All-volunteer military may desensitize U.S. to war, some fear

[mystery-ak]

    Posted on Monday, December 31, 2012

   

All-volunteer military may desensitize U.S. to war, some fear

 By Matthew Schofield | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Before a roadside bomb in Baghdad burned and tore apart Jerry Majetich, before 62 operations put him back together, even before he volunteered for the Marines, then the Army, there were five older brothers who’d enlisted and a mother who’d served as an Army nurse in Korea.

His family background shaped former Staff Sgt. Majetich, who’s now 42 and a single father and investment firm vice president in Jacksonville, Fla. Despite the torment since the 2005 blast, that history is part of what moved his 21-year-old son to consider leaving college to pursue a military career, and his 17-year-old daughter to join her high school Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/31/178702/all-volunteer-military-may-desensitize.html

[famousdayandyear]

More like absurd Rules of Engagement, Campaign for Hearts and Minds of 7th Century Barbarians, and an absence of factual media coverage, along with political correct flag officers has made this possible.  NOT our volunteer heroes in the military.  McClatchy is looking for a scapecoat to continue a Marxist agenda.  JMHO

[Rapunzel]

More like absurd Rules of Engagement, Campaign for Hearts and Minds of 7th Century Barbarians, and an absence of factual media coverage, along with political correct flag officers has made this possible.  NOT our volunteer heroes in the military.  McClatchy is looking for a scapecoat to continue a Marxist agenda.  JMHO

The media hate all things military.

[PzLdr]

    Posted on Monday, December 31, 2012

   

All-volunteer military may desensitize U.S. to war, some fear

 By Matthew Schofield | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Before a roadside bomb in Baghdad burned and tore apart Jerry Majetich, before 62 operations put him back together, even before he volunteered for the Marines, then the Army, there were five older brothers who’d enlisted and a mother who’d served as an Army nurse in Korea.

His family background shaped former Staff Sgt. Majetich, who’s now 42 and a single father and investment firm vice president in Jacksonville, Fla. Despite the torment since the 2005 blast, that history is part of what moved his 21-year-old son to consider leaving college to pursue a military career, and his 17-year-old daughter to join her high school Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/31/178702/all-volunteer-military-may-desensitize.html

What these idiots should fear is the growing distance between the military's culture, and the culture of the society it defends, i.e, NO culture. The Roman Army went from a conscripted force of landowners , to a professional force of volunteers [paid professionals] after Marius' reforms. Within a generation, the Roman Army invaded Rome some three times. And I occasionally muse that a military dictatorship may well be preferable to a Community Organizer dictatorship, considering where our Republic is now. 

[Rapunzel]

I used to be against it, today I think we actually need the draft.

[Ford289HiPo]

And I occasionally muse that a military dictatorship may well be preferable to a Community Organizer dictatorship, considering where our Republic is now. 

We don't want to go there. Not with some of the General Officers currently on the rolls.

[Ford289HiPo]

I used to be against it, today I think we actually need the draft.

I catch cold in drafty places

[Emma]

We don't want to go there. Not with some of the General Officers currently on the rolls.

I would hate for my son to be drafted with the current CiC and the rules of engagement that are getting our troops killed.

[truth_seeker]

I was drafted, I served.

Brings citizens closer to the nation's business. Piece of the rock, etc.

** btw I was 20 years old, married, with a 5 month old daughter when my notice arrived.

Two years later when I got out, one of my dominant ideas was that I earned my right to an opinion.

Those were very controvertial times. People these days seem tamed down, dumbed down.

[Ford289HiPo]

I was drafted, I served.

Thank you (from a volunteer)

People these days seem tamed down, dumbed down.

Kids these days are argumentative, question all authority, and do real dumb things we would have been AR15'd for. You just can't slap them down nowadays, but they don't understand punishment unless it's swift and hard.

[Ford289HiPo]

I would hate for my son to be drafted with the current CiC and the rules of engagement that are getting our troops killed.

This festering morality has been going on for quite some time now. In the 90's, we had plenty of "leaders" who would play the "Do as I say, not as I do" game. I personally know a couple who high up in the chain of command. (I would like to say "Luckily") A lot of their power has been diluted by the massive increase in the numbers of high ranking people in the military.

[Rapunzel]

Kids these days are argumentative, question all authority, and do real dumb things we would have been AR15'd for. You just can't slap them down nowadays, but they don't understand punishment unless it's swift and hard.

Which is why I believe it would be good for the future of the nation to bring back the draft ... never thought I'd think this way, but in a society where you can no longer give letter grades for fear or hurt feelings or play certain sports because you "might" get hurt, there has to be something to bring these kids back to the realities of the world.  If not the military, then two years in some sort of service, something to build character.

