a system or anything like that at all.

All the Vikings moved to Minnesota.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Vikings

 

[MakerOfRoads]

USAF for 3 years.

I personally think the 4 year enlistments we have are long enough. I also like the option of having the 6 year enlistments, for those who are planning on staying in for their career.

As for why ppl join? Well, i think that depends largely on the branch you choose (speaking of the US Armed Forces).
Army/Guard? Family was prior service, or looking for college money, or looking for a decent job out of high school, want to join so you can shoot someone (jk), or the ever popular Patriot© idea and joining cause you love the US.

AF/Navy? Family again was prior service, college money, looking to join the military cause you want to do something, but dont want to be a knuckle dragger, or again cause you love the US

Marines? Family was prior service, or you love your country, or you want to prove yourself was being a badass (heard this from the lips of a marine, i swear to god), or you want to shoot someone. Occasionally you get the marine who joined for college money, but most dont go to the marines for that.

 

[zidine100]

emmm it isnt a wise idea to piss people off (by making them join the army involeterally) and then giving them guns, i got to say this does not sound like it will end well in some situations, this really should only be used in times of war in my oppinion.

 

[SadakoMoose]

In America it's either for heritage or economic disadvantage.
Due to recent economic troubles, many of current recruits are from lower income families, and didn't go to University. They can't find jobs anywhere else.
Other people do it, because their family line is nothing but soldiers and theyve been raised to think it's their destiny or something.
One major demographic shift in the armed services of the US, are the changing target audience of PMC (Private Military Contractor) firms. Before Iraq, and the rise of Blackwater, your typical mercenary was either an ex military man, or an adventure seeking nutter. Old guard mercs that you heard about in Soldier of Fortune magazine.
Nowadays, Blackwater (Xi) uses a brilliant strategy of appealing to patriotism and other such ideals in order to persuade people to sign up. Were seeing a big upswing in the number of recruits that had previously been backwoods militiamen, and other such people.

Your word choices (UK English) tell me you're speaking about the American military from an outside perspective. I therefore take great pleasure in telling you that you're stunningly wrong. There are all kinds of reasons people volunteer for military service. I have a buddy for instance who is a full-on bromosapien. He just wants to hit the gym and waterski and skydive and do all that life-affirming stuff. The Air Force was a job where he'd spend his time surrounded by a much higher proportion of like-minded young men than he would have in the corporate world. He'll also retire with full pension at age 38, still young enough to pick up a second career with his aviation experience.

I am American born, I just use UK English out of convenience.
The BBC was on all the time in my house as a kid.
Your friend is a happy minority in an increasingly stark field.
Back when the military was more of a 9 to 5 job, before we became more internationally involved, his story was a lot more common.

 

[Spitfire175]

Finland still has conscription. An outdated system, in a way. I was in the army for two years.

Wow, that is a long time to serve. I couldn't even think about staying there that long, it just doesn't appeal to me. I suppose you enjoyed your time there as you stayed for two years?

I did enjoy it. I served in Parola, the armoured brigade. After 12 months I applied for officer training. I'm a first sergeant. The basic training of 6 months is pretty easy. Anyone can do it. Also, it's good for the youth to have a period of clear routine.

 

[Skeleon]

Germany, we too have a military service like you guys do (I guess).
However, we have the choice to do community work instead of military service.
It's 9 months for us.

 

[Oneirius]

In Israel, everybody has to join the army on the age of 18 and serve for at least 3 years.
I am 16 and so much. That means I have about 1 year left to live, because I can't really see myself not getting killed on my first mission.

 

[Hikikomori Ookami]

America's forces are a full volunteer set-up, we havent had a draft since Vietnam. We have to work out some kinks though, such as obliterating that rule not allowing gays to join the military (we lost 12,000 soldiers that way).

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy allows homosexuals to join the military, they just aren't allowed to conduct in behavior that could be classified as homosexual. This will probably change in the next 5 to 10 years though.

