How importaint is Americas Militaries?

[Skyburn]

SaguaroDundee

Skyburn

SaguaroDundee

I'd really rather have private militia and mercenary work do this. The U.N. is too dependent on our Federal Government. I honestly do not like having 7 billion citizens that I personally have to shell out some money for. The system is too sprawled out for me to make any effect. I really would just love to work from within my own State government, from within 1 million citizens so I can build a much more solid community.

I will admit I am a wishful thinker, but I don't feel I'm asking for something that is untouchable.

In an ideal world, that's how it would happen.
The world is not ideal.

The people who need help most are those who can barely pay for their own food, let alone mercenaries.
Sure, we could pull out of Europe unless they're willing to shell out the money, and could consider doing so in Japan and South Korea with a few bases, but we can't do it across the board. Southeast Asia still has too many disasters for us, as human beings, to be able to just pull the military away from the region.
If you want to cut back military spending, start complaining to Congressmen about Congressional Corruption involved with military overspending, and tell them to stop lining their pockets with bribes from companies who are trying to sell overpriced goods to the military.

Hmm, i'll look into that part of military spending. And complain/see if there is a progressive movement in my State for this. Has Raytheon ever been a problem? I live in the state that makes their missiles. or has made. idk which one

Big name companies aren't usually the problem. Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, et cetera, all are far to competitive to ever begin actually screwing the military like that. Any expensiveness on their part is usually for extensive stress-testing and whatnot.
It's when you're paying fifty bucks for duct-tape through the supply system, or a hundred dollars for the cover to toilet paper rolls (don't get me started on the toilet paper itself.) that things get suspicious.

[Desideraht]

Skyburn

Dandrogyny

Skyburn

I appreciate that you can disagree with me without saying my post is complete bullshit. That is respectable.

However.
I see no ACTUAL evidence that so-called "Terrorists" are out to get us, and that the ******** stationed all over, basically getting paid to run through drills and otherwise ********, are somehow preventing such an attack. I believe the bombs, and solely the bombs, are preventing such an attack. I simply do NOT see the use of soldiers in "protecting our rights." They are outdated in this era, and really, their only efforts could POSSIBLY be humanitarian, if we were to use them effectively/diplomatically, but despite this so-called "rule" you mentioned, we are killing mostly civilians in what the military chalks off as "guerrilla warfare"-- a euphemism used to defend collateral murder. Second, while you say "We don't like to kill civilians," I actually say that's a blanket statement in your favor. Do you know that the Marines takes in felons? It's the only branch that does allow that, and I do NOT believe they are all screened for mental health. You have to LIKE to kill and be "on the edge" to be a bullet catcher. And on top of that, there is VIDEO EVIDENCE of soldiers mutilating/abusing/killing civilians. You consider them a "small minority" but don't say "we" when there are exceptions. And we don't know how MANY exceptions.

Here's an example. My BF's sister is 18 years old. She is enlisting in the Army. She starts off by saying that "sex is the Morale of the military". As in she knows everyone ******** each other (and this IS something I've heard from people on active duty) and that's how people get by on the social level. I am aware there are exceptions but that is not the general tone of things. The second thing is that she specifically wants to go in so that she CAN kill people legally. She wants to kill, she wants to torture, and she wants to see people die. She wants to "blow them up and laugh". She WANTS that, and I can guarantee they are not going to have a "problem" with this. She isn't "mentally ill" by anyone's standards-- she just has a "weird preference". She's already sworn in, started PT, and is due for shipment. They never "checked" on her to see if she's crazy or sick or not. She has an undiagnosed case of Crohn's disease (or something like it) but they have her already all registered and everything. If she can manage to not vomit constantly in Basic, she'll slip through unnoticed. It helps her that she has awesome tits. If this girl actually gets through it will prove to me how unmanaged the military really is.

I will NOT deny that weapons are getting more accurate. I will NOT deny that targets are being better sought out, whereas war was more visibly a genocide. However, can you name me the TARGET of the vague concept of the "War on Terror"? What IS our target and why have we not taken care of it?

Do you know who and how many American soldiers stand between North and South Korea? It is very small. The stand off there is a silent political battle. And the US being there creates this weird "third party" tension, but I do not see how we are actually PHYSICALLY preventing them from engaging in combat.

I think it is OUTRAGEOUS to assume that the United States, in as much National Debt as it is in, is really the only country standing between "forced peace" and WWIII. I think that is arrogant and I think that is short-sighted.

I already acknowledged deterrence. But I do not believe our soldiers are doing it. The way they act and talk about their jobs, most of them I encounter are just in there for college money, and don't have a real dedication to the "cause". The social climate of enlistment has changed drastically since the economy ate s**t. People are scrambling to get in because it's a job, and they want back out to their civilian life after they've claimed their military benefits. It's a waiting game for them. "I can handle this for a few years, so long as I get out."

I will actually agree that the military itself has not brainwashed people into being paranoid. It IS politics. I've actually seen recruiters say, "You will never be in combat, we will pay for your schooling, and you can just have a civilian job with great pay!" like joining the military has nothing to do with actually being IN the military. Despite the fact they put everyone through PT and Basic. It's all very clear. There's a "catch" they're not mentioning to those who enlist. And if you ask too many questions, this job isn't for you. I certainly question their agenda, when I am not allowed to enlist simply because I have abnormal genitalia.

I am aware of the atrocities in other countries. What I am not sure about is why, if we have a militia powerful enough to destroy anyone, that we don't? If we are so stealth that we can kill leaders of corrupt countries undetected, and even conquer those countries afterwards, why don't we? If we are policing the world's nations, why do we insist upon doing so half-assed, so just kind of watch (closely) and keep bitching about it? Our military presence is actually not in any way ceasing those atrocities. In times of WAR (and that IS what is happening when you invade someone else's country, from their perspective), people act even MORE crazy. It is the end of the world as THEY know it.

