Daughter and I talked last night. She wants to take the test, but is going to college for at least

[greenbriar]

2 years before she joins (if she does)

I feel better about things today


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3677080

[Muttocracy]

1. sounds good

Much will change in two years as well.
:thumbsup:

[greenbriar]

2. that is what I am counting on

Please God

[LeftyMom]

3. Then why take the test?

The military will take it as a sign of interest and she'll get absolutely stalked by recruiters afterward no matter what her results (they want the brilliant people and the idiots, just for different jobs,) and they'll blow smoke up her ass and promise her the moon if she signs up.

[greenbriar]

4. I know

I have told her all of this

[Breeze54]

5. Exactly. Besides, the results would be different after 2 yrs of higher education.

Why waste her time? :shrug:

[jmowreader]

24. A lot of people with no intention of enlisting take that test

It is a really wonderful career-advice test.

[Breeze54]

27. There are better places to get 'career advice.' n/t

[roody]

6. In Ukiah, Ca., a recruiter raped a girl he was

recruiting. Please advise her to be very very careful.

[ingac70]

7. Your BIL will get a big fat check if she joins.

Blood money.

[Iris]

15. Did he refer her? I'm still trying to figure out why this kid wants to do this.

When I was a junior in h.s. there's no way I would even entertain the idea of the military. I figured they'd probably make me get up at 6:00 a.m. and that's where any thought of something like this stopped.

[JNelson6563]

8. Doesn't this go in the lounge?

:shrug:

[helderheid]

9. No. The other thread was very popular here, so here is where people can get the part 2.

[greenbriar]

10. no...and what are you

thread police?


jebus


it is talking about the military and war and all kinds of things

[elehhhhna]

20. no b/c some duers have a lot of cred and alot of friends here

& greenbriar is one of 'em -- has been for quite awhile.

[Recursion]

11. OK, I'll state the unpopular point

I am a prior-service Marine and I love the Marine Corps and even the other branches sometimes. While I understand parents' agony when their kids think about joining the military, another part of me feels very strongly that, as shitty as this is, now is exactly the time when we need good people coming in to help us recover from the wringer * and Darth have put us through.

I totally appreciate your happiness that she's going to school (and she should even if she wants to enlist: 2 years of college can be made into E3 after basic training which is a much better place to be than E1, to say nothing of the fact that a bachelor's degree gets you salutes for the rest of your life). But I also am worried that the * bullshit is driving away people from the military entirely precisely at the moment when we need the best and brightest in there to get back to operational levels.

Anyways, just wanted to throw a burnt-out jarhead's two cents in.

[greenbriar]

12. you make excellent points

and spot on observations

[Recursion]

13. If she'll take advice, tell her to hold out for the degree and a commission

My dad tried to tell me that (as did his dad to him; none of us listened) but it's really good advice anyways.

[Recursion]

14. Incidentally, the ASVAB is a pretty good battery

Even if you don't join the military, it is actually pretty good as an aptitude indicator. As long as she's taking tests, try to sign her up for the DLAB: we're short of linguists, and a good DLAB score goes in really well with a lot of civilian employers too.

[Hekate]

16. I'd be eager to have Uncle Sam start keeping his promises to vets, the wounded, & active-duty...

... personnel FIRST. Imo, the betrayal has been so profound that I no longer want any member of my family at all to join any branch of the military, and I didn't used to feel like this. I have always believed that a military career can be an honorable path, but as I said -- there has been a profound betrayal, and remedying it has to start at the top of the command, not the bottom.

Other than that, you make some good points.

Hekate

[Recursion]

22. Yeah, the betrayal is heartbreaking

I started worrying, as weird as this sounds, when I saw Tom Hanks stumping for the WWII Memorial. Let me explain.

There already was a World War 2 Memorial: the GI Bill. That created the postwar middle class as we know it, which created postwar prosperity as we know it. That was the memorial, and it was something we all honored. But then we started wanting an arch or a pool or an obelisk or something, and ended up with a memorial that broke up the national Mall and combined the worst elements of all of them.

The memorial to the men and women who fought and died in the second world war was supposed to be the covenant that we take care of our veterans: the WWII memorial was a warning shot that we were buying that out prematurely. Sigh.

[noamnety]

17. I used to think that.

And then I realized my being in the military didn't prevent even one asshat racist from joining. It's not like I took the place of someone else. And I realized that my mission was still dictated from above, and the mission was not ethical; it was imperialistic, and I was a tool in that.

It's like trying to be an ethical line worker at Monsanto. You can be the best damn line worker ever, maybe even a union activist, but if your mission is to create a chemical that will be sprayed on the crops of peasants in Colombia, you are still part of the problem.

More "good" soldiers going to Iraq is not a solution. None of them should be there in the first place.

[Recursion]

21. I didn't say "to Iraq"

Iraq is over, we just haven't realized it yet. We will be out of there in 20 months, whether the then-President admits to the fact or not. As far as Iraq goes, Obama/McCain is a question of whether this end game plays out like Manila or like Saigon.

[noamnety]

23. Iraq or not, same story.

more people in the military on the right or left does not change the military's mission, which is imperialistic control of resources abroad, and protection of corporate/capitalist interests.

[old mark]

25. I never thought I'd agree with a Marine,

but you are right. The military needs smart, people with intergity and conscience, especially now. I recommend she stay in school as long as she can - a degree of some sore will serve her well.

FWIW, I was in the Army from '68 to '71, serving with the 82d Airborne.
(dmesg, "You can always tell a Marine, but you can't tell him much.")
mark

[Recursion]

26. Alternately...

... there's a joint operation involving all four branches, run by the army. They send out an announcement:

The operation will commence at 0600.
For Air Force personnel, that's 6am.
For Navy personnel, that's 2 bells.
For Coast Guard personnel, you'll be asleep; don't worry about it.
For Marine personnel, that's when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 6.

[malaise]

18. Good news

She'll do the right thing.

[elehhhhna]

19. Whew. You know, by then it may be a worthwhile option to consider.

although i doubt it.

btw, imo your BIL needs some "family counseling", lol