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.
Wonderfully written essay. I am a 29 year old US male.
I grew up watching YouTube videos on my couch of war and people getting blown up or shot in the head or burning to death.
I am anti-war. I am suspicious of any kind of authority. I don’t like being treated like shit and I will stand up for myself.
I hope the US military will start MASSIVELY beefing up and funding the parts of its organization that focus on humanitarian and economic infrastructure work.
I think service members would find meaning building and repairing more practical things at home, such as railroads, sewage systems, airports, etc.
Otherwise, it is mostly a killing machine. The military has its necessary place in defense and fighting all kinds of crime. I am not saying the military should be removed.
However, I would rather continue serving my local community more directly, and am not convinced the military is as invested in my community as I am.
The military has no place fighting crime or fixing sewer systems. Those are jobs for law enforcement and public utilities. The military is for fighting wars.
Literally the only people I know from my generation who joined were A) idealistic and became massive anti-war/left wingers after deploying to Iraq/Afghanistan B) Escaping real poverty C) Trying to get a green card D) Psychopaths who oddly enough didn’t join the infantry but loved the pageantry of war
Looking to the future, I see only B&C forming the bulk of the enlisted military, D are too fat/stupid these days and the idealism that lit the flame of As (aka 9/11) belongs to the oldest of millennials, who all know it was a joke to begin with.
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.
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.
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.
Wonderfully written essay. I am a 29 year old US male.
I grew up watching YouTube videos on my couch of war and people getting blown up or shot in the head or burning to death.
I am anti-war. I am suspicious of any kind of authority. I don’t like being treated like shit and I will stand up for myself.
I hope the US military will start MASSIVELY beefing up and funding the parts of its organization that focus on humanitarian and economic infrastructure work.
I think service members would find meaning building and repairing more practical things at home, such as railroads, sewage systems, airports, etc.
Otherwise, it is mostly a killing machine. The military has its necessary place in defense and fighting all kinds of crime. I am not saying the military should be removed.
However, I would rather continue serving my local community more directly, and am not convinced the military is as invested in my community as I am.
The military has no place fighting crime or fixing sewer systems. Those are jobs for law enforcement and public utilities. The military is for fighting wars.
Literally the only people I know from my generation who joined were A) idealistic and became massive anti-war/left wingers after deploying to Iraq/Afghanistan B) Escaping real poverty C) Trying to get a green card D) Psychopaths who oddly enough didn’t join the infantry but loved the pageantry of war
Looking to the future, I see only B&C forming the bulk of the enlisted military, D are too fat/stupid these days and the idealism that lit the flame of As (aka 9/11) belongs to the oldest of millennials, who all know it was a joke to begin with.
No Iranian ever denied me healthcare.
Who wants to fight other countries’ wars for them?
You mean Israel’s wars.
It’s been Israel’s wars since 1991.
Have any US soldiers deployed to Israel? Ever?
A lot died for a foreign policy that is focused on support for Israel.
If you haven’t realised this by now I don’t know what to tell you.
The Onion was great on this topic:
https://theonion.com/ultra-realistic-modern-warfare-game-features-awaiting-o-1819594864/
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.
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.
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