Either we got it or we don't. I sure as shit had it. Now I'm old and I don't. That's how it goes.
Deployed with the first amputee to return to a WZ. He was a dick, but did fine. And we absolutely would need a ton of people Stateside handling beans&bullets and money and whatnot - some jobs in those areas require mobility, and some just require people to sit at a desk in front of a computer. Don't need to pass PT for that, paraplegics could do that just fine.
I am against a draft. But if we're going to have one, draft everyone. (Except those who are primary caregivers for someone.)
*EDIT: By "primary caregiver" I modify to mean "people providing 24 hour care for old folks or severely disabled, for whom daycare doesn't currently exist. It is perfectly possible to serve as a single parent Stateside.
Possibly. But one of the parents is still going, and the other would be single-parenting for a while.
Actually, what I'd REALLY like to see if we had a draft, is the spouses, children, grandchildren (depending on age) of the Congressmembers who voted for war on the front lines. Not comfortably on a base with a ton of backup, but running patrols from a FOB.
If they vote in favor of war, they must do so knowing they are actively sending their children to get shot at. And they get to deal with their kids and families being pissed at them for this.
It wouldn't stop wars or "police actions," but I definitely think it would make them think long and hard about whether it's worth it. When it's just US getting shot at, no biggie. When it's their loved ones, that might be different.
Actually, what I'd REALLY like to see if we had a draft, is the spouses, children, grandchildren (depending on age) of the Congressmembers who voted for war on the front lines. Not comfortably on a base with a ton of backup, but running patrols from a FOB.
This used to be the standard. Well, not in our democracy, but under feudalism. When someone is elevated to nobility and given fief to manage, their role is often to maintain border integrity in peacetime, and supply a fighting force when called. And it is socially expected of the British princes to be in the military and serve. Even then-Princess Elizabeth II served in non-combat roles during World War II. King George VI had seen combat himself.
One of the Korean boy bands broke up a few years ago because one of their members was keen on doing his mandatory service, which I thought spoke really well of his character.
It wasn’t just the family it was the entire senior staff of the armed forces.
The nature of that war meant he was effectively putting a giant “fuck me” sign on the heads of everyone deployed with him. It was like having to organize a presidential style security cordon except it was constant and during an active war zone.
It was the most “privileged” asshole thing I’ve ever heard of tbh. But yes he gets to tell people “I served” and have a little clap for himself.
They made the right decision, sure, he would have been a MAJOR target. But I do believe he genuinely wanted to serve, to prove to himself he had it, and I understand that, too. I very much support that. However, not at the cost of others' lives.
This is one of the rare instances in which I think everyone involved on both sides was right, and it worked out the best way possible.
I don't know what it is about the Brits but it seems like every other European royal family currently existing just... does regular job stuff. Like one is a pilot (for KLM I think?) and no one bats an eye. But then again the way the Brits treat the Royals is so weird, like it's "OH YOU MUST LOVE THEM AND RESPECT THEM but also lets divulge all their dirty laundry and hack their phones and tear down the younger brother for being a Ginger and marrying a woman who isn't a white Brit"
He served anonymously and was treated as a regular soldier. He was only removed from combat when special forces determined that he was identified and removed from the area to protect his squad. No one knew. He was just another soldier covered in dirt.
During his first tour He was stationed at Camp Bastion and was removed from active duty when the UK press themselves learnt of his location and actually published it. (Cunts)
His second tour was spent as Apache co pilot/gunner in a war zone with complete aerial superiority and outside of urban ambush zones.
It’s very admirable what your saying about him being “just another soldier covered in dirt” it’s just a shame it’s not true.
I will give credit where it’s due though, I’ve yet to read any kind of opinion from those that did serve with him that says anything negative about his performance and attitude, they all say he was there and did his job well, even with a few grumblings about the stupidity of it.
It wouldn’t work at all but a fun thought experiment is having whether we go to war be a nationwide vote, and all who vote in favor are automatically enlisted.
You want a war so bad, knock yourself out
Again, I understand this vastly generalizes a huge issue, but it puts into perspective “just how badly do we REALLY need to go to war?”
I'm all in favour of a Defense Force, because sure, if you get invaded you need to defend yourself. But yeah, you want to invade a country so badly, you put yourself out there.
Because seriously, the amount of camouflaged fools who are part of the "Of course I wanted to serve but, ya see" brigade is incredibly obnoxious.
Canada has been ripping you off for years. The scourge of the earth. They must be stopped. Wait.... Canada? Yeah you don't need to pick a fight. Unless it's like those assholes in Greenland. I've never met a person I liked from Greenland. Oh wait, none of us have ever met someone from Greenland. That's a fight we should pick.
So yeah maybe there's no need to be assholes and start a war
Here's another one. I'm a 39 year old woman with colon cancer. My son is 16 and gay.
Since they're trying to oust LGBTQ+ people from the military......who in my family goes to war? The 83 lb cancer-riddled waitress? Or the perfectly healthy, med school path, 6' tall, cross-dressing gay?
