Text 27947, 51 rader
Skriven 2007-03-21 07:06:20 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Alan Hess
Ärende: The Army is ordering inju
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Alan Hess -> Sean Dennis wrote:
 AH> Whilst masticating on <Mar 18 07>, Sean Dennis (1:18/200)
 AH> wrote to Mimi Gallandt:

 SD>> Just remember: "Join the Army...travel to exotic places...meet
 SD>> exciting new people...then kill them!"  My favorite recruiting
 SD>> slogan. <G>

 AH> Was that from "Stripes?"  :-)

 SD>> And thank you for the kind words.  I'm fifth-generation military

 AH> All people who serve(d), be they volunteers or draftees, deserve our
 AH> gratitude and respect, and that includes from people who oppose war in
 AH> general, or oppose a particular war.  This is the United States of
 AH> America, and one of the rights the military fights to protect is the
 AH> right to disagree with government policies.

 SD>> (and probably the last to serve).  My father served in 'Nam (but
 SD>> as a desk jockey), my grandfather served in WWII and the Korean
 SD>> War in the Navy, my great-great grandfather served in WWI and
 SD>> IIRC, there was one Benjamin Addison Merrill that served with
 SD>> Gen. Custer...but somehow managed to get out of "the last stand".
 SD>> I'll have to check with my mother on that one.

 AH> I've been wanting to ask everyone, especially the veterans, about this
 AH> since General Pace's remarks about homosexuality and "Don't Ask, Don't
 AH> Tell."  First off, isn't sexual contact between personnel against the
 AH> rules ("Stripes" notwithstanding?)  If so, homosexual sex acts by
 AH> soldiers would be as against the rules as heterosexual sex acts, and
 AH> punished the same way, would they not?  So why not allow openly gay
 AH> people to serve?

 AH> Now the meat of my query - to meet needs, the Army has lowered standards
 AH> to the point that not only are less intelligent people getting in,
 AH> people with criminal records (even somee felonies) can now qualify to
 AH> join the Army.  I am not a military veteran (I am a veteran of locker
 AH> rooms), but I would think soldiers would prefer fighting with
 AH> intelligent homosexuals than not-so-smart criminals (who are probably
 AH> less likely to follow orders, and I'd think would be less dependable and
 AH> trustworthy when the platoon is being fired upon.)  What do you all say?

 AH> Of course, reduced standards coupled with allowing openly gay folks to
 AH> serve could mean serving with dumb gay felons.

Unit cohesiveness is what makes a fighting force effective.  Anything that
detracts from that - anything - is detrimental to the effectiveness of that
unit.

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