update on army life... SPAM AWAY :D

[Locke Da'averan]

well since i'm certain no-one remembers the cabybara-man i'll give some info (if anyone cares)-->19 year old finnish guy who's been 6 months in the army:

after the basic training period(2 months) i went to the (i have no idea what it's called in english) squad leader school that lasted 4 months, those 4 months are something i don't think i'll remember fondly for a long long long time, except for the part i made some pretty good friends there...

before it started snowing here. we had a 25 mile nightmarch where you try to find your way to the checkpoints and thus complete it, following an exam in the next morning and you are not allowed to sleep after you arrive to the "goal", no you go to an auditorium where you have to sit in attention while they play some calm classic music and if your head nudges you and the one's next to you have to stand for the next 10 minutes, that lasted from 4-8 hours depending how fast you walked it...

after snow we had something called squad skill test, that consisted of 25 mile march with ski's with all kind of tests like squad defensive shoot in positions/advancing under enemy fire/putting electrical things together and making contact with it.
the last test was putting up a tent as fast as possible, well since our squad had eaten once in the last 24 hrs everyone was pretty much worn out, and it took long long time.
next day it was an early wake up and then off to the 12.5mile march on foot with various orienteering and distance measuring tests.

don't know if you people consider that hard, but that is definately something our squad was more than happy about completing... it took about 13 hours total to get through it, the cliche about dead tired but happy surely was the mood when we ran to the finish line...

then it was various "camps" in the forest (fighting against each others as teams) and a series of tests and in the end i "graduated" as a squad leader 20.12.2002 i will get my own rookies 13.1.2003 i'm kind of both looking forward of it, and little bit worried of it... because in the army the saying i learned from my father is more true than anywhere else: you lose trust only once, after that it's gone and it'll never be the same, so if you fu*k-up badly it will be really hard to earn their respect...

well that was my update on my army times, i'm currently on a holiday that lasts historical 6 days!!! (missed christmas, that was a big blow but you can't have all)

comments spam almost anything is welcome

[Bloodmist]

Congrats on the title

And thank you for confirming me in not entering the army

[thantor3]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bloodmist And thank you for confirming me in not entering the army

Yes, and thanks for confirming for me that my military experience was a cake-walk.

Ask your commanding officer for a inter-agency transfer to San Diego. Beaches, Balboa Park, surfer girls, extensive outdoor activities that do not include forced marches in the snow, numerous colleges overflowing with co-eds including San Diego State -- the regional party school, 30 minutes from Mexico, 90 minutes from LA, temperate climate... did I mention beaches?

[Bloodmist]

Quote:

Originally posted by thantor3 Ask your commanding officer for a inter-agency transfer to San Diego. Beaches, Balboa Park, surfer girls, extensive outdoor activities that do not include forced marches in the snow, numerous colleges overflowing with co-eds including San Diego State -- the regional party school, 30 minutes from Mexico, 90 minutes from LA, temperate climate... did I mention beaches?

If this was army life, i might reconsider, but I'm afraid the Danish army is more equal to the Finnish than the American.

[Aegis]

Well, I'm glad I'm joining the Canadian military (what military? ), so I'll be used to those snow marches, and skiing... Now, if only wars were determined through hockey...

[Annatar]

My dad is in the Canandian "military". He has told me that if you join and then go to University/College that the military will refund up to...not sure but I think it was 80% of your tuition fees. But after that you have to serve for 5 years. So I was wondering if you guys thought that it's worth it. And also if the military from your respective country offers similar programs.

[Tybaltus]

Quote:

Originally posted by Aegis Canadian military (what military? )

Hehehe...get out the sharp twigs and stones.

I would never join the army. Im not going to put myself through hell to protect a country. And I have very little endurance when dealing with running/asthetics. I can take pain as in punches/getting thrown around but I cant take long distance running/carrying and whatnot. Im not built for the army. And I lack general courage.

Good hearing that youve survived the grueling experiences of the Finnish army. I know the terrain must be atrocious, and only the strongest survive, so youve got my congrats, Locke.

[Chanak]

You'll look back on the time you spent in the military, and see how it was all worth it. It will stay with you the rest of your life. True, there are things involved you might not like, but I assure you these more than balance out with things that are worth holding on to.

I was the M-60 machine gunner for my squad (NATO 7.62 mm tripod mounted sub-machine gun ), and while I often hated lugging the thing around, I learned a few things:

1. Sub-machine guns come in very handy in a pinch.

2. If you don't keep those things clean, they'll jam on you.

3. Wear earplugs.

4. Remember the very first Rambo movie, "First Blood"? He ran around town holding an M-60 in one hand. Don't believe it for a moment. Movie prop.

[prateek]

That's for confirming that I can better support my country as a civilian, probably as a scientist, rather than someone on the front lines

[thantor3]

Quote:

Originally posted by Annatar My dad is in the Canandian "military". He has told me that if you join and then go to University/College that the military will refund up to...not sure but I think it was 80% of your tuition fees. But after that you have to serve for 5 years. So I was wondering if you guys thought that it's worth it. And also if the military from your respective country offers similar programs.

