Would you encourage or discourage a young person to serve in the military?

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
My children say that they would discourage their kids from serving and help them flee to Canada should the draft be renewed. I'm not sure that I agree with them but due to the results of recent wars I can understand their thinking...
 

Depends on what you mean by serving. A full time military career I would not encourage nor discourage but I would like to be sure that it wasn't just a whim. In times of war people enlist for all kinds of reasons and I wouldn't hold them back.

As a school teacher I decided that I wouldn't encourage my girls in choosing life in the military unless they were aware that they would have to fight against misogyny and defend against sexual predators.
 
I believe that a minimum two year military service, either active or National Guard, should be mandatory for males and voluntary for females......so yes I encourage military service.

During the Vietnam war when many others were trying to find ways to avoid the draft and military service I volunteered for the Army at age 17 (1967) and then when I turned 18, while stationed in Panama, I volunteered for duty in Vietnam.

Taking into consideration the excellent educational benefits available now while and after serving active duty, I also believe military service would help educate some of our under educated lower income population and that would to some degree help with the crime problem.

I firmly believe military service definitely builds character and matures a person plus mandatory service would give us a already military orientated pool of people to pull from if we should ever need them.
 

I consider stopping National Service in the UK one of the worst decisions ever made for the country however, if I had a son, would I want him to serve in the military ?
 
Yes, Like others said, it builds character and discipline, BUT, one must choose the right service.

I didn't want to be drafted and be assigned to the infantry to slog around in the mud, so I joined the Air Force
and became a pilot and got to fly up in the nice clean air.

Except for a couple of real hairy missions, I actually enjoyed the 4 years.
 
The recruiters go right inside the high schools now and talk to the students. I would not have to encourage or discourage--that would be a choice they would make.
 
I would discourage it... particularly if Trump wins the Presidency. but.. then again we are all likely to be vaporized so it won't matter.
 
Having a son in the military, today, makes it difficult to give a definitive answer. I do believe many of today's youth could do well by joining the military. They can learn a trade, have superb medical and dental benefits, and retire with excellent benefits after 20 years in service. There aren't many civilian jobs for tank mechanics, tank drivers, infantrymen, etc. So, the secret would be to volunteer for an MOS that would give you training and expertise in a field you could have a second career in after separating. The deployments are agonizing for family life. But, I've worked out on the road for many years and did so when our girls were young. I have always taken the perspective that I had to work and unemployment benefits were not an option. It is becoming harder to find young folks who will work on the road... or enter a career where they will be deployed.

I enlisted during the Viet Nam War. Due to extremely bad eyesight was refused admission and rec'd a 4-F classification. That was devastating to a new wife and I who planned on making the U.S. Air Force our career. Even during wartime, I still believe in the military as a good career for our youth.

For the first time in my life, I do now have second thoughts about a military career should Trump be elected. He would be a danger to our Country and a danger to our military. He has no use for the "underlings" and would look at our military as nothing but a cadre' of "servants" to do his bidding. Now he wants us to take over the oil fields in Iraq, putting our military in encampments around the oil fields to guard them. That's just what we need. Our military in harm's way stealing oil from another sovereign nation to be sold by Trump's cronies for profit. Sheesh!!!!
 
ENCOURAGE! I agree with those that stated they would also encourage because it does build character, discipline, respect and honor. I spent 4 years in the Marines and served in Vietnam. I have no complaints.
 
It would have to be the decision of the child if they chose to join the military.

We didn't encourage or discourage our daughter when she was adamant about serving in the Air Force. We listened to her reasoning as to why she wanted to serve in the AF, then supported her decision. It's something she wanted to do and we didn't want her to have any regrets not following the path she chose to travel.

I agree with Ike, serving in the military does build character and matures a person. We saw that in our daughter and now in our grandson that serves in the Navy.

Under a Trump Presidency, I most likely would change my position about not discouraging any other grandkids from wanting to serve under his administration. Like Grumpy, I do believe Trump is a danger to our Country.
 
It depends on the child. My oldest son would have made an ideal career officer. From the time he was young he wanted to be a navy SEAL. He went to a weekend camp in Florida when he was around ten. It was navy connected and was about survival and finding direction for your team. The groups were left alone with supplies and a map. They had to get back to base together.

When I went to pick him up on that Sunday he was beaming. "It was so great, so cool, we had to walk all night, when can I come back? It rained but except for that it was awesome!". I saw some boys in tears. Worse was you could tell their parental figures were angry with them. I mean that would be an intense experience for some adults. But oldest boy was always wise beyond his years. He would have been a great soldier.