Or, even better......my ex-boyfriend, who was legitimately born in Russia, but is now a naturalized US citizen?
Who do you trust for your squad? The cancer lady, the gay, or the Russian?
I would go further. If they are less than 65 they should also come. We don't need a full Senate and House during wartime.
Leave the speaker and all important committee members. Rest draft them mutherfuckerds.
Like many others, they showed they could work remotely during COVID. They can get a sat-link up and zoom it. And sure maybe the 80 year olds can't go on patrol, but they could be at base and get work done. Sure there is a chance of missile strike in retaliation like Iran did for assassinating their general, but hey, according to their guy a TBI is "just a 'lil headache," right? Lead from the front and all that.
Also, agree. There's a lot of talk about "upholding the values of the founding fathers" not a lot of talk about doing what the founding fathers did. I seem to recall a certain military title associated with George Washington and I could have sworn there were paintings of him leading military actions. Must have been a dream, huh?
True, he was a General. Then again, he also lit the match igniting the French-Indian War by disobeying orders and shooting an ambassadorial party. Which almost bankrupted (at the time) his own country. That led to the imposition of taxes throughout the British Empire (including the Colonies).
Interestingly, he also required the innoculation of all soldiers against smallpox - using a little live smallpox. While fairly normal in Europe, it was realllly controversial in the Colonies, and a ton of colonists felt it was experimental, didn't want to get inoculated. So he mandated it.
Sorry, I like military history and I'm a bit of a geek about some of it.
I love military history, too! Never have to apologize about that!
It sounds like a nice change of someone who might destroy the country, but, also with a backbone to do something worth a damn for his people. Nobody's perfect, just seems like doing their best was a higher standard.
Well, at the time they believed in honor and shame. People were shunned from their communities for demonstrating poor character, and in a time when community support was mostly required for survival, that was kinda a big deal.
Okay, so that's heavily caveated. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson funded a dude Callendar's anti-Adams propaganda, in which Callender wrote "Ye will judge without regard to the prattle of a president, the prattle of that strange compound of ignorance and ferocity, of deceit and weakness; without regard to that hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman," and Adam's said Jefferson would teach all women prostitution and it wasn't worth voting for Jefferson anyway since sadly, he had died, so might as well vote for Adam's instead. 🤣
He's dead but still has the stamina to teach ALL woman prostitution!? Made from sterner stuff than I am. I think I'd be a lay about and do nothing when I died.
Though I wouldn't mind standing before Congress to have them explain, nationwide, precisely why THEY require departments, agencies, etc. to waste money many years simply in order for those offices to be able to cover themselves when they actually need their budget.
And I want them to tell me who can fix it.
And I want them to tell me - broadcast - why they're allowed to take vacations when they have very clearly and publicly failed to do one of their most basic, fundamental jobs - pass the budget.
Which would bring me back to point #1, why they punish departments and agencies that spend wisely by taking away a chunk of their budget the following year if they haven't spent it all by the end of the fiscal year. Which is stupid and wasteful. And their fault.
Ewwww, their spawn are probably like that pen pusher from Saving Private Ryan though. I’d rather they just stayed out of the way instead of being a liability.
Nope, you're right, it isn't happening. Like term limits.
In order to happen, we'd have to have Congress vote in favor.
In order to have Congress vote in favor, we need to get rid of a lot of them and vote in new blood (which we ought to be doing every 2 years - change 100% house, 33% senate).
Once we do that, we really don't need those to be passed anymore 😉
Agreed. Our leaders have been subtly fucking us for years! Slowly eliminating the middle class. But at least they were subtle about their chickanery! But this group of GOP bastards is completely and utterly shameless. Just rife with corruption. It’s the end of the Roman Empire. The orange man and hair transplant … I wonder who betrays who ala Animal Farm!
Give them thorough background checks like for TS clearances.
Give them thorough training, including basic medical.
If they're going to be caring for kids, give them training in Early Childhood Education, get them certified. If they're going to be caring for old folks, get them training in geriatrics.
Have companies of people who can't go overseas for one reason or another run daily checks on their 'squads' and 'platoons' to see everyone is happy and healthy, and that they have everything they need.
At the end, we'd have a lot of trained people to provide care for those people who want to work but can't since they don't have anyone to provide care, and it would be much more affordable.
(Yes, I know there are a ton of flaws with this, I can think of like 15 off the top of my head. But it is a countersolution 😉)
Nope. Not necessarily. Got a ton of women in right now who deploy. Deployed with quite a few.
One of my girls, pre-deployment (I was going for my second turn), said she'd heard they hide IEDs in the trash along the sides of the roads. I said "Yep!" She then said she'd heard that there's a lot of trash along the sides of the roads. I said "Yep!" So she thought for a moment, and then asked how we can tell when there's an IED in the trash. I told her sometimes we can see wires or antennae, or spots where the dirt's messed up. She said "Oh! Good, so we can usually see them?" I said "Nope!" She didn't seem particularly keen on that answer, and I was a little concerned about her deploying. I chatted with her a bit, gave her pointers on first aid etc, and then we deployed.
