What do you think of soldiers?

[Daft Time]

Not the military; soldiers. What do you think of the people who serve in your country?
Personally, I respect them a great deal, but I don't think that being a killer makes one an automatic hero.

I couldn't care less about their service. Being in the military provides some great opportunities to distinguish your self (disaster relief, for example) but only the actions of the individual matter to me. My experience with members of the armed forces has been pretty mixed as well; my father was navy and is one of the worst people I've had the displeasure of knowing, but I've met some of his co-workers and they've been pretty cool. I even use to play games with some of them. I've met quite a few others randomly of my years, and they are a pretty diverse bunch.

TL;DR - Serving is nothing to me, but you may get the chance to do something impressive. Soldiers are a diverse bunch.

 

[omega 616]

They are tools, I don't mean that in a "you tool" insulting kind of way ... I mean it in a literal fashion. There life has no meaning, they are only there to carry out the will of the government. If two or more governments can't work it out like mature adults, they say "right well I will risk the lives of my civilians to kill your civilians until one of us decides enough is enough".

You're pledging your life for other peoples ideals.

You see it all the time in any kind of war film, not that I have seen them all but you see generals pushing blocks round a board. In more medieval settings commanders ordering his troops to sprint at the enemy, in more modern war films they are sat in a tent.

To get away from films, WW1 you had millions of soldiers "going over the top" to run at machine guns.

To me saying you're a soldier is like saying "my life is worthless".

I know armies have become much more diverse now and there are a lot of roles that don't put you on the front lines but when you think "soldier", you think of saving private Ryan type soldiers (getting muddy, killing people, dodging enemy fire etc) and not telecommunications.

With that said, I will respect some armies over others. If you fought in something like WW2 then I respect you 'cos Hitler was threatening the world. I just can't muster the same respect for the guys who fought in Iraq, I still have no idea why that war happened ...9/11? Oil? WMD's? They looked at us funny? (although, I don't keep up with the news).

EDIT: And how many stories of mistreated "vets" do you hear about?

 

[Xan Krieger]

I view them as I do anyone else, they're just people with a job. It's the way other people look at them as some kind of heroes that I don't like. The way people say they defend freedom when I don't recall anyone stopping the NDAA which allowed for the infinite detention of US citizens or any soldiers who closed guantanamo bay. Freedom isn't fought over by soldiers anymore, it's by the members of congress.

 

[PeterMerkin69]

Diverse groups are diverse. Some are decent, lots are rapers and/or murderers, most are just trying to keep their heads down and make enough money for college or fulfill some misplaced sense of duty. That's the extent of my preconceived opinions. It seems applicable to nearly everyone, and it hasn't let me down yet.

Being that it is a volunteer service in the US I actually feel less obligated to respect them, particularly veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They're not there so I don't have to be. No one "had" to be there. A lot of them enlisted when two unjust, wasteful wars were about to erupt then, what, I'm supposed to applaud them for making terrible decisions? That they "didn't know" is bullshit. I knew they were mistakes from the beginning, which is why I decided not to enlist after 9/11 even though I very seriously considered joining up until wars broke out.

protip. if dudes are desperate enough to use airplanes as missiles then you probably don't need the full weight of the United States military, which wasn't even made for that kind of thing, to defeat them. You could just bomb them into oblivion from afar and call it a day.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I feel like whenever I've met a soldier, they were always really cool guys or women that just have they're shit together. As such, I guess a rule of thumb for me would be to respect people who serve in the military. Assumptions can only go so far though, so I'm too invested if I ever meet a soldier who turns out be an ass hole

 

[Shuu]

A necessary evil.
I personally think it's fundamentally irresponsible (to my fundamentals anyway) to surrender your judgement to anyone else when it comes to things like who to attack.

 

[BanicRhys]

I don't understand why anyone would want to enter a line of work that expects them to be willing to kill and be killed by people who pose no real threat to their country unless they were poor, naive or hateful.

So, I guess pity until I actually get to know them?

 

[Happiness Assassin]

I thought about joining the military, but after I had an accident, I can't lift more than 30 pounds without enormous pain. So I have a great deal of respect for those that serve.

That being said, they aren't automatically heroes. All that does is devalue the word. They have a job and they often fulfill it admirably, but they are still human, subject to all the failings that other people are. They can commit harmful acts just like any other man and often do. Labeling them as heroes blindly is just as harmful as labeling them all as "scum" or "worthless". We don't live in a Kindergarten world of black and white.

Also I feel I should point out that most servicemen never kill anyone and few are very eager to do so.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Well I mean, being a soldier takes a lot of bravery, willpower, and athleticism so I respect that. There's not really a war that I'd consider to be worth fighting going on atm so I can't say the cause is entirely noble but I'm definitely not one of those "SOLDIERS ARE MURDERERS" nutjobs.

 

[Kennetic]

I Can not stand them I just Despise them. Hang on I will explain.

Soldiers are the very definition of lawful neutral Trained to kill on command by the government and never have a say in it.

In addition to that some of them are easily the most arrogant most disgusting excuses for Human beings I have ever met they murder countless people and for what? Nothing, To many people consider "Soldier" to mean the people on our side and the opposing side to be monsters nothing could be further from the truth.

Every person on either side who dies is someones Child or parent or lover and they all die for pointless reasons and people try to justify it and that fucking disgusts me.

I always say that All soldiers should get another job because the one they have is just a pointless waste of human life.

