Mid terms

So how was your one week war session, Simison ?

It was a lot of tougher than I expected, to be honest. Since we're all cadets training to be officers, one day was devoted to leading squad missions, another day was for leading section (2 squads) missions, another day of critical thinking and reaction missions, and one day devoted to Land Navigation training (Where they give you a map, a series of points, a protractor, a compass and say "good luck".)

The missions were what about what I expected, and I end up being a squad leader for three missions.

Land navigation sucked. The temperature was in the 80s, and we were still wearing our uniforms, and I had one point that was over two kilometers away from the start point, while all of my other points were within one kilometer. Still I got 6/7 points for Day Land Nav, and 3/4 for Night Land Nav.

What really did a number on me were all the road marches. Usually, when we're required to have a good portion of our gear, we're given buses to transport us to the different road marches. This time, though, we had to walk everywhere. Marching with a heavy pack, in that heat, with a rifle in your hands is not a happy combination.

Thanks to the heat, we had to make sure we were drinking lots of water. Second biggest danger were the ticks. We were in the field a lot, and they were everywhere.

Overall though, it was good training and I was glad I went. That and they fed us everyday, and since I don't have a summer job yet, I can't afford to buy groceries.

Sounded worthwhile, simison. And you scored well I'm guessing? Good job.

The ticks. Bleh bleh bleh. Just another something to add to your cross, eh? Bugs, bullets, and bombs, I don't know how I'd feel knowing they all want to bite me? Let come what may, I guess?

Well, the ticks wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that they carry Lyme disease. Nasty stuff that is.

As for scoring, the land nav tests were my highlight. Overall, I was pretty lukewarm in my positions. Need to work on the confident side of things.

My father was in the U.S. Army as a private. He went on to be a police officer for a good thirteen years and now works as an academic instructor in a local detention center's rehabilitation program. I.N.E.A. is the name of the program, I think. The detention center folks charged him with the task of painting a mural. He is excelling in his task.

"Command Presence" are the two words my father would always utter when I asked him how he got things done. He also said a certain amount of necessity played into his ability to lead. "What the hell are you afraid of? In the meantime, while you're hemming and hawing, people are dying. Shit's gotta get solved." he would confess to me with regard to his internal thought process toward other men of equal title in high-stress situtations. He would then usually take the reigns of situation and resolve it.

See how decision making becomes an act of service, of self-sacrifice? You're saving lives, you're actually saving lives with the decisions you make. How cool is that? How many people can say they save lives every day and do it on the battlefield? On the muthafuckin' battlefield!

You have every right to feel like a hero, simison. As far as I know, you must have zero children before and during school, which takes years. That is one hell of a sacrifice to make especially considering you might get killed in action and not get the chance to be anyone's father. You are earning your stripes, or your "bars" for that matter, simison. Don't let anyone tell you different. Act like you belong there and people will start to react to you accordingly.

Can your family send you food to bulk up on?

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I already know you pray, maybe even every night. Don't over-think it. Just ask God for the wisdom, presence of mind, and strength to do what must be done and you'll have it.

I don't know. To my view of life, being in the military is just a job. I don't believe in the whole worship thingy some Americans can show towards their army guys (and firefighters). I do believe in respecting them a minimum, but I respect them as much as the hard working cashier or the telemarketer who get both humiliated everyday through an unsatisfactory job. I actually worked for an officer back in Kentucky (the guy was a tank instructor, how cool is that ?).

But then I'm a democrat eurotrash who is kind of communist, and I'm proud of it ;-)

Either way if you happen to have some free time when you get your Paris time, and you can get a hold on a Paris-Bordeaux train...

Heh-heh-heh. Who doesn't call on God or the police when their lives are in danger? We should, as human beings, strive to mediate conflict without force but, because we are human beings, peace by force is often required. Who else but, a soldier or a cop walks around with a sign on their back that says, "kill me?" They make themselves targets of death for the sake of peace or at most they should do it for peace.