He was best buddies with all the recruiters. We encouraged him, as soon as he graduated high school he would enlist. 9/11 happened at the beginning of his senior year. He and his friends hiked to Ground Zero the day after just to witness history. It changed his perspective and mine too. I let the recruiters know I wasn't letting them have him.

I respect and salute everyone who chooses to serve. But I also respect not wishing to serve.
 
The reinstatement of the draft is another topic mentioned in a couple of posts. I always strongly felt the draft should be reinstated... with no gender exceptions. Then, our son enlisted during the 'heat' of the Iraq War. The Army was taking anyone who could walk and breathe... not necessarily at the same time. Many were pushed through basic training, just to get 'cannon fodder' over to the desert. They were not physically or mentally fit for war. I believe this happened exponentially in Viet Nam. Many were inducted that did not have the ability to do the job... and were lost.

I believe, instead of the draft, we need some better incentive programs to recruit and develop the best that we have for the specific positions throughout the military. Take the choice out of the hands of the "jail or Army" recruit. Find the best and the brightest and pay them accordingly to become an important component to the best fighting units the World has ever known.
 
I firmly believe that every physically and mentally sound young person should be required to perform some sort of National Service...two years in the military, serving to help the elderly and/or needy, or something that makes a positive contribution to our society. We are fortunate enough to live in one of the best nations that humans have been able to establish, and everyone should be obligated to perform some duty that helps maintain that status.
 
IMHO unless someone is willing to serve right now they shouldn't have a say in who should be sent to war and who shouldn't. If we are on this site we are waaayyy past the age of dying for our country. We're talking about our grands and great grands here. No I would be totally against a draft.
 
I am torn. Last of the flower children or not, I come from a military family, so I get the service thing. I work with a lot of vets, repect their service and sacrifice immeasurably. Still, when I see the broken minds and bodies it hurts. It hurts a great deal.
 
When I was that age they were shooting real bullets in Korea. Sitting in a muddy foxhole and freezing my butt had zero appeal. Three friends and I joined the Naval Reserve, which did not exempt us from service, but at least we would not be in the Infantry. Eventually I was called, assigned to a ship and my travels took me half way around the world. When I got out I was making a whopping $220 per month including sea pay as a petty officer 2/c, pay grade E-5.

I do believe a lot of young people can be sorted out by military experience. It is important to choose the branch where they are compatible.

Korea in those days was a backwater noplace, not the economic powerhouse that it is now.
 
IKE said:
I believe that a minimum two year military service, either active or National Guard, should be mandatory for males and voluntary for females......so yes I encourage military service.

During the Vietnam war when many others were trying to find ways to avoid the draft and military service I volunteered for the Army at age 17 (1967) and then when I turned 18, while stationed in Panama, I volunteered for duty in Vietnam.

Taking into consideration the excellent educational benefits available now while and after serving active duty, I also believe military service would help educate some of our under educated lower income population and that would to some degree help with the crime problem.

I firmly believe military service definitely builds character and matures a person plus mandatory service would give us a already military orientated pool of people to pull from if we should ever need them.
Click to expand...

I have to agree on all points. Going into the Army at age 17 was the single best decision I made, ever, for my future.
 
The biggest issue I have with conflict now is the ethics of medicine. In Korea, Vietnam...even Desert Storm...if half your body blew off you were dead on the field. Now with the wonders of Western medicine you can survive. Maybe you have no legs, mangled intestines and *******ia, possibly brain damage too.

But they can save you. So your family will have to care for you. The government? Well you have first pick working part time for Home Depot. Well sucks to be you, thank you for your service. Really, if you read what damage IED's do to the human body. You can live...but you know what I'm saying. It's not one amputation it's your whole body.
 
Right out of high school, many of my peers were called up for service, and, barring service connected injuries, to a man they came back much better people than when they had gone in. Many of them went in as boys and came out as men with a sense of purpose, discipline, ethics and self-esteem. Perhaps this is what is wrong with so many of our aimless youth, is that they lack that experience.

I was a military wife, and loved the life. I've never been part of a group so tight knit, caring, and willing to help one another. That sense of purpose and pride rubs off on families, too. When my father died while we were stationed in Heidleberg, within a half hour, folks had stepped in to help me get packed to come home, make arrangements for my children to stay with another family (my husband was in the field) and were working to find me an airplane seat home and get me travel papers. Command was working to get my husband out of the field, but I needed to get home as soon as I could. It may seem corny, but it was like loving arms just reached around me while I sat stunned by the awful news.
 
Discourage. Get an education and fulfill yourself. Live a good and prosperous life far away from the battlefields.
 
Personal decision. They should be taught the difference between a military way of life and popular politics. Like any career choice are they going to work for someone as part of their career or a job for a paycheck.
 

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