Who would want to serve a country that stands for nothing but power and money now? That has no moral values any longer? The problem will be worse now than when you wrote this.
Even as a military veteran, I’ll be damned if I allow my sons to volunteer to get shipped off to one of our empire’s endless, idiotic colonial wars that are so unimportant that Congress never even bothers to declare war.
You make a lot of very valid points, and on many I agree.
I would however add a couple of salient points of perspective-
I joined the Marine Corps, so I could shoot people, run them through with bayonets, mow them down with machine gun fire, or bash their skulls in with the butt of my rifle... so it isn't all about "work life balance", or unrestricted liberty, or drug testing etc. i.e. Some of it is about the things you can do in the military, that no other occupation provides.
Also, ending up in the Airwing, we worked on airplanes, day, night, or mid-shift. Sometimes we'd be home (barracks or base housing) in a couple of hours.
We also traveled the world and the country, hitting the clubs, chasing girls, getting drunk raising hell, making great friends, and having the time of our lives!
There are pluses and minuses for sure, but it's not all bad.
I'm an x military aircraft mechanic and a woman. Loved the travel. It was tough and MST is definitely a problem but it was definitely an experience I wouldn't give up for anything.
Glad to hear it. It did not sound healthy. I wish you grace in your recovery. I imagine adjustment would be no small thing. Thank you for getting back to me.
If there weren't a lot of pro-military material shown to kids, I doubt they'd show up at all. (We have "Seal Team" on TV, but there's never been a "Paving Crew" TV show. There was a heroic teacher show, "Room 222" when I was young; none since.)
They decry minimum wage raises because they might inhibit jobs; they should be concerned with recruiting. One suspects the job isn't luring in the best people.
Many thanks for this. The Florida comparison was very enlightening.
The thing I never fully understood is why the USA needs such a huge military. The country has two great big ocean buffers, two mostly friendly neighbors, and a nuclear arsenal. Couldn’t the government just put folks on patrols and call it a day?
Of course not. Who would pay all of the politically connected arms manufacturers?
Sure, but how do large standing armies holding M4s defend against ballistic missiles and EMPs? We need missile defense and unscrewed aircraft and the capacity for deterrent strikes of our own, etc, but it's more a tech game than a manpower game these days. If our missions were purely defensive of Americans physical safety, we'd have plenty of troops to achieve them.
"unscrewed aircraft" -- assume that was "uncrewed."
As for "deterrent strikes of our own" : it's long estabiished that nuclear weapons aren't of much use against a conventional attack. They didn't help in Korea, Vietnam, the Iraq wars, Israel's wars ... really any of them.
As for how to decide: as a British foreign minister said, "England has no permanent friends or permanent enemies. Just permanent interests."
So the US has permanent interests, just like 19th century Brits had an interest in having no single power controlling the European continent. What those interests are, exactly, is worth debating, but "keep the 50 states safe" as you suggest is not enough.
I often thought during basic training in the ‘60’s: It’s bad enough that you can get killed but do they have to degrade you as well? At that time we were forced to take a shit with absolutely no privacy.
I really appreciate you bring up this topic and sharing your personal story. Most people don’t realize that our different branches of government are actually required to report on the status of our military recruitment and military life. Then, leadership is expected to demonstrate successful change.
Somehow just seeing this now - but I'm extremely familiar with this study! I gave a 1 hour presentation about Integrity to 30 other officers in 7th Group for an OPD session organized by my LTC, and went through all the ways our unit routinely lied about things and how higher-ups could encourage actual integrity moving forward. I also cited Dan Ariely's research heavily, some of which was ironically revealed as fabricated later on - but the overall impression went over well, I think.
During training exercises back in the day (infantryman 05-09 stationed in Germany), our leader would intentionally make life hard for us through various obnoxious means to "keep us pissed off" for the fight ahead. All it did was solidify the decision to get out and alienate some truly talented young men who eventually took their talent elsewhere. Military life was fun especially being stationed in Germany, but only for a few years.
I have more, as a current military parent. There is little to no housing available. At a very large US military installation, people are sleeping in their cars on the regular. You have to pay to park, and then you can't go anywhere. You can't park on base, but there's no way to get from point A to point B on this huge base - you'd think there would be shuttles. The food is no longer free. The work hours are horrendous. Your colleagues are constantly shifting in and out. It's not easy to make friends. Impossible to date. The base is on the crap side of town, if you're anywhere remotely desirable. Etc.
It’s less of a partisan problem than you make it out to be. Both parties are warmongering parties who realize war brings about financial booms for cronies.
Most post 9/11 veterans (not sure about service history) think both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a massive waste of time. What drove me out was the belief that the mission I swore to support was no longer a just mission that was worthy of giving one’s life for. Hence the birth of my isolationist foreign policy.
