Joining military

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would encourage my child to consider the Coast Guard.

I wouldn't encourage my child to join any. However, I have told DS that if he chooses the military route, I would be most supportive and proud if he joined the Coast Guards. I explained that this is the one branch that actually saves lives opposed to taking lives.

Well, you are ill informed at best.

All of the branches of the military spend a great deal of effort on saving lives, be it through their multiple humanity missions, to evacuations, to building ebola centers in some of the worst hit areas to disaster relief, and yes, through combat.

Times 1,000,000 except that "ill-informed" is a kinder assessment than I could have given (you must be a gentler soul than I am).

PP you are exhibit A for why the vast gulf between people who serve and those who don't is bad for our country. You clearly have no idea about the motives and missions of our service members nor the role that the military plays in keeping peace and promoting safety. Even the most liberal among us know that your position is ridiculous and your comment extremely disrespectful of excellent people.

The Atlantic did a fantastic cover story on this a few issues back- the gulf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would encourage my child to consider the Coast Guard.

I wouldn't encourage my child to join any. However, I have told DS that if he chooses the military route, I would be most supportive and proud if he joined the Coast Guards. I explained that this is the one branch that actually saves lives opposed to taking lives.

Well, you are ill informed at best.

All of the branches of the military spend a great deal of effort on saving lives, be it through their multiple humanity missions, to evacuations, to building ebola centers in some of the worst hit areas to disaster relief, and yes, through combat.

Times 1,000,000 except that "ill-informed" is a kinder assessment than I could have given (you must be a gentler soul than I am).

PP you are exhibit A for why the vast gulf between people who serve and those who don't is bad for our country. You clearly have no idea about the motives and missions of our service members nor the role that the military plays in keeping peace and promoting safety. Even the most liberal among us know that your position is ridiculous and your comment extremely disrespectful of excellent people.

I know enough to want to steer my kids away from it. Half the time the peace our country proclaims to be keeping are problems we helped to create. Perhaps you need to educate yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd have my kids committed for intense psychological evaluations and if by some miracle they were found to be sane I'd disown them.

Obviously, not a fan of the military here, to put it lightly. My two oldest kids who are in grad school basically considered joining the military as much as they considered joining the circus.

You are a peach. Do you spit on our soldiers that are protecting our freedoms?

Do you like the fact that we are not run by the Nazis (no hyperbola there....really...the military saved us from that fate in WWII).

DO you like the fact that we are (mostly) terrorism free since 2001?

The members of the military protect us...some pay the ultimate sacrifice, and some come back different and harmed. But, they are heroes. They are why you can post your disdain for them in a public forum.

Don't be ridiculous, Hitler never planned to cross the Atlantic. Typical American habit to claim credit for everything good that happened in history. The Nazis were already rolling back to Berlin by the time Americans got their boots on the ground. You want to thank someone for not being run by the Nazis, as far-fetched as it is, thank Mr. Stalin and the millions who died at the Eastern Front. Moron.

Agree.

First of all, we do not know what would have happened in WWII had the US not joined...Best case scenario is a long term stalemate. More likely, with Germany fighting a one front war, they would have defeated Russia, as all of the resource would have been focused on that. Then, they would have knocked out the UK...And probably gone after America...not sure, really, as it would be logistically challenging. However, A Hitler/Nazi europe would have been really really bad. I am sure we would have had a full scale nuclear war by now. The US intervention meant that germany had to worry about the southern and western fronts..So, while Russia/Stalin did much of the ground work, they would have had a much more difficult time. Also, a Stalin controlled europe -- from Russia to France would have been really bad for us long term too.

The military saved us in WWII.....probably for the first time since the revolutionary war.

In the current conflicts, they have kept the adversaries in the middle east instead rather than here.

Not the case with Iraq.

Listen, I have a huge amount of respect for the members of our military, even when the wars our government sends them off to fight are unnecessary,& think they deserve far better benefits & medical treatment than they often receive. My father is a Vietnam vet who still battles PTSD & I was named after his brother who was killed over there.So I understand all too well -- as best any civilian whose never faced deploymen &/or armed conflict ever can, at least-- the price these men & women pay in service to our country. But to claim that all (or even most) of the wars this country's military has fought over the past 60+ years were necessary to preserve our freedoms or ensure our domestic safety is naive & even dangerous, as it both allows & encourages our elected officials to continue to send these brave men & women into harms way for dubious reasons, knowing that they will have the support a large segment of voters who are blinded by patriotism.

(NP, BTW)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my child wanted to go into the military, I would encourage him/her to have a degree and specialty that was least likely to involve combat.... DH retired after 21 yrs in the AF.... never had to deploy... satellite career field doesn't need to deploy. AF is also better on their people in terms of how long they can stay in one location (from what DH tells me). He lived in LA, Colorado Springs, and DC (with one year of school in Montgomery, AL). All of the other locations were 6 or 7 yr. periods with back-to-back assignments in each location. That's very different than a lot of the other branches or enlisted folks or even some career fields within the AF... they ended up moving every 2-3 yrs.

What was his sattelite career? I have a friend who started working a desk job for Naval Intelligence after graduating college with a political science degree in the late 90s. He ended up being sent to both Iraq & Afghanistan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would encourage my child to consider the Coast Guard.

I wouldn't encourage my child to join any. However, I have told DS that if he chooses the military route, I would be most supportive and proud if he joined the Coast Guards. I explained that this is the one branch that actually saves lives opposed to taking lives.

Well, you are ill informed at best.

All of the branches of the military spend a great deal of effort on saving lives, be it through their multiple humanity missions, to evacuations, to building ebola centers in some of the worst hit areas to disaster relief, and yes, through combat.

And sometimes, these humanity missions fundamentally change relations with the country....Look at the US "invasion" of Indonesia post Tsunami. The people of Indonesia's perception of the US improved dramatically when they realized the americans were there to help....http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/03/06/does-humanitarian-aid-improve-americas-image/

Pat on the back. Yeah, look at that humanity mission called "Iraqi Freedom". It was so great of the U.S. to help create a whole new country carved out by ISIS. The people over there are so utterly grateful.