In the US, there used to be a program called the GI Bill that paid for a substantial part of your tuition. This was phased out in the late 70s and now there are new programs that assist with tuition but they are nowhere near as generous. I came out of college only owing $5000 on my students loans (I did work and did not take out loans until the middle of the second year).

The question of whether going into the military is worth the trade off for the educational benefits is a difficult one that ultimately only you can answer. However, here are a couple of things for you to ponder. Military life is not for everyone. It is a communal (some would say feudalistic) system with very strict rules and a rigid structure. For the period of time that you are in the military, the government basically owns you. That is not an easy thing for anyone to navigate. Also, I have seen people who signed up for a tour of medical duty, only to be transferred for a good portion of the time to work in the motor pool or an infantry unit. Having lived for a mercifully short time in a twelve man bay within a set World War II infantry barracks with people who will rob you at gun point (yes, that happened), this could seriously ruin your day. So be sure to understand what you are getting into and get every detail in writing. I would have a lawyer look over your military contract if possible.

I was very fortunate, in that my military experience was very positive. I was eventually assigned to a medical unit that never went into the field and had the best mess hall on the base – the base general ate there. I was stationed in California for my whole tour. I met my best friend and my first wife there. I experimented with a massive cornucopia of drugs, was exposed to lifestyles I would not otherwise have come in contact with, and developed my own code of conduct. I learned about the use and misuse of power, the importance of forming alliances, and the difference between mercenary and true friendships. More importantly, I learned what my limits were and what it meant to trust myself. This is only a tiny part of what occurred for me. I will acknowledge that some of my colleagues were not as lucky. One of my colleagues was jailed, one went insane... I don't think anyone I knew died, however.

I also feel that being in the military gave me a significant advantage over many of my college colleagues. To give one example, while they were still trying navigate various social experiences, balancing academics and partying, being away from home, etc. I had already done all of that. I was much more serious and focused on getting an education (especially since I was paying for it) and I knew where I was going and why. This allowed me to excel academically and to finish my college education with a competitive GPA that allowed me access to the medical school of my choice.

In general, given the current business climate and the increasing focus on college degrees, I strongly encourage you to finding some way to complete a college education. As to the military option, think long and hard about this. Five years of your life is a significant investment….

[Sojourner]

Quote:

Originally posted by Locke Da'averan after the basic training period(2 months) i went to the (i have no idea what it's called in english) squad leader school

We call that PLDC.

Quote:

Originally posted by Locke Da'averan before it started snowing here. we had a 25 mile nightmarch where you try to find your way to the checkpoints and thus complete it, following an exam in the next morning and you are not allowed to sleep after you arrive to the "goal",

Er, sleep? What's that?

Quote:

Originally posted by thantor3 The question of whether going into the military is worth the trade off for the educational benefits is a difficult one that ultimately only you can answer. However, here are a couple of things for you to ponder. Military life is not for everyone. It is a communal (some would say feudalistic) system with very strict rules and a rigid structure. For the period of time that you are in the military, the government basically owns you.

And the government generally owns you for a period of time after you've left. Unless you're entering as an officer, the education benefits are not worth it - they barely cover a third of today's costs.

[Locke Da'averan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tybaltus Hehehe...get out the sharp twigs and stones. Good hearing that youve survived the grueling experiences of the Finnish army. I know the terrain must be atrocious, and only the strongest survive, so youve got my congrats, Locke.

the thing that really gets to me is the damn weather... it's so frickin' cold in winter here, most of the time (-25 - -35) celsius and all the military winter clothes have been washed and used so many times it feels like you're not wearing anything at all... except of course when you have to run and get extremely hot and you sweat like a li'l pig and then you freeze again.

Quote:

Originally posted by Thantor3 Yes, and thanks for confirming for me that my military experience was a cake-walk. Ask your commanding officer for a inter-agency transfer to San Diego. Beaches, Balboa Park, surfer girls, extensive outdoor activities that do not include forced marches in the snow, numerous colleges overflowing with co-eds including San Diego State -- the regional party school, 30 minutes from Mexico, 90 minutes from LA, temperate climate... did I mention beaches?

damn, i knew i was born in the wrong continent

our commanding officer is a low-life scum as far as i'm concerned...
we had a graduation party and the organizers asked a written permission so the class could go out to the town/bar and be there until 12 o'clock... the captain signed it and returned. well then we ordered some ahem, entertainment to the bar we were gonna go and the bar owner agreed to give us discount for the drinks(after all there was going to be 150 soldiers to get blasted) everything was ready, but the day before the party the captain decided to back down his word and didn't give us a permission to leave the military area, everything we worked to make it a night no-one could remember afterwards was ruined, people were so mad, that i'm actually grateful the captain wasn't at work that day, some of my friends might have an assault at commanding officer charge on their necks... i have no respect for an officer who takes back his word...