The social experimentation is a huge problem. The military, despite the lack of legitimate mission post 9/11, should only be concerned about fighting readiness. Not feelings and accommodations beyond basic things that are universally accepted.
I didn't try to make it a partisan issue, and agree with much of what you've written here. Which "feelings and accommodations" are most conducive to fighting readiness is an open question, but I do agree that politics have unreasonably influenced that in both directions. And regardless, that factor is probably dwarfed by the counterproductive mission creep and wasteful, bad wars we both lament.
As for partisanship there has been a strange dynamic in which Democrats now embrace Cheneys, and a lot of GOP war hawks have been sidelined in primaries waiting to return. L Graham is one who has had to straddle the fence. I am surprised at the lack of support by many former peace hawks for Trump’s hesitancy to plunge into Ukraine.
And as for the ranks themselves - all agree that they must be managed to prevent disparate treatment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin. Don’t ask don’t tell is gone, but I think all the other focus months and touchy feely stuff goes too far. The military spends so much time on racial awareness training when in reality the military is one of the least racist places on earth and staffed by everyone from everywhere.
Good points but: There can be no question however that 80% of service is generational in families and the government and blob and utterly inane wars that wore out the patriotism of Americas warrior families was the drop-off.
People were deployed to death.
Supposedly this has just surged the other way with the new regime. We’ll see.
There’s some points here about treating them like adults, etc.
although that would also mean
YOU’RE FIRED
Without all the chapter nonsense
Nor should it be other than honorable because that’s nonsense too.
The problem is the system was set up for WW2 and Korea, and conscription.
Other armies pay better and will get better.
As far as it being hard and unreasonable; in terms of physical harshness… it should be.
In terms of bureaucratic nonsense - should all be tossed, however that reflects the government in America and indeed society itself.
Again we’re in a regime change now in terms of dismantling 20th century bureaucracy, replacing it with something more modern.
Who would want to serve a country that stands for nothing but power and money now? That has no moral values any longer? The problem will be worse now than when you wrote this.
Even as a military veteran, I’ll be damned if I allow my sons to volunteer to get shipped off to one of our empire’s endless, idiotic colonial wars that are so unimportant that Congress never even bothers to declare war.
You make a lot of very valid points, and on many I agree.
I would however add a couple of salient points of perspective-
I joined the Marine Corps, so I could shoot people, run them through with bayonets, mow them down with machine gun fire, or bash their skulls in with the butt of my rifle... so it isn't all about "work life balance", or unrestricted liberty, or drug testing etc. i.e. Some of it is about the things you can do in the military, that no other occupation provides.
Also, ending up in the Airwing, we worked on airplanes, day, night, or mid-shift. Sometimes we'd be home (barracks or base housing) in a couple of hours.
We also traveled the world and the country, hitting the clubs, chasing girls, getting drunk raising hell, making great friends, and having the time of our lives!
There are pluses and minuses for sure, but it's not all bad.
Semper Fi!!
I'm an x military aircraft mechanic and a woman. Loved the travel. It was tough and MST is definitely a problem but it was definitely an experience I wouldn't give up for anything.
You sound terrifying.
Yeah, but I was 20 and planned on joining the Corps for 10 years when I joined…and didn’t know better. I’m much wiser now.
Glad to hear it. It did not sound healthy. I wish you grace in your recovery. I imagine adjustment would be no small thing. Thank you for getting back to me.
Soldiers are for killing.
If there weren't a lot of pro-military material shown to kids, I doubt they'd show up at all. (We have "Seal Team" on TV, but there's never been a "Paving Crew" TV show. There was a heroic teacher show, "Room 222" when I was young; none since.)
They decry minimum wage raises because they might inhibit jobs; they should be concerned with recruiting. One suspects the job isn't luring in the best people.
Many thanks for this. The Florida comparison was very enlightening.
The thing I never fully understood is why the USA needs such a huge military. The country has two great big ocean buffers, two mostly friendly neighbors, and a nuclear arsenal. Couldn’t the government just put folks on patrols and call it a day?
Of course not. Who would pay all of the politically connected arms manufacturers?
on those "great big ocean buffers" -- maybe you've heard of ballistic missiles? And satellites? And EMP?
Not to say you're wrong about "the politically connected arms manufacturers" by the way.
Sure, but how do large standing armies holding M4s defend against ballistic missiles and EMPs? We need missile defense and unscrewed aircraft and the capacity for deterrent strikes of our own, etc, but it's more a tech game than a manpower game these days. If our missions were purely defensive of Americans physical safety, we'd have plenty of troops to achieve them.
"unscrewed aircraft" -- assume that was "uncrewed."
As for "deterrent strikes of our own" : it's long estabiished that nuclear weapons aren't of much use against a conventional attack. They didn't help in Korea, Vietnam, the Iraq wars, Israel's wars ... really any of them.
As for how to decide: as a British foreign minister said, "England has no permanent friends or permanent enemies. Just permanent interests."