[Ford289HiPo]

Which is why I believe it would be good for the future of the nation to bring back the draft ... never thought I'd think this way, but in a society where you can no longer give letter grades for fear or hurt feelings or play certain sports because you "might" get hurt, there has to be something to bring these kids back to the realities of the world.  If not the military, then two years in some sort of service, something to build character.

I'll agree with 50% of what you wrote. I don't agree with a draft, I volunteered. I don't like the idea of young people being forced to fight a politicians war by virtue of a draft.
Even the military is stuck in the liberal PC mindset. You can't do a thing to some dumb trooper without review from above. Equal Opportunity has become a haven for shirkers and the bane of officers who fear a black mark on their record.

[Rapunzel]

I'll agree with 50% of what you wrote. I don't agree with a draft, I volunteered. I don't like the idea of young people being forced to fight a politicians war by virtue of a draft.
Even the military is stuck in the liberal PC mindset. You can't do a thing to some dumb trooper without review from above. Equal Opportunity has become a haven for shirkers and the bane of officers who fear a black mark on their record.

That is why I said if not the military then have them serve two years in some other manner (think how the Mormon Church requires their young to serve a two-year mission - and NO I am not a Mormon).  None of this would be necessary if people actually taught their children responsibility -- trouble is no one does.  The rich have nannies raise their kids, the poor are too busy trying to put a roof over their head and everyone else is watching American Idol, Honey Boo Boo and The Kardashians.

[truth_seeker]

Thank you (from a volunteer)

Note I was drafted with a wife and daughter. I served honorably, etc. I reached E5 in about 17 months.

My cousin went to British Columbia, but was never drafted. He stayed in Canada. His dad (my uncle) was career Army officer. Shattered family.

If we had to do Vietnam over, anybody with brains must admit we'd do it different, or not at all.

[Ford289HiPo]

If we had to do Vietnam over, anybody with brains must admit we'd do it different, or not at all.

We did. They are/were called Iraq and Afghanistan, and we're still following the same tired old script.

[Ford289HiPo]

That is why I said if not the military then have them serve two years in some other manner (think how the Mormon Church requires their young to serve a two-year mission - and NO I am not a Mormon).  None of this would be necessary if people actually taught their children responsibility -- trouble is no one does.  The rich have nannies raise their kids, the poor are too busy trying to put a roof over their head and everyone else is watching American Idol, Honey Boo Boo and The Kardashians.

I can agree with the 2-year civil service commitment, but could you imagine some of today's generation in a hospital/firehouse/similar civil service if they were forced to be there?
Maybe as school crossing guards or cleaning up back alleys in a city, but nowhere near where they could bring harm to another.  I'm not saying that all of today's younger generation is like that, but there are enough.

BTW- Why would you think that I would think that you were a Mormon? I've known a couple Mormons while on active duty, and they were just like everyone else.

[Rapunzel]

I can agree with the 2-year civil service commitment, but could you imagine some of today's generation in a hospital/firehouse/similar civil service if they were forced to be there?
Maybe as school crossing guards or cleaning up back alleys in a city, but nowhere near where they could bring harm to another.  I'm not saying that all of today's younger generation is like that, but there are enough.

BTW- Why would you think that I would think that you were a Mormon? I've known a couple Mormons while on active duty, and they were just like everyone else.

Every time I used to defend something they did at TOS the usual suspects would immediately bombard me with all their anti-Mormon literature....  I know a lot of them living here in the SW and find them to be upstanding strong family people. 

I've seen cases of kids who were given community service at the pound for instance and it ends up changing them for the better.  Frankly, I wish the kids who think it is cool to deface artifacts, etc., would be sentenced to a month of cleaning graffitti or something similar.

[Ford289HiPo]

Every time I used to defend something they did at TOS the usual suspects would immediately bombard me with all their anti-Mormon literature....  I know a lot of them living here in the SW and find them to be upstanding strong family people. 

I've seen cases of kids who were given community service at the pound for instance and it ends up changing them for the better.  Frankly, I wish the kids who think it is cool to deface artifacts, etc., would be sentenced to a month of cleaning graffitti or something similar.

Just for the record, I have no problem with Mormons. IMO, they have a right to their religious beliefs until they try to shove it down my throat.

[Rapunzel]

Just for the record, I have no problem with Mormons. IMO, they have a right to their religious beliefs until they try to shove it down my throat.

They used to come around here all the time trying to convert us, haven't seen them in a long time.  They are always very polite when they come around.  One of the nicest people I have ever known was a Mormon, her husband converted after she died as it was her dying wish that he would so they can be together on the other side.

[Allegra]

That is why I said if not the military then have them serve two years in some other manner (think how the Mormon Church requires their young to serve a two-year mission - and NO I am not a Mormon).  None of this would be necessary if people actually taught their children responsibility -- trouble is no one does.  The rich have nannies raise their kids, the poor are too busy trying to put a roof over their head and everyone else is watching American Idol, Honey Boo Boo and The Kardashians.

