Decisions to join or not join the military

[entertainme]

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I enlisted despite a high draft lottery number primarily because I saw the hypocrisy and shallowness of the anti-war movement (which I was heavily involved in) at Kent State.

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It sounds like there's a great story waiting to be told. Please post about it in detail sometime.

[RThomas]

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There's a big difference between deciding whether or not you should walk into a recruiting office and sign their usual form with the understanding that there is a high likelihood of being shipped into a warzone vs signing up to work as a [censored] network admin. No offence but from the thread I gathered that the question was more of "would you sign up as a grunt", not would you apply with the knowledge that there is very little chance of going near combat.

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I work for a combat communications unit. My job is to provide communications and basic infrastructure to the deployed warfighter, not to those in garrison. Since we do not take tours at the same rate as everyone else, there is a much higher chance (near-certainty) that I will see the front lines of our current war in the very near future. Apologies if you misunderstood what you were trying to say.

To answer the initial question from your point of view, I would think that the average joe looking for a new career would not choose the military unless there has been exposure to the military lifestyle before. I don't mean to say that we're divided strictly "military" and "not military", but rather, I feel like people misunderstand how it works and don't dig deep enough to find out what kind of jobs you can find within it.

[Kimbell175113]

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No matter what part of the world our forces are stationed in, they are serving their country. I, for one, greatly appreciate the sacrifices of our military and their families.

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Saying this ends the discussion, though, because it's impossible to argue against.

The point of a lot of posters in this thread, is that "serving your country" is not always serving your country. That some wars are incorrect or immoral, that some military policies are unfair, and by joining up, you support and help to prolong these things. I hope you can see that, from their viewpoint, enlisting can be a disservice to the country.

[MuresanForMVP]

Always have been accustomed to fighting throughout my life. Decided I wanted to be a real life, no [censored] warrior. Seriously, men watch 300 and think to themselves "man that would be cool to be a Spartan". As far as I'm concerned, I chose to live as one the moment I signed my contract. Or to paraphrase Capt. Nathaniel Fick from One Bullet Away: "I wanted to do something so badass that noone could ever [censored] with me." Physical conflict is always what it breaks down to, and conquering someone in a fight or war is the ultimate adrenaline rush, 1000 times the feeling you get from "love" or sex.

[Shadowrun]

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Always have been accustomed to fighting throughout my life. Decided I wanted to be a real life, no [censored] warrior. Seriously, men watch 300 and think to themselves "man that would be cool to be a Spartan". As far as I'm concerned, I chose to live as one the moment I signed my contract. Or to paraphrase Capt. Nathaniel Fick from One Bullet Away: "I wanted to do something so badass that noone could ever [censored] with me." Physical conflict is always what it breaks down to, and conquering someone in a fight or war is the ultimate adrenaline rush, 1000 times the feeling you get from "love" or sex.

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wow, hoping its a quote from a movie or something.

[MuresanForMVP]

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Always have been accustomed to fighting throughout my life. Decided I wanted to be a real life, no [censored] warrior. Seriously, men watch 300 and think to themselves "man that would be cool to be a Spartan". As far as I'm concerned, I chose to live as one the moment I signed my contract. Or to paraphrase Capt. Nathaniel Fick from One Bullet Away: "I wanted to do something so badass that noone could ever [censored] with me." Physical conflict is always what it breaks down to, and conquering someone in a fight or war is the ultimate adrenaline rush, 1000 times the feeling you get from "love" or sex.

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wow, hoping its a quote from a movie or something.

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No,why?

[kevin017]

I decided not to be in the military for no reason in particular, just thought i'd rather do something else. Nothing against joining, but I see it as a last resortish kinda thing. Of my friends who ended up in the military, most of them were people who weren't likely to be successful in college, and it was a great opportunity for them. Joining the military for me would be delaying my future career and limiting my possible success. I suppose I could've risen through the ranks and become a general or something but the idea of that is distant to me.

[Copernicus]

I don't know that its such a great story, just another one of those "day-glo freaks who used to paint their face, theyve joined the human race, some things never change".

a long Cliff notes...okay its turned into more than cliff notes,even the long version had too many gaps to be coherent:

In college outside of NYC, hung out with the Columbia anti-war crowd. Marched and plotted with Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman among others...a real party. Participated in a marginally succesful plan to blow up a college chem lab. Worked at Woodstock, dropped out of college, dealt LSD and hash, played in a band loosely connected to Jimi Hendrix (his bassist's brother's band).

Late '69 the whole thing started to tarnish. Things were becoming more radicalized, with the Weathermen and "Days of Rage", and affiliations with the Black Panthers etc.

I hitchhiked to Ca to go to the Stones concert at Altamont, and, thankfully, didnt make it there. I hooked up with a girl I had dated when she was in HS, who went to Kent State. I wound up hanging around there for a while, and after the disaster at Altamont headed back to NY. There was a ...callousness I guess...about Altamont amongst the Columbia crowd...almost like "collateral damage" to the party that the anti-war movement was. After being away from that scene for a while I saw it in a new perspective. The days after the NYE Band of Gypsies concert I watched the deterioration of the scene around JH, and a general feeling that always comes back after listeing to Skynards "That Smell", even though that was a different place and time.

I went back to Kent State a couple of months later and wasnt involved in the protest movement there. My friend was a reactionary and I was a hippie becoming disillusioned. When the shootings happened it was very predictable. There was a radical element that was going to provoke a confrontation with what they thought would be administration and rent a cops, but when the Guard was called in they weren't smart enough to back off.

Two months later I was in basic training, and two months after that, when I was returning to camp after the Jewish holidays Hendrix died, a few weeks after that Janis Joplin. What a bummer of a year. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I was fortunate though. Being an enlistee with "almost a degree", I was assigned to a medical unit and stayed stateside at an Army hospital. I saw men on their way out, and, unfortuantely, too many of them returning.

[housenuts]

i've been in the canadian army for almost 6 years now..infantry. just came back from afghanistan after a 6 month tour. i joined when i was 20 because i felt like it. it just appealed to me. i don't even particularly like the weapons. some guys love going to the range and shooting. i could care less and find the range kinda boring actually.

but i like the good times, and hanging out. most of the time it sucks when you're there, but when you think back to the memories, it's good.

i'm probably going to get out soon though and move on with my life because it's kind of dead end.

[mrbaseball]

I joined the Navy right out of college. Partly because the job market and economy at the time (1975) sucked pretty bad and partly because I wanted to serve my country and see the world. And I most certainly did see the world and serve my country.

I'm glad I did it and I have many fond memories. That said I wouldn't want to do it again but I do cherish having experienced it.