Im thinking of joining the army

Dan wrote:

ResurrectionRooney wrote:

Dan wrote:

ResurrectionRooney wrote:The police are crucial to our everyday lives whereas the army or not. The police will only shoot someone when they pose an imminent threat, and even then it will only be specialist firearms officers, in my country at least, where we have sensible gun laws.

And I guess, in the army, those that are targeted are weaponless and possess no reason to harm anybody. Why did nobody tell us the Taliban posed no imminent threat.


Also, no point mate. Army people get paid less than footballers. It's a disgrace apparently.

The Taliban wouldn't pose a fucking threat if we weren't going into their country!

It's not a disgrace that army people get paid less than footballers, it's perfectly right that that should happen. Not getting into this debate again though.

I was being sarcastic. Hence the 'apparently'.

But I guess you are right, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have only ever done anything bad within the borders of their own country.

The Taliban have never attacked the West to my knowledge. Al Quaeda have, but they are an organisation who are impossible to defeat by sending the military to attack them.

Sean wrote:

JMB_94 wrote:

Sean wrote:The thing is though, if it was say WWII and there was a proper reason to go to war I could appreciate, but to give up your life to fight for oil and all other corrupted reasons for the current war, well, fuck that,

I could've swore that was the war in Iraq, which was completely pointless and troops were risking their lives for oil.

You telling me the Afghan war is completely above board?

Of course it was.

We've a rich history of invading poor countries with resources that we need. Why stop now?

Dan wrote:

Sean wrote:

JMB_94 wrote:

Sean wrote:The thing is though, if it was say WWII and there was a proper reason to go to war I could appreciate, but to give up your life to fight for oil and all other corrupted reasons for the current war, well, fuck that,

I could've swore that was the war in Iraq, which was completely pointless and troops were risking their lives for oil.

You telling me the Afghan war is completely above board?

Of course it was.

We've a rich history of invading poor countries with resources that we need. Why stop now?

And you left us with people like Jamie and Luke

Sean wrote:

Dan wrote:

Sean wrote:

JMB_94 wrote:

Sean wrote:The thing is though, if it was say WWII and there was a proper reason to go to war I could appreciate, but to give up your life to fight for oil and all other corrupted reasons for the current war, well, fuck that,

I could've swore that was the war in Iraq, which was completely pointless and troops were risking their lives for oil.

You telling me the Afghan war is completely above board?

Of course it was.

We've a rich history of invading poor countries with resources that we need. Why stop now?

And you left us with people like Jamie and Luke

Can you blame us?

Anyway, we didn't leave you with Luke, he was born over here, next to one of those important buildings without much of a past, before moving over to you.

Jamie on the other hand, sorry about that.

menalawyerguy wrote:

James wrote:The idea of being a soldier is you give your life to the country.

If you are willing to do that and are happy to do that then go ahead.

If you want a wife, kids, marriage and actually enjoy these things then don't bother.

Right...be cause soldiers never have wives or kids.

I meant enjoying it.

Lets face it, the wife is gonna get bored and sleep with someone else.
Your kids will remember you, you'll remember them but you'll barely see them growing up.
And the only way non of that will happen is if you come paralysed or something. Even then your wife will probably cheat on you and your kids wont be able to treat you like a dad again, but more like any other disabled person.


In other words, don't do it.

dena wrote:My brother joined the army and was killed, been bitter about that for a while but through him I've grown up with his army buddies as close friends, after they've served (and while they were in the reserves) they obviously went on to do other things, some were very successful (a friend of his became an engineer) others don't (one killed himself due to PTSD) and some are in the middle, struggling with injuries while trying to live a normal life, or just not as successful. This was in the early 2000s though which is sort of a different time, all I can say is do all the research you can on what joining the British army/navy/airforce would entail for you, consult your family and see what's up. I would suggest not going and finishing school, but to each his own.

My condolences to you and your family..

James wrote:

menalawyerguy wrote:

James wrote:The idea of being a soldier is you give your life to the country.

If you are willing to do that and are happy to do that then go ahead.

If you want a wife, kids, marriage and actually enjoy these things then don't bother.

Right...be cause soldiers never have wives or kids.

I meant enjoying it.

Lets face it, the wife is gonna get bored and sleep with someone else.
Your kids will remember you, you'll remember them but you'll barely see them growing up.
And the only way non of that will happen is if you come paralysed or something. Even then your wife will probably cheat on you and your kids wont be able to treat you like a dad again, but more like any other disabled person.


In other words, don't do it.

You do know that soldiers aren't fighting wars for their entire lives. Usually they're abroad for about 6 months at a time, they then come home for another 6 months and then go back. Most soliders serve in the army for only about 3 or 4 years.