It's true...so many young adults, many of them quite bright and talented, are mouthy, spoiled and ill-mannered little punks.  Two years of some sort of community service would do a lot of them a world of good.

And most of them don't know or care that some of their peers are fighting a war far away and dealing with high volatility and spartan living conditions.  I think one of the reasons that there's such a high rate of protracted PTSD is that so many people back home are too self-absorbed to notice or care.

[Emma]

That is why I said if not the military then have them serve two years in some other manner (think how the Mormon Church requires their young to serve a two-year mission - and NO I am not a Mormon).  None of this would be necessary if people actually taught their children responsibility -- trouble is no one does.  The rich have nannies raise their kids, the poor are too busy trying to put a roof over their head and everyone else is watching American Idol, Honey Boo Boo and The Kardashians.

"No one" is pretty broad.  My husband and I do, and most of our friends do.  We are well off, but our kids are not coddled.  They work hard, with chores, school (they are homeschooled) and outside jobs.  We discipline our children.  Aside from Christmas and birthdays what they get, they buy with their own money, all earned.  We serve as a family through our church. 

We know a lot of people who raise their kids the same way, most of our friends, pretty much everyone in our homeschool community.  Many of these great kids go on to serve in the military.  I wouldn't want to see these decent kids and families forced to do anything by the government because of others who are slackers - which is the failing of the socialist experiment in general.

[Rapunzel]

It's true...so many young adults, many of them quite bright and talented, are mouthy, spoiled and ill-mannered little punks.  Two years of some sort of community service would do a lot of them a world of good.

And most of them don't know or care that some of their peers are fighting a war far away and dealing with high volatility and spartan living conditions.  I think one of the reasons that there's such a high rate of protracted PTSD is that so many people back home are too self-absorbed to notice or care.

I see so many of them at our lake here and Lake Powell in Utah every summer, it is actually pretty disgusting.   We have a long thread on another board I moderate right now about people drilling holes into the sandstone to hold their houseboats... and/or pounding rebar into the sandstone - which people cannot pull out and leave behind for others to trip over or run their boats over as soon as the water level rises... the Trash Trackers are volunteers who go out in one-week trips each week during the summer cleaning up beaches from people who leave behind the refuse of their illegal fireworks, and any other number of trash items, there is a graffiti boat that goes out each week with volunteers to scrub graffiti off the canyon walls and just last year they arrested someone for graffiti in the Grand Canyon after he defaced some old Indian relics. 

Then there is Spring Break!!!!!!!! When you are exposed to this it is easy to come to the conclusion we have really become a society I barely recognize... 

[Allegra]

"No one" is pretty broad.  My husband and I do, and most of our friends do.  We are well off, but our kids are not coddled.  They work hard, with chores, school (they are homeschooled) and outside jobs.  We discipline our children.  Aside from Christmas and birthdays what they get, they buy with their own money, all earned.  We serve as a family through our church. 

We know a lot of people who raise their kids the same way, most of our friends, pretty much everyone in our homeschool community.  Many of these great kids go on to serve in the military.  I wouldn't want to see these decent kids and families forced to do anything by the government because of others who are slackers - which is the failing of the socialist experiment in general.

Most people I know are raising or have raised their kids much in the same manner and are turning out decent young citizens.  And a lot of these have gone to public schools.

But I see an awful lot of little snots when I'm out and about - young adults who appear to come from good families, but they come off as mouthy, detatched and lacking in basic manners.  I can't help but wonder if they're getting social interaction tips off of the awful garbage being shown on TV.

I do know that the next time some 20-something mouths off at me (it's been a while, fortunately), I'm going to tell the little snot to keep a respectful tongue in his or her head.  And I don't care how "old" that makes me sound.  LOL

[Emma]

Most people I know are raising or have raised their kids much in the same manner and are turning out decent young citizens.  And a lot of these have gone to public schools.

But I see an awful lot of little snots when I'm out and about - young adults who appear to come from good families, but they come off as mouthy, detatched and lacking in basic manners.  I can't help but wonder if they're getting social interaction tips off of the awful garbage being shown on TV.

I do know that the next time some 20-something mouths off at me (it's been a while, fortunately), I'm going to tell the little snot to keep a respectful tongue in his or her head.  And I don't care how "old" that makes me sound.  LOL

Well, I can't blame you there, and that's all part of the consequences of behavior - act like a snot and people get ticked off at you.

I mainly was talking about government control.  I believe service is a good thing, missions, military, etc.  I just don't like government mandated service.   Things that sound good under a good government, can become tools of control and destruction under dictators.   Israel's mandatory military service works for them, but Hitler's, well, you know.