Thank you for all who served (like it or not) I lost my grandfather, and four grand uncles in various conflicts…somebody has to stand the wall and keep those who would do us harm at bay.
Again, thank you.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
Agree with President 100%. Not sure how I feel about Congress. [/quote]
Congress is comprised of the people who decide to declare war or not.
Why you did: I was smoking way to much weed and screwing my life up. Grew up in a small town in Nor Cal and raised by my father. Friend of mine approached me who was already enlisted and convinced me to talk to the recruiter. My father was a Marine and couldn?t believe what I had done. He was asking me if I was sure about this? When I left he looked me dead in the eye, shook my hand and shut the door in my face. I didn?t know then that he hadn?t hugged me because he saw me as his equal from that day on.
What did it do for you? Gave me direction, discipline and made aware of how big the world is and what a bubble the American people actually live in. It also reinforced the morale fiber my father instilled in me.
What did you do for it? I have given 16 years, 3 combat tours and 3 additional deployments to God and Corps. I love my job!
Would you go back and do it again knowing what you know now? Yes
Does it make you more patriotic? Yes
Do you like it or hate it when people say “thank you”? No I enjoy it. Especially the ladies!
Regrets? Things you wish you did differently? I would have preferred to become an officer via one of the commissioning routes but I am a Warrant Officer now so no big deal. I also regret not having enlisted as infantry.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
Agree with President 100%. Not sure how I feel about Congress. [/quote]
Congress is comprised of the people who decide to declare war or not.[/quote]
Yes, but they do not command it. I am also not sure a degree of separation is a bad thing.
for record, my 18 yr old self NEVER said anything bad about the military, or those who served. I was referring more to my actions, or lack of. (not doing rotc, not taking the difficult classes, not talking to certain women, etc)
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
YES YES YES, especially politicians. Their skills today are centered around winning elections, not leadership and service.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, my past, my present and while I don’t regret my decision not to serve (as knowing myself it would have been a disaster for me or the person next to me that I would have gotten killed) but part of me wishes I could go back in time with the mindset and perspective I have now and served.
I’d like to hear from those that want to share about it. Thigns like:
Why you did, why you didn’t?
What did it do for you?
What did you do for it?
Would you go back and do it again knowing what you know now?
Does it make you more patriotic?
Do you like it or hate it when people say “thank you”?
Regrets? Things you wish you did differently?
So on and so forth…
Thanks for those that wish to talk about it. [/quote]
I definitely considered it hard, and I kinda wish I did. I cannot say that I regret not doing it. I had a great time and I traveled the world, but there is some inherent nobility to serving your country. So part of me wishes I did, the other part managed to do more in my short life than many people would do in several life times. Had I been idle I would have regretted it, but having the experiences I had I wouldn’t change for the world. It was an amazing time in my life.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
Agree with President 100%. Not sure how I feel about Congress. [/quote]
Me too. If you are Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, you should know how they work at some level. Granted it’s a civilian position, but respecting the military you lead is essential and I don’t think you can gain it properly any other way than having served at some level.
[quote]mstersmith wrote:
Why you did: I was smoking way to much weed and screwing my life up. Grew up in a small town in Nor Cal and raised by my father. Friend of mine approached me who was already enlisted and convinced me to talk to the recruiter. My father was a Marine and couldn?t believe what I had done. He was asking me if I was sure about this? When I left he looked me dead in the eye, shook my hand and shut the door in my face. I didn?t know then that he hadn?t hugged me because he saw me as his equal from that day on.
What did it do for you? Gave me direction, discipline and made aware of how big the world is and what a bubble the American people actually live in. It also reinforced the morale fiber my father instilled in me.
What did you do for it? I have given 16 years, 3 combat tours and 3 additional deployments to God and Corps. I love my job!
Would you go back and do it again knowing what you know now? Yes
Does it make you more patriotic? Yes
Do you like it or hate it when people say “thank you”? No I enjoy it. Especially the ladies!
Regrets? Things you wish you did differently? I would have preferred to become an officer via one of the commissioning routes but I am a Warrant Officer now so no big deal. I also regret not having enlisted as infantry.
[/quote]
Ha ha what is it about Americans that brings out the cliches so freely ?. I love it. It is like wathcing a hollywood film.
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
Agree with President 100%. Not sure how I feel about Congress. [/quote]
Me too. If you are Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, you should know how they work at some level. Granted it’s a civilian position, but respecting the military you lead is essential and I don’t think you can gain it properly any other way than having served at some level.
[/quote]
Ya that’s how I feel.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
Agree with President 100%. Not sure how I feel about Congress. [/quote]
Congress is comprised of the people who decide to declare war or not.[/quote]
Yes, but they do not command it. I am also not sure a degree of separation is a bad thing. [/quote]
Sure, it’s a civilian position. Active duty would be a conflict of interest. But a guy voting for war should know what it means.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
It would be a good start to make service a requirement for positions like president and congress.[/quote]
Agree with President 100%. Not sure how I feel about Congress. [/quote]
Congress is comprised of the people who decide to declare war or not.[/quote]
Yes, but they do not command it. I am also not sure a degree of separation is a bad thing. [/quote]
Sure, it’s a civilian position. Active duty would be a conflict of interest. But a guy voting for war should know what it means.[/quote]
On one hand I think it would be good if members of Congress served for the reason you mention, but on the other hand I think it’s good if members of Congress have varying perspectives on all topics including the declaration of war.