I understand how that can be seen as offensive and I'm sorry if you were but they are just one type of people I wil never have any respect for.

In my eyes there are only 2 types of Soldier

1) the trigger happy ones who think war is great and always look down on people with other jobs (the ones I hate)

2) the poor sods who are ripped from their Family's knowing that they will more than likely die and will never see them again (who I have only sympathy and pity for)

Funny, I'm in the military and don't fall into either of those categories. I joined to do something difficult to see just how far I could go. I went to EOD school (bomb disposal) and accomplished things that I never could have imagined that I could do although I was eventually unsuccessful. I then became a combat medic and was put on the front lines in Iraq with an infantry platoon, not to fight, but to support my guys.

 

[Treaos Serrare]

Soldiers can be both the best and worst part of any country they are affiliated with because soldiers are grown from that countries citizenry. more often than not they will have wildly differing views on what it means to be a "Soldier" and act accordingly that's why you can have noble souls whose first thought above all others is self sacrifice for the greater good, and others who are the opposite sacrificing all to save themselves. those two aren't the only kinds there is a whole spectrum this is especially true during wartime, personally I like soldiers but I understand that they are people so that means a whole lotta assholes and a few people who are great to know

protip. if dudes are desperate enough to use airplanes as missiles then you probably don't need the full weight of the United States military, which wasn't even made for that kind of thing, to defeat them. You could just bomb them into oblivion from afar and call it a day.

while agree on the Bomb part there are unfortunately UN sanctions or laws or whatever they get called on the global scale that forbid/prevent that or Ol'Dubbya would have nuked the whole of their country neon green

 

[ninjaRiv]

They deserve the same amount of respect that any profession that requires you to risk your life deserves. So I think there's a certain amount of automatic extra respect and admirations they're entitled to but the individual has to live up to that.

 

[Yuuki]

The US hasn't had a "proper" war for a very long time so the appreciation for soldiers in recent times has greatly diminished.

If this was 50 years ago everyone right now would be calling soldiers brave and selfless heroes and patriots for their country - because the SITUATION was dire enough to warrant the actual need for soldiers and to bring out almost every soldier's full potential as the only barrier between the enemy and their civilians.

If you lived in a country getting invaded and the only thing stopping the enemy from destroying your home and family was a disciplined soldier and his rifle, you would respect the fuck out of that man.

The reason we're seeing so many "bleh, just another job" responses is because that is more or less the case (albeit a very exhausting/demanding job). The typical soldier spends most of their time bouncing around from post to post and doing regular training/day-to-day duties (patrols, etc). Very rarely does one get thrown into an actual firefight and today's technology ensures that the odds of human soldiers getting put at risk is smaller than ever before.

That's why so many people are saying that WW3 will be the final apocalypse, because it will mostly involve the higher-ups pushing big red buttons to launch 50 nukes in the general direction of the enemy while sitting in fallout shelters. Even today most warfare is done with carbombs and IED's, with the richer countries having access to freaking Drones.

Mind you this is in no way the soldier's fault, it's just how times have changed

 

[Krantos]

1) the trigger happy ones who think war is great and always look down on people with other jobs (the ones I hate)

2) the poor sods who are ripped from their Family's knowing that they will more than likely die and will never see them again (who I have only sympathy and pity for)

3) The one who joined willingly, not to kill, but to protect.

4) Those to whom it's a job, and they see the likelihood of ever having to kill anyone astronomically small (remember most "soldiers" aren't frontline grunts. Most never see combat, and most are actually support staff.

Besides, trying to classify the reasons people might join the military in 2 (or even 4) examples is pretty unfair to anyone in the military.

OT: I see soldiers the same way I see guns and other weapons: A necessary evil. Sure, it would be fantastic if they weren't needed, but as long as other countries have them, we need them too. We wouldn't need them if we could reliably count on settling every conflict diplomatically, but if someone decides to kick in our door we'd better have back up plan.

That said, I know the US is WAAAAAY too into the whole military thing. As a general rule, I don't think any one country should ever need to strike beyond it's borders. There's a big difference between a defensive and offensive force.

I do, however, think that a multinational organization (i.e. UN) should be present to deter countries from causing trouble, but no country should ever "lone gun" it like the US has been doing (Thanks Bush).
sorry. that was a tangent...

 

[Zeke63]

and to every one saying they desevre "respect" lol. yeah killers deserve respect. great thinking!

 

[Zeke63]

oh and the opposite of soldiers in starfleet

 

[Devil's Due]

(removed by the National Security Agency)

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Depends on the kind of soldier.
Will they follow every order regardless of what it is or what they think? Then they can go to hell.
If told to murder innocents or engage in a battle that come be won through peace but refuse to listen to those orders even though they'd be court marshaled or jailed for life? Then I have the utmost respect for them.

Then again this is more depending ont he kind or "person" they are and not their day job.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, just people who happen to be in the military. I don't buy that they have to be so different from everyone else, that it's "once a uniform, never a man" or whatever.

I'd also say that, IMHO, the words "soldier" and "marine" are not mutually exclusive. A marine is a specific type/s of soldier.

 

[zama174]

Snip

And what about the people that join to protect their country against those that seek to do it harm? Or those that join because it provides a way for them to actually get an education and better themselves? Or those that do it as a source of income to support their family? Or the millions of other possible reasons. Also, most of the 300 or so thousand soldiers that are in the US military have never killed anyone.