Are the quality of recruits in the armed services poor?

Question

I've known a couple people who joined the Army and Marines, allegedly the baddest of all the armed services, and they were very geeky and nonathletic. This other guy came back after a few weeks of basic training. While he looked built, it was just his uniform.

I've heard a couple of Marine recruits make disturbing comments that make me question why exactly they're serving. Some seem to just want to join up to kill people, which is sick. These are the people who serve this country?

I'm not insulting anyone, I'm just saying that this is what I've seen.

Answer 1

Find a better class of friends, these jack balls are just the 1 percent of **** birds in the Military, dont you judge me because of their actions

Answer 2

First of all, they chose to serve. That more then 95% of the current generation of people in this country do.

Second, not everyone in the Army is an infantryman. Basic Training does not make you big. It's meant to teach you skills and how to work as a team. Your first unit helps build up your physical fitness more. And in today's military, how much muscle mass do you need? I have seen too much become more of a hinderence then help.

We are trained to do the ugly things nobody wants to. None of us want to do them, but we do them. A fire fighter doesnt want to run into a burning building, but they do. Its possible maybe that Marine was one of the 1% of trouble makers. Any population has its trouble makers. Maybe they were talking about something they saw, something someone who hasnt served wouldnt understand. It sounds like your not sure since you used the word "seems" in your question. A lot of it is also just talk. They could be showing off to their friends. Marines have to keep an image, like the one you percieve based on your limited exposure to the military.

Answer 3

Ask 20 people why they joined and you can get 20 answers. Eventually the reasons they joined have a way of fading and they continue to serve because that is what they do,

Serve,
Sacrifice,
Protect

But they still join, knowing the risks.

God Bless them all.

Answer 4

Most of the military are good people. I got to meet a lot of soldiers and Marines when I was deployed to Kuwait. I think that they are the best of America.

I have been in the Navy and Naval Reserve for nearly twenty years; Sailors make jokes about Marines, but they are like brothers to us. We joke about the Marines, but we don't let anyone else say anything bad about them.

Answer 5

I honestly joined the Marine Corps because of the uniforms.
I joined the Military strictly for the benefits and the travel.

I got out cuz I did my time.

It takes a lot of balls to join any branch of service.

If you feel you would make a better quality service member than why don't you sign up if not SHUT UP!

Answer 6

Most "conventional wisdom" concerning the makeup of today's all-volunteer force is wrong. The average educational level of enlistees is 13 years. That's high school plus one year of college. And they don't join because they want to kill people. It sounds corny, but most join because they want to belong to something bigger than themselves. They want to be given a level of responsibility and trust which is denied them in civilian employment. One example. The average age of the sailors you see on that aircraft carrier's flight deck that are handling all of those take-offs and landings is 22!
That guywho came back from basic was built. He was also remarkably changed by that experiences and (dare I say it) he was liberated from the self-absorbed world of his civilian peers.
The military is a foreign country. It has its own strange manners of dress and speech, its own gods and taboos and its own totems. You don't have to understand them. You just have to be grateful that they are willing to step up, join and serve. They stand tall while civilians go to the mall.

Answer 7

Because, the media wants you to believe that most americans ae against the war. And its a fact that most of us want to get the job done, and establish a democratic government in the middle east. it is the press that is doing the lying. just like it is the press, lying about how Americans feel about Illegal Invaders crossing our borders. Most Americans want the borders secured. Period. Once that is done, then talk about what to do with the invaders. but the press twists that all around, and most of their stories, they forget to emphasize ILLEGAL when they mention immigration. God bless our military! May they come home soon and be stationed on our borders when they do come home.

Answer 8

My father in law served in the Navy. My wife would recount many a time that he said he questioned the mentality of the Marines.