Veteran here. I would not stop a family member from joining but I would not push them into it either. It has to be their choice after they are fully aware of what awaits them. My offspring share my obstinance and questioning authority and ultimately boat rocking which is frowned upon in the military but very much needed just like in the civilian world.
The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
31–40 of 52 posts
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#32[flagged]
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US does have that system. And of all the theories as to why Rome fell, I really don't think the recruitment of others into the legion is really much of a factor (except, I suppose, a second- or third-order effect of it allowing the various armies to be larger)
The system broke down when they stopped trying to disperse immigrants across wide areas and directly integrate them into the social/military system. Instead they allowed them to settle as a group, maintain their own leadership and armies and just function basically as ‘vassals’ states of Rome and we know how that ended…
But that is nothing like how the US military operates so that’s irrelevant to jsq’s flawed analogy.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#34Why would anyone want to send their children to die in pointless wars of a regime that hates them and everything they stand for?
If my kids wanted to join the military, I would support them. Especially the Navy; while one can (and does) say that the American military is the strongest military of all times, in terms of greatness in battle, the Army does not have a lot to show (no American general cracks the top 10). The Navy can boast Midway. And can be proud with Nimitz, probably the greatest admiral ever, Nelson included. So, why would I disc…
The US basically didn't have a military until WW1 and it did just fine.
It's surrounded on two sides by ocean, and its neighbors are very friendly.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
The system broke down when they stopped trying to disperse immigrants across wide areas and directly integrate them into the social/military system. Instead they allowed them to settle as a group, maintain their own leadership and armies and just function basically as ‘vassals’ states of Rome and we know how that ended…
But that is nothing like how the US military operates so that’s irrelevant to jsq’s flawed analogy.
I agree with you that the US military does not currently operate this way, but if the level of recruitment keeps falling (which is the article's title, after all), its not far off that the govt make a large scale citizenship for military/law endorcement service deal with poeple eager to enter. This is what Rome did.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US does have that system. And of all the theories as to why Rome fell, I really don't think the recruitment of others into the legion is really much of a factor (except, I suppose, a second- or third-order effect of it allowing the various armies to be larger)
The system broke down when they stopped trying to disperse immigrants across wide areas and directly integrate them into the social/military system. Instead they allowed them to settle as a group, maintain their own leadership and armies and just function basically as ‘vassals’ states of Rome and we know how that ended…
On the contrary, it was after the system began breaking down that the empire was no longer able to disperse the incoming tribes the way it had for centuries prior and needed them to behave as vassals due to the lack of means both to effectively impose leadership and to govern effectively. This coincides with a more general increase in the number and autonomy of provinces throughout the empire for similar reasons.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#37Our fathers were soldiers so we could be farmers so our sons might be artists.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#38Escape hatch-ed into the the military for the 2000s financial crisis, became a Navy Nuke and was one when those commands didn't have the lowest morale out of all the military (though we were competing against Drone Pilots who hit rock bottom enough to boo their commanding officer off stage). The military is a fucked up place with utter bullshit like the CO using a suicide victim's "voice" to say we should work harder…
> On the bright side with the failure of the military to recruit, we know things are completely hopeless economically/emotionally/socially for gen Z. I don't know why that would be the bright side, but I draw the opposite conclusion. As you say, you joined because it was an escape hatch (from a worse option, I assume) and declining recruitment suggests that gen Z has better alternatives.
Better to suffer in Mom’s basement than the sandbox (speaking as someone who has three brothers who have served numerous tours in the Middle East). No IEDs or MREs in the basement.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#39Disappointingly little discussion in the article about the moral and ethical problems associated with the US military. If military service were simply about "defending freedom", I suspect there would not be a recruiting problem.
While it feels to me like US military service may exist for the purpose of "defending freedom", it's mostly utilized for defending and promoting the interests of the wealthy. As others have mentioned, this has been the case for a long time, but there is a far broader understanding of this now than in decades past.
Who wants to sign up to put their life, or the life of a loved one at risk for the purpose of making someone else wealthier? It's completely absurd.
Re: The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join
#40A large part of the failure to recruit is a gigantic 500 pound gorilla in the room no one wants to acknowledge:
Young Southern White men make up the bread and butter of the military. They have been the target of recruiting campaigns for decades upon decades. This group has collectively checked out of a society that has nothing but contempt for them. When the highest levels of the government and half of the political establishment have nothing good to say about you, opine about how "toxic" your existence is, and openly laugh at your struggles... who would want to put their life on the line for that? When patriotism, their basic existence, etc. are derided as "fascist", then why even give a shit? When you're suffering from record levels of depression, dying from suicide and drug overdoses at rates never seen, still being openly discriminated against and laughed at, supporting the system that not only allows, but encourages that behavior is ridiculous.
Effectively, the US Military is experiencing a variation of "go woke, go broke". Guess they couldn't find enough Emmas with two moms to fill their ranks. I guarantee we'll see the US government start to peel back DIE initiatives to fill their ranks back up.