Why are people still joining the military?

[Beckwin]

Ok that was just ridiculous. Fuck you. You obviously haven't been reading the topic, and your post is littered with failure.

-your examples of the guy who really needed money for his family and the guy who needed to get out of a violent situation both support the idea that the military is a last-ditch kind of thing for some. No one questions the ability of the military to pay you decently well and give you structure; the only question here is that in the current situation, how are people finding it "worth it" to join. The discussion of that question has been pretty civil and intelligent, and then you came along.

-you played the stereotypical RL card on a gaming message board. Great job champ. I'll explain my personal situation to you: I've got an apartment and I'm going to school for free; I guess being smarter than every single guy from my high school that ended up in the military pays off.

-the SF Chronicle is as credible as any other newspaper in the country. It just happened to be the first and most relevant article I dug up. You reek of "dumbshit" trying to discredit a newspaper article because it came from a West Coast city.

[Stee]

Wow someone really hit your nerve.

It's odd how you just assumed that you were smarter then all of the people in your high school who joined the military. I mean your sentence just seemed so factual as if you actually tested every single one of them. Did you setup a little table in the middle of your high school with a huge sign EVERYONE ENLISTING IN THE MILITARY PLAY ME IN TIC TAC TOE then a small disclaimer in the bottom of the sign If you lose I get to touch your penis.

Look there are many reasons people will join the military in a time such as now.

Some can't imagine their life without guns and action so they are willing to pursue this life even if it means the risk of a short life. Even if it means death it's better to die while doing something you like isn't it?

While the true intentions of the president to enter such a war may be crap it doesn't mean by enlisting you are fighting for the exact same reasons. It could be to help those who need help, supporting other soldiers whatever. Everyone has their own reasons for going about a certain path but why would you care as long as you got to touch their penis' you couldn't care less.

By the way gloating about your intelligence compared to other people isn't such a great idea seeing as how a lot of that contribution to your brain isn't even by you. Your brain was given to you by your parents, whom gave you a nice environment to learn which ultimately contributes to your goals and ambitions. So attempting to claim intellectual dominance over others without proof and crediting your parents or whoever contributed to it makes you look like a idiot.

[Beckwin]

I really don't get where you're trying to go with the penis touching thing, much less where you came from with it.

Look there are many reasons people will join the military in a time such as now.

Right, which was being discussed pretty civilly and intelligently until Saphirea came in with the "u hate the troops" and "lol u live in ur moms basement" and "liberal media lies!" dumbassery.

Some can't imagine their life without guns and action so they are willing to pursue this life even if it means the risk of a short life. Even if it means death it's better to die while doing something you like isn't it?

Uh if you wan't to join the military just to shoot people- fuck that. Those types of people shouldn't be allowed to have a gun anywhere near civilians, period. I could go off onto a whole other tangent, so I'll leave it at that.

By the way gloating about your intelligence....

That was mainly just to be a dick really, but it is in fact true in my case. Graduated at 4 in class and the three higher aren't with Uncle Sam. Had the test scores to back it up and have the scholarships to show for it. But whatever, it's really not all that important.

However, your way of crediting intelligence is kinda retarded. Is Stephen Hawking a genius because his parents worked really hard in the sack to make sure the good sperm got through? Your point about environment holds more water, but still doesn't remove all credit from the individual. Again, much like the penis touching, I'm not sure where you're trying to go with this.

[Demosthenes11]

get the fuck off your high horse like you are better than those that join the military. I've won everything in the state of california that can be won for math in high school, yet I still plan on joining the military. Did you think for a second that maybe not all those people are joining solely for the educational opportunities. You aren't better than people or smarter, christ

[Mayareira]

You guys really need to look beyond Iraq; that's not everything they do.

True, but right now, if you join the Marines or the Army, there's a very high possibility that you're gonna go to Iraq.

If I woke up tomorrow and learned that the entire middle east had fallen off the face of the planet and floated away into space, I can't say that I would really feel bad about it. I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.

Keyboard Sephiroth's.

Some can't imagine their life without guns and action so they are willing to pursue this life even if it means the risk of a short life. Even if it means death it's better to die while doing something you like isn't it?

I blame Quake 3: Arena. Kids these days.

*Edit: was a little too harsh than originally intended.

[Ryuho]

Real compelling argument. "shut up and just listen to what I'm telling you"

You know, quite a bit could be extrapolated from that in relation to this topic, but since I believe close-minded authority whores are in the minority, I'll refrain.

I'm sorry, i still haven't found the part of my post where i said, "This is my compelling argument." Not everybody replies to a discussion just to be a pestering know-it-all. You want to argue the war in iraq? Go ahead, I'm all for it. But i was tired of hearing people make assumptions about why people join the military, and making generalizations about people who do join the military... when they have no idea what they're talking about. So, feel free to extrapolate whatever you want from my post, come up with some witty reply and make yourself feel better.

[Devek]

He just can't accept that some people are better than he is.

So what if Iraq sucks? There is a job to be done and someone has to do it while other people sit on the Interwebs and complain about it.