Pointless war conflict. Wait until we go to war for a 'good cause'.

My Mum's Uncle is in the army and is currently based in Cyprus, been in the army nearly 20 years this summer and he enjoys it.

i might aswell say why its come into my head

1 i saw a somthing before on BBC 3 about how the soliders are fighting to help the civilians there and help re open schools and make the people feel safe
2 i dont want to do a normal job for the rest of my life the army was one chioce the other is just packing up and traveling to diffrent countries working in bars to get me to the next place but yeah i dont want to live a boring life i want to be able say yeah i did this when im on my death bed

Go for it then, you'll get to do that a lot sooner.

Don't do it mate. You've got too much to live for. Not only is there a high chance of being killed but you will also be scarred for the rest of your life and be put through constant flashbacks.

Am joining up to one of the armed forces when I finish 6th form.

There are much better ways to do something meaningful than to throw your life away.

Not worth it tbh (my opinion). Your still very young go to college and university. If you want to travel become a pilot (very high wages like 5 times as much as a soldier) or tour guide or something like that. Its not like your going to go to Afghanistan and sight see now. Its very physical work from what I understand and very disciplined. Involves alot of walking in heavy gear and off coarse the risk of death/serious injury.

I agree with the majority. Don't think it's worth it in the end.

If you are passionate about your country and would happily take the risk of dying for it, then go for it. If it's what you really want.

But if that isn't the main motivation, then don't even bother, it's not worth it. Your life with your wife, kids, family and friends will be worth more than £35,000 a year. (If that is what they get paid)

Don't. You don't get paid enough, at the end of the day that Victoria Cross you might or might not get ain't paying for your new leg, or whatever happens to you. It also won't pay for your funeral if you bite the dust.

Before you make a decision you must ask yourself if you will be 100% committed to the cause. You must accept the fact that you will be away from your family and friends for several months at a time. You must also accept that you may be caught up in combat and must be prepared to kill a person or die yourself. You have to be tough mentally as well as physically. So many people who join come back with their minds completely fucked up from what they have seen.

If you have any ounce of doubt then I personally don't think you should join.

In the end i'm sure you'll make the decision which is right for you.

My best mate is in the Royal Marines, hes been in there for 6 years and enjoys it. He's always been a mad adrenaline cunt though, saying that.. The Army is nowhere near as tough and you have alot less chance of dying.. i say go for it.

Also.. watch that show on tv (should be on iplayer) called "Our War". It follows army lads on tours and stuff.

I'm young so maybe I shouldn't get involved, but I blame Tony Blair, no real reason to go to war, just us sticking our fucking noses again/

I don't think the Afghan conflict is pointless or one for corruption as it's been suggested on here your worse than Hamid Karzai who apparently thought we were only in Helmand for the drugs trade there .

The Bush administration had to be seen to be doing something against those involved in terrorist attacks in order to get another term. It's already been demonstrated how dramatically actions against terrorism can affect public opinion this year when Obama announced that Bin Laden had been killed his popularity seemingly soared. Although,Afghanistan is probably the worst place in the world to start a conflict as you have geographical and cultural divides,warring drug cartels,corruption from top to bottom and as history dictates Afghanistan can be deemed somewhat unconquerable and it doesn't help that fundamental errors have been made throughout the conflict. Ultimately,it is debateable as to whether it was worth going in to Afghanistan,your denying Al queda the safe haven they enjoyed under the Taliban yet there are so many countries that have elements sympathetic to Al Queda such as Pakistan and Yemen. By going in to Afghanistan you pretty much stir up a hornets nest especially when you destroy the Taliban who to be fair needed removing from Government just for enforcing their archaic form of Islam but now we have the situation in which you have a war for 'hearts and minds' yet when your throwing down thousands of pounds of bombs and rounds you've always got a chance of killing civillians whose relatives then join the cause against the West and many Afghans blame the West because it's easier to do so as they live in fear of the Taliban. I think we've finally realised that Afghanistan is unconquerable even for modern superpowers throwing $2billion a week at the problem. It's sad because the lessons of Vietnam clearly haven't been learned at all.

On joining the Army I suggest you watch that 'Our War' documentary aswell. Gives a decent look at Army life but also the harsh realities of war.

Chris wrote:My best mate is in the Royal Marines, hes been in there for 6 years and enjoys it. He's always been a mad adrenaline cunt though, saying that.. The Army is nowhere near as tough and you have alot less chance of dying.. i say go for it.

Also.. watch that show on tv (should be on iplayer) called "Our War". It follows army lads on tours and stuff.

i did