[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by waterflower

Many are waking up to the bankers using the military to fight illegal wars.Why would you unknowingly kill someone or destroy a country for the un/nato. All criminal groups.

I don't think so.................too much Tuckums may be twisting reality.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

Interesting article. I don’t agree with all of it, but it offers some interesting suggestions for improvement, such as allowing recruits who aren’t married but have children. (That was once considered a way of escaping responsibilities, but these days so many are already escaping them with impunity.) One reason given that hadn’t occurred to me is that recruitment is down because we don’t currently have a war where those in the military can go out and kill people. That could be! But not for most, I think.

However, the article doesn’t mention one big one. I think that from 1980 to 2001, recruiting was based on the idea of enlisting in order to get training in what could be a useful career someday and get access to help with college costs. I recall reading that recruiters were encouraging enlistment by telling kids they were unlikely to be asked to serve in a war zone overseas. Some were allowed to sign up with stated objectives of getting to serve overseas in countries like Germany and South Korea and seeing the world. Enlisting was a career move and NOT a desire to fight for one’s country. As there was no big war, not wanting to go into battle wasn’t considered a big problem. But then came the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recruits were not only being sent into battle where they might kill or be killed, but many were required to serve multiple tours in war zones. I recall the son of a college girlfriend of mine who enlisted in early 2001 because he was told he’d never have to go into battle, but he served three tours in Afghanistan. He wasn’t wounded, at least physically, but it was harrowing. It may have been wrong to tell recruits they wouldn’t have to serve in combat, whether they want to or not, but one could argue that it was also wrong to enlist in the military without being willing to fight.

I recall reading another article about Coast Guard enlistments being down because enlisted men and women were being sent to war zones instead of staying in the U.S. and doing what the recruitment posters said the National Guard does. A lot of people also decided to not join the Reserves because of the likelihood that they would be sent back to war, disrupting their careers and families. I don’t see any real way around it. You shouldn’t enlist unless you are willing to fight and protect. Getting job training and other benefits should not be the main reason for joining.

I myself would favor a near universal two year conscription for training, followed by a couple decades in the reserves. If you want the right to keep and bear arms, then you ought to be willing to be properly trained to bear them and be willing to actually bear them in war. Israel has a system somewhat like that, and that’s why young Israeli men and women are so confident and strong and brave. They all know they are trained and ready.

Isreal is surrounded by belligerents. The US is surrounded by 2 oceans and 2 relatively friendly countries.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by srswans

The article did not mention the Covid shots - forcing someone to do this is probably detrimental to recruitment.

The military especially NEEDS to have ALL of their shots. They are indoors with each other in barracks for long periods of time. Who would want an unvaccinated barrack mate.....certainly NOT me!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by PugMom

i think you captured something with comment.

NATO is very important to the very survival of the US and other FREE countries like Canada, Australia, Japan, and on and on. It is a perfect no-brainer situation!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

You expressed it perfectly. It is definitely a cultural "revolution", a totally new society of keyboard "warriors" desperately attempting to build some measure of self-esteem (yet sadly way too often ending in the desperation of suicide). An interesting observation on this recently in the news. The daughter of the king and queen of Spain, age 17, will soon complete what we here call "high school education", and will be joining her country's military. It is the custom in Spain, that those who are in the line of monarchs, to serve their county before completing further formal education. A princess not addicted to Tic Toc maybe ? ? To say I believe we, as a nation, are headed over the cliff, is an understatement. The "root" ? Well, of course we can blame it on coddling parents, but all the coddling at home is not a more powerful force in forming basic personal philosophy, as is the general agreement of parents to abolish all traces of patriotic pride, teaching of history, and the role of the United States as a leading force for liberty from public school curriculum's. Parents have been given the RESPONSIBILITY to determine what they want to emphasize in THEIR LOCAL SCHOOL'S curriculum. THAT is their responsibility, but most seem to prefer to leave it to the federal government and individual teachers (whose personal lives and philosophy may be FAR from the values, goals, and philosophy of the local area ! That is exactly what our wise forefathers anticipated: a national so large, so vast, so diverse, that a "national" or "federally mandated" public school curriculum would be a disaster.

Patriotic holidays were once a major emphasis at ALL grade levels, kindergarten to high school. Now, they are seldom even mentioned at school, let alone the kind of emphasis most of us experienced as young people: school assemblies, speakers, elementary students made red, white, blue decoration during art period, students who finished a math, English, etc. assignment before other students were always directed to the "extra work" box which held patriot coloring sheets, or word search puzzles with "patriotic" words, etc. When we are more concerned with making sure even very young children learn "pronouns" like "ze" and other gender neutral terms, than we are with junior high and high school students who can not name even 4 of the parts of speech, or have no idea what verb "tense" even is, silly as it may seem to some, I think this all works together (throw in "everyone gets a trophy, the winning team and the losing team) to form the "roots" of why so few are interested in joining a military they have been taught is "evil" !
,

I would NOT judge today's US young generation that harshly. Our generation has made mistakes that "bleed into" their generation. I can NEVER knock my PUBLIC EDUCATION and I think that after my generation of PUBLIC EDUCATION that efforts were made to destroy that Public Education for the main purpose of keeping taxes low for the upper brackets and allowing the uber-rich to get their PRIVATE Schools paid for. Nice con job, but it was America that got conned out of GOOD PUBLIC Schools.......so SAD !!!!!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Djean1981

Exactly. We were expected out of the house at 18.