[Credos]

Just lol @ so much of this thread. Intellect should not be something that is used to speak down or look down upon people. If someone is truly intelligent they should be able to get their point across without being an asshole. That's just my opinion.

Beckwin, I think that we'll just agree to disagree. But I will say that I'm happy you're so vocal in your disdain for the war. It's something that you have -because- of soldiers; don't forget that. Why do you neglect to mention any of the good that has come out of it? I honestly don't blame you, 90% of what Americans see is from big media syndicates. All they are doing is pushing liberal slanted stories. Look beyond what you see in the media, all they do is push negatitivity, because that's what sells. No one would watch the news if there were daily stories about the good things that happen to people.

How many people who are here who hate the war so much and cannot stand what we are doing there knows what it feels like to look into the eyes of someone who has been oppressed and see true joy there? I do.

[Norelco]

I think it's pretty funny that someone so intelligent is spending their time arguing on the internet. Surely someone that intelligent could deduce that it is a waste of their time and that their superior intellect could be better utilized somewhere else.

[Volken]

You guys really need to look beyond Iraq; that's not everything they do.

True, but right now, if you join the Marines or the Army, there's a very high possibility that you're gonna go to Iraq.

If I woke up tomorrow and learned that the entire middle east had fallen off the face of the planet and floated away into space, I can't say that I would really feel bad about it. I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.

Pathetic. For fucks sake, show me something in you that differs you from an animal. I pity you, I think you are an idiot and I believe you waste the valuable resources of the planet. But you know what? I wouldn't enjoy your suffering of any kind. I guess this is what differs us humans from......sorry, I can't really find an example. Even my dog (animal) would show some sort of a reaction to the death of another one.

Keyboard Sephiroth's.

Uh I think she was talking about their retarded/oppressive/self-destructive/trash society that doesn't belong in the modern world. Nobody wants to see women get stoned or people killed because they decided change religions, but the world is too PC to give them the push they need.

[Mayareira]

You guys really need to look beyond Iraq; that's not everything they do.

True, but right now, if you join the Marines or the Army, there's a very high possibility that you're gonna go to Iraq.

If I woke up tomorrow and learned that the entire middle east had fallen off the face of the planet and floated away into space, I can't say that I would really feel bad about it. I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.

Pathetic. For fucks sake, show me something in you that differs you from an animal. I pity you, I think you are an idiot and I believe you waste the valuable resources of the planet. But you know what? I wouldn't enjoy your suffering of any kind. I guess this is what differs us humans from......sorry, I can't really find an example. Even my dog (animal) would show some sort of a reaction to the death of another one.

Keyboard Sephiroth's.

Uh I think she was talking about their retarded/oppressive/self-destructive/trash society that doesn't belong in the modern world. Nobody wants to see women get stoned or people killed because they decided change religions, but the world is too PC to give them the push they need.

The war is not against the trash society. The region is worse than ever at the moment and there is no single sing of improvement.
I am sorry but I find it a little too hard to say "idc lol" just because I was born in a safe country with modern/developed society.

[Volken]

[quote=Mayareira]

You guys really need to look beyond Iraq; that's not everything they do.

True, but right now, if you join the Marines or the Army, there's a very high possibility that you're gonna go to Iraq.

If I woke up tomorrow and learned that the entire middle east had fallen off the face of the planet and floated away into space, I can't say that I would really feel bad about it. I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.

Pathetic. For fucks sake, show me something in you that differs you from an animal. I pity you, I think you are an idiot and I believe you waste the valuable resources of the planet. But you know what? I wouldn't enjoy your suffering of any kind. I guess this is what differs us humans from......sorry, I can't really find an example. Even my dog (animal) would show some sort of a reaction to the death of another one.

Keyboard Sephiroth's.

Uh I think she was talking about their retarded/oppressive/self-destructive/trash society that doesn't belong in the modern world. Nobody wants to see women get stoned or people killed because they decided change religions, but the world is too PC to give them the push they need.

The war is not against the trash society. The region is worse than ever at the moment and there is no single sing of improvement.
I am sorry but I find it a little too hard to say "idc lol" just because I was born in a safe country with modern/developed society.[/quote:4ffd7]


I didn't say who the war was or wasn't against, and your idea of who it's against is worthless. The region is worse now? Wow thanks for telling me, I had no idea. Stop responding to things I didn't say, it's a waste of time in an already long and shitty thread.

[divisortheory]

I've thought about joining the military on more than one occasion. I strongly oppose the war in Iraq, but my consideration has been for more selfish reasons. One of my passions/hobbies is learning foreign languages, and being enlisted in any branch of the military in the right career path gets you free entry to the DLI (Defense Language Institute), which is fairly widely accepted as the best language school in the world. Unfortunately, there is no method whatsoever to attend DLI unless you are sent there by the military or another government agency. I turn 29 next month, and enlistment for the military stops at 30, so unless I make a decision quickly the opportunity will probably pass. Unfortunately that is probably exactly what will happen, taking a 70% pay cut isn't really an option for me anymore now that I have a wife, mortgage, and planning on having kids.

