my 16 year old son has talked about joining the army when he is old enough?

Question

it is his choice at the end of the day but im not happy about it as there is a possability that eventually he could end up serving time in iraq im all for fighting for king and country but dont fully understand the politics behind the iraq war! and wouldn't like to think my son had put his life in danger for somethin i dont beleive in? what are your opinions?

Answer 1

GOOD for him.
by the time he is old enough, we will be out of Iraq, and he will enjoy himself.

Answer 2

My father was in the Paras and I first thought about following in his footsteps. The Army careers office was right next door to the RAf and Navy. After a talk with the Army guys I had a chat with the Navy and It turned out that I would get paid better with a better chance of promotion in the Navy. So there it is.

Just finished my 21st year in the RN Submarine Service. had a great time, served my country without getting shot at. And have enjoyed a great percentage of it.

Don't get me wrong, I have been in dangerous war time conflict but at the end of the day the enemy has never had me in the sights of a gun barrel.

So if your son is hell bent on joining up, try and get him down the way of the Navy. Oh and Submariners get paid between an extra £4k and £6K a year more than anyone else in the forces at the same rank.

Answer 3

Your son, if now aged 16, is old enough to join the British Army as a Junior Leader [Boy Soldier]. If his mind is set on becoming a soldier, why wait until he is 18?

As a Junior Leader, he will be taught a trade. But in order for this to happen, you need to ensure that he joins a Corps [Royal Signals, Royal Engineers etc] and not an infantry regiment.

If your son joins the Junior Leaders Regiment Royal Signals for example, he is very unlikely ever to be sent to Iraq although there is obviously a possibility. He is much more likely to spend time somewhere like Cyprus - it's a major listening post.

Your son as a Boy Soldier will spend half of his time doing normal schooling and education. The other half of his day will be divided between military activities, drill etc., and jumping about in the gym and playing on the sports field.

Answer 4

Tell him to go Air Force :D.

Honestly, its his choice. While the politics in Iraq are really shaky, and the PR about it is even worse, it has crippled Al-Quida and other terrorist organizations. They didn't just give up after 9/11, if they could have attacked again, they would have, we havn't let them, and our continued prescense in Iraq and Afghanistan is doing most of the work.

Hopefully by the time your son is old enough to join Iraq will be stable enough for us to leave. Contrary to what you might think, all republicans will tell you the same, but I beleive that if we leave before Iraq is ready we will cause huge world problems.

Answer 5

I don't know where you are from since you are talking about king and country but in the US Army, to enlist they have to at least be 18 and out of high school (or graduating soon). They must have a diploma or GED in order to join. The Army helps with that if they dropped out before graduation. Depending on the path he chooses and whether he goes active, Reserve or National Guard will determine if or when he goes to Iraq or gets deployed at all. If he goes active or reserve...Well...I'm sure there are others on here that can tell you how they work. As for the National Guard, if he choose to have them help pay for college, he will go to Basic and AIT before college and depending what is going on by the time, be on non-deployable status for a period of time. This all depends on the contract he signs. You will want to go to see a recruiter with him at some point so you have an idea of what is going on and how everything is going to work.

As far as your feelings on this, I understand that you don't agree with the war. Most people don't. You need to understand that because he enlists doesn't mean he's going to training then immediately to Iraq. Your son is doing something you should be proud of: standing up for his country. That doesn't nessacerily mean going to Iraq. He might be called in to help in the event of a natural disaster or in a national emergency. Like you said, it's his decision. He's going to need your support should he decide the military path. Please, don't stop showing you care about him because you don't agree with his decision. Go with him to a meeting with a recruiter or talk to a young soldier. You'd be surprised what you can find out.

Answer 6

Honestly - it doesn't matter what YOU believe in - just him.

My 16 yr old is also talking. He is looking at both the Marines and the Army.

My hubby is active duty Army - and I support what is going on.

And as long as my son has the right reasons for joining (not for college money solely) then I will support his decision.

As far as the reasons we went - it had to do with Saddam not letting UN inspectors in. Another reason was that he used sarin gas on thousands of Kurds - sarin gas is a WMD. So he obviously had WMD. Where they went is anyone's guess.

There are a few other reasons as well.

I hope you talk with your son some more - without discouraging him - just cause he is talking about it now doesn't mean that he won't change his mind tomorrow....

Answer 7

My cousin's parents weren't happy when their children were joining the Army, but when they did, both of them couldn't be prouder. My father was against my decision to join the Marines, but he's helped me a lot since then.

Talk to him, ask him why. If he just wants to do it because of a videogame or something, try to talk him out of it. If he's doing it because he feels it's the right thing to do, try to be proud of him...and show him that. It's an honor to know someone, let alone raise someone, who would even consider doing such a noble thing. The benefits of being in the military far outweigh the risks. I have friends who want to join the military, but they don't have the courage. They take the bus to work or school everyday, sit behind a desk, and go home complaining about how boring it is. I wouldn't want that, and I don't think your son does either.

Good luck to both of you. I hope he makes the right decision.

Answer 8

If your son is 16 mate he's already old enough to join the army. He could become a Junior Leader in most regiments. He's not likely to serve time in any active capacity though unless he were to join an infantry unit. There's to much training involved in almost every other regiment.

Answer 9

He can join at 16 but the first 2 years are for the queen, and dont count towards his service.

Career wise yeah it is good enough but wait until he is at least 18, to be able to deal with it.

Answer 10

Another poor lad who has been brainwashed into believing it's right to fight for Queen and country. It's not even our war and if soldiers are unfortunate to be maimed in action this country disowns them. Put them on the national health waiting list for a couple of years or else let them pay for their own health care. But whatever a soldier does he must not put a strain on the country he fought for.
Why do millions of people go to and die in wars that a handful of corrupt politicians declare is right. If there was a vote in every country in the world to see who wants to go to war I feel sure we wouldn't have too many of them.

Answer 11

When he is old enough to join Bush will not be in office. No matter where he goes he will not be fighting over politics, he will be fighting for the man next to him. Plus, its not like he has to join a combat job. If he does admin it is almost guaranteed he will not see combat.

There is a lot of pride in fighting for your country.