This Will Make My Dad Mad

[X]

I am wondering if anyone ever gets rejected based on any psychological testing done when they sign up?  Physical stuff we all hear about (eyesight, medical conditions, etc.).  But I wonder if they drop anyone who just seems a bit too out there to hand a loaded weapon to?

Yeah, they do, but it's not a simple process.

In order of Air Force, Navy, Army, Marine, each tolerate a different level of crazy, but the caps are in that order, the same with their ASFAB testing.

You need to have few "issues" at the top tier, but they allow for more as time progresses.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Anyone think that youtube should do a better job reviewing this kind of content ?  They probably get 10,000+ submissions everyday and while some offend small groups, this kind of thing is offensible to a large population.

Honestly, the fact that youtube does the job it can is amazing in itself.  I mean cmon, they aren't really getting paid for most of what they do.  (Excluding sponsors here)  They could do a better job, but it can only go so far. 

King

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Tim, I don't think that most service men are being tried for anything. Also, if you are going to send a military force in to protect the people there, then you do that. You don't kill people and justify it as a mistake.

I don't believe that the military would have committed to the type of operation they are on if they didn't have any chance of success at it.  Everyone there isn't randomly killing citizen to get at the bad guys and we shouldn't allow those that do it to go unpunished.

Put the situation into perspective. They are a peace keeping force. Like the cops here. Do you think it's okay for the cops to mow down a few citizens to get at the bag guys here. I mean there are a lot more citizens that could get in the way here and it would be easier to just shoot through someone to get a the bad guy, but that doesn't mean we take the easy path. Nor does it mean we aren't held responsible for our actions.

innocent people do die in war, but if there was no way to prevent that from happening, you aren't usually convicted.

Ok, my statement was rushed....yet again.  But from what I've been hearing, a lot of soldiers are convicted for doing their jobs.  Sometimes this leads to mistakes such as killing civilians and other such.  The problem with this war, is that most combatants are civilian dressed so it could be anyone.  Its amazing that some don't go nuts. 

I'm not saying that we should allow killing civilians just to get at the bad guys, but the enemy will sometimes disguise themselves as civilians and some innocent civilians will do stupid things such as reach for something.  (Which could look like a gun). 

Of course there is always two sides to a story, but from what I've been hearing, 1/2 of them are soldiers doing their jobs to the best of their abilities and they will come home to a trial.  This is due to us trying to be the "good-guys".   

I want to say more.....but this is way  :offtopic :offtopic so I'm stopping now. 

King

[Jen]

I believe that you didn't intend to insult anyone, as you said you're wife served.  I just wish some people would be more respectful of soldiers/Marines/sailors/airmen and women. They do what we can't or just flat don't want to and it bothers me when people paint them with a broad stroke of criticism. The way your first two posts read, it sounded like you were doing just that, and lumping Texas and cowboys into the whole thing... so maybe you can see why that would rub me the wrong way.   :)

All the branches of the military have the goal of rebuilding and reshaping their recruits. From what I've been told the Marines are just more intense. And for good reason, the Marines are often the ones sent into battle first. Basic training is how the military weeds out those who don't have what it takes to handle stress.

My uncle and my first cousin are Marines (opposite sides of the family). My cousin served three tours of duty in Iraq—he was a rifleman and he fought in Fallujah. Wesley used to be big into hunting, but he doesn't want to shoot anything anymore. Combat effected him differently than these guys who killed the puppy. Though my cousin is happy, and well adjusted, he'd prefer to enjoy life than take it. I'd also like to add that he served three tours on his own accord. He joined right after 911 and is a very patriotic young man. I'm proud of him and thankful that he was willing to protect our freedom.


To answer address Markinro's question, I think that youtube should regulate this stuff. The video of the girl getting beat up by a bunch of brats who had their feelings hurt (another example of violence), shouldn't NEVER have been put on youtube. If they don't already have them, the web site should hire moderators to police this stuff.

As for the comment about Marines, I happen to be from a military family and though several are Marines I have quite a few family members who are Air Force and Army. If I'm not mistaken several members on this board are also military. Including Peperdude, who is a Marine.

From my own talks with Marines, the whole purpose of their longer than any other branch training is so that they can have the time the need to break someone down and then rebuild them how the military wants them to be.

Edit: Forgot to add that my wife is ex army and her ex-husband is a Marine to give a little more perspective to that.