I met an old school chum I hadn't seen since junior high at the clinic last week when I got my medication for asthma and pneumonia. He had joined the Marine Corps and been sent to prison for, "beating an Air Force Guy to death." he said. He got out and said he did it again, got sent back in, let out a few years later, and just completed rehab last October. "Things are tough, there's no work for a full-time loser, y'know." he said. Luckily, through my best friend of 18 years and my own serendipitous way, we both knew the same people and were able to reminisce a little bit.

So yes, the power to keep the peace can be abused but, should we always accost the sins of a few upon the greater good?

Thanks for the advice z.o.o., and I find it ironic how "Command Presence" is actually one of the specific aspects we are graded on as officers. But, truth be told, I have no desire to lead men into the combat zone. What I really want to do is attain a desk job or a staff position and serve my country from there. Though I will make sure that I'm still fit for combat duty. We never really do know when and where we can be deployed.

As for food, that situation is thankfully resolved. As we were unpacking our school's equipment back at the out ROTC, this other guy and I were taking boxes of MREs out. He jokingly asked the Lieutenant if we could take the boxes. The LT actually said go for it, so I ended up taking a home of MREs home. And during the class trip to Europe, breakfasts will be provided for along with six dinners. So, I won't be going hungry there.

I can understand your view, Claudia. But I would like to point out, that the telemarketer and the cashier don't have to worry about their country sending them to the frontlines. And, as much as I would love to meet you in person, this costs for this trip and class means I'm flat broke. So all I can say is maybe some other time.

simison wrote:

But, truth be told, I have no desire to lead men into the combat zone.

You would be selfish if you did. Like any good Christian, you desire peace. Can you guess the beatitude I'm thinking of?

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What I really want to do is attain a desk job or a staff position and serve my country from there. Though I will make sure that I'm still fit for combat duty. We never really do know when and where we can be deployed.

And I hope against hope to die of nothing more than old age while sleeping in bed but, there's also a chance that I won't. Get your muscles, simison. You said yourself there's a fifty-fifty chance you'll see combat. Those odds are short enough that I'd fight with every fiber of my being to prepare for the worst. The absolute worst. I'd make myself a warrior.

My want to survive is so strong that I'll never commit suicide, I'll never be half-hearted about the value of human life, and I'll never think anyone else deserves to live any less than I do. NEVER.

To have suffered this long only to commit suicide (to not want survival) is to render my hardships obsolete. I can't stand the idea that I've lived a life in vain, it's hateful.

I understand, but just in case, if ever you happen to find a round train ticket to Bordeaux, I have a couch that turns into a bed

I had thought of joining the police or the Gendarmerie (which is "the other police" in France) with the exact same reasons as you, simison, but without going for the "being fit" part. But then, in France, we do not have that "worship" for the military, and joining the army to pay for College is not even an option. Joining the army in France is a "true career" to embrace fully, and not "something that would look good on a resume" (for what some of my friends told me in Kentucky) ; we don't have much people in the army (in comparison), but they all believe in it. And most civilians in France despise the army (this is why I respect them, they have a terrible image as well as the cashier and the telemarketer).

I don't believe in the "being sent out to defend your country" speach and discourse, for me it's pure propaganda, but I won't step in. Yes, some 40 french soldiers died in Afghanistan, but they touch me as much as the homeless man who died of cold in the streets, or the woman and her 4 children killed by their husband/father out of catholic fanatism. Whatever happens in Afghanistan (sadly) has absolutely no incidence or no effect on me, at all, so it's normal I don't feel as much concerned as I could ; and thank god, because I am a very sensitive person, and there are too much causes to embrace, they would drain my energy away of so much sadness, so much misery.. Yes, I chose to close my eyes, and giving a few euros to the Red Cross is not going to make my conscious clear, so I help out "my community" around me as much as I can, by giving a smile, discussing with people to give them useful advice, helping some organisations with some few spare time I can give, with the abilities I have.

Either way, there is much much serious topics to discuss, but I prefer lulz, because lulz makes us feel better, and feeling better gives us the drive to go on, to continue

Claudia wrote:

But then, in France, we do not have that "worship" for the military, and joining the army to pay for College is not even an option.

