The Military Thread

Well nowadays they just simply don't make the cut anymore. I can't tell you how many Marine hopefuls I've seen get drummed out before basic because they were told that wanting to shoot brown people isn't a valid reason for joining.

Entry isn't just about being in shape, if you've got a toxic attitude they won't let you in either. Usually.

Unless a war is on.◊

Even if a war is on, people were getting kicked out, as soon as OIF ended, the floodgates opened.

The big issue was (slightly) relaxed entry standards: some felony waivers, others let in with shady backgrounds or let it in lieu of a conviction (not allowable, but a lot of recruiters fudged the numbers until the big Army standdown back in 2007 I believe).

Plus disciplinary authority was taken from Battalion to Brigade. A Colonel overseeing 2,000 soldiers doesn't know as much as a Lieutenant Colonel who gets to know 500-700 soldiers (mostly via his CSM and 1SG's). So a lot of dirtbags got to stay in....

Until 2009-2010. Standards were reviewed, Article 15's in the file got a lot of NCO's booted for force-retire'd. Commanders were told after 2011: "You have the right to deny re-enlistment", not Colonels, Captains.

The US military goes through these boom and bust cycles. The 2000's weren't as bad as the past, no where near as bad. Most of the felonies were drug and property crimes - and those soldiers either shaped up or got sent home.

So answer a question: a racist would get an Article 15 punishment over EO (Equal Opportunity) violation. Plus a member of an extremist organization would be kicked out for belonging to one. Just having the material can result in punishment (revoked security clearance for instance).

I'd imagine that in today's military, most racists and such just shut up and color, having performed the Operational Risk Assessment on airing their views on race where others will hear it vs the potential impacts they will face as a professional or an individual.

I'm guessing discrimination against foreigners (Or at least countries who are US allies) is a no-no, too.

edited 29th May '16 11:30:18 AM by Bat178

One of the C Os at my base was force retired after he was overheard using racial slurs. Within two weeks. Gone.

Had a good path ahead of him too. A shame.

Taira: Yeah about that. You do know that before and after OIF that the US military is chock full of gang members who are still active, KKK, White supremacists,Neo Nazis, Black Supremacists, Militant Separatists, militia loons, biker gang members, and a lot of other unsavory types. More then a few are still in. Your faith in the system is grossly misplaced.

edited 29th May '16 11:33:11 AM by TuefelHundenIV

And T-hound, where are these guys now? Most drank their enlistment money, others left the service and went back to being dirtbags. No wave of 11B's out joining the KKK.

Anyone caught in an EO violation, including bad attitudes about foreigners, would see their career come to a screeching halt.

Taira; More then a few are still in and contrary to your opinion a lot of them manage to not drink their liquor away. Worse yet they are in positions of authority. Again your faith in the system is grossly misplaced and insisting there isn't a problem like that only makes it worse because it just gets swept under the rug. This has been a long term problem. FBI report from 2015 noted there were still high numbers of KKK, Neo-Nazis, separatists, extremists of all stripes, and gang bangers. Getting in is pretty easy when you change a tattoo to look a little different or don't have any identifying marks etc. The gang bangers are the biggest problem out of the lot.

Science Council of Japan considers overturning long-held opposition to military research

YEEES.

Cross posting from the Navy thread:

How Fat Leonard swindled the US Navy.

Well, at least we know he's upholding the fine Malaysian tradition of corruption. Or rather, was.

Cracked.com's Memorial Day article: On the Subject of Casualty Notification Officer

I think I remember a CNO saying that back in Iraq he saw bodies bleed, but now he sees souls bleeding.

War, my sweet.

Fuckin' gold.

This made me guffaw.

I don't get it.

Its from the exact same word being repeated by the next speaker saying the exact same shit in the same briefing. It is mind numbing.

Well, I washed out of Basic Training, so I never had to sit through so many military briefings that the experience really stuck in my memory. Fortunately for me.

NHK has an analyst, Hiroko Takahashi, from the Meiji Gakuen University's International Peace Research Institute talk about how Obama's visit to Hiroshima was brief and didn't stop to see the survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima/Nagasaki.

She also mentioned that Obama's speech felt like it was natural that the bombings occurred and not a sense of responsibility.

Well, I mean, there was a war on.

And who started it, exactly?

I wonder if there are any groups of survivors from the firebombing campaign that do protests like these.

And what on earth is a "peace research institute"?

Generally, they research non-proliferation, crises and the such to work towards a more stable world.

The EEEEEVIL Americans who had the audacity to embargo Japan after it invaded China and slaughtered millions. At least that's what the revisionists say.

And of course the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was all a plan by FDR to get America into the war for reasons. Mind you, this assumes the Japanese have no sense of free will but whatever.