To say "people want to kill us just because" is outrageously vague justification for what we do. Much like "The War on Terror".

I do not want my kids to grow up in a world at constant stand-off. If the world were to destroy itself leaving people in a society that is backed to bartering and self-care, at least my children could live lives outside of the Age of Terror. What money has done to this world is outrageous corruption. Luxury and propaganda and paranoia. A strict two-party system where they are forced to choose between two radical belief systems if they want a say at all. Living in a country where healthcare and housing are something you have to be in CONSTANT battles with the banks over. Military spending has taken precedence over the quality of life for our citizens. There are more than 1.8 million homeless children in this country. ******** CHILDREN. That does not include decent men and women who are out of health or simply too far in poverty to get out despite all of their efforts. Medical issues in MY life nearly ruined my economic chances FOR LIFE. I had to play my cards right to avoid having all of my assets immediately swiped right out from under me. It's disgusting that the United States prides themselves in this manner yet we are far behind many if not most of our allies on healthcare, education, environmental policy, transportation, and other civilian-affecting matters. I do not see ANY excuse that could justify how we handle student debt, and how piss-poor our hospitals are and the outrageous charges that ruin people's lives (and this does NOT happen in other countries like it does here).

If we are to make the world that I WANT my children to grow up in, we are going to have to cut military funding DRASTICALLY, and completely reform medicare. Not the half-assed plan that Obama had, which wasn't too bad to start but was almost completely re-written before being passed.

I think the idea that there could be a "series of unexpected Terror attacks!" is outrageously paranoid considering the investment we have in our Intelligence programs. I think we know exactly what we're dealing with but like to tell people that we don't so they will do what we want them to.

I never said those Japanese school girls were under age. But yeah. People are basically over there having parties and having sex, and getting paid out of my taxes to do it. It's ******** annoying.

I know it's going to be cliche, but there is definitely evidence they are "out to get us." It's not just us. It's anyone who they deem to be the enemy.
They're

Terrorism is easily comparable to an virus or bacterial infection. It is constantly evolving, constantly becoming more resistant to what you're doing. Terrorists are constantly adapting. You start using one method of fighting too much, and you might as well not use it at all. Intelligence community or not, if they make a break through, there is no way, other than happy chance, to find that out.

You overexaggerate what our sailors are doing. Even so, I venture to ask if our sailors don't deserve - if nothing else - what stress relief they get. They're getting what they get paid nomatter where they are stationed, and, based on working hours, most are getting paid less than national minimum wage or close to it. Many can look forward to 120 hour work weeks. And many of them have jobs more stressful than most you'll find anywhere else. Where else do you have to live at your work one out of every three days (save for underway, when it's for months at a time,with less than adequate living quarters), work overtime without getting paid for it, rather, just having overall average pay be reduced, horrid sleep schedules and have to deal with stresses few other can even conceive.
We lose far too many people due to depression - being overworked like hell. The attrition rate for some noncombat jobs is half, and before you start calling anyone a p***y, consider the fact that you don't have any idea what the military has to do, combat or not.
Partying and having sex? Less so than any kids on government aid in college, though, admittedly, because we have less time to do so. And people need to have stress relief to quite literally keep from going insane. And living overseas in a stressful as hell environment? You'd be surprised of the number of insanity cases or people removed from their jobs and losing security clearances and put down into jobs of just chipping paint and stripping/waxing floors.
And, for the record, there are a vast number of sailors in Japan who have yet to step into a club.

As for killing of civilians - all branches screen for mental health to a degree. It's part of the MEPS process before you even sign the papers.
The military fully does not endorse the killing of civilians. Yes. It happens, and that sucks. It's the sort of thing that people get PTSD for. Yes, there is video evidence of it occurring. But any video evidence there is comes out instantly, simply for the fact that the far left-wingists have something to point a finger at.
It's also the reason why the military pretty much gets punishment-happy and requires little evidence to throw the book at you for anything.
And you don't have to like to kill to be a soldier and be on the front lines. Most don't, but there are so many dynamics to the situation that even breaking it up into four or five blanket statements separate from one another will leave them all wrong.

And you're BF's sister:
1) Isn't military. She's a DEPer. The recruiters tell them they're military because half of all recruiters are horrible people and try to keep from telling them they can up and leave at that point.
2) She doesn't know anything about the military. Even after she goes through full training, she'll know hardly anything until she's deployed.
3) People like her are exactly the sort that get filtered out in training, let alone Basic.
4) Even so, you really don't know what the military does or doesn't do to try to filter people out, or how many people they do filter out.
5) Really doubt she'll keep that "I want to kill" mentality. That sort of gung-ho-ism leaves by the time you hit the first plane to whereever you deploy to.
6) She's not sworn in. She's sworn into DEP. You swear into the military when you leave for Basic. They do that just to make you feel special. Trust me.

As for North and South Korea:
Yes, the number of soldiers isn't that great. It's what they represent. They represent the general hammer of pain that America will deliver if one of them is killed - and the general fact that they've also got air support on a few hours notice, and that while there are only a few soldiers on the ground, Japan also supports bases with several squadrons of fighters, a supercarrier, amphibious assault carriers, frigates, destroyers, cruisers, et cetera. It's not just those foot soldiers, it's the fact that by the time the North Koreans hit Seoul they're in for a world of hurt.