Heh-heh-heh-heh. My father joined the U.S. Army because he was a C minus, D grade student who lacked any economic direction. He wasn't a morally reprehensible young man adding to the troubles of the world, he was just plain stuck, static, no momentum remained in his endeavor called, "life" at that point. And he needed the money to pay for his first and only wedding. He'll be married for 31 years here pretty soon.

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Joining the army in France is a "true career" to embrace fully, and not "something that would look good on a resume" (for what some of my friends told me in Kentucky)

Sad but, true Claudia. So very sad and so very true. Your Kentucky friends' insinuation is absolutely correct, as it is the motive supreme for those of us who think joining the military is just a job. Those poor people don't understand that the soldier and the police officer are the living, breathing rudimentary function of our, "expectaion of peace" the very lifeblood of modern, civil, society. They are the bodies who maintain the rule of law and by extension, safeguard modern infrastructure. My father would become indignant at the lack of respect afforded his ilk when considering his responsibilities as a police officer, "In the middle of the night I would get a call of, 'suspicious activity' on a property in an industrial park. I go check it out, and I get ambushed, get blasted full of holes, get killed for someone elses private property. I can be made to die for a stranger's private property, for something as innocuous as, 'suspicious activity.' Most everyone else has the option to just walk on by and, 'leave well enough alone' but, I don't. The buck stops with me. Who else is willing to do this?" he would ask. It is this modern infrastructure and our, "expectation of peace" which purchases for us the ability conduct ourselves without the fear of chaos fashioning us into purely selfish animals. It is because of this law and order that I don't feel the need to bludgeon in his head with a rock, the guy standing next to me because he has something I want.

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And most civilians in France despise the army (this is why I respect them, they have a terrible image as well as the cashier and the telemarketer).

Interesting. Very interesting. Why do you and your compatriots hold that sentiment? I have a guess and it is this:
Conflict resolution. Specifically, how geography inversely affects conflict resolution. You Europeans are the bonobo chimpanzee to our American common chimpanzee. You bump elbows with so many different countries and their differing sensibilities in your tiny European space so often that it would mean your mutually assured destruction if you decided to make war every time one of your neighbors offended you. So instead, like the bonobo you Europeans hump your problems away. We Americans have plenty of space which makes us more covetous because space implies scarcity. Our national sensibilty is much more uniform than the European which lends itself to us fighting and killing each other over the same objects. Alternative means of satisfaction in any regard are never considered as quickly by the American as they are the European because of the sense of scarcity.

I believe this is why we place a premium on our religioius convictions be they true or false because the ideas of sharing and forgiveness are necessary to keep us from killing ourselves off. The quick fix of the orgasm isn't quite as lucrative for us as it is for you Europeans but, we're getting there. We have Los Angeles to thank for that. We are becoming more, "advanced" and, "progressive" by the day.

I really do want to know in your own words, why the French people flat-out hate their Army, Claudia.

I love lulz too, by the way. I wouldn't be able to survive without them.

I won't say much (or more than what is in this post), but I can't keep myself from adding these two cents.

Actually, the discussion makes me proud of my dad. He's a police officer and has been working on organized crime for I don't know how many years - I think he recently switched departments, though - and I can't say how lucky I am he never got home with anything resembling a scratch, though my mom told me stories of calls they both received when we (edit: my younger sister and me) were younger... gives me the creeps, it does. (We live a good distance away from where my father works, just in case.)
When I was younger, he sometimes brought a gun with him back home. It was always stored on one of the higher kitchen boards so neither my sister nor me could even try to get at it. (Nevermind it wasn't loaded anyway.) You know how you are as a kid, you always want to fudge around with stuff you don't know or are told not to touch.
I'm so glad I haven't seen a gun for more than 5 years. I don't want to know why he brought them home, anyway...

Lots of my family are in police business, though only my dad is actually doing (and has done for a longer period of time) what one would consider typical duties of a policeman. My other family members are mainly in bureaucracy or whatever you want to call it.

