So not just vets but what about civilians that claim service? I understand service isn’t for everyone and you can serve your country without ever being in the military but what about the loud mouth ‘Mercia! guys that wear the flag as underwear and talk about how much of a patriot they are.

We have been at war for 17 years now. During WW2 movie stars took a break to serve, why aren’t more people serving our nation now? Seems like a lot of it’s me and everyone else thought process out here. How many vets out there have done 3,4,6,9 tours now? If no one new joins well we gotta keep sending the same folks right?

When you ask the guy with the bullhorn and American flag bandana how many tours he served, he had a bad back, or he served as a feeler aboard the USS whatever and suffers from debilitating combat flashbacks.....

What do you guys think about compulsory service? Everyone does 2 years. No deferments no BS. Or maybe if an immediate family me,bernserves then that family is exempt from compulsory service. Just a thought. What are yours?

Red said:

What do you guys think about compulsory service?

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Having trained a shit ton of conscripts; can't say I'm a fan.

Our society today will not allow that but I have always thought some kind of service, civilian or Military would be great. Sad to see our Country today!

Switzerland and Israel are two countries that come to mind with mandatory 2 yr service, and seems to have worked well for them...


most of our little snowflakes would melt here...

fl57caveman said:

Switzerland and Israel are two countries that come to mind with mandatory 2 yr service, and seems to have worked well for them...


most of our little snowflakes would melt here...

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Two examples out of 28 ain't exactly great odds.........

donr101395 said:

Two examples out of 28 ain't exactly great odds.........

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I could not think of anymore...Belgium may have compulsory service, but hell, they are full of muzzies..

I agree a conscript army will never be as good as an all volunteer one. Having trained some guys myself I can see that. At the same time I think it instills a sense of pride in your country. Every country has been founded on an armies back and to be even just a little part of that for a litttle time will give you the insight of service and the values that made this country great.

Even drafted for two years as a non combat guy you can run for office and say well I served. Not too many walking the marble halls can say that.

That, and when in those positions they will think twice before starting endless wars with no clear end state or goals. People will have a vested interest in heir decision to send young men off to die on their behalf knowing firsthand what it is like to stand rank and file.

fl57caveman said:

I could not think of anymore...Belgium may have compulsory service, but hell, they are full of muzzies..

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Not a powerhouse in the bunch except maybe China based on sheer numbers.

3 Countries with mandatory military service
3.1 Armenia
3.2 Austria
3.3 Belarus
3.4 Azerbaijan
3.5 Bermuda
3.6 Brazil
3.7 Myanmar (Burma)
3.8 Cyprus
3.9 Denmark
3.10 Egypt
3.11 Finland
3.12 Greece
3.12.1 Conscientious objection to military service in Greece
3.13 Iran
3.14 Israel
3.15 North Korea
3.16 South Korea
3.16.1 Compensation
3.17 Mexico
3.18 Norway
3.19 Russia
3.20 Singapore
3.21 Switzerland
3.22 Republic of China (ROC)
3.23 Thailand
3.24 Tunisia
3.25 Turkey
3.26 Ukraine
3.27 United Arab Emirates

JBryan314 said:

The only clearance worth claiming to have is the TS/SCI, and if you can add a couple caveats to that, like HCS or TK, then even better.

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Try "Yankee White", cleared to be around the President...i.e. As either HMX-1 Marine 1 pilot/aircrew/maintenance/security or the USAF equivalent for Air Force 1

Red said:

I am surprised no one has brought up the Manning wikileaks thing and pardon yet. Talk about treason. We all need to pat ourselves on the back though cause not only did we pay his salary, we paid for his sex change, and probably paying for his VA disability of some sort.

That guys has no idea the amount of damage he did with the stuff he leaked. He did not go thru things and filter anything. He just massive data leaked top secret information on all sorts of programs which absolutely caused deaths out there. Deaths no one will ever realize. Then he gets a pardon!!!!

Snowden, Clinton, the list goes on and on. Those with that kind of experience know what happens if you have a clearance and are Clinton careless let alone Manning malicious. Even if it was unintentional, you get hammered hard, and just pray you escape jail time, let alone get a sex change and pardon, or get to run for president of these fine United States........

There is a justice system for elites and big left wing news stories, then there is the justice system for the rest of us blue collar nobodies, that can serve with distinction and have medals falling out the butthole but mess up once and bam no mercy. Makes me sad to see our system the way it is

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Don't forget that female, Reality Winner. Yep she's the former USAF girl with the TS clearance that leaked some TS stuff to the press as a contractor.....I can't wait to see what our legal system will do with her...

Oh for sure some support personnel take as much risk as the spec ops guys they support. Good example is the recent incident in Africa. They weren’t all Green Berets, some of the fallen were support personnel.

It’s more the support guy that supported or was assigned to a spec ops unit portraying themselves as “operators” those are the guys that crack me up. It’s always I was in such specops group, and when you ask the job it’s like oh well I was a fueler for x specops unit. Sounds a lot different than saying up front; I was a fueler assigned to a spec ops unit. It’s like oh cool man right on. It’s just like any other tall tale I guess, just the military ones tend to crack me up more

JBryan314 said:

The only clearance worth claiming to have is the TS/SCI, and if you can add a couple caveats to that, like HCS or TK, then even better.