So the US has permanent interests, just like 19th century Brits had an interest in having no single power controlling the European continent. What those interests are, exactly, is worth debating, but "keep the 50 states safe" as you suggest is not enough.
I often thought during basic training in the ‘60’s: It’s bad enough that you can get killed but do they have to degrade you as well? At that time we were forced to take a shit with absolutely no privacy.
Who wants to fight other countries’ wars for them?
Have any US soldiers deployed to Israel? Ever?
The Onion was great on this topic:
https://theonion.com/ultra-realistic-modern-warfare-game-features-awaiting-o-1819594864/
I really appreciate you bring up this topic and sharing your personal story. Most people don’t realize that our different branches of government are actually required to report on the status of our military recruitment and military life. Then, leadership is expected to demonstrate successful change.
And you’re correct, “woke policy” isn’t to blame.
https://www.army.mil/article-amp/252098/new_survey_examines_why_soldiers_decide_to_stay_in_or_leave_the_army
ttps://www.army.mil/article-amp/281663/year_in_review_army_expands_programs_to_improve_quality_of_life_for_soldiers_families
Here's a link to that video I mentioned over on Notes -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUhNIOGhPus
("Company commanders somehow have to fit 297 days of mandatory requirements into 256 available training days")
Lecturer is Dr Leonard Wong, who retired as a Lt Colonel around the year 2000.
Somehow just seeing this now - but I'm extremely familiar with this study! I gave a 1 hour presentation about Integrity to 30 other officers in 7th Group for an OPD session organized by my LTC, and went through all the ways our unit routinely lied about things and how higher-ups could encourage actual integrity moving forward. I also cited Dan Ariely's research heavily, some of which was ironically revealed as fabricated later on - but the overall impression went over well, I think.
During training exercises back in the day (infantryman 05-09 stationed in Germany), our leader would intentionally make life hard for us through various obnoxious means to "keep us pissed off" for the fight ahead. All it did was solidify the decision to get out and alienate some truly talented young men who eventually took their talent elsewhere. Military life was fun especially being stationed in Germany, but only for a few years.
I have more, as a current military parent. There is little to no housing available. At a very large US military installation, people are sleeping in their cars on the regular. You have to pay to park, and then you can't go anywhere. You can't park on base, but there's no way to get from point A to point B on this huge base - you'd think there would be shuttles. The food is no longer free. The work hours are horrendous. Your colleagues are constantly shifting in and out. It's not easy to make friends. Impossible to date. The base is on the crap side of town, if you're anywhere remotely desirable. Etc.
This ticks all the boxes of a cult.
Excellent analysis
It’s less of a partisan problem than you make it out to be. Both parties are warmongering parties who realize war brings about financial booms for cronies.
Most post 9/11 veterans (not sure about service history) think both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a massive waste of time. What drove me out was the belief that the mission I swore to support was no longer a just mission that was worthy of giving one’s life for. Hence the birth of my isolationist foreign policy.
The social experimentation is a huge problem. The military, despite the lack of legitimate mission post 9/11, should only be concerned about fighting readiness. Not feelings and accommodations beyond basic things that are universally accepted.
I didn't try to make it a partisan issue, and agree with much of what you've written here. Which "feelings and accommodations" are most conducive to fighting readiness is an open question, but I do agree that politics have unreasonably influenced that in both directions. And regardless, that factor is probably dwarfed by the counterproductive mission creep and wasteful, bad wars we both lament.
As for partisanship there has been a strange dynamic in which Democrats now embrace Cheneys, and a lot of GOP war hawks have been sidelined in primaries waiting to return. L Graham is one who has had to straddle the fence. I am surprised at the lack of support by many former peace hawks for Trump’s hesitancy to plunge into Ukraine.
And as for the ranks themselves - all agree that they must be managed to prevent disparate treatment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin. Don’t ask don’t tell is gone, but I think all the other focus months and touchy feely stuff goes too far. The military spends so much time on racial awareness training when in reality the military is one of the least racist places on earth and staffed by everyone from everywhere.
Good points but: There can be no question however that 80% of service is generational in families and the government and blob and utterly inane wars that wore out the patriotism of Americas warrior families was the drop-off.
People were deployed to death.
Supposedly this has just surged the other way with the new regime. We’ll see.
There’s some points here about treating them like adults, etc.
although that would also mean
YOU’RE FIRED
Without all the chapter nonsense
Nor should it be other than honorable because that’s nonsense too.
The problem is the system was set up for WW2 and Korea, and conscription.
Other armies pay better and will get better.
As far as it being hard and unreasonable; in terms of physical harshness… it should be.
In terms of bureaucratic nonsense - should all be tossed, however that reflects the government in America and indeed society itself.
Again we’re in a regime change now in terms of dismantling 20th century bureaucracy, replacing it with something more modern.
Necessary and far beyond the army.