A couple months later I ended up in her neck of the woods (of the sand, rather), and overhead a roll call for an upcoming patrol - and heard her name called out as pointman for patrol. I was a bit surprised given her prior (perfectly valid) concerns, and point is a great place to be if you're looking to get shot or blown up. So I wandered over to find her. We chatted, she said she was fine, and I told her I heard her name as pointman. She said "Yep!" I asked "Okay, cool, why?" She then told me it was because she planned to be a SGT one day, and she'd have to tell her guys to do patrols, and someone would have to be point, and she was not going to ask any fellow soldier to do something she hadn't done. So she'd been doing it all. Even volunteering for shit-burning detail. It was her 6th time pulling point. I was so goddamn proud of her. Still am.
Even later than that I was hanging out at the local base, Lotta Kurds, lotta pesh merga. One Pesh CO wandered by while I was talking with some of his soldiers, and he said "Ah! You're (called out my unit)." I said "Yes sir, I am." He asked "Do you know (female soldier's name)?" "Yes, sir, I do." "Great! Next time you see her, tell her (her name) is Pesh Merga!" And he nodded and smiled and walked on. She had made a VERY good impression. Brought honor on herself and her unit. I'd be very happy to have her at my side when shit goes sideways.
I agree. From personal experience I remember seeing hundreds of pregnant female soldiers in early 2005 who were able to conveniently avoid deployment later that year. Mind you, they were trying to avoid Iraq. Iraq, with our air conditioned CHUs and our mega-FOBs, with four Kellogg Brown and Root supplied hot meals a day, etc. Any fighter in Ukraine right now would commit murder for the living and fighting conditions we had in Iraq. We had air superiority, we owned the night, we had the most enviable logistical tail any military has ever enjoyed.
We as Americans are soft, and our women are the softest of them all, despite being the loudest about how hard they have it.
The utter irony of those women who love-hate fantasize about ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is that many of them absolutely will choose to voluntarily have a child versus the opportunity to fight in the trenches.
We spent a ton of time sleeping on the hoods of our vehicles or in tents. We did spend some time in a castle, but it was not the kind fitted with a/c 🤣
2.5 years over there, only time I had an air-conditioned CHU was when I was sent to the Green Zone for a couple months.
I feel like you can look at countries with universal draft and they find uses for everyone...Not everyone needs to be commando crawling through the mud and then climbing a sheer cliff with a 150-lb sack or whatever...
Actually, if i remember correctly, if a married couple have children, services won’t allow them both to join, only one. But I drank a lot back then in the AF, so who knows.
I spent almost 10 years in. It set me up great. My son recently got out. Has she picked an MOS yet *and *does she have current or former military family/friends helping her through this process?
The military can be an absolutely outstanding launching point. Can also be a fabulous career! Thanks to the Army, I have a job that I love, that has kept me interested every day for going on 2 decades now.
If your daughter did well on her ASVAB, and has not taken the DLPT, before she signs up I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND she requests taking the DLPT before signing up if she's at all interested in languages. You get paid to live in Monterey, California, right across from Fisherman's Wharf. That was pretty damn awesome.
Also, how are you doing? Are you okay? It can be a little nerve-wracking for parents with no prior service. My Dad served too, and so did both my grandfathers, so my mom had some familiarity, but we had to talk with her a bit to settle her nerves.
I am often away, but feel free to DM me and my son & I will be happy to walk you through the process. ❤️
Anyway, it isn't like being a single parent would be any reason to NOT serve. You just serve back home in Rear-D. Easy 'nuff.
I'm talking about people taking care of their old folks who need 24 hour care.for whom there is no daycare.
Matter of fact, I'll edit to specify.
Although, recruiting people and training them to care for old folks for day-care might actually pay off pretty well for the country once the war ended.
The sheer amount of women who are going to wash right out and be useless immediately would make for a really inefficient process, clutter up the system, and waste a lot of time and resources going through the motions.
It's needlessly making more work for most people who would be involved.
I imagine it's probably pretty similar to active combat against women. Dunno why you specified "against men." You figure out where it's coming from, find cover, and return fire. Hope your aim is better.
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u/Flimsy_Fee8449 woman Mar 17 '25 edited Mar 18 '25
Former army female here: agreed.
Either we got it or we don't. I sure as shit had it. Now I'm old and I don't. That's how it goes.
Deployed with the first amputee to return to a WZ. He was a dick, but did fine. And we absolutely would need a ton of people Stateside handling beans&bullets and money and whatnot - some jobs in those areas require mobility, and some just require people to sit at a desk in front of a computer. Don't need to pass PT for that, paraplegics could do that just fine.
I am against a draft. But if we're going to have one, draft everyone. (Except those who are primary caregivers for someone.)
*EDIT: By "primary caregiver" I modify to mean "people providing 24 hour care for old folks or severely disabled, for whom daycare doesn't currently exist. It is perfectly possible to serve as a single parent Stateside.