I'm all for cutting military spending. Ron Paul had a pretty good plan to do it without actually hurting the military, and still allowing us to provide humanitarian response.
That, and giving Congress a general kick in the balls and keeping them from needlessly spending the military budget on useless things and then not buying the useful things would help quite a bit.
Slowly cutting back to pre-Iraq war status is logical, and then, once we are out of Afghanistan, pre-Afghani war. It's logical, straight up. We can then begin the process of revising our military. What we need now is more mobility, not so much firepower. Unfortunately, as war always changes, so will our needs. Money will always be spent. Sure, we can definitely use it better than we are, but that's what a pen, paper, and Congressman's address being public knowledge are for.
That, and I'm all for using Stateside based military personnel openly for humanitarian projects like building houses for the homeless and whatnot.

"Terrorism" is very vaguely defined and unspecified specifically just so that it can be used as leverage to do just about anything.

The sailors took this job upon themselves, and they get paid plenty to do it. I still think it's outrageous that so many of them can basically NOT WORK and get paid to party, go traveling, and have a rip-roaring time. I mean I know a guy who's on "gun duty" and you basically sleep with a rifle because nothing's going on in Japan. And that's his "job". That's what he gets paid to do. Boring as ********, but with complete guaranteed job security and better pay than most jobs here. You act like they're working so much but the training doesn't count as work. And also the travel is like hardly work either and not every job pays you to travel.

When did I even consider calling anyone a "p***y"? Now I DO think the military has pussified to some degree. I mean now you get "stress cards" in Basic that you can pull out when the drill instructor is making you uncomfortable. It's outragious-- it's their ******** JOB to make you uncomfortable. And again they keep selling this s**t to high school graduates basically saying "We'll pay for everything just sign here."

You act like government aid is easy to obtain. It is not and comes with massive debts. The military comes with lifelong verteran benefits even with just one day of active duty.

Which papers? Like I said, my BF's sister hasn't been screened for anything. Also, do you think she'd MENTION the stuff like how she things "sex is the Morale of the military" and how badly she wants to slaughter people? ******** no. And they'll overlook it too because she's cute and has nice tits. Like they are so going to let her waltz on through. The want bodies and bullet catchers. Admittedly as a woman her ability to catch bullets is limited due to where they allow female placement, but still.

She is going for a job with Intelligence Top Secret clearance and she's so sure she's going to get it even though she has to be in the top THREE to pass. I have a hard time believing it. The weird thing is she failed that entrance test but they let her pick that MOS anyway (Interrogator? Or some s**t? Sounds stupid as ********). Already she's taking shortcuts and cutting corners like I thought she would. She did not pass for tha MOS but they like waived her failure or something because she blamed the computer.

1. I don't get how she's... anything BUT military. I mean they're sending her off to Basic. And she has her deployment date.
2. She's convinced she knows everything. Her step father is an ex marine and he's facepalming hard. She thinks he's just being "mean" when he tells her how it is.
3. She's doing "great" in PT. They all love her there. I've seen the "fellow soldiers" comment on her wall.
4. If she gets through it proves to me that they don't try very hard to filter out the idiots/crazies.
5. It's n ot so much "gung-ho-ism" as much as she's a sadist.
6. Yeah everyone thinks she is sworn in and you bet it made her feel special, she thinks she's some goddamn hero already.

I consider what most of the military does hardly "humanitarian", especially in the warzone areas. I actually agree with Ron Paul's take on the military but cannot allow myself to vote for him for other reasons that affect civil rights in THIS country.

I've always tried to tell people that the military should be helping clean things up in OUR hellhole of a countryandyes I certainly resent how many people are deployed, basically going on fancy vacations with "a lot of work" but really it's a vacation on tax paid dollars.

[Vicious Thrasher]

catspook

I don't think I've ever heard an adult argue that the US doesn't need any military at all; of course we do. The issue is how it is managed, and are other important needs being sacrificed to supply the military with things it really doesn't need?

This is the smartest answer here.

[catspook]

Vicious Thrasher

catspook

I don't think I've ever heard an adult argue that the US doesn't need any military at all; of course we do. The issue is how it is managed, and are other important needs being sacrificed to supply the military with things it really doesn't need?

This is the smartest answer here.

Thank you redface

[Bento the spazcat]

It's not as important as people make it out to be. I mean, ******** pretty much the self-imposed police of the world, enforcing our laws on others and shitting on the laws of the land we invade.

[Skyburn]

Dandrogyny

"Terrorism" is very vaguely defined and unspecified specifically just so that it can be used as leverage to do just about anything.

The sailors took this job upon themselves, and they get paid plenty to do it. I still think it's outrageous that so many of them can basically NOT WORK and get paid to party, go traveling, and have a rip-roaring time. I mean I know a guy who's on "gun duty" and you basically sleep with a rifle because nothing's going on in Japan. And that's his "job". That's what he gets paid to do. Boring as ********, but with complete guaranteed job security and better pay than most jobs here. You act like they're working so much but the training doesn't count as work. And also the travel is like hardly work either and not every job pays you to travel.

When did I even consider calling anyone a "p***y"? Now I DO think the military has pussified to some degree. I mean now you get "stress cards" in Basic that you can pull out when the drill instructor is making you uncomfortable. It's outragious-- it's their ******** JOB to make you uncomfortable. And again they keep selling this s**t to high school graduates basically saying "We'll pay for everything just sign here."

You act like government aid is easy to obtain. It is not and comes with massive debts. The military comes with lifelong verteran benefits even with just one day of active duty.

Which papers? Like I said, my BF's sister hasn't been screened for anything. Also, do you think she'd MENTION the stuff like how she things "sex is the Morale of the military" and how badly she wants to slaughter people? ******** no. And they'll overlook it too because she's cute and has nice tits. Like they are so going to let her waltz on through. The want bodies and bullet catchers. Admittedly as a woman her ability to catch bullets is limited due to where they allow female placement, but still.

