I've been called in to see if i am fit to join the danish army :D I think it would be nice to try and serve my country, although Denmark dosent have the most powerfull army in the world it would certainly be an honor to serve my country.
And that is a funny thing, just yesterday i read an article on the internet that the danish army had so many volunteers that they were thinking about canceling the "forced" try outs because we now have so many up and comming soldiers that we dont need to force people to try it anymore. So basicly the national pride have grown. But are our National feeling not just a way to close other people out? So we have something in common against other people.
Although i would love to try out and maybe even be a real soldier i do not think i am fit because i've had cancer.
What about you people, i dont know how it works in USA, Canada and every country, but tell me how it works and what you will do if you get called in :)
I've been called in to see if i am fit to join the danish army :D I think it would be nice to try and serve my country, although Denmark dosent have the most powerfull army in the world it would certainly be an honor to serve my country.
And that is a funny thing, just yesterday i read an article on the internet that the danish army had so many volunteers that they were thinking about canceling the "forced" try outs because we now have so many up and comming soldiers that we dont need to force people to try it anymore. So basicly the national pride have grown. But are our National feeling not just a way to close other people out? So we have something in common against other people.
Although i would love to try out and maybe even be a real soldier i do not think i am fit because i've had cancer.
What about you people, i dont know how it works in USA, Canada and every country, but tell me how it works and what you will do if you get called in :)
I would stand and server New Zealand if there was a need. As long as the need was justified.
Also, I'm sorry to hear you had cancer at some point but, I also think it would be a great idea for you to try out for your army to prove to yourself you can do it! Not only would you be proving that to yourself, but to other past or present cancer sufferers that you can do something as physically strenuous as being accepted to join the army, no matter what some people might tell you.
The US military is strictly volunteer based, but we still occasionally get pamphlets in the mail that advertise the military every now and then. Good luck with your military career if you decide to go into it.
Speaking as a self righteous Brit I would sooner fight my own country than assist it in a war I disagree with. The UK may not have had a thinker like Jefferson or Thoreau but it's common held belief that a conscription for a war in the Middle East would fall flat on it's arse due to lack of co-operation.
Here in Canada we don't have a forced draft, you go to an enlistment center and say you want to join. Assuming you pass some tests, then they let you in. Our army made a reality TV show style thing that followed a bunch of recruits from sign up day to full on deployment. It's a very interesting show and you should check it out on youtube. Here is the first episode, and it has three or four seasons.
Look past the cheesy "So you're gonna be working at Mc Donald's" style intro to the series. It's very interesting, and could give you an idea of what to expect.
The national pride has not grow, it's because no one can get a job :P 3 of my friends served their "værnepligt" and they all loved it. I got ditched because I have asthma ;s
American males when they reach the age of 18 are required to register for the draft, but as MB said above there hasn't been a draft since Vietnam ended (1973). The system is in place should a draft ever be required again. I'm completely unfamiliar with this, but according to Wikipedia, there is a plan in place in which women can register with Selective Services (the draft) as "health care and professional workers" (aka the medical draft). I don't think this plan has been implemented yet.
Hi Emil, Here in Israel you get called at 17 to do some IQ and verbal tests, also a motivation interview. based on these and your health record, the military will decide the many jobs you qualify for. you will be summoned to further interviews and tests for different jobs. jobs are diverse: a driver, a cook, a soldier(all different flavors), a trainer, IT technician , and many more . at the end, you choose from the jobs who's tests you passed. service is a must, unless you have health issues or mental issues. you can also study for a college or university degree at the expense of the military, depending on the degree, you will lengthen your service time from the regular 3 years to 4 or 6 years. regarding you past health condition, I believe that as long as it does not affect your current state, your are fit for service. and National pride is not a way to close other people out, it is a mature emotion that motivates you to be active in your community and help the people that are physically close to you. i believe most of what I described here similar to other countries.
I live in Sweden and did my test in 2003. Out of about 70 people only a handful were chosen because the military is on such a tight budget. Before the end of the cold war EVERYONE had to do military service unless you had a very good reason. Times have changed. Now we are moving towards a volunteer army.
Duty in foreign countries like Afghanistan is completely voluntary (At least in Sweden, don't know about Denmark) so unless someone invades the country it's unlikely you'll ever have to actually fight a war even if you do military service.
EDIT: Personally I'm against nationalism which is just another word for egoism but between countries. However being pride of your country is alright as long as you don't take it to the extreme. I've been in many countries and I liked them, but in the end I prefer to live somewhere in Scandinavia.
Danish forces don't seem to be afraid to get their boots muddy. At least if you do choose to sign up you're likely to get a chance to do some proper soldiering.
In the UK it's all volunteer based, although every few years you get somebody calling for the reinstatement of national conscritption, if only to keep the kids off the streets.
I don't think I'd ever join the army, even though both my parents were part of the United Kingdoms Armed Forces and both served in conflict. Having said that, I can't think of a better way to die than serving your country, seems better than just rotting away with no purpose :/
FlameAlpha im 17, im turning 18, in a feew weeks, 17th of June to be exact.
