Would You Encourage Your Son or Daughter To Join The Military?

[FaninAma]

I respect all individuals who have served or are currently serving in all branches of our military. My question pertains more to how the military is being used currently by our elected leaders. I question their judgement and resove and these doubts about leadership cut across both sides of the political aisle.

What do you tell the families of military members who were killed or came home permanently wounded or maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan when you see what os going on with ISIS and understanding the very same thing will happen in Afghanistan after we withdraw?

I watch the Wounded Warriors commercials and I feel such empathy for those families and individuals. What must they be thinking about the current state of affairs in Iraq and Afghanistan?

I personally would not encourage my son or daughters to join the military......as things stand now.

[olevetonahill]

As a Vet, and The father of a Vet I was very PROUD of my son and his 6 years of active duty. In Bosnia and Iraq. As it stands today I would Not encourage ANY youngster to enter the service. Nor would I discourage them. I would however Talk to them about seeing whos going to be in charge and If they can follow that Person.
The Empty headed Empty Suit currently in Power? Id say Hell NO.

[Sooner in Tampa]

As a retired vet...you damn right I would encourage my children to enter the military...IF, that is what they wanted to do. I would push them into it, but if it were something they wanted to do, of course!

The deal is; it's a volunteer force and if nobody joins, well then we are looking at bringing back the draft. The bottom line for me: this country is free because of the brave and if you are willing to sign a blank check for your country...I support you!!

Semper Fi

[olevetonahill]

As a retired vet...you damn right I would encourage my children to enter the military...IF, that is what they wanted to do. I would push them into it, but if it were something they wanted to do, of course!

The deal is; it's a volunteer force and if nobody joins, well then we are looking at bringing back the draft. The bottom line for me: this country is free because of the brave and if you are willing to sign a blank check for your country...I support you!!

Semper Fi

I kinda agree Bro. I wouldnt encourage them tho. I dayum sure wouldnt tell em Not to.
Like I said Id suggest they look at Whos gonna be the HNIC and decide before they sign up if they really believe they can follow that person.
Thanks for your Service Bro
Plus I dont necessarily believe the Draft would be a Bad thing. But instead of a "Selective" service. Make it a Mandatory 2 year for ALL able bodied Men and women.

[dwarthog]

I'm a vet as well and my Son is going on 10yrs + in the Navy. He got his Chief promotion this time last year.

I'm proud of him and his service and like Sooner in Tampa said, someones got to be willing to stand up for the freedoms we enjoy and all to often taken for granted as a "right".

Hard to say for sure if I would encourage him given all of the variables in play today. But, I doubt I would discourage him if it was a decision he was set on going through with.

[FaninAma]

I actually would discourage my kids from entering the military. I am old enough to have seen our politicians waste the shed blood of tens of thousands of our country's best and brightest in Vietnam and now the Middle East. And I will continue to do so until I see a change in our policy. Screw the Neocons like Bush. We can't continue to be every other country's mercenary force. And screw the spineless idiots like Obama and Kerry who don't have the courage to see the job through and end up wasting the blood and resources this country spent to achieve some semblance of a more stable world.

I am very pro-military especially when it comes to our military individuals. They deserve higher pay and better medical care. They also deserve leadership that makes better decisions about how and when to use our military.

[One4OU]

I am a vet and my thought is if you are in the military you have to follow the orders your are given. Your opinion or position is just that your opinion. You dont have to agree but you must follow the orders. We are in a time where majorities dont exist and half the country will always disagree. Even if there is a majority the minority negative viewpoints is all we will hear about.

I would not want to be next to someone in a combat situation and wonder if they are going to ask why when it is my neck they should be covering.

If you cant follow given orders the military isnt for you. I would let my kids decide for themself and yes all these wounded and killed men and women are a pure tragedy, but I believe we have two options, fight them here or fight them over there, either way we have to disrupt their organizations. It is a sick world and evil is everywhere now.

[badger]

If it's what she wants to do. There are plenty of reasons other than worrying about politics to join the military, including selfish ones like a free education, having employment and attached benefits and retirement benefits after just 20 years of work.

For unselfish reasons, it's also a very admirable profession. Budweiser will keep churning out military ads for years because pretty much everyone loves our soldiers right now, regardless of what way they lean politically.

[hawaii 5-0]

I like the 2 year mandatory idea for all able bodied men and women proposed by Vet (and the Israelis).

Then they can decide whether they want to make it a career or not.