She is going for a job with Intelligence Top Secret clearance and she's so sure she's going to get it even though she has to be in the top THREE to pass. I have a hard time believing it. The weird thing is she failed that entrance test but they let her pick that MOS anyway (Interrogator? Or some s**t? Sounds stupid as ********). Already she's taking shortcuts and cutting corners like I thought she would. She did not pass for tha MOS but they like waived her failure or something because she blamed the computer.

1. I don't get how she's... anything BUT military. I mean they're sending her off to Basic. And she has her deployment date.
2. She's convinced she knows everything. Her step father is an ex marine and he's facepalming hard. She thinks he's just being "mean" when he tells her how it is.
3. She's doing "great" in PT. They all love her there. I've seen the "fellow soldiers" comment on her wall.
4. If she gets through it proves to me that they don't try very hard to filter out the idiots/crazies.
5. It's n ot so much "gung-ho-ism" as much as she's a sadist.
6. Yeah everyone thinks she is sworn in and you bet it made her feel special, she thinks she's some goddamn hero already.

I consider what most of the military does hardly "humanitarian", especially in the warzone areas. I actually agree with Ron Paul's take on the military but cannot allow myself to vote for him for other reasons that affect civil rights in THIS country.

I've always tried to tell people that the military should be helping clean things up in OUR hellhole of a countryandyes I certainly resent how many people are deployed, basically going on fancy vacations with "a lot of work" but really it's a vacation on tax paid dollars.

Yes, terrorism is a loosely based term, because the actual acts that are considered terrorism are widely spread. Terrorism, as it is defined, is warfare based on terror tactics vice intimidation tactics - and yes, there is a difference.

As far as calling anyone a p***y, that was more to avoid the argument altogether. But I'm not going to disagree that we've lightened up (I blame politicians and left-wing lawyers - "stress cards?" I never got those (though I do know they exist now, but most recruits throw them away), and you shouldn't need them. It's the military. Man up and expect to sacrifice a part of yourself one way or another.) As for recruiters... the rest of the military is with you on that, with how recruiters are. Most recruiters are hated. Admittedly, right now being a recruiter sucks, but still.

Also, I'm going to agree with you - to a point - about not working. Yes, there are many people in the military who do very little. They're also the guys who get no special pay and have generally crappy advancement. It sickens me, too. Because there are people who work like hell. I'll direct you to the four-hundred guys and gals I work with. My department regularly pulls off miracles that people thought otherwise unachievable with nuclear reactors. During Fukushima, our schedule said the earliest we'd be able to get underway was 19 days. That was what every person, people who had been on carriers, even our own chain of command, said we'd be able to get as our fastest underway time. We did it in eight, because most people simply didn't sleep. Underway, I regularly get as much sleep in a week as some people do in a single night. If it's a good week, Sunday is catch-up. If it's a bad week, an hour or two a night is all some of us get.
And the travel part? What do you think we do on boats all day? Sleep? Pfft. Ever heard of "watch?" I can't speak for every other rate in the Navy, but if I'm not doing something, whether or not I'm on watch, I'm studying and qualifying, or doing maintenance. That's typically how it is in the Navy. Level of knowledge requirements are extremely high, especially for my job.
Yes, there are people who pretty much don't have jobs, and those of us who do have jobs make it our life goal to pretty much ensure they do as much as they can to support those of us who have crappy lives.
And yes, I fully recognized that I asked for it, as does everyone around me.
That certainly doesn't make it suck any less, and doesn't make the pay worth any more. Doing what I do now, in the civilian world, would be earning me a $120k salary, with full benefits. That's including overtime - without, it'd be closer to just below $100k.
And training certainly does count as work - at least in my line of work. But when you've got people saying Ivy League Colleges were a piece of cake compared to our training/educational pipeline, that speaks for itself. I'll admit, I wouldn't consider most of the rest of the military's training to be very difficult, but that's also coming from someone in a department which typically struggles with being overly condescending to the rest of the military.

Sex isn't exactly the "morale of the military." Not everyone in the military goes off screwing each other every which way. In DEP, absolutely. You're all thinking the people around you, or you, are potentially going to be dead within the year, you'll never see these people again, save for perhaps once or twice at future DEP meetings (and never again if you only met at the hotel at MEPS). At MEPs, sexual intercourse is common. Everyone is scared, in shock, et cetera. You're lonely. You don't know anyone there, so there are theoretically no repercussions to what happens. Seriously, it's shocking high in the hotels they take you to for MEPs. Again, not actually military, just kids who think they're military but haven't had a shred of responsibility yet.
Fact of the matter is, she's making statements about things she knows so very little about. Even being related to a military member you only get a snapshot into the life - the home life. Military life itself is still foreign.