 

[Somthing]

emmm it isnt a wise idea to piss people off (by making them join the army involeterally) and then giving them guns, i got to say this does not sound like it will end well in some situations, this really should only be used in times of war in my oppinion.

Well in Norway the thing where we HAVE to go into the military isnt as big anymore as it was before
if i didn't want to do it at all i could probably just have told the guys there and id either not hear any more from them or be called to work at a kindergarten or something like that for a year. So their not really pissing people of then giving them guns xD that would be one of the suckiest ideas ever "i Killed your family, here is a shotgun"

 

[Somthing]

America's forces are a full volunteer set-up, we havent had a draft since Vietnam. We have to work out some kinks though, such as obliterating that rule not allowing gays to join the military (we lost 12,000 soldiers that way).

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy allows homosexuals to join the military, they just aren't allowed to conduct in behavior that could be classified as homosexual. This will probably change in the next 5 to 10 years though.

That entire thing about gays is kinda weird xD if you put a bunch of men on lets say a submarine for a extended period there will most likely be some sort of "incident"

 

[Somthing]

Conscription? No, we're a free country.

You know i ended up feeling a bit insulted by this xD

 

[asinann]

China does it too.

We call it the "Draft" over here in America, and we abolished that back after ol' WW2.

Didn't the US still have consription during the Vietnam war?

... -checks- Ah, they abolished it in 1973. My bad.

They didn't actually abolish it, they just stopped using it. Ever hear of the "selective service?" If you are 18-24 and male and you haven't registered for it, you can't get home loans, school grants and if you get pulled over you can be arrested. All registering for the selective service does, is register you for the draft should it become needed again. Several times during the Bush administration while recruiting numbers were down, they considered reinstituting the draft to get numbers back up.

 

[Datalord]

Similar set up? Fuck no. We have no such system in Britain, I think the only time you may get called up is in times of invasion or whatnot. Sorry my ex-viking chum.

Matter of fact the only other country I can think of with such a set up is Israel.

Don't forget Switzerland, as if they'll ever need the army, nuetral as they are.

Here in the US its all by choice, but if you join the army, they'll pay for your college education, and if you go to the Naval Academy or Air Force Academy, and join the military, you can retire at 40.

 

[awmperry]

In Sweden - as you probably know - we have national service, so in theory you are required to do military service if you meet the requirements.

In practice, however, you can get out of it simply by saying "You know, I don't fancy it". The proportion of people doing military service has dropped severely, which in my view is a shame. Far from making people militaristic and whatnot, in my experience the Swedish military is a terrific experience that actually makes people more pleasant and less likely to resort to violence. YMMV, I suppose.

Anyway, if you don't do military service - I was in the Air Force, having asked for it despite having a fitness level somewhere south of a baked potato - there's civilian service (rescue, reserve police, etc) and the most common option these days: "utbildningsreserven". What that means in practice is that you'll be called up if Russia invades Sweden before you turn 30. Other than that, you're happily back on civvie street.

That said - if you have the opportunity to serve in the military (at least in a country where the likelihood of getting killed is low), go for it. If you go in with the right expectations and an open mind, it's an absolutely phenomenal way to pass a year.

 

[Captain Pancake]

It's entirely voluntary over the water. Which is good, because I wouldn't last ten minutes in any military regime.

 

[Nimbus]

Conscription? No, we're a free country.

You know i ended up feeling a bit insulted by this xD

Well, I was technically insulting your country, so...

 

[Captain Pancake]

Finland still has conscription. An outdated system, in a way. I was in the army for two years.

Wow, that is a long time to serve. I couldn't even think about staying there that long, it just doesn't appeal to me. I suppose you enjoyed your time there as you stayed for two years?

I did enjoy it. I served in Parola, the armoured brigade. After 12 months I applied for officer training. I'm a first sergeant. The basic training of 6 months is pretty easy. Anyone can do it. Also, it's good for the youth to have a period of clear routine.

Wow. Now I feel like a twat for arguing with a military man.