[quote]juicescholar wrote:
Yeah, the famous Go pills. And I know they use Stop pills (Ambien). My point of mentioning it is not that we don’t use this stuff, only that we don’t use it well. Go pills can cause dissociation - and they still use them, as if psychoergogens haven’t improved since 1968.
Modafinil seems not to have a dissociative effect and I know the USAF is using it in two-seaters, but I think others on the horizon will make an even bigger splash - ampakines, orexins, even trans-cranial magnetic stimulation. Someone on a link a while ago mentioned that he was shipping Spike to some operators in OEF - but we never heard how they went down. You still out there? Any thoughts?
Also, our culture seems to accept sleep deprivation as an “illness” for which we can use a cure (amphetamines, Modafinil) - but “enhancing” performance is still a no-no, military or otherwise. Agree? [/quote]
That stuffs not limited to ground pounders. Long range aircrew like those for U-2/TR-1’s, SR-71’s and probably B-2’s use a type of “gatorade” that also really works. I’m not sure what’s in it, but I’d bet it’s got the word “meth” in it somewhere.
I’m all for any substance that enhances the performance of soldiers. We use every technological trick in the book to make our engagements as lopsided as possible. Why not enhance the performance of the individual warfighter?
These guys are in an extreme environment and deserve any and every edge we can give them to bring them home alive in one piece. This is for all the marbles. We can make as many comparisons as we like to sports and business, but it’s different. You don’t lose your life to the other team in baseball, and nobody shoots at you during your Monday morning staff call.
Whew! OK. I’m off the soapbox. Sorry, I tend to do that when I begin to think about how blowhard business types compare themselves to combat troops. Or when they make those incredibly stupid statements about football being war. It isn’t war. You’re wearing tight white pants you fat buffoon. Your Humvee is YELLOW! Sorry. There I go again.
RB
Ruberbubba, Juice Scholar…i agree with ya. i’ve said this before, but it irritates the shit out of me that the government tests it’s nations killer for substances that make them faster, stronger, and more aggressive.
it’s kinda like my my old platoon used to get in trouble for getting into fights…what the hell do you expect us to do??
as far as AAS use is concerned, i know it’s pretty widespread in the SpecOps units, but i think those guys are able to avoid the trivial shit of the military a little easier
I know it’s used, and I’m sure it works. One of my biggest concerns is that AAS are being used to resolve an operational requirement that isn’t recognized by DOD. Everyone lumps together ‘steroids’ with the use of marijuana in Vietnam - the rather infantile notion being that they’re both ‘drugs’ - but as silly as this is, there may be something to it.
Cannabis stimulates endocannibanoid receptors and can pretty effectively reduce stress, which in a draft military was huge (most of those guys had, what, 6 weeks of basic training?). Lesson: we need to do something about this stress thing, and now we have virtual environments, the best training in the world, and psychologists - all geared in part towards ‘stress inoculation’ of warfighters.
Okay, so now we have guys using AAS, and it ain’t just to be the biggest boy in posing shorts on stage. So - what’s the requirement(s) that we’re failing them on? So long as we don’t acknowledge their use, and capture their experiences, we’ll never know. Ah, but we can’t be seen to condone the use of illicit drugs…sigh. You guys have more operational experience than I do - is there any place these guys can go with their experiences and record their observations? Kind of like an AAS “lessons learned”?
Yep, the trifag dudes were always useless and would always get promoted before everyone else. I hated those guys because they would always be in the front of formation during runs but couldn’t be found when it came time to pound post in the ground to set up concertina wire or if they did, they were more of a hinderance than help. The Army is about filling sandbags, moving sandbags, digging hastys, foxholes, and in general heavy labor.