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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

#51

Post by giaour »

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…

I don't know if this was your intention, but your comment comes off as extremely dismissive. If you are joining a fighting force, you absolutely should consider where and how you might be deployed should your unit get mobilized. There is a tremendous difference between doing an active tour of duty in a foreign country and being called up domestically, and it is fine to use your own moral calculus when weighing the two.

In the US, for example, part time opportunities are either in the reserves or the national guard, with the former having a foreign focus and the latter having a domestic focus. Plenty of guardsmen ended up doing tours in Iraq, but more recently, guardsmen helped staff overwhelmed medical facilities during the height of the pandemic.

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

#52

Post by hunterb123 »

bobkazamakis wrote: post #42
hunterb123 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not welfare, you put work in, it's a great route for many people. It set my entire family along their career paths. I wouldn't really recommend it while warhawks are in charge, but generally it's a nice route to take.

it's absolutely welfare. Just because you're working doesn't make it not a socialist policy for the benefit of those who join. You can have a jobs program that pays the civilians to dig the holes and the military to burn shit in them and fill them - just because they all now have jobs doesn't make it not welfare, and you've got 100% employment rate.

In a sense federal jobs is socialistic I suppose, which is why you should want limited government.

But you do need a military force in the country, and you should give people benefits for their sacrifice.

It's not genuine to say military service is a welfare program, it's more of a jobs program.

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

#53

Post by loxs »

The most bizarre thing in the article for me (as a total layman) is that linked Jackal vehicle[1]... It's an armored vehicle which does not protect the... crew??? Why is it armored at all? Why are they not just using a Toyota Hilux instead of this 7 tonne monster?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackal_(vehicle)

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

#54

Post by pjc50 »

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?

> Might his squadron be called in to quash civil disturbance? Sent to the next Iraq? Is it reserved for defending the UK from invasion?

Yes, yes, and no. His own explanation mentions Peterloo! He joined the full time army during the Iraq war (although doesn't mention being deployed). This is evidently not something he's curious about.

Ukraine has certainly highlighted the need for a defensive force. It's also made the question of whether all the fighting of the past 20 years has made the world safer or more dangerous - you could argue that Iraq re-established the precedent for aggressive war, and the fallout has made most of the muslim world less safe. Including Russia's war in Syria. Which they used as training for invading Ukraine.

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

#55

Post by InCityDreams »

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?

He should fight the Grammar Nazi's: "A Hobby Gotten Out Of Hand"...very American(?), and terribly un-British.

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

#56

Post by simonh »

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 the job it was given efficiently, ethically and professionally. I'm not saying it's perfect by a long shot and in war mistakes often mean deaths, it should be held to account where necessary, but what organisation is flawless?

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

#57

Post by [deleted] »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #44
dogman144 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue it's a positive in that its the only route out currently for people born in certain zip codes, such that with 2 years in active duty, your whole life trajectory can change (free college, "honorable military service" stamp on your resume, so on - I'll spare the recruiting pitch). The local high schools aren't doing it, the government isn't doing it, but the military will. But... The tragedy is that this is t…

How can you call something a positive and then immediately call it a tragedy? that's not a positive at all!

[deleted]

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

#58

Post by michaelt »

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?

According to [1] in 2004, when numbers were at their peak, reservists made up 20% of Britain's strength in Iraq; and 'large numbers' of reservists deployed in Afghanistan.

Seems to me that's the big downside to joining the TA - you're putting your life and honour in the hands of professional politicians.

(However, it also says 'many' reservists were deployed as 'individuals' rather than units - presumably meaning they were deployed by choice?)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Reserve_(United_Kingdom)#...

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

#59

Post by foldr »

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…

>You also get medical and dental insurance.

This reminds me of a point Michael Moore made in Sicko – that Americans are generally fine with government spending if it's directed at the military. As he put it, America could probably have a national health service as long as the doctors and nurses wore camo.

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

#60

Post by adewinter »

rhn_mk1 wrote: post #39
ethbr0 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1. Part of being part of a national military is subordinating your desires to the chain of command, which in a democracy usually flows to the highest elected official. If one wants to pick and choose "right" conflicts, one shouldn't serve. And ultimately... while I know HN has a pretty anti-authority bend... if you don't trust your government to deploy military power, what do you trust them for? Which isn't saying t…

Being subordinate didn't work for the Nuremberg "I was following orders" crowd, which makes me doubt your assertion. > if you don't trust your government to deploy military power, what do you trust them for? Do you have to trust them for anything? It's not like it's a viable option to decide that you don't want to designate any government as "yours". Good luck surviving in no man's land if you do. What makes governme…

Hard to tell if you're just trolling or being serious.

* Nuremberg and "just following orders" was about actual orders to specific individuals to do things that were literal war crimes, and those individuals carrying those orders out. One country designating another country an enemy is not, in fact, a war crime.

>> Do you have to trust them for anything?

I mean, yes? Even when you live in a libertarian fantasy land it turns out you need to have some level of trust in a government. You trust the road you're driving on won't collapse and that the folks at fire department know which end of the hose the water comes out of. You trust that because you trust that the gov that pays for that made the right choices. You can pretend you can have a society without relying on an organized collective of people who live in that society but I cannot logically see how that would work.

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