There are waivers for everything. Some rates/MOS's can be qualified both on Line Scores, which she had to have in order to take the entrance exam for that anyway, and some require you to pass based on said test. If she passed on line scores and the job is critically undermanned, then it's feasible she'd be allowed in (tits or not.) FYI, the tests to get into the jobs really don't mean a lot. They're more to test your ability to learn, and in doing so, aren't entirely accurate to what your skills are.
1) She's not military. She's not being paid. She doesn't have to follow the UCMJ yet. She can literally just walk away and apart from being pestered by recruiters, nothing will happen to her. She doesn't have her DoD ID yet, just probably some little dinky DEP card to make potential recruits feel special. I know the drill. I thought it was so cool back in the day. Until you're done with your initial school, many people have that typical "Military is awesome, I deserve so much, I'm a hero, I'm gunna save the world, kill me some ragheads/commies/somalis, blah blah blah blah blah."
Then you hit the real military, where all that stuff happens.
... And all of a sudden, you become a relatively normal, logical person again. For the most part, at least. Unless you're a douche, most people don't feel entitled anymore, apart from the sheer amount of work they do, or how difficult it is, like most people would with any job. The military becomes a job, at that point.
Until she goes off to boot camp, she's not military. She's little more than a girl scout. All she is to the military is a potential recruit with the paperwork in processing - and the only reasons for the Delayed Entry Program are to have an additional conduit for recruiters to get more recruits, because the DEPers will try to get more people, and simply to have a way to begin processing paperwork early so they can ensure bootcamp is done as quickly as is needed, vice waiting around for an additional week or two.
If you ain't gettin' paid, and you can't get punished (despite what the recruiters will make DEPers think), it don't count as military. Sure, DEPers get bit of respect from the military for wanting to be in the military - after all, everyone who joined was a DEPer once, as well. Problem is, it's still just civilian life. Just super-gung-ho civilian life. You don't even have rank - you have a prospective rank, what you will be. Everything is being lined up, but nothing is executed until you sign the papers in those last few hours before they bus you out to Boot Camp.
2) She doesn't. Like I said, not until shes done with her A-school or Tech School or whatever they call it in whatever branch she's going to.
3) They ain't soldiers, and PT is hardly a major component of the military to be graded upon. It's just all recruiters can really do to prepare you with.
And if she's got nice tits and/or is hot, she can expect special treatment. Simple fact in the military. Ten to one ratio (or worse), therefore, Tits get you special treatment. Unless they're man-tits, or the girl is that ugly. Men will be men, and women will always know how to milk it, military or not.
4) If she gets through it's because:
--A) Her Crohn's Disease isn't advanced enough to be noticed in boot camp and is, by proxy, not advanced enough to affect her work. If it is advanced, it will be noticed and she will be sent to sick call, where she will be evaluated. If they cannot find a cause and it is repetitive, she'll likely be processed out.
DEP is designed to get rid of those who simply can't function.
Boot camp is designed to get rid of those who are incompatible with the military.
The following schooling program will get rid of those who cannot do their jobs. If she had Crohns disease, but can still effectively do her job, then it's up to her chain of command. If she can do her job, then the entire argument against the subject is moot. If she doesn't actually have a mental illness, then again, moot point. Nothing to diagnose, nothing to argue.
--B) Her sadism, if not a mentally related, doesn't really affect anything in intelligence. She's probably not going to touch a firearm apart from Boot Camp. The only reason I did was because I went to shooting ranges in order to earn the Rifle ribbon and advance my Pistol ribbon, back when I was gung-ho and thought people would care and it would help me get promoted. It doesn't.

Her papers include the background check the military does, as well as any signing papers she had when she first said she'd do it, and everything that entails with reenlisting.
Likely, and I can't say this for certain, they'll put her through more rigorous mental screening. They did for my job, and we don't even get past "Secret." If she's going for Top Secret clearance, she'll have a larger battery of tests once she gets done with boot camp.

5) If she's sly enough to get by, sadism doesn't get you out, so long as you don't act on it. If she does, the military loves to bring down the hammer of wrath whenever it can.
And I'm sure part of it is the sadist part of gung-ho-ism, wanting to go off and fight wars and whatnot. She'll likely taper off after a while, if she stays in.
6) Yeah... that's not the case. They swore her into the Delayed Entry Program. That amounts to very, very little. More or less it was a test to see if she was committed or just toying around, so when they have the actual swearing in they don't have to deal with them freaking out because they've already gotten past the hard part of making the decision.

I would actually be pro-humanitarian efforts inside of warzones. Pick up our mess, as it were. The military, particular Corps of Engineers, actually do that already, and I've already experienced the mad rush of "All ahead f'ing flank to get to [insert endangered ship/country/organization here]!" And never, in my case, was it combat related. Flooding country (Thailand), sinking ship (was actually standing Throttleman for that one, that was awesome as all hell!), et cetera.
The military, with all it does and how fast it does it, actually counts as the most effective humanitarian organization, with the best results. Who else can park a bring of nuclear reactors to provide emergency power, medical, airlifting, and search and rescue equipment, along with a five-thousand man workforce - in less than a week?
Much of the military would have voted for Ron Paul. Most liked his plan (still don't see why someone so logical went before that corrupt d**k Santorum). Withdraw out of areas we aren't doing any good in, but bolster areas that have recently actually been doing some good in the world? Heck yes! Being in a war is good for morale since you actually get a feel that you're doing your job, tsunami relief, earthquake relief, flooding relief, it all feels amazing to know you're saving lives at that very moment.

It's not a vacation. Sure, I'll admit, it's freaking awesome being deployed in Japan, but a vacation implies you get to enjoy the location. I do on the occasional weekend. Occasional.
Fact of the matter is, it's still a job.

Also, be sure to tell her she ain't killin' nobody. Like I said, she'll be lucky to touch a gun outside of boot camp. She's going intelligence. Not infantry. All she'll be killing is paperwork and the occasional fly.
As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

[Agent Thrax]

Skyburn

As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

lol

[Desideraht]

Skyburn

Dandrogyny

"Terrorism" is very vaguely defined and unspecified specifically just so that it can be used as leverage to do just about anything.

The sailors took this job upon themselves, and they get paid plenty to do it. I still think it's outrageous that so many of them can basically NOT WORK and get paid to party, go traveling, and have a rip-roaring time. I mean I know a guy who's on "gun duty" and you basically sleep with a rifle because nothing's going on in Japan. And that's his "job". That's what he gets paid to do. Boring as ********, but with complete guaranteed job security and better pay than most jobs here. You act like they're working so much but the training doesn't count as work. And also the travel is like hardly work either and not every job pays you to travel.

When did I even consider calling anyone a "p***y"? Now I DO think the military has pussified to some degree. I mean now you get "stress cards" in Basic that you can pull out when the drill instructor is making you uncomfortable. It's outragious-- it's their ******** JOB to make you uncomfortable. And again they keep selling this s**t to high school graduates basically saying "We'll pay for everything just sign here."