5-0

[IGotNoTiming]

That is a great question. My boys are 7 and 5 right now. My feelings are this. If we were in a position of truly defending oir sovereignty or our borders, i would hug them and pray for them. If, however they were suiting up to fight another political battle over resources i would be hesitant to encourage them.
I have never served. I was an Air Force brat. My dad was an Ops Officer who flew RC-135 for most of his 20 plus years in the service. I worshipped the ground he walked on. He passed away 5 years ago, but before that happened, I remember fondly our Sunday talks. He was opposed to the motives behind the decision to go into Iraq the second time, but he also said as a former member of the military, that if you are asked to go, it was your duty and did so without any reservations.

[olevetonahill]

The Question was
Would You Encourage Your Son or Daughter To Join The Military?

Mine was a Simple NO I would not encourage them in todays climate.
Now if the Question was would you DIScourage them Id still say NO. I would NOT discurage them. I would advise them to look around and gho in with their eyes open tho.

[FaninAma]

Thank you for your sincere and heart felt answers. On one hand I feel selfish for my desire to keep my kids out of harm's way. And I understand how important it is that we have capable and decent individuals answering the call to defend our nation.

On the other hand, by encouraging or even passively standing by as my children make this decision only seems like I am enabling our political elites to continue misusing and mistreating not only my children but all the sons and daughters of other families. No more wasting of blood shed by our young men and women until the politicians can get their act together. Show me why it is necessary to ask them for this sacrifice and then prove to me you are going to honor the sacrifice by completing the mission.

Trust and respect is earned. Neither political party has earned my respect and they certainly haven't earned my trust.

[rock on sooner]

I served in the late 60's, dint go to the jungle but did go to Pakistan,
got to listen to rilly good stuff, there and in Scotland before.
My boy signed up while he was a junior in college. That was okay,
but when he told me what the recruiter told him about what he would
be doing as an officer, I went absolutely nuclear...that f****** told my
son that he would be giving orders to patrol, not that he would have to
lead the patrols...my son bought that crap....I found out this sob's name
and called him. That mofo confirmed that he told my boy that s*** and
that was sop. My wife kept me from going to the recruiting office to do him
harm. Fortunately, there was a provision where he could petition out of the
commitment and he did. Now, this a-hole called my home several times to
"shame" my boy into coming back into the fold, with so n so did this and he
stayed with his enlistment.

Now, I know young and impressionable, but I told my boy that Bush's war was
being fought for all the wrong reasons and this wasn't all that glitter....I'm happy
to say my boy is where he should be and I have two great grandsons...

Sorry for the length but this topic brought up really bad thoughts!

[FaninAma]

Rockon, i would have done the same thing. What did we accomplish in Vietnam? What have we accomplished in the Middle East? Let the House of Saud simmer in the juices of the radicalism they helped to promote and let their sons and daughters shed blood to stop these ****tards. Quit being useful idiots for those SOBs.

[SicEmBaylor]

I don't have kids, but I would likely not encourage them to join the military. I'd actively discourage it, in fact. The exception being if they had the opportunity to attend one of the service academies -- that's an opportunity too great to pass up.

The problem I have with them joining the military is when the next civil war/revolution takes place...I want to make sure they are on the right side. I want to make sure they understand loyalty in this country starts with your family, local community, state, and then the f'n Feds dead last. My fear is the military isn't clear on this.

[BoulderSooner79]

If the military were really geared toward national defense, I would say yes. With the way it has been 90% world police or protecting questionable "national interests" for decades, I say "NO!". The 9/11 thing was a stark example for me. Had I been a young man or qualified from previous service, I would have been first in line to go get Al Queda in Afghanistan. If I got diverted to Iraq, I would have gone AWOL.

[reflector]

I don't have a son or daughter!

[8timechamps]

I'm a vet, and I did not encourage either of my boys to join. However, if they were to show interest, I would absolutely encourage it, but it's a decision each person must make on their own. I've seen too many guys that were 'encouraged' into serving, only to be complete screw ups.

This country is as strong as her military, that's the way things work. We are fortunate to have an all voluntary military the size (and skill) of the one we have. If everyone decided not to join, we'd be in trouble in a hurry.

[Wishboned]

I had girls, and the military was never an option either one of them ever considered. I probably would have tried to discourage them because of world events, and because of the way a lot of women in the military are treated.

Now I have grandsons. And if they came to me for advice on the military I would shoot straight with them. I would tell them that it could be a great opportunity. But they should know that opportunity can come with a huge price tag.

I don't regret the time I spent in service. I was fortunate though that we never had a long drawn out war. We just had little skirmishes from time to time. I got to do a lot of things that I never would have even dreamed of, and I got to see a little bit of history.