[X]

I agree with you Jen, but I didn't bring up Texas because I was putting it down. I brought up Texas because I'm a Texan and I love that my fellow Texans are the core of the Marines. Every military group has someone that joined for the wrong cause or for the wrong reasons.

In my experience, there are a lot of people that jumped into the Air Force, not to serve their country, but for the college education it can offer and the lack of front line action in most of the jobs.

There are a lot of people with turned up aggression that also flock to the Marine, not because of the honor that the Marines hold and the traditions behind them, but because they want to be in the suck. They want to hold life in their hands and being a volunteer armed forces, we often take what we can get.

I should have been more specific and focused my words on those idiots that joined for the wrong reason and were mistakes waiting to happen. They exist because they serve a role, but some of them never should have joined because it was never about serving, but about wish fulfillment.

At the same time, if you have an idiot that has charisma, it can put more people into unwanted trouble. Despite the training we give our troops, many of them are still kids looking for a place to fit in. When they flock behind an idiot we have things like this film and prison photos hitting the web.

[Jen]

People like to bring up the cowboy and gun loving ways of Texas and to a certain extent that's true. Perhaps this is why 1 out of 10 Marines is a Texan. Some people can handle the stress of being a marine, but obviously these idiots couldn't.

There are a lot of people with turned up aggression that also flock to the Marine, not because of the honor that the Marines hold and the traditions behind them, but because they want to be in the suck. They want to hold life in their hands and being a volunteer armed forces, we often take what we can get.

Yes, some good points. And I know were you were born a Texan because we've chatted about that before. :)   I just want to address what you said about people joining the military in Texas and then "I'll leave it be". I don't believe that the "cowboy and gun loving ways of Texans" is why many Marines are Texans.  We have an outlook down here that is different than many states and countries. As you know, having gone to school here and learning all about the Alamo and our early history, we were once a country ourselves. And the defense of that country is not only breed into us but burned into our minds via stories about the brave men who fought at the Alamo. I am proud to say that I am a direct descendant of two Alamo defenders as well as signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Texas Constitution. We're often called "braggers", because we're proud people. Being proud is not always a bad thing. More than anything that pride is what compels Texans to join the military—the desire to protect and serve—not solely the prospect of getting a job or learning a skill, because our economy down here is actually good. And I don't think shooting guns and feeling the rush of power is a reason why alot of them join either. Shooting guns down here is no big deal... been there done that. And if you don't live in the sticks, there are plenty of legal places to do that in town.

I think this disgusting act that made youtube is problem that is everywhere in society and has been since the dawn of man. People do stupid things and when they do stupid things in groups it becomes a bigger problem. When one person in the crowd does something idiotic, people often turn into sheep and follow the leader. The campus riot that Rico's son posted about not to long ago is a prime example. And then there's the group of prissy girls that kidnapped and, as a gang, beat up another girl because she "talked smack" about them on My Space. It's human nature, and that's why I think the pictures you bought up were a problem and why the puppy incident occurred.

[Meds]

I tell you this for certain. I being a proud Englishman, and also a proud Brit look upon you Americans with envious eyes. We here have a mighty fine Army, RAF and Navy, I'm proud of all the men and women serving for their country. But, what i see  different is that you Americans are proud enough to fly your flag outside your homes, you look upon your country and feel it in your heart. Ok you may disagree with whatever politics are going on and the financial problems but all in all whether you are rich or poor i see Americans putting there hands on their chest and being proud of everything American. Now in terms of Britain you are still a young country, we've been about for years putting our flags in other peoples countries even yours at one point. And i'm proud of the good points in our history, in fact a lot of countries were better off under British law but thats a different topic, but the problem is, is that our government don't want us to be English, they don;t want us to fly a St Georges Flag or the British Flag, because they deem it racist or an insult to other cultures. Over here on our day to celebrate being English, which is St Georges day the government won't help, but you can bet your bottom dollar that when St Patrick's day comes around celebrations will always be held. Why is that? The reason for that is my government are scared to be English. At least you guys over there know that your president is proud to be American.
Oh i say this because I've just watched the changing of the guard / trooping of the colour with the Queen and at the moment i'm feeling a very proud Englishman. Of course my views are from a Englismens eyes of what he sees America is like from over here. I'll know myself next year when i visit.

As for youtube. Well they really should monitor things better. They do not show pornographic images (and rightly so) as they make sure they screen everything so why can't they do a better job checking other stuff.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I want to say something here so badly.....but it would be way off-topic. 

King