My father trained with the Navy. Got into some special operatives thing. He still doesn't talk about it, but there's an occasional night terror every year or so that sends him screaming and flailing out of bed, out the door, and at one time, even out into the hallway, rousting everyone room by room to "Get up, get out" before something major hit.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about war.
I'm not sure how I feel choosing to stay a civilian, designating another human being to be responsible with carrying out the actions of war.
I do know that conflict will, until we transition into being creatures built primarily upon reason and discourse than raw survival, condense until it reaches that familiar, ancient physical competition.

It's perverse, though, that this prehistoric dance of fighting for access to such basic necessities as territory and the gathering of resources should be aided by the latest in technology and the fruits of human thought. It is perverse that some of our greatest modern accomplishments were fueled by that very dire desire to survive and stamp out the contender. Funny, that.

And I can only guess that a public that hates or fears those who have access to such arms sympathize with the basic principles of those the police or army 'defend' their society against.
A radical idea can be extremely dangerous in practice, especially to an institution, but admirable in principle, in that there will always be the compulsion for the thoughts in our heads to contrive to engineer a kind of utopia. An underdog kind of thing, maybe?

At any rate, a militia that expects to do well ultimately strives to train killers, not merely survivalists. It becomes an intricate system of checks and balances, especially since 'soldier' is treated as a job description these days, and those who sign up are expected to return to their civilian lives. My father was trained to dispatch those who could not return to being a civilian. There are certain human traits that get rewritten with enough drilling, and they cannot be reclaimed, you see, once the principles of survival permanently outweigh sympathy and reason. A man taught to kill efficiently instead of decisively will never resemble anything except for a well calibrated drone, a sort of fabricated sociopath very in tune with reflex of reacting simply to stimuli. The problem is, the militia is not in the charge of these people if and when they return to civilian life, and the loss of all skills that do not say, "run, hide, dispatch," conflict with society as a whole, with all the stimuli coming back to them. The Marines are especially notorious for making this type of person. They emerge, in a way, completely crippled. They turn to things that pay for their lifestyles using what skills they retain; security, sport fighting, crime, policing. The thing is, those who are especially good at "hide," in that they adapt in a camouflaging way, are hard to find and hard to diagnose as sociopathic killing machines. It's even harder to differentiate at face value a confidence a person who simply take their job with pride has, versus those who have made their jobs their lives and new objectives, placing that homicidal efficiency behind. You can hardly detect it, but you can feel it when there is a monster in a uniform.

I believe there are heroes with our best interests in mind. And I believe there is a system some mens' minds do not survive. My father is somewhere in between. I think these delicate differences between noble defender and calculated killing machine is what causes the majority of controversy about war. We salute those who can still adapt and adapt well to life as the majority knows it; we read about those who do not in the news. If we're lucky enough.

I still chose not to think about it.. Maybe it's because I'm French !

I also have an announcement ! My mid term results were published this afternoon and I passed ! Third year of university here I come ;-)

Claudia wrote:

I still chose not to think about it.. Maybe it's because I'm French !

I also have an announcement ! My mid term results were published this afternoon and I passed ! Third year of university here I come ;-)

Congrats!

Tuishimi wrote:

Congrats!

Hooray!

Thanks !

Hooray! :D

Sio wrote:

Hooray! :D

Heh-heh. too cute. :)

You were talking about basic computer skills. When I was in college, I had to take the class, and habitually was surfing the internet and doing everything but, because the program would let you skip the training movies to go ahead and take the test. I aced them all and would spend the rest of the 2 hours either reading or whatnot, as it was a mandatory attendance class.

God, I miss those days, I actually got caught up on all the books I wanted to read.

My professor even said that he wished he could go ahead and test me out of the class because it was so far behind me it was ridiculous. I told him, "I know, I've been messing with computers since the mid 80's." That was in 2002.

Just wanted to say congrats and let everyone know that my group is now in Paris for the next two days. Then it's off to Belgium then Germany before we head back home. I'd continue the discussion but I'm on a time limit and wrestling with this different keyboard system is tiring. Hope everyone is doing well!

I hope things in Paris go well, Simison! c:

z.o.o. wrote:

Sio wrote:

Hooray! :D

Heh-heh. too cute. :)

It was a group hooray. xD