Congress writes law, but I don’t want all members of Congress to be lawyers. Does that make sense?
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
Robert Heinlein would agree.[/quote]
That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking! I am currently re-reading Starship Troopers. LOL
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
[quote]NorCal916 wrote:
I feel that every adult male once 18, should engage in at least 2 years of service. That should be military primarily, or national guard, peace corps, Teach for America, etc.
Maybe you should not have the right to vote until you have served your country or community in some capacity. [/quote]
Robert Heinlein would agree.[/quote]
That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking! I am currently re-reading Starship Troopers. LOL[/quote]
I’ve often thought that we give away the vote far too cheaply in the United States. That which is common and cheaply given is cheaply valued, and indeed, the vote of the individual is pretty worthless in our so-called representative democratic republic.
So yes, I would like to see the vote become a privilege that is earned, rather than a trophy that everyone gets as a prize for surviving eighteen years of life as an American citizen, and somehow attaining sufficient literacy to fill out a Selective Service card (if one happens to be male), a voter registration card, and a ballot.
In the republic that I imagine, one’s vote actually counts. All laws and measures are written in language that the voters can understand, and they are ALL put to popular vote. One earns one’s franchise by serving the country in some capacity, preferably military, but if that avenue is not open due to some physical or mental disability, then some other national service.
As some have mentioned, I would like to see military service a non-negotiable prerequisite for service in any elected government position. One’s military records would be made public, and the candidates with the most conspicuous leadership abilities would be the ones elected.
But I would go beyond that.
If you are a member of the Legislature, and you vote to send troops into combat, then you are legally obligated to lead those troops into combat. Junior congressmen would command a platoon, senior congressmen a company, senators a battalion.
And if you want to be President of the United States, you have to have first risen to the rank of at least Lieutenant Colonel, through the enlisted ranks, in a combat MOS, and have proven combat experience.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should mention that while I would be eligible to vote in such a republic, having served in the Army as an Infantryman and Cavalry Scout, I would not be qualified to be President.
As to Beans’ other questions, I joined when I was still young and hot-blooded. I don’t think I was motivated by “duty, honour, country” or any of that, so much as the thirst for experience. I was seventeen years old. I wanted to kill people and break things.
Boys these days are brought up to fear the rag-headed boogeyman, but in those days the boogeyman wore a furry hat with a star on it.
I wanted to kill commies. I hadn’t read much of Marx or Engels then, hadn’t studied the various revolutions in Russia or China or Vietnam in as much depth, I just knew, like everyone in America knew then, that Communism was Bad, and it Needed to be Stopped.
Plus I had just seen First Blood Part Two, and I thought it would be pretty cool to be Rambo.
What did it do for me? Well, I already knew how to shoot, which probably explains why I was the only one in my platoon at Ft. Benning to get an Expert badge for the M16A1, but I learned about weapons I wouldn’t have had as great an opportunity to learn about in civilian life. I got acquainted with grenades, grenade launchers, machine guns, antitank weapons, and antipersonnel mines, as well as improvised explosive and incendiary devices. I also learned a variety of neat skills. Like how to march a long, long way with a lot of heavy shit on your back, which has actually served me well. I learned how to construct a fortified fighting position with just an e-tool, logs, and sandbags, which is always useful. I learned the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, and how to use military radios.
What did I do for it? I pledged my life to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. I have never rescinded this oath.
Would I go back? Man, that’s a tough one. Two times I was incredibly tempted to get back in: when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, and when the invasion of Afghanistan began. A good friend of mine, a Marine Infantry sergeant, has applied to do some volunteer work for the Peshmerga, and asked me just the other night if I’d like to go too. Sorely, sorely tempted. But no. Among other things, I’m now probably too old for this shit.
Has it made me more patriotic? No. I view patriotism rather like I view religion. I love my country, and I respect God, but patriotism, like religion, just makes you believe a bunch of shit that just ain’t so, and do a bunch of shit that you wouldn’t do otherwise.
Like it or hate it when people say thank you for your service? Only once has it happened, because normally I don’t make a big deal about having served. But a few years ago I was at Applebee’s and this guy, out of nowhere, just came up and asked if I was a soldier. Maybe it was my haircut, maybe the way I was dressed (khaki pants, hiking boots, black T-shirt), maybe the way I didn’t slouch like 90 percent of the population. Whatever. I said I had been, a long time ago, and he Thanked Me For My Service. I smiled and said you’re welcome, but honestly it didn’t make me feel anything but embarrassed.
