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What are your views on military/government service: the why's and the impacts
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What are your views on military/government service: the why's and the impacts
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Voluntary service in the military is one of the most noble actions men can take. Noble, because by nature of the military, it indicates a value of a higher concept over personal convenience and life: freedom, correcting injustice, protecting the weak. These are all values that many people claim to have, yet the majority of men in developed countries do not voluntarily pursue military service; those who do should be held in highest regard.
Motivators for military service:
• A sense of duty- perhaps in recognition of the peaceful way of life you have experienced and as a way to contribute towards its continuance.
• Desire for discipline- either to increase personal discipline that already exists and extend it to many facets of your life . . . or in attempt to rectify a perceived lack of personal discipline. In either case, desire for discipline is commendable.
• Love of freedom (political and religious) and desire to protect and promote liberty
• Desire to protect what is near and dear to you: family, way of life, history, beauty, heritage
• Anger- from injustice, sense of loss,
• Not knowing what else to do with life; being young and not having a clear direction, the military will expose you to many new concepts and experiences
• Love of guns, artillery, machines, strategy, etc. Innate interests often carried over from boyhood
• Rebelliousness – needing a viable option for escaping family situation (I’m thinking of this in terms of young, restless kids dissatisfied with parental “interference” in their lives and looking for a quick escape)
Personal benefits:
• Sense of community – in my observations, the military develops community and “brotherhood” like nothing else. Strong bonds are forged through training, drilling, suffering, being yelled at, and conquering challenges together with a team.
• Discipline – both physical and mental
• Wardrobe selection – no need to stand in a closet and wonder what to wear, the military already does it for you . . . specifying from trops to dress-blues ;)
Impacts:
• Interruption of family life, especially when deported; the military “owns” you and can interrupt your plans at any time
• Limiting financial/salary potential during years of service, possible set-back in earning potential when leaving military service
• Post traumatic stress after violence
• Loss of limbs and/or life, loss of hearing and/or sight
• Frustration and stress from a bureaucrat-controlled system; let’s face it, the military is still an operation of the federal government and controlled at the highest levels through Washington . . . by people far-removed from the day-to-day operations and experiences of very trying circumstances.
Is military service for everyone? Should conscription be reinstated? I think it would do many young hooligans and high-school dropouts a world of good to participate in mandatory military service for two years or so, for the benefits listed above. True, there would always be those who would be resentful and buck against the system, but it would be a brief period of service to a country whose benefits they will be free to enjoy the remainder of their lives, and they just might be better people as a result.
One final thought: I do believe it is MEN who should be active members of the military, not women. There are very significant differences in the physical capacities of men and women, as well as the emotional stamina for violence. It is by design that biblical and historical military heroes are male.