Military question?

Question

Why is it that so many young men now days join the military to have them pay for schooling? Then whenever they get called up to be deployed they go to a corner and start sucking their thumbs and crying (I know this to be true because I work with them). It is not like they do not know that there is a war going on when they enlisted. I have the upmost respect for soldiers. My husband is one. But this really bothers me.

uhgrant100 You would think that is way it Used to be but I work at a psychiatric facility that has a contract with the base nearby so I know for fact this still happens on a very regular basis.

ironjag Until you walk a day in MY shoes do not judge me. Maybe you can go to war and I certainly am not rushing out to join up. I could not handle that. I work day in and day out with mental health patients. From schizophrenia to bipolar to above mentioned. It is part of my job for frustrations to occur. Honestly would you rather me come to yahoo answers to talk about my frustrations or to take out on my patients?

Answer 1

Read some of the questions posted on this Yahoo site. Lots of them about pay, education, time off, service only in the U.S. etc. Until the attack on America we had not seen a real war since the end of Operation Desert Storm in February of 1991. Those males who were 3 years old at that time are now of age to join the military. Unless they had veterans of Desert Storm or of the earlier Vietnam War among their relatives or acquaintances, they had no point of reference regarding war. Their exposure to the films of Steven Segal, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone did little to ground them in the reality of war. Stallone was probably the worst because his character took on the name of John Rambo, a nice guy from Montana who wouldn't have hurt a fly and whose name is on the Wall.
But, you can't blame them. In enlisting they are taking an oath to support and defend a document which has been read by only one in five adults in this country (if that). Once they don the uniform they get mixed reactions from their community. The worst are the members of the "Petey Patriot Platoon" who give them the "rah-rah" treatment when we all know those same people wouldn't have given that service member the time of day on September 10, 2001.
And, through no fault of their own, they have been conditioned like Pavlov's dogs, by the most devilish invention since the end of the Korean War: the "instant on" switch for TV sets. They expect everything to be "now". They expect every crisis to be over in 27 minutes and 30 seconds (plus commercials). Well, this war doesn't fit inside that time slot. No war ever did.

Answer 2

Recruiting. The Recruiters sell young idealistic and misguided teenagers into the Army by selling them mostly on the financial and educational benefits (whichever plays to that potential recruit the most). It's salesmanship. A lot of young people are just trying to figure out how to get their piece of the American dream.

They buy the pitch and come into the Army and only realize then the significant hardships that exist in the military.

As the other writer stated, this is a product of the modern-day GI Bill. WHen Desert Storm occurrred, the military dealt with a large number of suicides and attempts, including from senior military member who had enjoyed a career free of deployments/wars.

I'm not blaming recruiters...they are doing their job. Selling the Army with the tools the Army gives them to sell a tough product.

How 'bout giving some young men and women some slack. Kids go off to college every day and drop out when the going gets rough. Kids get jobs every day and quit because they think the job is tough. It's an inevitable part of growing up to make decisions you later regret.

If you have the utmost respect for soldiers, then demonstrate something other than conditional respect and realize that the human factors exist and nothing is perfect. You are more than welcome to strap on an M-16 and join us in the fray if you have guts to match your gall.

Answer 3

War can be a very scary thing. I mean, I'm in the military too, and we just got done from some form of training or another, and one of the people who's been over was like "Yeah, when you get shot at the first couple times, you'll be too scared to move. You won't know what to do, so you'll just sit there and be a sitting duck."

Especially this war, where the enemy is always adapting (or importing) different weapons every day, and where there are suicide bombers. That is a fairly new concept to us (or at least an unseen one by today's military - the last known suicide bombers were the kamikaze pilots of Japan in 1941).

Answer 4

i dont know why they do it......but ive seen it more times than i care to think about. I've seen 4 18 year old kids throw their lives away because they played the conscientious objector card and got thrown out......not only did they not get their GI bill, but they had to pay back several thousand dollars of enlistment bonus. ive seen them intentionally hurt themselves to get out of a deployment, beat up their wives, go awol, seek mental health care (that it turned out they never needed was just an easy out to say they were insane) all of this because they enlisted for a free education and never had the intention of being deployed even though most of them joined post 9/11. ive actually heard kids say that their recruiter told them if they started taking classes as soon as they enlisted they couldnt be deployed while enrolled in those classes. i think the recruiter probably used some fancy wording to work around the truth so that the kid thought thats what he heard. as i dont believe recruiters lie nearly as much as people think they do, people hear what they want to hear, and recruiters are trained to word things in a way to sell you on the service. you have to remember to alot of these kids didnt have the grades in high school to get scholarships....and maybe their family makes too much for grants, so if they want a college education they either have to take out loans or join the military and earn it......most of them are blinded by their desire to go to school and will do just about anything to get there....then when the hindsight kicks in they wonder what it is they just did.

Answer 5

haleyb, always been that way since the GI Bill was reinstated in the late 80's. Prior to that was the VEAP program which wasn't worth much, nor very much of a recruiting tool. Prior to that there was a GI Bill that was a holdover from the end of WWII and a very good program. To answer your question in an all volunteer military force, you will always have the whats in it for me types as is the case with allot of young people. Its just part of the deal, BUT, they signed on for it and have to do what the government asks them to do if they want those classes paid for.

Answer 6

I have been there and let me tell you it gets under my skin as well.

The military today is a professional organization like your Police or Fire department. When the call comes in you have to go "where the fire is" sadly some people are just babies.
They make commitments and expect all the benefits but are not willing to live up to their end of the bargain.

I had one Specialist in my squad who when being notified that we were going to Afghanistan acted pretty much as you described. "this isn't what they signed up for" Being in and Infantry unit I thought this was pretty funny, after all its the Infantry. With a little support he bucked up did prety well, and recently re-enlisted.

Anyway I would not wast much thought or pity on folks who do this. Its natural to be scared, to not want to go into a dangerous situation. But thats what we do, if they didn't want to do it, they should have thought of it before.

Speaking for myself I would love to see filth like this loose any claim to federal or state services of any kind including education. be barred from driving, voting and have to pay the service back for all the money invested in their pay and training.

Answer 7

That was a problem a few years ago. Now that the war has been going on for several years now, its not really a problem anymore.

Answer 8

They just in it to get something out. Never giveing it a thought that they might have to go to war first.
Bunch of idiots and bedweters.

Answer 9

Your husband is one but your not. Don't judge anyone till you walk in their shoes.

Answer 10

Part of it is the attempted feminizing of American men.