LeMask, you really do believe that unless we pick a fight with them, they will never fight us. Really... have you never met any bad people before? Maybe the next time there is a bank robbery, we can send in a speech writer like yourself instead of sending in the SWAT team.

Originally Posted by PVT Solares

I am 19 years old as of November 11 2008. And i leave to For Benning for basic training Jan 21st, cause my braces dont get removed till Jan 15.

i am 11x infantry airborne.


Did i make the right decision....you know...the whole joining the army thing?
I wanna join SWAT or just become a plain police officer and i cant til im at least 21 years old. when im done serving ill be like 22, but with army experience by my side as well. Im hoping that the army will look really good on my resume and help me become a police officer.

I figure by the time im 22, ill be fit, tough, and mentally ready for police action.

Ill be studying as well, i already have some college credits and i want to get my associates.


You think i made a good decision?


(reason why i wanted airborne was becuse when i chose to be infantry, my recruiter said, Hey on top of that you can also do airborne, and im like....you know what...i have always wanted to jump off planes....lol OK! sign me up.)


I have no regrets joining the army, my family is with me 100% and they are very proud of me. Alot of my family joined as well.



Sorry for any messed up grammar and bad spelling.

Why didn't you ask for a MP job?

Yeah. MP experience helps for those.

Originally Posted by LeMask

You know HokieSMG, I saw some videos about the war in Iraq at the beginning of the war. And we could see the US soldiers at check points rising their hands to sign the civilian cars to stop...

Guess what? rising your hand doesnt mean anything for most of the Iraqis... It could mean "hello" or "welcome"... But it doesnt mean stop...

The sign the iraqis use to ask people to stop or to wait is to put your fingers toward the sky and group them...

You see? this is just an extremely simple cultural aspect the soldiers have to know if they want to ask people to slow down or to stop in check points...

And I'm sure that there is thousands of other details like that I dont know about...


when it comes to battle... Good officers and disciplined soldiers is enough... But here, they have to fight terrorism. They will be dealing with extremely complex situations.

Anyway, It's just my opinion... I know that providing language and cultural training to these kids may cost a lot of money...
But how much money will it cost? really! 10 billions to train 10.000 soldiers? 1 million dollar each if the maths is correct...
Then think about how Iraq would be with 10.000 soldiers with good cultural training... 10.000 soldiers making friends with Baghdad's people...

I'm sorry, but looking at the cost of the war... This would be the most effective weapon on the field...

soooo...your saying that five guys standing in front of a stop sign written in Iraqi isn't a good indicator that maybe you should stop? If thats the case I highly recomend yiou stay out of every country with a different language than you speak.
As for your cultrual training, that isn't a requirement for a good soldier, the requirement for a good soldier is the ability to follow orders and kill the enemy.
speaking their language is a plus, but still an option.
Oh, btw the last terrorist I shot didn't give a flying dam what language I spoke.

Originally Posted by SHERMAN

18 year olds dont leave widows and orphants behind.

Unless their married

Unless their married

yes, ovcourse. in my country that is very rare.

Not over here brother, I know 2 18 year old widows, one is due to have her first child in Jan.
but.....like somebody said in a post I read on another board ...they signed the papers, it was their choice. And like I've said a thousand times before, yes they did, thats what makes them hero's.

PVT Solares, if you go to war, can I come along? I'll bring my own weapons

wolfen:
soooo...your saying that five guys standing in front of a stop sign written in Iraqi isn't a good indicator that maybe you should stop? If thats the case I highly recomend yiou stay out of every country with a different language than you speak.

Damn man. How can you miss the point like that.
What about the people who cant read? and the people who are just stupid?
You shoot them too?
I understand that it's hard to hold a check point. Any terrorist can come and blow himself.
But It was shocking, to send a young soldier in a foreign country and ask him to stop people in a checkpoint without telling him how to tell people to stop.
It's like sending someone to open a closed door without the key... It's gross... It's gross incompetence.

When I send someone to sell services to some clients, I give him a complete briefing.

As for your cultrual training, that isn't a requirement for a good soldier, the requirement for a good soldier is the ability to follow orders and kill the enemy.
speaking their language is a plus, but still an option.
Oh, btw the last terrorist I shot didn't give a flying dam what language I spoke.

Well, in this case. Send them home. The ability to just kill is no longuer needed.

The needed skills are:
cultural understanding and analysis.
language skills.
peacekeeping skills.
crime investigation skills.
medical skills
communication skills
building skills
etc...

LeMask, I believe it's when the guys who speak the language, know the culture, have investigation skills etc. fail it's the guys who know how to kill who go in.
Medical skills, building skills and communication skills are present in the military and they are used to the full extent.
Actually I believe there are quite a few people like those you mentioned who go to those places with angry people who want to kill non believers. Often they end up getting captured and getting executed in front of the camera.

Language skills are important. Inside NATO, I would suggest this order of importance:

1st English
(NATO language, also wide-spread in Africa and global business language)

2nd Russian
(Eastern European NATO frontier)

3rd Arab
(Southern European NATO frontier)

4th French
(cuz the French are poor in foreign languages and cuz many in Africa speak French)

5th Spanish
(Southern American NATO frontier, almost all of Latin America)

6th Turkish
(large NATO member with the most difficult borders of NATO - and Turks are often not good in foreign languages except German)

Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, Germans can speak English, Eastern European members usually have either good Russian or English skills and Italian is only relevant in Italy.
Exotic languages like Farsi, Pashtu, Vietnamese, Chinese(s) & Korean can be learned if multiple long deployments are anticipated.

One foreign language should be learned by ever soldier - even if only for later civilian job applications.
Senior NCOs should have a vocabulary of about 2,000 words in several languages.
Officers need to speak at least #1, #2 and #3.

The idea that only officers need to speak foreign languages points at two misconceptions; a) in some armies you're first NCO, then become officer - and you don't learn a language by promotion. b) The role of NCOs should not be diminished or we end up with poor junior leadership as the Russian Army. Especially senior NCOs are often older than junior officers and no less well-suited for difficult communication. c) It's not uncommon in many armies that senior NCOs lead platoons (at least temporarily), and foreign language skills are certainly desirable at a lower than the company level..

Foreign languages are not only important for occupation duties, but also for communication with allies and for handling/interrogating POWs and for survival as a POW.
Furthermore, good foreign language skills can help very much to get a decent job after the army term.