Before you join the Military

[Frosted]

This guy speaks my language.

[lxskllr]

Good video, and absolute truth.

[sgreger1]

Can't see the video at work, what is the jist of what they are saying?

[lxskllr]

Can't see the video at work, what is the jist of what they are saying?

It's a former Special Forces soldier saying how real use of the military is for extending foreign policy, and not to protect the country as is usually stated.

[Frosted]

This is the oath of allegiance I took in the British Army:

I Extreme swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and of the generals and officers set over me. So help me God.

My contract also stated that I was to defend Britain NOT to police the world.

[dpete]

Sounds very much like a 21st century Smedley Butler.

[Nuusku]

Army is mandatory in Finland. It's retarded

[sgreger1]

It's a former Special Forces soldier saying how real use of the military is for extending foreign policy, and not to protect the country as is usually stated.

You don't say..

[sgreger1]

Army is mandatory in Finland. It's retarded

Finland also doens't pre-occupy itself with constant expansion of it's empire either so I would imagine it's less of an issue.

[Nuusku]

Finland also doens't pre-occupy itself with constant expansion of it's empire either so I would imagine it's less of an issue.

But the whole mandatory thing is still pathetic WW2 style garbage.

[sgreger1]

But the whole mandatory thing is still pathetic WW2 style garbage.

I'm 50/50 on the whole mandatory enlistment debate. I think frankly it is in the national and cultural interest of the people to have a population who knows how to use a weapon, how to survive outside for a few days if they had to, how to tie a knot etc. I think that the military in general teaches you some very important skills that everyone should know. On the other hand, I don't believe in forcing people to be somewhere that they don't want to be, in a wartime situation that can get people killed.

What is the Finnish military like anyways? Do you get a choice of what job or what branch (army, navy, airforce) etc? Is it like America where rich people's kids somehow get out of it? Do they let you drink beer or have sex while deployed?

[Frosted]

I'm 50/50 on the whole mandatory enlistment debate. I think frankly it is in the national and cultural interest of the people to have a population who knows how to use a weapon, how to survive outside for a few days if they had to, how to tie a knot etc. I think that the military in general teaches you some very important skills that everyone should know. On the other hand, I don't believe in forcing people to be somewhere that they don't want to be, in a wartime situation that can get people killed.

What is the Finnish military like anyways? Do you get a choice of what job or what branch (army, navy, airforce) etc? Is it like America where rich people's kids somehow get out of it? Do they let you drink beer or have sex while deployed?

You echo my thoughts entirely there. I think the military - just one year is excellent for people - Teaches people a bit of discipline and how to get on with other people. Also how and when to use agression.
On the other hand I'm against forcing people to do what they don't want to do - but in Britain we have a lot of people taking a cheque from the government who sit at home all day with their fingers up their arse, and when they do go out it's to get in trouble with the police. I'd love to kick some of those assholes around a parade square for a year.

[sgreger1]

You echo my thoughts entirely there. I think the military - just one year is excellent for people - Teaches people a bit of discipline and how to get on with other people. Also how and when to use agression.
On the other hand I'm against forcing people to do what they don't want to do - but in Britain we have a lot of people taking a cheque from the government who sit at home all day with their fingers up their arse, and when they do go out it's to get in trouble with the police. I'd love to kick some of those assholes around a parade square for a year.

Yah I almost wish there were a "National Basic Training" program of some sort that was part of the end of high school or something. So that way each person knows some basic skills of how to survive, how to operate a firearm (since we have relatively loose gun laws here, it is important that everyone know how to use one properly), how to make your bed and how to be prepared etc. I think that the military provides a unique environment in which all choice is taken from you and replaced with control. While this sounds positively fascist to it's roots, there is a genuine lesson to be learned. You learn to pay attention, how to listen when spoken to, how to stand up straight, and most importantly (as you mentioned), the art of escalation of force, which can be applied to anything really, not just a military situation.

It is almost necessary to make this mandatory in a post-modern civilization where one could live their whole lives without ever having to sleep outside for a day or build a fire, where most people skate through life using electronics but have no backup plan for what to do when the power goes out and you have to do it "analog". You never think about these things until you are going through it, I remember when I was in training we mainly did a lot of coordination of artillery assets and so we had to use maps to find coordinates or do land navigation etc. I had never realized up until that moment that I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO USE A ****ING MAP, or a compass for that matter. I mean I know on a regular map how to find the roads and freeways, and I know how to find north on a compas, but I never knew how to use the two in conjunction with each other to actually get somewhere on foot assuming there were no roads and I was lost. The whole time i'm thinking "Jesus christ, i'm out here with a giant ****ing map, a paper and pencil, it's raining like shit so all of these items are rendered useless, why the hell can't we just use a GPS instead?". The answer being of course, what happens when the GPS unit fails or the power goes out, are you going to be the only man in the crowd who says "sorry folks, this is where we die, I have no idea where we are or how to get out of here". Or even worse if artillery is involved, you dont' want to find yourself walking through the wrong area in a live-fire zone with your thumb up your ass.

It's kind of like how no one in my family is aware of how to change the oil in their own cars. "It's only $30" they say, "Why would I need to learn to do it myself", and that is when I think that we are one EMP attack away from everyone in America realizing they have no way to survive for more than a week without power or the regular food distribution chains. Look at Katrina for god's sake, it was a madhouse and that was just a small area. Now imagine there is no food on the store shelves or there is no fresh drinking water, what do you do now other than die or wait for someone else to save you? As a nation, that should not be our MO, we should be prepared for all contingencies, even the unlikely ones. As the guy who does a podcast I really like always says, "Be prepared for when times get tough, or even if they don't", because in the end you will always come out ahead and never find yourself completely ****ed without food or water or shelter.

I think the nation needs to supplement this modern digital life with a little wilderness training to bring us back to our roots. I don't think half of Americans would know what to do with a pack of tomato seeds if the grocery store stopped carrying food. They would die of starvation, sitting on their recliners, surrounded by possible food sources.