The same concept applies for other people as well, I'm sure. Any way you slice it, the military does provide good training for a wide variety of careers and jobs that people might otherwise never have an opportunity to do. If someone's dream is flying fighter jets, they may not have a whole lot of options except joining the military.

[Saphirea]

You can actually get a waiver up to 35 if you're in good enough physical shape and such and can pass all the tests. I had a friend that was over 35 and got some other waiver to join since he was prior army and they let him in the marines at 38. You can do it if you really want.

[divisortheory]

You can actually get a waiver up to 35 if you're in good enough physical shape and such and can pass all the tests. I had a friend that was over 35 and got some other waiver to join since he was prior army and they let him in the marines at 38. You can do it if you really want.

The branch I was considering was the navy because TBQH i'm pretty thin and not really in the best physical shape lol. And the navy is more brains than brawn, so boot camp and physical requirements aren't nearly what they are in the marines/army. Something to think about though, thanks for the info

[Saphirea]

Working on recruiters assistance duty learned me a little bit. Each service has different age requirements for service, the Marines then the Army as far as aging out of servicibility dates. After that come the Navy then the Airforce.

You are correct though, physical standards in the navy for some jobs are less than other services and exact simular jobs in other services.

Good luck to you though, linguists are where its at to be quite honest. You'll get a full scope lifestyle poly ts/sci clearnance out of it, get to go to some amazing language schools, and pretty much be able to name your price in jobs when you decide to be finished with the military. Only job I can think of off the top of my head would be working in the intelligence field would be better; but if I'm not mistaken a lot of services have combined intel + linguist into one simular competative job field meaning you learn more than just either intel or languages; making you 10x more valuable on the outside world when finished.

[archibaldcrane]

My sister joined the military out of high school. She tried hard in school but just isn't very smart, so she couldn't get into the local colleges here. She wants to be a nurse, like my mother, but the local tech school had a 2-year waiting list for it's nursing program. Her solution? Join the military as a medic.

I face-palmed a bit at the time, not so much about the physical dangers she might face (this was in 2000) but moreso because she's kind of gullible and I didn't want the military turning her into some Team America robot. But, well, I didn't know what else she would do after high school, so whatever. The recruiters were all about it "Oh yeah, medical training? We've got that for sure!" After the battery of tests you go through before boot camp, they put her in a room with her test scores and told her to pick an occupation. There were two available occupations on the list - Field Mechanic and something else equally shitty and completely unrelated to medicine. She picked Field Mechanic, exhausted after 8 hours of tests.

My father was furious. Not at my sister, but at those lying manipulative recruiters. But instead of rolling over, he decided to use a little leverage. He set up a meeting with her recruiter and laid it out nice and simple for him. He told the recruiter that either my sister will be enrolled in the medic training program, or he would tell the 250 students he teaches every year in high school exactly how army recruiters lie to you to get you to sign the dotted line by any means necessary, as well as anyone else he can talk to in his high school of 1600 students.

Needless to say, my sister became a medic. Of course, my facepalming rapidly increased on September 11th, although my sister was fortunately in S. Korea so she didn't have to go to Afghanistan.

Then that idiot monkey man-child Bush decided that Saddam's relative outward passivity since getting booted from Kuwait 10 years prior warranted an invasion. I sat in abject disbelief while Bush gave Saddam 48 hours to leave Baghdad for...no...apparent...reason. My sister was nearing the end of her contract, but under the threat of being stop-lossed she re-enlisted for 2 years for financial incentives and was shipped directly to Mosul.

The result?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Casualty03.jpg
That's her, at his head, trying to keep this poor soldier alive after catching mortar shrapnel to the face. He died shortly after.

And she rarely left the base, since she's a woman, but there were still tons of casualties during her tour. Her duties were sitting by a radio on the Mosul base, waiting for mortars to land, or stray bullets, or grenades tossed over the wall on the base, hop on an ATV and bring them to the medical center. This is just on the base, not out in IED-land.

I got a hand-written letter from her once, where she had to stop half-way through because they were getting mortared. She hit the deck, but then looked around and realized that it wouldn't matter where she was in the room since there was live ammo everywhere - just had to hope her building didn't get hit.

She's out now, thank god, and unharmed. But, like I said, she's gullible. She believes that they were helping the Iraqis, making their lives better.

She's now in tech school, pursuing a nursing degree. The sad part is that while the Army is paying for it (instead of my parents, who would've gladly) her medical training means jack shit in civilian world. Despite giving countless IVs, stitches, etc - she isn't able to perform any of those tasks in America currently. She's starting over from scratch as far as training goes.

If she'd tried to join after the Iraqi invasion, I may have just locked her in a room for 5 years. I don't understand it, shit is crazy.

[Khamsin]

Not to seem insensitive about the topic at hand, but... is that guy poking out?

[Saphirea]

God bless her, there's never enough corpsman's and medics and I hope she gets the training she's warented and gets to be a real nurse somewhere.

[RakEx]

I'm confused. Who is the gullible one?

"She's out now, thank god, and unharmed. But, like I said, she's gullible. She believes that they were helping the Iraqis, making their lives better."