The way most people understand the military comes from movies. This means most people think being in the military is exciting and educational. The military unlike the ones simulated by Hollywood is very boring and depressing. Video games are fun because you suffer no emotional or physical pain.
Serving in the army is like doing heavy construction work all day and getting paid below minimum wage. In addition you are also being exposed to toxic chemicals and are likely to leave with psychological trauma. You have no rights and when you leave you have no benefits.
The military does not encourage critical thinking anymore than a cult. The military is like being bipolar - you have terror and you have boredom but little in between. The one thing good about the military is the people you work with. The bad part is they job you are required to do. This is the sad part of the military: they get real nice people to do some very bad things.
Most people join the military because they are fooled by the promise of benefits and/or because their situation is worse. Historically only people who were near serving time in prison or who were new to the country would be willing to join. Today we want people who are disciplined and good with technology as warfare has become a specialty and requires more training but fewer people.
The military is not difficult intellectually nor does it require extensive technical ability either. They take people who are willing but do not train them long enough. We are a high technology army that uses expensive weapons manned by people without adequate knowledge of what they are getting into. The military also expects you to never be late to a meeting and never to hesitate before doing anything asked of you.
They also put everyone on the front lines. The difference between medic and infantry is that the foot soldier carries a lighter pack. This is because they don’t have to carry the morphine or the bandages.
Our country is not known for being able to shoot well even though our rifles are very easy to shoot accurately with. They want everyone to work together as a group and respond very quickly. We win wars by supporting these foot soldiers better than any other army does.
Saying our army his the best in the world compared to other armies does not mean it is good compared to advanced research universities. The job in the military largely entails withstanding pain and having a huge amount of energy. It does not require understanding quantum mechanics but rather having laser focus on the mission.
Critical thinking is frowned on in the army because it takes too much time to do right. We outsource the brains to the officers. We in the American military do not choose to fight in wars.
When I was in the military, being sent to combat was the scariest thing you could think of. The countries we fight are even meaner than you see in the movies. They are ready, willing, and enthusiastic to make any American suffer as much as they possibly can.
Your enlistment is only one part of the story. The other is how it affects you the rest of your life. Many people come out with post traumatic stress disorder or missing a leg or two. These are great people who are willing to do something everyone else claims they support but won’t do anything to help. The biggest injury in warfare is exposure to toxic chemicals and most of that is entirely unnecessary and directly self-inflicted.
In order to get rid of stuff in combat they have decided to burn everything from jet fuel, poop, old uniforms, garbage, and anything else they want to get rid of in open burning pits next to where our people work, train, and sleep. When the military inhales these chemicals they get very sick and get things like cancer in their 20s and 30s.
A direct connection has been proven and there is plenty of evidence but you have to submit your claim individually as they assume you are not affected unless you fill out the right forms. The head of the VA says we have plenty of money to pay for this, but the Department of Defense will not release what chemicals are being burned in the pits. This is likely because they do not want anyone to know what they are destroying.
A much smarter idea would be to employ local civilians to take out the trash for us or bury it in the middle of the desert. Our military places a higher value on our lives to not care at all about this. They must be destroying something they don’t want someone else to get their hands on.
The next time you decide to vote for a candidate that gets tough on our enemies or has the will to fight an inevitable war before it gets out of hand, sign up yourself instead or your children or grandchildren if you are too old. It is easy to be the one that declares the war and fun to ride in a parade but serving in the war is a sacrifice not because you serve in a tough job for a few years but because it destroys your life and those you are fighting against.
No one really wins a war. We fight wars every decade and lose the peace in almost all of them. This is senseless suffering. If you value the American soldier do not thank them for their service. Stop the wars or serve in their place.