Quote:
Originally posted by marichiko
Do you currently serve in a branch of one our armed forces?
Whether you do or not, you are remarkably ill informed. The draft in the US ended in 1973. I think that's stretching it just a teensy bit to say that the military's problems in the 70's and 80's were due to draftee's. I guess they all re-upped or something, except then they wouldn't really be draftee's anymore, now would they?
Anyone who enlisted in the military for the past 20 years just for the benefits was a damned fool. Military benefits have been cut and cut again from the 70's on.
One of the finest members of our military whom I have been priviledged to meet is a full blooded Mohawk Indian who served with great honor and courage as a tank commander in the initial wave of assault we sent out in the first Gulf War. He was responsible for saving the lives of 5 survivng men in another of our tanks which had been hit by enemy fire. I read the letters those men wrote him afterward.
After the first Gulf engagement the army went through a period of downsizing and this man was targeted for an involuntary discharge due to an obvious case of racial prejudice by his CO. I helped him with his legal defense and he came out of it with a citation for merit and a fully honorable discharge. Is he one of the a$$holes to whom you refer? The army brass was the a$$hole in his case and many others.
No, this is not my father's military, and its too damn bad its not. He served on the staff of the Inspector General and with General William Westmoreland in Vietnam as well as with Merrill's Marauders in WWII and a$$holes like you wouldn't have even been fit to lick his boots.
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um, calm the hell down. i wasn't referring to your father or your friend. if you stop and think you would realize that i was saying that yes, bad shit doesn happen in the military, just like anywhere else. but it is the exception, not the standard. if you believe otherwise you are misinformed. as a whole - i would prefer the competency level of 99% of the military units out there over 99% of the civilian companies out there. i was referring to a lot of dipshits who DID stay in after vietnam because there was little to no discipline, it wasn't even uncommon to have soldiers smoking weed in the barracks in the late 70's, early 80's. there were many of them who were drafted but stuck around because they didn't have to do shit. then things started changing, thank god. the brass finally pulled their collective heads out and started cracking down.
and as far as enlisting for the benefits??? travel, medical, 20 year pension, steady, if low, pay, free career training, ability to finish a degree during working hours with tuition assistance, clear-cut promotion track, and for some the idea of SERVING their country. these all sound like benefits to me. some of the people may have even chosen the military over welfare. it is more common than you think. that has obvously dropped since the early 90's but until desert storm there were some people who thought it was just another job where you got a cool uniform. a few months in the desert set most of those people straight. (when i originally went in the military, most of the guys preparing for retirement HAD been drafted but were still there 20 years later. so it isn't foolish to believe that a lot of the screwups were left over draftees. i'm sorry you're friend got dicked with, but there was a massive drawdown via RIF/SSB that was not racially motivated. the cold war was ending and it was time for restructure (obviously they have gone way overboard now, but at the time it was the right idea)
and just so you know - YES i have spent the last 13 years in the military, i am only a reservist these days, but i am still proud of my unit and all the others out there protecting your right to sit at home and declare them incompetent. so get off your high horse and realize that, as intelligent as you are, maybe you don't know everything.