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If it had no downsides, it could be an easy choice. But between the dubious morality, war crimes and PTSD, it's hard to compensate regardless of the positives (
by sofixa 3y ago
If it had no downsides, it could be an easy choice. But between the dubious morality, war crimes and PTSD, it's hard to compensate regardless of the positives (money, relatively, discipline, physical fitness?)
- nradov 3y agoHow many military avionics technicians or dental assistants or petroleum supply specialists end up committing war crimes or suffering from PTSD? Come on. We should be more judicious about using military forces as part of foreign policy, and provide better support to the combat troops who are deployed into impossible situations. But the majority of personnel are in low risk support jobs that aren't much different from typical civilian jobs. Lose the hyperbole.
- amanaplanacanal 3y agoYou don’t get to choose, once you signed up. They can send you wherever they want.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- nradov 3y agoBullshit. Most enlistment contracts specify a particular career field. The troops in combat arms are there because they chose that option. The Pentagon isn't going to take a dental assistant and reassign them to infantry unless they specifically request that change (and meet various eligibility criteria).
- amanaplanacanal 3y agoThat doesn’t mean that you can’t be sent to a war zone. I’m sure they needed dental assistants in Iraq and Afghanistan too.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y agoYou can choose. Get it in the contract or don't sign.
- amanaplanacanal 3y agoYour contract specified that you wouldn’t be sent to a war zone? I don’t believe that. You might be able to find a job that’s unlikely to get you deployed.
- justrealist 3y agoIf the US military starts wantonly changing enlistment contracts, we aren't that far from a national draft anyway, so the distinction is kind of meaningless.
- hulitu 3y ago> How many military avionics technicians or dental assistants or petroleum supply specialists end up committing war crimes or suffering from PTSD? Come on In some countries, working for a criminal organization, will land you in jail.
- Nullabillity 3y agoYes, I'd call all of those (at the very least) accomplices when in a military context. Good luck bombing anything without mechanics or gasoline, and medical staff helps lower the perceived stakes of war (however slightly).
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago> dubious morality I rendered humanitarian assistance that saved lives in the wake of the Sumatra earthquakes. My friends have done the same after the Japanese Tsunami.
- amanaplanacanal 3y agoI don’t think you have to join the military to do that.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y agoI don't need to join the military to airlift hundreds of tons of supplies from ship to shore in a natural disaster?
- ungamedplayer 3y agoI guess op thinks that the supply chain delivers itself in an emergency.
- Nullabillity 3y agoYou can do humanitarian aid without using it to whitewash murder and other violence. We don't have to take the (rather overwhelming) bad with the slivers of good.
- ungamedplayer 3y agoI've yet to see large scale humanitarian aid work without military involvement, ymmv. I'd like to see it.. I just don't think I've seen it.
- scotty79 3y agoIf that were the only things soldiers did. However... Either way, you did something good. Unlike many of your comrades. You got the lucky ticket that was the thing you were ordered to do (or offered to volunteer).
- justrealist 3y agoI assure you that the average US soldier does not have a job nearly exciting enough to be committing war crimes. The average soldier is positioned in a nondescript base in the middle of Kansas changing HMMV tires and engine oil. It's pretty hard to execute this job with dubious morality.