In our generation, children COULD leave the house at 18 because there were Trade Unions that were set up for manufacturing that were EAGER to accept them. But, now, Unions are gone and manufacturing has been outsourced to China. And today, men compete with women for basically, office jobs where women have the better skills, but strangely, get paid LESS than the equivalent man. And BOTH sexes NEED TO HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES , which are pricey at best. No wonder young people are maturing economically later in life than our generation. And no wonder there are so many suicides among young people today........they face MORE pressure than we did. Today's US problems for YOUNG people are etched on the gravestones of UNIONS and OUTSOURCING to China

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

The #1 reason parents move to the villages, there's no basements for kids to live in......

That is VERY GOOD humor............. because the funniest things ALWAYS have a grain of TRUTH to them. KUDOS!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Babubhat

Instead of putting people in Coleman, sentence them to join the military. More effective than prison

That's what the Russians are doing.......it is backfiring.

[ddeacon1]

I turned 18 in boot camp. I spent the next almost 22 years on active duty in the Navy. I saw what I thought was the downslide back in the early 90's. This was when they started issuing "stress cards" in boot camp. I can tell you right now that as soon as those young sailors got out to the fleet, those cards were laughed at by the older crowd, including myself. I did not need some wuss telling me that he/she was not able to perform a task because they were being stressed. That type of attitude is not anything that I or anyone else needed during an underway replenishment or flight operations. I did not always agree with everything I was told, but at least I was taught to do and ask later. Granted, I did not always get restitution (actually hardly ever). At least, I was given the opportunity most of the time. It was still better than being taken out to the wood shed and still having to do the job.

[Mlundberg]

Originally Posted by ronwinger

I was drafted within months of graduating from High School. It was the only lottery I ever won, my number was 20. I did not know it at the time but, it was the best thing that happened to me. I wound up spending 3 years as I did not realize I had to work some place for the rest of my life therefore, I did not retire. Of course like everyone, I wish I would have stayed in. I believe that the US should require every male to spend a couple of years in the service. It would or should change their thought process and our outlook of the future would be brighter.

My number was 14.

[eyc234]

Originally Posted by I'm Popeye!

Let's face it...
After the "Greatest Generation" this country has produced and allowed mostly ____.......
......and if you disagree, you are part of the problem!

Please go tell an Afghan, Iraq or any young veteran that. Luv to see what you get. Also let all the first responders now working that they are worthless. There are good and bad in all generations.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

I don't think so.................too much Tuckums may be twisting reality.

Unnecessary, vindictive and rude...

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by eyc234

Please go tell an Afghan, Iraq or any young veteran that. Luv to see what you get. Also let all the first responders now working that they are worthless. There are good and bad in all generations.

The quality of the generations depends basically on the quality of their education. Today's youngest generation is beset by the NEW problems of Facebook and even darker web media that has POWERFUL psychological factors built into their software - that has the purpose to keep them on longer (24-7) for advertisements. While on they encounter BULLYING, BODY SHAMING, and other negativity, which messes with their heads (brains) to the point of producing suicides in mostly females, but also 25% of teen suicides are boys.
......In total, we have a WEAKER modern generation DUE to FACTORS of manipulated web-media that the US did NOT have problems with before about the recent DECADE. Our generation had ONLY TV, radio, and movies - all of which were REGULATED forcibly by government or industry standards.
.........What standards protect today's early teens? .......NOT Government protection, NOT industry protection, basically NOTHING.
...........I believe that the problems are the elimination of UNIONS, outsourcing to China, the CONCERTED effort to WEAKEN PUBLIC EDUCATION, and the FAILURE of the US Government to regulate Facebook, Instagram, and others (which is directly comparable to the government's failure to regulate the Tobacco Industry and PROTECT its citizens from LUNG CANCER !!!!! Can we NOT learn from our Historic mistakes as a society and country????

[mike234]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

Interesting article on the problem with military recruitment.

Any advice as to
1. why it has fallen and
2. how to increase it?

Addressing the U.S. Military Recruiting Crisis - War on the Rocks

well, lets get the females to register for the draft when they turn 18, just like males have to. anyone have a problem with that?

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by Mlundberg

My number was 14.

The government wasn't using the lottery system when I was draft eligible. In Nov 1965, I received my induction physical notice for an exam in December and being a healthy 18 year old, I passed. In early Jan 1966 I went to the draft board office in town and asked the person in charge when I could expect my notice. She asked me when do I turn 19 and I said in August and she said that is when I would get drafted.

I couldn't get a good paying job because I wasn't rated 4F (half dead physically), or in the National Guard, and didn't have the money or parental support to go to college so I enlisted. Retired after 20 years and some months.