One of my friends joined the military because we live in a high unemployment area and although intelligent he wasn't academic. Excellent vocational training provided and after serving a standard enlistment he was still fairly young and had been ashore in more countries than I've had holidays in. Patriotism wasn't really a motivating factor for him since he joined in peacetime.

Why do people join the military when there are no more "good wars", as in fighting the Nazis? Why would anyone give their lives for the agendas of corrupt politicians? I thinks these are more pertinent questions.

It's why I got out after my last contract. I realized we weren't fighting soldiers anymore, but civilians. Just people.. scared, frustrated and angry enough to take up arms.

I couldn't abide by that anymore..

lol, when was there ever a good war?

Kaiser Wilhelm II said WW1 was perpetrated by the Freemasons and Juda to effectively remove the monarchist hegemony from Europe. WW2 effectively removed Prussia from the map. There might be more to these wars than what you may find on the history channel or in your textbook.

I agree, that's why I wrote "good wars".

The world really is a messed up place. I take my hat off to you sir.

Can we keep the politics out of this thread. This thread is about why people choose the military as a career, not the moral justification for war. Switzerland hasn't been in a war for some time, but it still has a military.

Handing suspected insurgents over to field liaison officers, watching them go through the poli-gates(*), knowing they're never coming out again, guilty or otherwise..




I'm putting it behind me, slowly..

my son has been my salvation.



I only hope to god he doesn't choose the path I did.., if you want to talk biggest nightmares, that rates up there in the top one.



(*)pronounced 'pearly gates', refers to the Pul-e-Charkhi prison outside of Kabul.. very. bad. place.

I get to wield a gun. I get a chance to shoot it. That's pretty much it. I also get to learn and mature in a military enviorment, transforming from boy to man. I also might die in the battlefield and not worry about comitting suicide(religious purposes. I will not comment further on that).

I could care less about the corrupt politicians. Sure, people might be sheeple in the civilian life, but at least I would be a sheep with a gun. Maybe join a Private Military Company, though the pay is not that good. Maybe $500-$600 a day for doing things the Navy, Marines, U.S airforce doesn't. Like shoot civiliand and whatnot.

But in the same topic, why join the paramedics, they could do with more of them, or a nurse, or rescue services, or fireman, the state emergency service is mostly volunteer as is the CFA (Country Fire Authority), those guys even travel to the U.S. during the fire season there to assist, and their volunteers.

Ones ive known that have joined the Military, have because it was something they were good at, or because all you needed to join was to be fit enough to pass the test and not have a criminal record, especially if you were long term unemployed, some joined for a trade, till they got sent away and cried alot, some joined for reasons they didnt even know, and other should never have joined, because they should never have been given a weapon of any kind unless it was rubber and squeaked when it hit you, some joined because they thought it was fun, and acted like it, till they realised it was serious once they'd destroyed very expensive hardware.

I would have joined, except the expectation for me was id end up driving a truck, or some rubbish menial work, and since they wouldnt let me near a front line, unless it was to hang clothes on, i wasnt interested unless i was at much risk as other fighting, why should i be forced to be a spectator when others are risking their lives, if i wanted to be safe id have joined the air force.

I'd be happy to clarify but which one of my two points (or both?) did you need me to elaborate on?

Money. Boredom. Family tradition/pressure. Even patriotism if you're naive enough. Really depends entirely on the person.

Personally I joined in the heady months after 9/11 when I was tired of drinking myself to death every weekend and breezing through classes I didn't give a [censored] about during the week while other people were getting shot at in Afghanistan fighting a war I vaguely considered a good idea at the time. Didn't seem right. Of course considering I ended up in a fairly safe job in a different country in pursuit of war aims that I had absolutely no faith in by the time I actually got to a war it wasn't much of a reason in retrospect.

Worked out pretty well for me though.

well its a good thing actually... builds discipline...

always think of myself as a commander/pilot type cause i have a sharp mind and insane god like reflexes, but I don't like shooting things... but I look awesome in a uniform... too bad XD

Sadly the same cannot be said of America and Great Britain. If I was called upon to kill somebody by my government, I would want to know why, but that's just me.

Just a wee hint for you. That's not keeping politics out of the thread.

Actually I know a guy that does the "mercenary" private contract business, he actually gets paid alot more compared to regular military service.

He wouldn't go intowhat he was doing of course, but explained it was usually things the government wants hush hush, also they get less "restrictions".

Also get a little thing like diplomatic immunity.

All of those are pretty inarguably positive things. The military is...more open for debate.

But you can be a nurse or paramedic in the army?

But can you be a soldier driving an ambulance?

Hmmm....Touche Fanner. Touche.

Doesn't military encompass all branches of the armed forces? It wouldn't be military/army/air force. It'd just be military.

It brings a sense of financial security, a sense of honor and a feeling of belonging to a certain group.

I'm not all mister crazy military guy who joins to "kill those terrorists". There are people like that though who join the service.

Most people join because they want to live and make something of themselves. Even people who don't want to join the military have the same mindset.

A person can still be patriotic and not join the military, or be patriotic and join the military. Of course the person who joined will be seen as more patriotic, even if they're not.

I addressed that. The thread title was just a tag line.

Really? Then the prices must of went up in the last years. Yeah, they do a lot of clandestine things many people consider "dirty". They are indeed granted more leniency when working for the government, which is why many people in foreign countries hate PMC's.

I should definetily join.