BUT, as a recruiting tool? That seems so evil, because it's hugely enticing especially to a nominally unempowered demographic.
FWIW, I never felt unempowered when I joined the Navy. As a matter of fact, they gave me over 2 years of electronics training and paid me to learn it. When I got out of the service in 1993 I was making approximately $15 an hour as an avionics technician. I've been working for the same company now for 9 years and am still not making that much money for similar work requiring the same skills. Plus, the GI Bill helped pay my way through school, I only took out one loan the entire time I went to college.
FIL was in the Air Force for 20 years and never became a citizen. Then again, he didn't want to either.
Some do, some don't. When I was in the service the requirement was that you serve during a "time of war," that second clause about 3 years must be new. I knew a number of Filipino servicemen who were upset because they enlisted after 1975 (the end of the Vietnam War) who were coming up on 20 years and who couldn't request instant citizenship because there had been no "time of war" since then. Fortunately for them, I believe that the Gulf War was eventually designated as such and gave them the means to do so. Some of them didn't care because a military retirement was very good money where they came from, so planned on going back home when they got out.
My grandfather was one of those who took advantage of it during WWI. He'd only been in the U.S. for 5 years at that point and his English wasn't very good. One of the bonuses of getting naturalized through military service is that you don't have to tqke the citizenship test, you just get it handed to you.
I never felt unempowered when I joined the Navy.
Fair enough. And undoubtedly when my dad enlisted for his 20 years of service, he didn't either.
But the recruitment that I'm seeing is happening in very poor, very immigrant-dominated urban high schools. Of course the military is a good choice, at least seemingly, because there aren't a ton of other options. and if you can get citizenship too, then double yeah. But we are in hostilities now and the likelihood of these kids getting sent to Iraq are high and that seems to change the stakes a bit.
Watching a rerun of the Daily Show from the other night and cursing the people on this board who are responsible for my getting the "Hot Karl" joke.
But we are in hostilities now and the likelihood of these kids getting sent to Iraq are high and that seems to change the stakes a bit.
It's a bit of a crap shoot, no matter what. Yes, we are in hostilities now, but that's not to say they might end in 6 months, 6 years, never. Or that once they're over, there won't be anymore for another 20 years. At least they still have a choice right now.
But we are in hostilities now and the likelihood of these kids getting sent to Iraq are high and that seems to change the stakes a bit.
But that's what the military is about. I was so annoyed in the 90s (?) when reservists started getting called up a lot, and they were all whiny -- "There hasn't been a war in FOREVER! I had NO IDEA they were going to make me actually fight!!"
"There hasn't been a war in FOREVER! I had NO IDEA they were going to make me actually fight!!"
Oh, that annoyed me so much. When I was stationed in Spain, we even had one guy who enlisted despite the fact he considered himself a pacifist and made them let him put something in his record stating he refused to ever fire a weapon at anyone.
Dear lord, Sail. I totally support the military, and I know a lot of people who've gotten a ton of great things out of it, but if you don't want to be a soldier? Don't sign up to be a soldier!! (/sailor/marine/etc.)
True, of course it's a crapshot.
But, honestly, I'm not foreseeing thigns ending in the next 6 months, and possibly not the next 6 years.
You know war on a nice amorphous entity doesn't seme to have a clear end.