Regrets? Three. First, that I never went to the Defence Language Institute in Monterey, even though my scores for the DLAB were off the fucking charts. My recruiter said he’d never seen such a high score. But nooooooo. I wanted to be Eleven Bravo. Hoooah! Just did not think it through. Second, my Dad could have gotten me an appointment at West Point, through some of his connections. Regret not having taking him up on that. And third, when I was at Fort Knox waiting for my re-training as a Scout, I was offered the chance to retrain as a medic instead. Should have done it, but at nineteen it just didn’t seem very sexy to me. But of course it would have been a much more useful skill than learning how to crawl through bug- and snake-infested swamps, count enemy vehicles, and then sneak back.
[quote]sjoconn wrote:
I have been off the board and lurking for so long that I doubt anyone will remember me. I retired last year after roughly 9 years as a reservist and 19 years on active duty. I thoroughly enjoyed my time, but when it was time to go�¢?�¦�¢?�¦it was time to go.
Why you did, why you didn’t?
I joined the reserves for college and then never really committed to going towards a specific degree. I went active duty because I was working 2 part-time jobs and not really happy at either one of them. I felt I needed a change and a new challenge.
What did it do for you?
It challenged me every day. It allowed me the freedom to push myself to my limit and go further than I thought I could. It also provided me with a decent living, money to put into investments, a skill-set that is still highly marketable, the ability to help my fellow man, and the direction I needed to finish one degree and continue in my current studies.
What did you do for it?
I did my best. I hope that I made a difference at some point.
Would you go back and do it again knowing what you know now?
Absolutely.
Does it make you more patriotic?
Nope.
Do you like it or hate it when people say “thank you”?
It makes me feel extremely uncomfortable
Regrets? Things you wish you did differently?
Of course there are some regrets. If you constantly push yourself you will always have a tinge of doubt or regret. You just settle with knowing you did the absolute best you could with the information at hand.
I hope this answers some of your questions. If I were you I wouldn�¢??t spend a lot of time worrying over it. I would bet that I could find plenty of soldiers who wished that they had done things differently and had become accountants.
All the best
(I stay out of PWI even as a lurker. Reminds me of bad day-time TV. I just stumbled upon this)
[/quote]
I remember you.
Good to see you again, brother.
Funny. I read your post after I posted mine. My story might have been more like your story (the other one, the one you didn’t tell just now) had I done things a little differently.
[quote]Chushin wrote:
[quote]YamatoDamashii92 wrote:
[quote]mstersmith wrote:
Why you did: I was smoking way to much weed and screwing my life up. Grew up in a small town in Nor Cal and raised by my father. Friend of mine approached me who was already enlisted and convinced me to talk to the recruiter. My father was a Marine and couldn?t believe what I had done. He was asking me if I was sure about this? When I left he looked me dead in the eye, shook my hand and shut the door in my face. I didn?t know then that he hadn?t hugged me because he saw me as his equal from that day on.
What did it do for you? Gave me direction, discipline and made aware of how big the world is and what a bubble the American people actually live in. It also reinforced the morale fiber my father instilled in me.
What did you do for it? I have given 16 years, 3 combat tours and 3 additional deployments to God and Corps. I love my job!
Would you go back and do it again knowing what you know now? Yes
Does it make you more patriotic? Yes
Do you like it or hate it when people say “thank you”? No I enjoy it. Especially the ladies!
Regrets? Things you wish you did differently? I would have preferred to become an officer via one of the commissioning routes but I am a Warrant Officer now so no big deal. I also regret not having enlisted as infantry.
[/quote]
Ha ha what is it about Americans that brings out the cliches so freely ?. I love it. It is like wathcing a hollywood film.
[/quote]
Ha ha what is it about Brits that brings out the snooty dickheadedness so freely? I don’t like it. It is like being stuck in a bad English restaurant day after day. [/quote]
We aren’t it is just Americans generally can’t take a joke before they foam at the mouth and start rambling on about Europe. Lighten up pussy. Also if you are white American you are likely fucking British.
For a people who like to say they are the best in the world you do seem very defensive when that is questioned or your nation is even the butt of a joke. Why don’t you have more faith in the greatness of America that you feel the need to play captain save a hoe and throw yourself infront of a fired joke with the compulsion of an obsessed 13 year old one direction fan?
Make a joke about England. No one gives a fuck. Your reaction to jokes about America is how the social justice warriors react about rape jokes or tranny jokes. Desperate to show how offended you are.
[quote]YamatoDamashii92 wrote:
Also if you are white American you are likely fucking British.
[/quote]
Maybe a couple centuries ago.
Now you’re just as likely to be German, Scandinavian, Irish, Italian, or Polish.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
[quote]YamatoDamashii92 wrote:
Also if you are white American you are likely fucking British.
[/quote]
Maybe a couple centuries ago.
Now you’re just as likely to be German, Scandinavian, Irish, Italian, or Polish.[/quote]
I said white varq. Do we count the Irish, slavs and guinea’s to be white nowadays ?
And the British are essentially Germanic so whatever. That must be where we get our awful culinary traditions from 