You act like government aid is easy to obtain. It is not and comes with massive debts. The military comes with lifelong verteran benefits even with just one day of active duty.

Which papers? Like I said, my BF's sister hasn't been screened for anything. Also, do you think she'd MENTION the stuff like how she things "sex is the Morale of the military" and how badly she wants to slaughter people? ******** no. And they'll overlook it too because she's cute and has nice tits. Like they are so going to let her waltz on through. The want bodies and bullet catchers. Admittedly as a woman her ability to catch bullets is limited due to where they allow female placement, but still.

She is going for a job with Intelligence Top Secret clearance and she's so sure she's going to get it even though she has to be in the top THREE to pass. I have a hard time believing it. The weird thing is she failed that entrance test but they let her pick that MOS anyway (Interrogator? Or some s**t? Sounds stupid as ********). Already she's taking shortcuts and cutting corners like I thought she would. She did not pass for tha MOS but they like waived her failure or something because she blamed the computer.

1. I don't get how she's... anything BUT military. I mean they're sending her off to Basic. And she has her deployment date.
2. She's convinced she knows everything. Her step father is an ex marine and he's facepalming hard. She thinks he's just being "mean" when he tells her how it is.
3. She's doing "great" in PT. They all love her there. I've seen the "fellow soldiers" comment on her wall.
4. If she gets through it proves to me that they don't try very hard to filter out the idiots/crazies.
5. It's n ot so much "gung-ho-ism" as much as she's a sadist.
6. Yeah everyone thinks she is sworn in and you bet it made her feel special, she thinks she's some goddamn hero already.

I consider what most of the military does hardly "humanitarian", especially in the warzone areas. I actually agree with Ron Paul's take on the military but cannot allow myself to vote for him for other reasons that affect civil rights in THIS country.

I've always tried to tell people that the military should be helping clean things up in OUR hellhole of a countryandyes I certainly resent how many people are deployed, basically going on fancy vacations with "a lot of work" but really it's a vacation on tax paid dollars.

Yes, terrorism is a loosely based term, because the actual acts that are considered terrorism are widely spread. Terrorism, as it is defined, is warfare based on terror tactics vice intimidation tactics - and yes, there is a difference.

As far as calling anyone a p***y, that was more to avoid the argument altogether. But I'm not going to disagree that we've lightened up (I blame politicians and left-wing lawyers - "stress cards?" I never got those (though I do know they exist now, but most recruits throw them away), and you shouldn't need them. It's the military. Man up and expect to sacrifice a part of yourself one way or another.) As for recruiters... the rest of the military is with you on that, with how recruiters are. Most recruiters are hated. Admittedly, right now being a recruiter sucks, but still.

Also, I'm going to agree with you - to a point - about not working. Yes, there are many people in the military who do very little. They're also the guys who get no special pay and have generally crappy advancement. It sickens me, too. Because there are people who work like hell. I'll direct you to the four-hundred guys and gals I work with. My department regularly pulls off miracles that people thought otherwise unachievable with nuclear reactors. During Fukushima, our schedule said the earliest we'd be able to get underway was 19 days. That was what every person, people who had been on carriers, even our own chain of command, said we'd be able to get as our fastest underway time. We did it in eight, because most people simply didn't sleep. Underway, I regularly get as much sleep in a week as some people do in a single night. If it's a good week, Sunday is catch-up. If it's a bad week, an hour or two a night is all some of us get.
And the travel part? What do you think we do on boats all day? Sleep? Pfft. Ever heard of "watch?" I can't speak for every other rate in the Navy, but if I'm not doing something, whether or not I'm on watch, I'm studying and qualifying, or doing maintenance. That's typically how it is in the Navy. Level of knowledge requirements are extremely high, especially for my job.
Yes, there are people who pretty much don't have jobs, and those of us who do have jobs make it our life goal to pretty much ensure they do as much as they can to support those of us who have crappy lives.
And yes, I fully recognized that I asked for it, as does everyone around me.
That certainly doesn't make it suck any less, and doesn't make the pay worth any more. Doing what I do now, in the civilian world, would be earning me a $120k salary, with full benefits. That's including overtime - without, it'd be closer to just below $100k.
And training certainly does count as work - at least in my line of work. But when you've got people saying Ivy League Colleges were a piece of cake compared to our training/educational pipeline, that speaks for itself. I'll admit, I wouldn't consider most of the rest of the military's training to be very difficult, but that's also coming from someone in a department which typically struggles with being overly condescending to the rest of the military.

Sex isn't exactly the "morale of the military." Not everyone in the military goes off screwing each other every which way. In DEP, absolutely. You're all thinking the people around you, or you, are potentially going to be dead within the year, you'll never see these people again, save for perhaps once or twice at future DEP meetings (and never again if you only met at the hotel at MEPS). At MEPs, sexual intercourse is common. Everyone is scared, in shock, et cetera. You're lonely. You don't know anyone there, so there are theoretically no repercussions to what happens. Seriously, it's shocking high in the hotels they take you to for MEPs. Again, not actually military, just kids who think they're military but haven't had a shred of responsibility yet.
Fact of the matter is, she's making statements about things she knows so very little about. Even being related to a military member you only get a snapshot into the life - the home life. Military life itself is still foreign.

