I remember it as if it were yesterday: as soon as I turned 18, I received that military I.D. card (Whatever it is called) and phone calls from the Navy, Army, and Marines. All this back in 2003. One of the things said were all these avenues that would open up for me, all the training and studies that would be provided if I enlisted. However, I objected to both wars and I did not want to sign up. I really couldn't shake off the marines.
You know what was said to me? Just because someone enlists, that doesn't mean they have to partake in these wars. A joke-and-a-half and an outright lie. But that brings up a problem: how many of these soldiers actually bought into it? As a matter of fact, how about the scrutiny the armed forces faces when they beef up their presence in impoverished and poor areas just to enlist potential candidates?
What's the recourse a person has when they join the military and were told one thing instead of the other, and they were duped into fighting a war with no logical basis for it in the first place? Nothing. At that point, you do as your told. Sure, they can flee to Canada or someplace else but that's desertion no matter how you try to slice it. And with repealing of "don't ask, don't tell," saying you are a homosexual and that you live an active gay lifestyle won't cut the mustard anymore: something men in fact used to dodge service in the military.
There also lies another problem when the government or the President is seeking out war or continuing a war but the number of men and women enlisting is low; they have a tendency to rely on the draft, and do I really need to bring up the problems associated with that?
Sure, there are people who enlist knowing full well what everything entails, knowing the consequences...but can you really say the same about everyone?
No, I cannot...but I still don't see what that has to do with me. If someone enlists into the armed forces, but somehow doesn't think they will have to participate in war, again, that is the fault of their own ignorance. I don't know exactly what was said to you, but I didn't see anything that would constitute an outright lie in what you've written. If someone enlists into a DEP contract, they still have until the day they take their oath and go on active duty to change their mind.
To anyone who thought they would enlist, receive the training, educational benefits, housing loans, etc. without having to fight for their country I have very little (if any) pity for. It would seem they want a free ride to a better life without putting in the work for it. Much like the worker who shows up late every day and never does his job in hopes that someday he will be fired and begin to collect unemployment, they seem to want a handout at my (taxpayers) expense.
I do feel sorry to anyone who was lied to by a recruiter and realized it much too late, but they did sign a contract. The contract does state what you are and aren't entitled to. If the contract says one thing, the recruiter says another, and the enlistee isn't bright enough to see that he is being duped....again, I don't see why I or anyone else should be to blame.
Before I finished high school my class took an ASVAB test (I think that was the name). It was a general intelligence and practical skills sort of test. I took it more seriously than some of my classmates and managed to score in the 99th percentile. For about the next three months I was hounded by recruiters from every branch trying to talk me into speaking to them at the recruiting office. I finally accepted an invite from a marine recruiter who gave me the big sell once I was in his office. He told me they would pay for my college after just two years, pay for my house, pay for my healthcare. All attractive things since I didn't come from wealth and needed a way to pay for those things anyway. He told me waves of females of all types would be crawling to my feet since every woman loves marines. That I was too smart to risk being put in a dangerous job and I would likely get something in psy-ops (I had shown an interest) where I would live comfortably while I made a big name for myself, heck, he said I'd probably be his boss 3-4 years from then if I stayed with it.
When he put the papers in front of me to sign, I simply told him I needed 24hrs to think about it...he pushed a little harder but I got out of there. When I got back home it didn't take more than 2 hours for me to decide that nothing he offered me was worth being shot at for. None of it was worth being blown up for. He called the next day and I turned him down...and turned him down every time he called for the next six months.
Any way you slice it, it will ultimately be on the enlistee if things go bad for him. If you really insist on placing part of the blame on me for whenever a serviceman loses a life, gets hurt, or otherwise feels he got a bad deal...then I must also be given part of the credit for every person the military has helped in one way or another. It's a stupid statement and completely indefensible.
