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

chrisseaton.com

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

#431

Post by oneoff786 »

nradov wrote: post #411
oneoff786 wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bring it motherfucker Edit: but bravado aside, I think no, it would not. I think Russia would just back down. If they were willing to escalate, I think we would have seen a nuke in kyiv by now Edit edit: and it is worth it to show we are willing to stand up for such things. We cannot afford to roll over to anyone with nukes

Russians would likely shoot at US forces in Ukraine. Then what? I sympathize with the Ukrainian people but Ukraine is not a US treaty ally. If you're brave enough, the Ukrainian military is accepting volunteers. Other foreigners have already enlisted. Go join them. And I'm not being snarky: if you really believe in the cause then I sincerely think you should do something about it.

The United States is capable of getting involved even if Ukraine is not a treaty ally. I am stating a geopolitical policy preference. Yes, that involves some US soldiers dying.

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

#432

Post by remarkEon »

wolverine876 wrote: post #400
remarkEon wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Combat is for the lower classes, preferably rural poor (Former 11A here) This kind of glosses over a lot of cultural reasons for why you find "rural poor" in combat branches. For a lot of the folks in my platoon, it was a family affair. Many were from e.g. Texas or Georgia, and had a brother/cousin/uncle/whatever who were also an 11B/13B etc. There isn't really a "preference" that the Army or Marine Corps has for po…

I recently read an article where Army Chief of Staff, Gen. McConville, said that 79% of recruits come from families with service members, and how they need to expand the pool. https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2022/03/about-face-army-ex... As far as the rural, the military focuses their recruiting in rural areas and barely touches major cities - an odd choice given where the population centers are and the efficiency…

I don’t have the links handy, but yes many are fully aware that the AVF (All Volunteer Force) is in some ways sectioning themselves off from the rest of the population. In other ways I could argue it’s almost becoming a “warrior caste” situation, where fathers serve, (at least one of) their sons serve, and so on. I’m not ready to say this is unhealthy, necessarily, but it’s a very real trend. The only way to fix it is to bring back the draft, in either full or some modified form.

>Where have you heard that?

My classmates in grad school, other networking events with perhaps over-educated professionals. N = 1 and all that.

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

#433

Post by remarkEon »

earleybird wrote: post #412
chrisseaton wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No they’re the young platoon leaders putting themselves in harm’s way.

The reference was to "Fortunate Son".[0] [0] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/john-fogerty-a...

An odd reference as we don’t have a draft anymore.

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

#434

Post by imgabe »

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.

Wait until you hear about all the developed countries that have compulsory service for everyone. (every male at least)

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

#435

Post by toomuchtodo »

imgabe wrote: post #434
toomuchtodo wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wait until you hear about all the developed countries that have compulsory service for everyone. (every male at least)

Do they have functioning educational and healthcare systems?

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

#436

Post by imgabe »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #435
imgabe wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait until you hear about all the developed countries that have compulsory service for everyone. (every male at least)

Do they have functioning educational and healthcare systems?

Yes, you just have to serve in the military to fulfill your duties as a citizen in order to access them.

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

#437

Post by toomuchtodo »

imgabe wrote: post #436
toomuchtodo wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they have functioning educational and healthcare systems?

Yes, you just have to serve in the military to fulfill your duties as a citizen in order to access them.

I will have to better qualify what a developed country is in the future. Mandatory military service directly contradicts a citizen’s freedom.

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

#438

Post by Diesel555 »

throwaway675309 wrote: post #425
Diesel555 wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I read this post I kept thinking you had a rough time in service. This doesn’t match my experience at all. Then I saw at the end you didn’t serve, made assumptions based on stories, and had an axe to grind. > The most important thing to realize about military service is that you sign away all your citizenship rights (free speech, etc.) when you sign up for the service. False. I can say the same things as any citiz…

He's not totally wrong. If you enlist in the army and later during your service they tap you for a conflict which you have ideological differences with, YOU ARE GOING irrespective of your convictions... unless you want a military tribunal and possible jail time.

> they tap you for a conflict which you have ideological differences with, YOU ARE GOING irrespective of your convictions

Your statement is not entirely true, it is not irrespective of convictions. A conscientious objector is defined as either:

A member who, by reason of conscientious objection, sincerely objects to participation in military service of any kind in war in any form.

or

A member who, by reason of conscientious objection, sincerely objects to participation as a combatant in war in any form, but whose convictions are such as to permit military service in a noncombatant status. Also referred to as noncombatant duties or noncombatant service.

Yes there is an application which can be denied. Here is a GAO report on the rates of that. In an all volunteer force the numbers requested are pretty small.

Text version: https://www.gao.gov/assets/a267698.html PDF version: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-07-1196.pdf

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

#440

Post by CobaltFire »

tekknik wrote: post #429
giantg2 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for feedback, and subordinates dutifully carry out those orders. None of those is true. There is a time to "shut up and color" but that is by far the exception." Based on my limited knowledge, I think it's highly dependent on the leaders in the unit. I have a friend who always dreamed of being an nava…

> They are leaving due to the political BS of the organization and poor leadership by those in command. I have a brother-in-law (a chief) leaving 3 years prior to retirement for the same reason. Except it’s exactly the opposite. They’re not allowed to yell anymore, have a lot of limitations on punishment, and have to accept things like enlisted being late to work. They’re leaving because they think the military is on…

There has to be more to this story. You don’t walk away at 17 because you are annoyed at having to do the paperwork required to get someone properly punished rather than doing whatever you think is best.

For reference, I’m a 21 year Chief with time at Squadrons, Ships Company, USMC commands, and a few other places.

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