Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#111

Post by antattack » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:35 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #25

jmyeet wrote: post #14

So one of the things I like about Tiktok is you get exposed to something you normally wouldn't and it can be fascinating. One example of this I had an Air Force recruiter pop up on my fyp. This is obviously US-centric (as opposed to the article, which is the UK) but here are some things I've learned: 1. The difference between Reserve and Guard? Reserve is Federal, Guard is State (this was news to me); 2. Signing up f…

This isn't a positive. It is a tragedy that these services (education, healthcare) are difficult to obtain without military service in a supposedly developed country.

Universal healthcare or free college education would lower Army recruitment for sure.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#112

Post by dntrkv » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #76

abduhl wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The military is no picnic and it’s no savior. It’s not billed as a day spa and the people who join up are without question taken advantage of. It’s hard on many families, including mine and yours apparently. Support isn’t there once you’re out. Support probably isn’t there while you’re in either. But there’s nowhere else to go for someone stuck in the cycle of poverty. They don’t have money. They go to one of the few…

> The groups you support (progressives, similar PACs, politicians) have recently started telling the world about how poverty is systemic and how useless their actions are in the face of such a fucked up system, so how can you sit here and tell me that these people need to find a way to pull themselves by their own bootstraps while taking away their army issued boots? Much easier to get out of poverty with universal h…

> Much easier to get out of poverty with universal healthcare and subsidized education

Isn't that the case though? Medicaid provides great healthcare for those in the lower income brackets (my family used it for the majority of my childhood years) and most colleges are basically free (community college and some state schools will actually pay you).

I don't think the ability to pay for education or healthcare is really the reason for poverty here.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#113

Post by chrisseaton » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

YATA1 wrote: post #99

sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

>especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve This is a often repeated myth. The upper class serves more per capita than the lower class.

The man who did my job back in the 80s was a literal billionaire, putting on the same uniform as me for the same pay.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#114

Post by AdrianB1 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

scandox wrote: post #24

advisedwang wrote: post #7

The author glosses over my biggest question "Who might you have to fight?" with a informative "Queen’s enemies." Might his squadron be called in to quash civil disturbance? Sent to the next Iraq? Is it reserved for defending the UK from invasion?

> At RubyConf 2014 someone in the lunch queue asked what I did before I was in tech and asked me if I enjoyed killing babies when I explained. To some extent your question is in the same category as the above. It decontextualizes the situation entirely. He lives in a democracy. He obviously believes that society is less worse than some visible alternatives. He therefore believes he can fight on its behalf based on wh…

You are mostly right, except the democracy part: that does not mean anything. Greeks had democracy 25000 years ago and it did not go so well, a certain very famous dictator was elected to power and a present day Russian president as well. On paper they are all democracies, in practice there are degrees of bad or fake democracies all over.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#115

Post by Imnimo » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

simonh wrote: post #56

Imnimo wrote: post #40

>I think a country absolutely must be able to fight to defend its people and friends. Does this really feel like an accurate description of what the British military has done over the past, say, 20 years?

Yes it does. Was Afghanistan better off before the pull out, or now under the Taliban? Iraq is a mess, sure, but at least nobody is gassing whole cities and we can be immensely proud of the liberation of Kuwait although that was more than 20 years ago. Right now we are providing vital military assistance to Ukraine, and I wish we were doing a lot, lot more. The failures were political ones. Militarily the army did th…

>The failures were political ones.

When you sign up to join the military, you are signing up to enforce those political decisions. You are not only signing up to "defend its people and friends." I would find this sort of article much more convincing if the author took an honest accounting of what it is that a military does. He has chosen to enable and participate in all aspects of British military activity, not just the patriotic soundbite version.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#116

Post by howmayiannoyyou » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

georgeecollins wrote: post #88

basisword wrote: post #62

>> I originally joined the British Army full-time after finishing my masters in computer science at Bristol in 2007. At the time, the campaign in Afghanistan was in full-swing, and the campaign in Iraq was still running. All my peers were going into office jobs in London but I still wanted more fresh air at that point in my life. I just cannot understand this mindset. "I wanted to see the world so instead of taking a…

>> so instead of taking a gap year I thought I'd go to the middle-east and do a bit of invading". The fault of bad wars is partly in military leadership but much more with politicians and voters. To blame anyone who serves for the choice occupy Afghanistan is misplaced. And who do you want to have in the military of a democracy? Only people from a particular class or culture? I'm glad that someone from the Hacker New…

> bad wars

All wars are bad, but if you meant unsuccessful then until the Taliban again starts harboring terrorist intent on attacking the United States its a bit early to label it a 'bad war'. Similarly, Iraq is no longer a threat in the region and is instead a sink hole into which Iran must expend blood and treasure to maintain influence. Perhaps in time one or both can be clearly viewed as unsuccessful, but its not yet clear that is the case.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#117

Post by freedomben » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:37 PM UTC

oaxacaoaxaca wrote: post #83

sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

>None of that is true. All of that is true about my Army experience lol. If I could go back and do it again, I'd definitely choose Air Force. I agree that the military can be a positive experience and it's a good idea for some people, but the caveat with my endorsement is that you gotta carefully choose the branch and the job. I almost chose linguistics, but for some silly reason chose mechanic and paratrooper, and w…

> you gotta carefully choose the branch and the job

yes absolutely. I'd even say "the job" is the most important part. There are Army jobs that are pretty good, and there are Air Force jobs that are pretty bad.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#118

Post by inopinatus » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:37 PM UTC

advisedwang wrote: post #7

The author glosses over my biggest question "Who might you have to fight?" with a informative "Queen’s enemies." Might his squadron be called in to quash civil disturbance? Sent to the next Iraq? Is it reserved for defending the UK from invasion?

"Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last five hundred years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians."

— Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes, Minister, March 1980.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#119

Post by adewinter » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:37 PM UTC

pphysch wrote: post #73

scandox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At RubyConf 2014 someone in the lunch queue asked what I did before I was in tech and asked me if I enjoyed killing babies when I explained. To some extent your question is in the same category as the above. It decontextualizes the situation entirely. He lives in a democracy. He obviously believes that society is less worse than some visible alternatives. He therefore believes he can fight on its behalf based on wh…

> He therefore believes he can fight on its behalf based on what the democratic leadership determine. This is, at best, a naive portrayal of how London and Washington start wars. See the infamous Downing Street Memo [1]. In Washington, which often leads the rest of the West in military adventurism, Congress hasn't approved a military operation since 2002, despite a US-led coalition destroying sovereign Libya in 2011…

It might be naive but doesn't make the statement any less accurate or true. Some people have a strong belief, and faith, in democracy and democratic leaders. To the point that they'd join up and go fight if called upon. It's not for everyone but that's ok in a democratic society. Implying that people who do believe in the system are stupid or "lesser," is perhaps something you should consider not doing.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#120

Post by pram » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 4:38 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #74

My son was Army Reserve (US), did a tour in Iraq back in the day. He reported that Reservists didn't get the respect of regular Army, at least in his unit. They got shot at, shot back, did convoy duty, got blown up (twice). But somehow not 'real soldiers'. His unit got no commendations or promotions from the regular army base commander. He returned, still had enlistment period left, went straight to the Army Recruiti…

As someone who did convoy and “force protection” (sitting in a guard tower) in OIF/OEF I don’t think this is a reserve specific thing. It was just kind of a shit-tier job they got random people to do from all over (I was in the Air Force)

When I got back to my base literally no one cared or seemingly even noticed I had been gone for months lol