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If someone is going around bragging or talking about a clearance, especially in these times, they need to be slapped to put some sense in them. People get exploited all the time these days. TS/SCI is just a clearance. Nothing special outside where that person works. No need to know on the other program and well you don't need to know. What clearance you have means jack crap!!!!!

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Telum Pisces said:

If someone is going around bragging or talking about a clearance, especially in these times, they need to be slapped to put some sense in them. People get exploited all the time these days. TS/SCI is just a clearance. Nothing special outside where that person works. No need to know on the other program and well you don't need to know. What clearance you have means jack crap!!!!!

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Agreed. Its like right on bro you have a x clearance? cool now lets talk about the programs you are read on to since you are so willing to brag about the type of clearance you have. Its ok, Manning, Snowden, and Clinton did it so its ok right?

I'm a POG, just a medic...lol.

Red said:

Agreed. Its like right on bro you have a x clearance? cool now lets talk about the programs you are read on to since you are so willing to brag about the type of clearance you have. Its ok, Manning, Snowden, and Clinton did it so its ok right?

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Royal Engineers, pom, then eod, Falklands vet, prior British Honduras

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skippyt said:

Royal Engineers, pom, then eod, Falklands vet, prior British Honduras

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No known clearances

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Dude that was packing up my household goods once said that he was a Navy SEAL. I thought about laying into him, but his co-workers laughing at him were enough for me. That's the only person that directly said he was a SEAL. A majority of Navy dudes were super murky on what they did, and were trying to sound mysterious. Sorry, your MOS, AFSC, or WTFE isn't classified. I'm making conversation, and I'm idly interested in your service. Everyone's job is important, otherwise that job wouldn't exist. Never really had an issue with the other sister services.

I used to poke fun at Services (AF guys that run the gym, chow-hall, lodging, etc), until I was deployed to bumblefuq Africa. My first trip there, the Services guys really didn't care at all. Food was edible, usually, but mostly zero fuq's were given. Fast forward six months, and I'm right back there again. This time with a new crew of Services dudes. They transformed the whole morale of that base! Great food and all that. I learned a really valuable lesson there. There's honor in every job, and how you do it has an impact on everyone.

In this particular part of Florida, it's kind of strange TBH. Many people are running around like they're a tactical elite operator or something... Multicam hats, 5.11 clothing, cool-guy shades, lifted Jeep or giganto-truck with bumper stickers aplenty...Stickers like Sig, magpul, Yeti, and a few Spartan ones too. Dude we get it. Molon Labe.

I'm nothing special myself, but I do know legit Tier 1 dudes. Those guys are generally low-key and...oh I dunno, keep a low profile? You don't have to ordain yourself in all of this pageantry to try to prove something. If you like that hat, or whatever vehicle, awesome! It just looks like there's a lot of Try Hards in this area. But this is just coming from the mid-thirties guy generally wearing a Star Wars t-shirt. What do I know.

Yep, love a guy that loves and takes pride in his job whether that job is cooking or S1 clerk. Be the best non combat job you can be. Own it and be good at it, its contagious.

Round here you seem to have every service, so its a mixed bag of what you get. AF Special Operations guys ummm yeah, don't know when AF guys unilaterally conduct clandestine operations. I've seen them try some funny stuff though.

Army. Well there is part of the Ranger training brigade here, so all that means is a bunch or Army Ranger qualified guys running around thinking they are the coolest thing ever. You may have the Ranger tab but if you got it when you were in the 82nd, you are not a Ranger. If assigned to the 75th Ranger RGT then you are a Ranger and under USASOC. Not taking anything away from the tab. It was a damn hard school as I remember, from what I remember,...kinda a blur.

There is also the Army's 7th Special Forces Group here. While most of those guys tend to pride themselves on the mantra of "quiet professionals" there are more than a few that get the long tab and feel they are now a strategic asset. Nothing wrong with telling folks you are a Green Beret, nothing secret about it. But sometimes having every award sticker on your rear window of your lifted diesel Dodge ram that has never seen dirt is a little like, ok we get it, you operate bro. Isis hunting license whoa.....

Navy, I know the Seals come thru here. Good dudes for the most part, 9 out of 10 have book deals pending.....

Marines. Aviation are the only guys I have seen here. Usually aviators are cocky and arrogant no matter the branch and I get it I guess. You fly a jet plane and go super sonic, but em....how did you earn that silver star on your chest for dropping a bomb on a farmer from 30k feet with no chance of enemy interdiction. All the time in the world to line up a good bomb run, no stress, and still miss. Bust the deck man, the chances of you getting shot down are slim to none and by some jihadi miracle you do, someone will get you very quickly.

Its the sour faced guys in the service that get me. The guys that tried but didnt make it. They seem to have the worst attitudes and excuses as to why this and that etc. whatever. That razor's edge isnt for everyone and that is ok. Be damn proud of whatever you are and try to be the best at it. Everyone loves a happy go lucky competent guy.

Some feel that there are only three groups of people that they need to impress.
#1. Their trainers/mentors.
#2. The men that fought along side of them.
#3. And their team/squad mates that came before them . . . both living and the ones that have passed.
No one else deserves a training story or a "war story". ---- SAWMAN