Also of course Nationalism is to cloe other people out from our society, why else do we all have diffferent nationalities? Danish, Israelic. We have The World Championschip in foottball in a few days. Competitive. People have to get permission to migrate into other countries. We all join a social network so we have some support and can cancen people witth other opinions out ;) Its just my way of seeing things FlameAlpha :D
" In the UK it's all volunteer based, although every few years you get somebody calling for the reinstatement of national conscription, if only to keep the kids off the streets....:/ "
We get that in that in the States, too although it surprisingly comes from people on the Left (liberal-democrats). According to their argument, the majority of the ground-pounding armed forces who volunteer for military service come from low-income families and those who are "eager" to send those boys to war are conservative-republicans (their opponents). They are accused of keeping their own children in private schools and coming from more affluent backgrounds, so their kids will never need to join the Army. If their sons are never in the service they'll never suffer the pain of losing a child due to war. So, if everyone was called to service equally, rich or poor, then representatives who normally vote for military action would be less inclined to do so when their kids are in danger. The same thoughts could also be applied to their constituency meaning republican voters would be against sending our forces overseas. It's kind of ironic, because that's what republicans used to believe before Reagan. "Conservative" meant don't make hasty decisions and legislate impassionately. These days, it's quite the opposite as being "tough on [insert enemy here]" is more important than old, abandoned principles. In the end though, I fervently believe that a loop-hole free draft policy is impossible, so those with money would still find ways to protect their own offspring from combat dangers while the poor would again make the greatest sacrifices.
Got the same letter. It would be fun, but you won't serve the country unless you sign up yourself. I wouldn't want to be part of this war. We won't win it.
I'm joining the Armored Battalion in the Norwegian Armed Forces in August, the 12th to be exact. I was called in for an evaluation about a year ago, and after some IQ tests and a health check I was told I was fit for service. After that i spoke with an officer and chose which division I would like to serve in. Got drafted a couple of months ago, not many people make it this far though, it's actually harder to get in than to get excused.
I've lived in Switzerland my whole life, and a few years ago I decided to become a swiss citizen as it makes things so much easier. A few months ago i got my letter of recruitment. In switzerland there is conscription, but it only lasts for about 6-9 months which is full of training. To be honest I don't see the necessity of having conscription when Switzerland is neutral, but it can't hurt to keep your country prepared.
Anyway, once you get the letter, you choose when you want to go, but you have to go before you turn 32. I think that joining the army for a few months could be a good experience and what not, but the fact that it'll get in the way of my studies kinda bothers me. Since it's a few months, it means i'll have to prolong my studies for at least a year.
I've talked to a few friends who have done it before, and most of them say that it's one of the funnest things they've done so far. Apparently during the day you do the normal fitness training with some shooting training, then at night you just chill in the camp/bunkers playing cards with squadmates and fellow soldiers. So at least it won't be anything horrible.
You can choose what sort of division you want to serve in, to an extent. There are a range of different divisions, such as cooking, IT, communications, scouting, messaging along with all the normal typical army stuff. There's even a division that deals with delivering top priority letters, and the way you deliver these is on motorbikes. So basically you're mility training will be zooming around switzerland delivering stuff, if you join that division.
I'm from Ireland and as a neutral country our military is tiny (we have enough ammo to last a weeks heavy fighting across the country apparently) and actually has a freeze on recruitment at the moment since our peacekeeping force has just returned from Chad. When they are recruiting it's all voluntary with no compulsory service. I wouldn't join voluntarily myself since I don't need a job and don't feel the need to serve my country in that way since it doesn't interest me at all. If there ever was a draft I would imagine shit had gotten real to the point where I'd probably want to join since it would mean the country or EU was in dire danger.
Well dude, im brazilian and here you are forced to show up and enlist when turn 18. But its basically the same story since there are too many people that actually want to serve. I myself am studying to join the academy and begin a career on the army as an oficial, hopefully entering the special forces. If you feel like that about getting called out then i really think you should try and serve for some time, its a great experience for those who like it, go ahead and try to join.
I live in the United States, and I am not sure how I feel. I hate the whole, Bro'd out mentality of the guys in the military. I am not a fan of people ordering me around and yelling for no reason. And really, there is not many of these wars that the United States has taken place in the past 30 to 40 years that I can really get behind. I mean really, are all these conflicts that we have gotten involved in really necessary for our countries immediate interests?
" serve your country by being a productive citizen....not leaching off tax payers "
Way to honor the people dying for your country, asshole. "
They aren't dying for me. They aren't even dying for the good of our country. They don't deserve our honor. Invent something that makes lives better rather than taking lives. That seems way more beneficial. Your misguided view of what deserves honor is the reason that needless wars can be waged for so long, because if you dare to question their mission, you are not supporting or honoring them. Asshole.
In Britain the idea of conscription is brought up quite often as Soap points out, but there will never be a return to National Service in Britain. The military establishment here is deeply opposed to implementing conscription and no war we've fought in in the past 40 years has changed that opinion.
The military in Canada is a volunteer based program. We don't really have much of a large military force, nor do we really need one since we live right next to the United States.
If I could go back to around your age, I would join the military in my country.
@WickedCobra03 said:
" I live in the United States, and I am not sure how I feel. I hate the whole, Bro'd out mentality of the guys in the military. I am not a fan of people ordering me around and yelling for no reason. And really, there is not many of these wars that the United States has taken place in the past 30 to 40 years that I can really get behind. I mean really, are all these conflicts that we have gotten involved in really necessary for our countries immediate interests? "
I hope that you take the time to research what the military is like in the United States. You might very well be surprised. Forget what you've learned about the military from movies (if that's where a lot of the opinion originates)...or be selective. Some of those movies are very good.
The US has a strictly volunteer based forces. But, the military also has a large presence in the civilian life like recruiters will go to high schools and try to recruit seniors there. That's how I set up my Army appointment to get ready to join but, I ended up changing my mind outta tradition that my family has served in the navy for like 3 generations (Now Including me) and now I am waiting for my date to leave for boot camp and my job will be Master-At-Arms (Military Police basically).
Aussie armed forces are totally optional, we did have national service a long time ago and there was some talk a few years ago about bringing it back but the army really doesnt want that to happen. Only thing we have a bit different is the army gap year where you can serve 12 months and then decide to stay or go.
Log in to comment