There are waivers for everything. Some rates/MOS's can be qualified both on Line Scores, which she had to have in order to take the entrance exam for that anyway, and some require you to pass based on said test. If she passed on line scores and the job is critically undermanned, then it's feasible she'd be allowed in (tits or not.) FYI, the tests to get into the jobs really don't mean a lot. They're more to test your ability to learn, and in doing so, aren't entirely accurate to what your skills are.
1) She's not military. She's not being paid. She doesn't have to follow the UCMJ yet. She can literally just walk away and apart from being pestered by recruiters, nothing will happen to her. She doesn't have her DoD ID yet, just probably some little dinky DEP card to make potential recruits feel special. I know the drill. I thought it was so cool back in the day. Until you're done with your initial school, many people have that typical "Military is awesome, I deserve so much, I'm a hero, I'm gunna save the world, kill me some ragheads/commies/somalis, blah blah blah blah blah."
Then you hit the real military, where all that stuff happens.
... And all of a sudden, you become a relatively normal, logical person again. For the most part, at least. Unless you're a douche, most people don't feel entitled anymore, apart from the sheer amount of work they do, or how difficult it is, like most people would with any job. The military becomes a job, at that point.
Until she goes off to boot camp, she's not military. She's little more than a girl scout. All she is to the military is a potential recruit with the paperwork in processing - and the only reasons for the Delayed Entry Program are to have an additional conduit for recruiters to get more recruits, because the DEPers will try to get more people, and simply to have a way to begin processing paperwork early so they can ensure bootcamp is done as quickly as is needed, vice waiting around for an additional week or two.
If you ain't gettin' paid, and you can't get punished (despite what the recruiters will make DEPers think), it don't count as military. Sure, DEPers get bit of respect from the military for wanting to be in the military - after all, everyone who joined was a DEPer once, as well. Problem is, it's still just civilian life. Just super-gung-ho civilian life. You don't even have rank - you have a prospective rank, what you will be. Everything is being lined up, but nothing is executed until you sign the papers in those last few hours before they bus you out to Boot Camp.
2) She doesn't. Like I said, not until shes done with her A-school or Tech School or whatever they call it in whatever branch she's going to.
3) They ain't soldiers, and PT is hardly a major component of the military to be graded upon. It's just all recruiters can really do to prepare you with.
And if she's got nice tits and/or is hot, she can expect special treatment. Simple fact in the military. Ten to one ratio (or worse), therefore, Tits get you special treatment. Unless they're man-tits, or the girl is that ugly. Men will be men, and women will always know how to milk it, military or not.
4) If she gets through it's because:
--A) Her Crohn's Disease isn't advanced enough to be noticed in boot camp and is, by proxy, not advanced enough to affect her work. If it is advanced, it will be noticed and she will be sent to sick call, where she will be evaluated. If they cannot find a cause and it is repetitive, she'll likely be processed out.
DEP is designed to get rid of those who simply can't function.
Boot camp is designed to get rid of those who are incompatible with the military.
The following schooling program will get rid of those who cannot do their jobs. If she had Crohns disease, but can still effectively do her job, then it's up to her chain of command. If she can do her job, then the entire argument against the subject is moot. If she doesn't actually have a mental illness, then again, moot point. Nothing to diagnose, nothing to argue.
--B) Her sadism, if not a mentally related, doesn't really affect anything in intelligence. She's probably not going to touch a firearm apart from Boot Camp. The only reason I did was because I went to shooting ranges in order to earn the Rifle ribbon and advance my Pistol ribbon, back when I was gung-ho and thought people would care and it would help me get promoted. It doesn't.

Her papers include the background check the military does, as well as any signing papers she had when she first said she'd do it, and everything that entails with reenlisting.
Likely, and I can't say this for certain, they'll put her through more rigorous mental screening. They did for my job, and we don't even get past "Secret." If she's going for Top Secret clearance, she'll have a larger battery of tests once she gets done with boot camp.

5) If she's sly enough to get by, sadism doesn't get you out, so long as you don't act on it. If she does, the military loves to bring down the hammer of wrath whenever it can.
And I'm sure part of it is the sadist part of gung-ho-ism, wanting to go off and fight wars and whatnot. She'll likely taper off after a while, if she stays in.
6) Yeah... that's not the case. They swore her into the Delayed Entry Program. That amounts to very, very little. More or less it was a test to see if she was committed or just toying around, so when they have the actual swearing in they don't have to deal with them freaking out because they've already gotten past the hard part of making the decision.

I would actually be pro-humanitarian efforts inside of warzones. Pick up our mess, as it were. The military, particular Corps of Engineers, actually do that already, and I've already experienced the mad rush of "All ahead f'ing flank to get to [insert endangered ship/country/organization here]!" And never, in my case, was it combat related. Flooding country (Thailand), sinking ship (was actually standing Throttleman for that one, that was awesome as all hell!), et cetera.
The military, with all it does and how fast it does it, actually counts as the most effective humanitarian organization, with the best results. Who else can park a bring of nuclear reactors to provide emergency power, medical, airlifting, and search and rescue equipment, along with a five-thousand man workforce - in less than a week?
Much of the military would have voted for Ron Paul. Most liked his plan (still don't see why someone so logical went before that corrupt d**k Santorum). Withdraw out of areas we aren't doing any good in, but bolster areas that have recently actually been doing some good in the world? Heck yes! Being in a war is good for morale since you actually get a feel that you're doing your job, tsunami relief, earthquake relief, flooding relief, it all feels amazing to know you're saving lives at that very moment.

It's not a vacation. Sure, I'll admit, it's freaking awesome being deployed in Japan, but a vacation implies you get to enjoy the location. I do on the occasional weekend. Occasional.
Fact of the matter is, it's still a job.

Also, be sure to tell her she ain't killin' nobody. Like I said, she'll be lucky to touch a gun outside of boot camp. She's going intelligence. Not infantry. All she'll be killing is paperwork and the occasional fly.
As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

Let's just say your post was fairly informative. At this point in the discussion, I'm not disagreeing with a whole lot. But there are plenty of people farting around in the military, and I hate them for it.

Basically I hope the military will make or break her. From everyone I'm talking to, her prissy little attitude is gonna get wiped away if shes to stay in. It's either that or she's gonna get pitched at some point.

