fucking with the troupe

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Who the fuck is this little emo? Whoever it is has avoided my radar until now.

No one worth worrying about.  A sad, useless, unfunny troll.

You may now resume talking about people that matter.

[wade]

You also seem to have some holdover resentment about being bullied in high school, and you're projecting it onto people you perceive as being "successful" within the system, such as soldiers. FYI, a lot of people who join the military actually had a shitty time in high school, too. Misfits, social rejects, and the poor are far more likely to join the military than are the stereotyped "jocks" or prep-school types. The "jocks" and prep-school types go to private colleges and then get MBAs and law degrees and wear suits, because their parents would never stand to see young Dirk join the ARMY. The ARMY is for people without options, without rich parents and private-school tuition and sports scholarships.

The kid on the bus is probably just really happy to not be dead right now, and is just trying to figure out how to stop having nightmares every night and put his life back together and use the paltry college allowance he earned in service. 

You want to be mad at someone, try being mad at someone who's actually in charge of this bullshit.

TROOF. 100%  All of us in basic basically had the exact same story.  We all determined that you do infact have to be a little bit fucked in the head to join the ARMY...  and we're ok with it.

(there are times where I really seriously consider joining the Infantry, but then i'm reminded about all the cool shit I'm about to learn....  dealing with optronics and electronics. woohoo, robots too...    can't wait.)



Another thing about the CF is, we seem to emphasize leadership in the JR ranks.   In order to become a MCPL you have to pass a pretty rigorous leadership training course...    you are taught to lead as a NCM, you just aren't going to be commanding brigades and destroying entire cities and shit but you will be leading troops and you will be put into leadership roles....   (I would love to be a General)

[Cain]

JR?  I'm guessing MCPL is Master Corporal or equivalent rank.

I may or may not have mentioned this, but I did spend 2 weeks doing training with the Royal Engineers, as part of my work experience (I also did 2 weeks as a vetinary surgeon, which is another disaster entirely).  Alot of it was pretty fun, digging trenches and using plastic explosives and other fun, wholesome activites which engineers engage in.  But yes, alot of the people who join the army as anything other than an officer usually did so because they didn't really have great prospects in life.  The army provides training, discipline and a future career, something a lot of the peope joining it otherwise do not have.  Believe me, if my future choices were between working at a fucking box factory on the minimum wage for the rest of my life (or equivalent shitty job), or joining the army, I would choose the latter in a heartbeat.  Getting out of your shitty town, especially when you otherwise probably cannot afford to, is a great incentive.

Those going in to be officers however, at least in my experience, are careerists first and foremost, with psychopaths and authoritarian pricks coming joint second.  I base this experience on my University's own cadets, most of whom were rich, privileged and complete and utter assholes of the first degree.

The first grouping I called the "Romans".  Like Roman nobles in the republic, they joined the military for later personal benefits.  Back in those days, it was loot and command of a body of armed men.  Today its trading in on the reputation of the military after a 5 year stint as an officer, then onto a job in the City or the more lucrative fields of private military companies, arms traders and consultants for the MoD and various international organizations.

The second and third groups are more obvious.  Some just got hardons from telling people what to do (and had a hard time distinguishing between their pretend war games in the Scottish hills and the rest of their life), the others liked the idea of killing with relative impunity.

I'm sure there were some good officers too, they just seem less common, probably because in general the people I knew had far more choices, making their motives for joining the military more diffuse and suspect.  And of course, I was dealing with a subset of the population.  I remember some people I did A levels with mentioning the army.  They were usually little better off than those who joined as soon as mandatory school finished, but A levels will also get you into the role of officer, with some extra training (for some bizzare reason, a degree means you automatically get promoted to 1st Lieutenant on entering the army, whereas if you only have A Levels you start off as a 2nd Lieutenant once your training is over).

[LMNO]

good point, cain.

[Suu]

For the record, if anyone would have called me a Baby Killer when I was in uniform and asked them nicely to share a seat on the bus, I'd probably fucking punch them too.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

For the record, if anyone would have called me a Baby Killer when I was in uniform and asked them nicely to share a seat on the bus, I'd probably fucking punch them too.

Restrain your killer ovaries, Suu.

Yatto never did any such thing.

He pissed his pants and then fantasized about being a tough guy.

[the last yatto]

actually im not sure want i felt when i saw him, it wasnt rage but it wasnt normal

something I have to work on. but my focus is wool atm

[The Good Reverend Roger]

actually im not sure want i felt when i saw him, it wasnt rage but it wasnt normal

something I have to work on. but my focus is wool atm

My focus is your unmitigated bullshit.

You didn't say shit.

[wade]

JR?  I'm guessing MCPL is Master Corporal or equivalent rank.

I may or may not have mentioned this, but I did spend 2 weeks doing training with the Royal Engineers, as part of my work experience (I also did 2 weeks as a vetinary surgeon, which is another disaster entirely).  Alot of it was pretty fun, digging trenches and using plastic explosives and other fun, wholesome activites which engineers engage in.  But yes, alot of the people who join the army as anything other than an officer usually did so because they didn't really have great prospects in life.  The army provides training, discipline and a future career, something a lot of the peope joining it otherwise do not have.  Believe me, if my future choices were between working at a fucking box factory on the minimum wage for the rest of my life (or equivalent shitty job), or joining the army, I would choose the latter in a heartbeat.  Getting out of your shitty town, especially when you otherwise probably cannot afford to, is a great incentive.

Those going in to be officers however, at least in my experience, are careerists first and foremost, with psychopaths and authoritarian pricks coming joint second.  I base this experience on my University's own cadets, most of whom were rich, privileged and complete and utter assholes of the first degree.

The first grouping I called the "Romans".  Like Roman nobles in the republic, they joined the military for later personal benefits.  Back in those days, it was loot and command of a body of armed men.  Today its trading in on the reputation of the military after a 5 year stint as an officer, then onto a job in the City or the more lucrative fields of private military companies, arms traders and consultants for the MoD and various international organizations.

The second and third groups are more obvious.  Some just got hardons from telling people what to do (and had a hard time distinguishing between their pretend war games in the Scottish hills and the rest of their life), the others liked the idea of killing with relative impunity.

I'm sure there were some good officers too, they just seem less common, probably because in general the people I knew had far more choices, making their motives for joining the military more diffuse and suspect.  And of course, I was dealing with a subset of the population.  I remember some people I did A levels with mentioning the army.  They were usually little better off than those who joined as soon as mandatory school finished, but A levels will also get you into the role of officer, with some extra training (for some bizzare reason, a degree means you automatically get promoted to 1st Lieutenant on entering the army, whereas if you only have A Levels you start off as a 2nd Lieutenant once your training is over).

My apologies Cain.  JR is just "Junior"  I should have typed it out properly, Jr.... JUNIOR RANKS..  From the rank of private through to Master Corpral we get a lot of leadership training, especially at the MCPL level.   In fact their leadership training is probably just as good if not better then the leadership training officers receive.

And the officer deal is the same way with us over here, that university requirement is just to prove you have a capacity to apply yourself...  At least that explanation makes the most sense to me. 
I also can't dissagree with your observations on them or the non-commissioned members.