The Rob Henderson piece also has some potentially disastrous implications for your view, which I share, that we should no longer encourage boys to go into the US military:
“People ask how the military helped me. And the usual answers definitely apply here. Leadership, discipline, camaraderie, structure, all those things helped me to shed my bad habits.
But there’s something I never hear anyone else talk about when they discuss the benefits of the military: time. In a very real way, the military basically allowed me to mature while not allowing me to do something self-destructive.”
Yes, I notice that it's common for people to view this as one of the military's core functions, maybe its most important function: it's a failsafe employment program for young people who need a major course correction in their lives that no other lifestyle can provide.
For people who really, really need military service in their lives, I'd say they should probably still join. Maybe look into the Coast Guard, as I suggested before. But there are a lot of people who join for other reasons. Look at Pat Tillman, who Aaron highlighted in his article -- not exactly someone who needed a course correction. Probably much less common among officers than enlisted -- you're not getting your Congressman to vouch for your admission to West Point if your life is that far off track.
The Rob Henderson piece also has some potentially disastrous implications for your view, which I share, that we should no longer encourage boys to go into the US military:
“People ask how the military helped me. And the usual answers definitely apply here. Leadership, discipline, camaraderie, structure, all those things helped me to shed my bad habits.
But there’s something I never hear anyone else talk about when they discuss the benefits of the military: time. In a very real way, the military basically allowed me to mature while not allowing me to do something self-destructive.”
Yes, I notice that it's common for people to view this as one of the military's core functions, maybe its most important function: it's a failsafe employment program for young people who need a major course correction in their lives that no other lifestyle can provide.
For people who really, really need military service in their lives, I'd say they should probably still join. Maybe look into the Coast Guard, as I suggested before. But there are a lot of people who join for other reasons. Look at Pat Tillman, who Aaron highlighted in his article -- not exactly someone who needed a course correction. Probably much less common among officers than enlisted -- you're not getting your Congressman to vouch for your admission to West Point if your life is that far off track.