Any idea why the military does not allow transsexuals/intersex people? The regulation SPECIFICALLY states it is due to "genital abnormalities".

[ID Namarra]

Amagawd more concise plox...

Given the actual status of the US and its history, it definatly needs its millitary forces or it would go up in smoke in an instant.

[Skyburn]

Dandrogyny

Let's just say your post was fairly informative. At this point in the discussion, I'm not disagreeing with a whole lot. But there are plenty of people farting around in the military, and I hate them for it.

Basically I hope the military will make or break her. From everyone I'm talking to, her prissy little attitude is gonna get wiped away if shes to stay in. It's either that or she's gonna get pitched at some point.

Any idea why the military does not allow transsexuals/intersex people? The regulation SPECIFICALLY states it is due to "genital abnormalities".

As much as I hate to say it, I agree with you. Too many people just goof off in the military. Generally, that happens everywhere. The military has a higher ratio, of what I know, of people being disciplined, but by and large, there are still too many people who just sit around and fail to do their jobs, and it pisses those of us with a good work ethic off, because it gives the military a bad rap.

What typically happens with girls in the military:
1) Pregnancy. If they're smart, it'll be an accident later on. If she's not, then it might be in training.
2) They go SAD (suicidal and depressed). Usually prissy girls. "The military is too hard!" Not just girls, granted, but that's a usual outcome.
3) Actually do well. Usually not the pretty girls, unless they're lesbians.

Transsexual/intersex people are a legal and social nightmare when it comes to the logistics and personnel aspect of the military. Any other job, they can pick what they want to be and everyone can get on with it. In the military, you often have open showers, confined rack space, sometimes hot-racking, et cetera. Where do they sleep? Are other people comfortable with them sleeping there (not even just a tolerance aspect, but how to other people view them?). Then, what jobs can they have?
When legal precedence is set forth, it'll be more defined, but right now, it'd just cause far too many headaches to be worth the cost and man-hours to try to figure it all out on a case-by-case basis, especially since each case is going to controversial in and of itself, then repeated every three or so years when they transfer.
The military pretty much just throws their hands up in the air because they've got more important things to deal with. If they worry about every little thing, they can't worry about the bigger issues. If every command's resources is tied up in all of the issues of transexuality and intersex individuals, then they can't probably screen for the "crazies" like you've been talking about. Too much politics makes the military less efficient.
It's one thing when it's a workplace, it's another when it's also a communal living situation, a warzone, et cetera.

[Skyburn]

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

lol

What, you think I'm joking? Why wouldn't it?
The overall military itself cares more about it's mission, yes, but individual commands care about their people like friends and family.
And why wouldn't they? Everyone higher ranking has been in the shoes of those who are lower ranking, and know what it's like. Sure, officers can really only related to their junior officers unless they worked a lot with the enlisted, but people actually care in the military.
It's just one more thing the media and Hollywood never get right.

[Agent Thrax]

Skyburn

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

lol

What, you think I'm joking? Why wouldn't it?
The overall military itself cares more about it's mission, yes, but individual commands care about their people like friends and family.
And why wouldn't they? Everyone higher ranking has been in the shoes of those who are lower ranking, and know what it's like. Sure, officers can really only related to their junior officers unless they worked a lot with the enlisted, but people actually care in the military.
It's just one more thing the media and Hollywood never get right.

Some people actually care, but it's not so close as you might be led to believe by some.

[Skyburn]

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

lol

What, you think I'm joking? Why wouldn't it?
The overall military itself cares more about it's mission, yes, but individual commands care about their people like friends and family.
And why wouldn't they? Everyone higher ranking has been in the shoes of those who are lower ranking, and know what it's like. Sure, officers can really only related to their junior officers unless they worked a lot with the enlisted, but people actually care in the military.
It's just one more thing the media and Hollywood never get right.

Some people actually care, but it's not so close as you might be led to believe by some.

Like...
... Me?
'Cuz they pretty well care. I can tell you that much, straight up.
So long as you don't fail at life, and obviously there are some crappy NCOs and Officers, but for the most part, they care.

[Agent Thrax]

Skyburn

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

lol

What, you think I'm joking? Why wouldn't it?
The overall military itself cares more about it's mission, yes, but individual commands care about their people like friends and family.
And why wouldn't they? Everyone higher ranking has been in the shoes of those who are lower ranking, and know what it's like. Sure, officers can really only related to their junior officers unless they worked a lot with the enlisted, but people actually care in the military.
It's just one more thing the media and Hollywood never get right.

Some people actually care, but it's not so close as you might be led to believe by some.

Like...
... Me?
'Cuz they pretty well care. I can tell you that much, straight up.
So long as you don't fail at life, and obviously there are some crappy NCOs and Officers, but for the most part, they care.

Not all of them care about all of them.

[Skyburn]

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

Agent Thrax

Skyburn

As for anyone in the military being a "body or a bullet catcher," again, this isn't a War of Attrition, and the military actually cares about it's people. Congress? Not so much.

lol

What, you think I'm joking? Why wouldn't it?
The overall military itself cares more about it's mission, yes, but individual commands care about their people like friends and family.
And why wouldn't they? Everyone higher ranking has been in the shoes of those who are lower ranking, and know what it's like. Sure, officers can really only related to their junior officers unless they worked a lot with the enlisted, but people actually care in the military.
It's just one more thing the media and Hollywood never get right.

Some people actually care, but it's not so close as you might be led to believe by some.

Like...
... Me?
'Cuz they pretty well care. I can tell you that much, straight up.
So long as you don't fail at life, and obviously there are some crappy NCOs and Officers, but for the most part, they care.

Not all of them care about all of them.

... Yay for blanket statements?
Obviously, but the military isn't comprised of coldhearted robots like everyone seems to make them out to be.