[FaninAma]

And the usual suspects have started beating the war drums again.

[TAFBSooner]

Re; Rock On's story. One of the first things to impress upon your kids, relatives, friends, and anyone who isn't familiar with the military - Recruiters Lie.

I served in the Air Force Reserve. I tried to discourage my middle son from joing the Army Guard in 2010, but he did it anyway. My primary reason was selfishly wanting to not lose my son to KIA or PTSD, but I also didn't want him participating in the occupation of a foreign country.

Another important thing anyone considering joining the military needs to know about is PTSD. Valar morghulis and all that, but living for many years with PTSD, being a risk to your loved ones, or living on the street, seems like hell on earth to me. If We the People really had any influence, I would say we need to include the young people that we are condemning to a life with PTSD as well as those killed or physically wounded in the calculus of costs vs benefits of going to war.

I was passionately against Iraq 2.0. I am against what we're doing now in Iraq/Syria, but the case isn't so clear cut. We are responsible for the mess over there now, under General Powell's Pottery Barn Rule - we broke it, we bought it. On the other hand, a majority of the crap we're dealing with in the ME today is due to bad decisions by US and, earlier, our British and French allies. Every move we make seems to get us embroiled further, as in the Tar Baby. I also get the feeling the caliphate leaders really *want* us over there, to further bleed us of blood and treasure. Bin Laden brought down one superpower; he wanted to add US to his list, and I hope he can see from hell that he failed. How we handle Iraq 3.0 will have a big impact on that.

It's always good to hear from General "Sic'Em" Lee, but I'm an American who's proud to live in Oklahoma, not t'other way around.

[FaninAma]

I would never allow my son to join the military as long as our government supports the House of Saud and insists on continuing to support these purveyors of Islamic fueled hatred.

[rock on sooner]

Regarding TAFBSooner's point about lying recruiters...that appears to be the norm
in today's climate...the push to maintain quotas in today's military. When I went
to the recruiting station (all branches were in the same building) in Ardmore, I went
fully intending to join the Army. All the recruiters except the Air Force were "out to
lunch", so, not wanting to waste the trip I talked to the Air Force guy. He told me
what the AF's needs were and, in order to tell me where I would LIKELY go, I had
to take some tests. I did, he scored the tests and told me that I would likely go to
Intercept School, since that was the greatest need they had. I'm quite certain if
their greatest need was KP, no matter what aptitude I showed on the test, that's
where I would have gone. I signed up, two days later I was on a bus to Lackland.
Four days later, my folks told me that someone from the "gubment" was in town
checking on my background. After basic, I went to Keesler and my folks told me
the "gubment" was back in town, checking more in depth. After Keesler, I went to
Goodfellow and was told I had a TS codeword clearance and couldn't talk to anyone
about my training.

Just guessing, mind you, but signups now are still put where the need is and the
recruiters are told the needs and are "trained" on how to put the best face on the
all volunteer beast. IDGAS, lying to impressionable young men/women is BS and,
for that reason I'll discourage my grandsons from joining, assuming I'm still vertical
and taking nourishment in 15 to 18 years!

[olevetonahill]

Re; Rock On's story. One of the first things to impress upon your kids, relatives, friends, and anyone who isn't familiar with the military - Recruiters Lie.

I served in the Air Force Reserve. I tried to discourage my middle son from joing the Army Guard in 2010, but he did it anyway. My primary reason was selfishly wanting to not lose my son to KIA or PTSD, but I also didn't want him participating in the occupation of a foreign country.

Another important thing anyone considering joining the military needs to know about is PTSD. Valar morghulis an
d all that, but living for many years with PTSD, being a risk to your loved ones, or living on the street, seems like hell on earth to me. If We the People really had any influence, I would say we need to include the young people that we are condemning to a life with PTSD as well as those killed or physically wounded in the calculus of costs vs benefits of going to war.

I was passionately against Iraq 2.0. I am against what we're doing now in Iraq/Syria, but the case isn't so clear cut. We are responsible for the mess over there now, under General Powell's Pottery Barn Rule - we broke it, we bought it. On the other hand, a majority of the crap we're dealing with in the ME today is due to bad decisions by US and, earlier, our British and French allies. Every move we make seems to get us embroiled further, as in the Tar Baby. I also get the feeling the caliphate leaders really *want* us over there, to further bleed us of blood and treasure. Bin Laden brought down one superpower; he wanted to add US to his list, and I hope he can see from hell that he failed. How we handle Iraq 3.0 will have a big impact on that.

