the better to see you with my dear... Problem is we pay for members of the military to serve. Not just a salary, but living arraignments, food, basically room and board. Now would we pay for Jr to do that for the Civilian Conservation Corps, Inner City Education?
I don't get the wolf joke and feel dumb. But I think offering some people a salary and a ticket to a different place to live would be pretty interesting, on a mass, required scale. Maybe I'm crazy...
No offence meant Just the more we go to different places, the more we see that gives different perspectives. Just bein' weird'
Too many quotes to respond to so I'll hit on a couple. Rhester - I agree that there are many in the military that blindly follow what ther leaders tell them, however you'd be surprised to find that there are even more of us with a brain and see things for what they are. When I ask my shipmates why we're fighting, they don't give the same responses to what you say you hear. Cannonball - How are you coming in at E4? Do you mean that you'll be promoted to that once you go through your training? What is your rate going to be? As for the others about the military hurting for numbers. Don't believe everything you read. Right now the Navy is downsizing. The biggest way they're letting folks go is body fat. We're losing some good sailors because they're a percent or two over "acceptable" weight. For those who don't know, yeah we fight. We get sent to Iraq, Cuba, Afghanistan, etc. to fight and perform other jobs along side Marines and the Army. They've reduced it now to at least giving the option to people who want to go, but that's not always the case. There are bigger threats than Iraq ever was out there. I don't believe we should go to a draft. McCain would be silly to think that will fly with today's people. It didn't fly with previous generations. I said in another post though, that I think all citizens should give something like two years of some type of service to the country, be it military, government, community service or whatever. Just a thought though. Boy this BBS does keep it interesting. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the other forum and defend Rafer's position on the team.
Yeah, I tried to enlist in the Navy 2 years ago, went to meps...and they wouldn't take me because I was .5 percent over their body fat scale. They couldn't believe it, I kept getting measured over and over again going higher and higher up the chain and it never panned out. They told me to come back in three months but I just said screw it. Going there, seeing all those damn r****ds joining up...and they reject me, someone who scored in the 99th percentile of the ASVAB, signing up for the nuclear program, because of .5 freaking percent that I could lose in 2 days? Blah, screw that ****.
Yeah you can just imagine, when I have to rely on people that will never have any weight issues, but are useless otherwise or do just enough to get by. Then guys that I would go to war with any day are sent out because of minor, in a lot of cases, weight issues. It can get frustrating.
Yeah, because I have a college degree I'd get paid as an E-3 during basic training and then get moved up to E-4 afterwards. I can't recall if that's when I get to "A" school or when I leave it. I'll be joining up as a musician. It's either that or becoming a band director. I already know the audition is going to be no problem. I tried to sign up before but they wouldn't let me because I was taking antidepressants and they told me I needed to get off of them and stay off of them for a year. While I was doing that I started having problems with my eyes and developed double vision. I had surgery to correct it but I'm needing a second one in a few weeks to finish the job. Once I have the surgery, I have to wait 6 months before I'll be allowed to join. I had a friend join (also as a musician) and he was overweight but was able to contort his body enough to pass the body fat part of the exam. I'm a few pounds under my weight limit.
In some cases we're doing it anyway and in others it's pretty cost effective. For example, with inner city education, of course you'd get paid if you were a teacher in an inner city school. But it has the added benefit of bringing in (potentially) a lot of young but college educated people into the profession. With something like the CCC, it's historically a great tradeoff for things like training (which increases our tax base) and public works projects. With something like the Peace Corp you get a lot for not too much money.
the only way that i'll fight is if another country invades the us..that's it, i'm not going halfway around the world chasing some dood in caves and stuff
How do you know if his best friend is in the military full time? His best friend could be an NBA player who serves as reserve.
Pat Tillman wasn't lower class. Micho Kaku (scientist on Discover Channel who talks about future stuff) enlisted as an infantryman after he recieved his Ph.D. in physics. I know people who scored high on their SAT's enlisted and a close friend of mine had every opportunity to get a free ride through college but still enlisted because his dad was a former serviceman. It's their pride in serving, not because they couldn't afford a college education. Also, it is not hard to go to college anyways. Financial aid usually covers the whole tuition.
Michio Kaku was drafted. Go ask any recruiter anywhere if the people he drafts are over or below middle class.
I'm surprised they didn't ask him to be an officer or something with his education. What is most of the population? Below middle class. So of course statistically you'll have more below middle class enlistees. But if any of the guys who enlisted are from lower class, he could get financial aid easily and not have to join the military. He might join because he's lazy to go to school, but the military is not the only way toward success for the lower class people.