It's always good to hear from General "Sic'Em" Lee, but I'm an American who's proud to live in Oklahoma, not t'other way around.

You have NO clue what your talking about.

[8timechamps]

Re; Rock On's story. One of the first things to impress upon your kids, relatives, friends, and anyone who isn't familiar with the military - Recruiters Lie.

I served in the Air Force Reserve. I tried to discourage my middle son from joing the Army Guard in 2010, but he did it anyway. My primary reason was selfishly wanting to not lose my son to KIA or PTSD, but I also didn't want him participating in the occupation of a foreign country.

Another important thing anyone considering joining the military needs to know about is PTSD. Valar morghulis and all that, but living for many years with PTSD, being a risk to your loved ones, or living on the street, seems like hell on earth to me. If We the People really had any influence, I would say we need to include the young people that we are condemning to a life with PTSD as well as those killed or physically wounded in the calculus of costs vs benefits of going to war.

I was passionately against Iraq 2.0. I am against what we're doing now in Iraq/Syria, but the case isn't so clear cut. We are responsible for the mess over there now, under General Powell's Pottery Barn Rule - we broke it, we bought it. On the other hand, a majority of the crap we're dealing with in the ME today is due to bad decisions by US and, earlier, our British and French allies. Every move we make seems to get us embroiled further, as in the Tar Baby. I also get the feeling the caliphate leaders really *want* us over there, to further bleed us of blood and treasure. Bin Laden brought down one superpower; he wanted to add US to his list, and I hope he can see from hell that he failed. How we handle Iraq 3.0 will have a big impact on that.

It's always good to hear from General "Sic'Em" Lee, but I'm an American who's proud to live in Oklahoma, not t'other way around.

I will absolutely agree that recruiters lie. So, should either of my boys decide to join, I would make sure they understood what they were signing up for, and to not rely on what they are being sold.

The other stuff I'm okay with too, but I'll say it again; if everyone decided not to join the military, we'd be in much worse shape than we are now.

[Turd_Ferguson]

I will absolutely agree that recruiters lie. So, should either of my boys decide to join, I would make sure they understood what they were signing up for, and to not rely on what they are being sold.

The other stuff I'm okay with too, but I'll say it again; if everyone decided not to join the military, we'd be in much worse shape than we are now.

Youngest son joined the National Guard last year while attending UCO. My only demand of him before he signed, was that the recruiter come to my house and set down with my son, my wife and me. The recruiter did just that. He answered every question we had. He gave us his cell number/office address/email and responds any time I call/text/email or stop by. My son took on BCT and AIT one right after the other, completed both and is back home and back at school ready to start ROTC next year. He is absolutely in love with it. My oldest son is looking into the same thing now and the recruiter called me last week to set up another meeting with us. He asked to come visit with us and bring what he thought would be good options for my son after seeing his ASVAB scores.

I will agree that there are a lot of recruiters out there that are like used car salesmen, but there are plenty of good ones out there as well. IMO, getting the recruiter to stay honest with your child requires the parent(s) involvement.

[rock on sooner]

Youngest son joined the National Guard last year while attending UCO. My only demand of him before he signed, was that the recruiter come to my house and set down with my son, my wife and me. The recruiter did just that. He answered every question we had. He gave us his cell number/office address/email and responds any time I call/text/email or stop by. My son took on BCT and AIT one right after the other, completed both and is back home and back at school ready to start ROTC next year. He is absolutely in love with it. My oldest son is looking into the same thing now and the recruiter called me last week to set up another meeting with us. He asked to come visit with us and bring what he thought would be good options for my son after seeing his ASVAB scores.

I will agree that there are a lot of recruiters out there that are like used car salesmen, but there are plenty of good ones out there as well. IMO, getting the recruiter to stay honest with your child requires the parent(s) involvement.

Great to hear something positive!!!! Keep their feet to the fire....I do believe
that the Guard is more truthful than regular Army/AF/Navy/Marines, simply
because they are local and "almost family", whereas the other guys/gals aren't.

Overall, I am CERTAIN that our military is honorable and the absolute BEST
in the world...it is just that individual egos/ambitions/careers get in the way of
what is right. As I said a loooooonnnggg time ago, if I had been younger and
eligible, on 9/12/2001 I would have signed back up. I salute Lady Glory twice
a day when I hang her out and take her down! ( I still have the flag that flew
24/7, properly lighted, from 9/12/01 to 5/1/11 and will keep it).....