I Hate Lying..misleading Enlistment Adds On Tv

[karlunity]

I know that recruiting Sgts have been at it since Troy but I really hate lying misleading enlistment adds.

 

We are at war and it is right and just that we should be so.

 

If you enlist during a time of war, you may well go to battle and there you may kill or get killed or wounded.

 

The Service, any Branch of it , is NOT a happy day at the local college strolling around the campus.

 

Why in the hell do the Adds try and present it as such?

 

This is most dishonorable.

 

Karl

[TYRVR]

.....parents......

[eric123]

It's all about numbers...

[karlunity]

Fellas you are both right.

Yet, it does more harm than good in the long run.

Parents KNOW that they and their children are being conned and resent it.

Enlistees soon learn to hate the service which DID lie to them and do as little as they can and leave as soon as possible.

 

Plus it just is not right.

 

Karl

[FC]

Being honest will help prevent morale problems later.

[fritz]

Kinda puts recruiters in the same light as used car dealers, eh?

 

I have a cousin that once was a recruiter in the Air Force, he didn't stay at it very long. Maybe he wasn't that good of a liar, or he saw the errors of his ways. Anyway, he later became the mayor of College Station after serving on the city council for years. I like to think that he was always interested in helping others.

 

But a recruiter?

 

fritz

[Jimro]

This applies to the Army only, as much fun as it would be to fight lava monsters in the Marine Corps.

 

I never felt that the TV adds were lies. They only showed one very small side to being a soldier; the group runs, obstacle courses, combined arms exercises with helicopter cover, all the cool stuff.

 

The GI bill got me through college without having to resort to loans, so I have no complaints about the education benefits.

 

What they don't show is stuff that nobody likes. The funerals, the long weekends, the short nights and long days, even in shape guys getting taped to pass the body fat percentage requirements (I've been taped for years now).

 

And I have never had a recruiter lie to me, and I've only met a small few in the service who claimed their recruiter lied to them.

 

I started out as a wet behind the ears private at 18, and ten years later I should be taking charge of my first platoon (pray that I finish IOBC and Ranger school with no injuries).

 

Truth be told we probably wouldn't recruit too many people if we only used footage from Best Ranger competition to play on TV. Truth be told a normal day in garrison or in the FOB wouldn't sell too many people on the Army either.

 

The Army is long stretches of boredom punctuated by brief moments of incredible terror. I think that kids today have a much better understanding of the current operating environment in Iraq and Afganistan than any previous generation, with all the coverage by the History Channel, Discovery, and even internet Blogs. The recruiting adds aren't lies, but they aren't the whole truth.

 

The whole truth is just too big to fit into a TV commercial.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_8iMj3Ij7I

 

Jimro

[FC]

It's marketing, pure and simple.

[AzRednek]

During the Viet Nam era many found a ticket home and an honorable discharge after parents complained to Congressman and Senators that their sons were mislead and lied to by recruiters. I attempted to enlist but was declined by Army, Navy and Air Force due to a hearing problem. I was chased into the parking lot by an Army and Marine recruiter and encouraged to volenteer up for the lower standards draft. Although I was also declined by the draft board, before the physical they were completely honest. Telling me my chances of serving in Nam was about 60-70%. The chances of job skill training depended soley on my written test scores. The other brances offered, guarenteed and gave a choice of various job skills training that could be turned into a career after seving my military duty. I was told if I completed the training I would be kept state side. The Army even went as far as putting it in writing.

 

Many young men enlisted with the idea of learning a craft and job skills and found their way into combat immediatly after basic training. If their parents raised hell the soldier was given the option to return home with an honorable discharge or staying on and possibly receiving the skill training after serving at least one tour in Nam. The Draft Resist movement used it to their advantage. They would encourage draft elegible men to visit a recruiter and get a written guarentee of job skill training, a tour in Europe or no Nam service. Then workinig via anti-war congressmen get the enlistee a ticket home and exempt from the draft.

 

I see it as business as usual. Untill the draft is reinstated, military recruiters will do what ever necessary to meet their quotas. I expect the Democratic congress to reinstate the draft and to some how make Bush and the Republicans the scapegoat.

[fritz]

" I expect the Democratic congress to reinstate the draft and to some how make Bush and the Republicans the scapegoat. "

 

Would you care to make a small wager on that? I don't see the draft being reinstated, however it's a given that the Democrats will try to make Bush the scapegoat for a lot of stuff. It's called politics.

 

fritz

[usmc0332]

I have been a history buff my whole life. I guess I wanted to experience those things depicted in the old war movies. I was originally going in the Army. I wanted to be a Ranger. My Army recruiter was a terrible liar. He mislead several of my friends. I met my Marine recruiter, and decided I could make it in the Marine Corps. I insisted on going Infantry. The Marine recruiters were as honest as a yardstick with me. I had high ASVAB scores. They wanted to place me in a technical job. They called me at least 2x a week to see if I had changed my mind on my chosen job. I hadn't. All military jobs are necessary. I was just more interested in beach assault, kicking down doors, and taking hills, and ship deployments. The only ribbon that I wanted and didn't get was the Combat Action Ribbon. I knew I wasn't going into the Boy Scouts.

[AzRednek]

" I expect the Democratic congress to reinstate the draft and to some how make Bush and the Republicans the scapegoat. "

 

Would you care to make a small wager on that? I don't see the draft being reinstated, however it's a given that the Democrats will try to make Bush the scapegoat for a lot of stuff. It's called politics.

 

fritz

 

SURE!! Lets keep it friendly though with a token stakes.

 

[fritz]

"SURE!! Lets keep it friendly though with a token stakes."

 

 

Of course, this is not worth fighting about (and thus moved to the other forum).

 

But first, we must agree upon a time frame for this reinstatment of the draft, as for the other part about the Democrats making a scapegoat of Bush, I concede that right now.

 

How about using the current session of congress as the time frame for this draft to be reinstated? I am open for another time frame, as long as we stay within our lifetimes.

 

A bet won posthumously somehow lacks the luster of one won in the present.

 

fritz

 

[cold shot]

Hey Fritz, What really chaps my seatcover is when we lose 1 solder in Iraq, they make it sound like we lost a whole platoon. During the Viet Nam war I never saw the people doing that. How about when we would loose 40 to 50 at one time. Who was crying then. The individual parent of the solder wasn't allowed to protest on t.v. I should know cause I was in the military during that war. Dave

[karlunity]

The only "issue" the left have is the "war" with it, they and their fellow travelers in the Media hope to secure power. So they must paint as black a picture as they can.

 

They hate the military and have since the Nam so if their defeatism gets more grunts killed, while it gets them political office, that is just icing on the cake.

 

Karl

[fritz]

Dave,

 

I was in the service at that time also. Maybe I don't have any blood shedding medals, but I was part of it.

 

Right now, I am awaiting the word on the reinstatement of the draft. My feeling is that , no, it will not be reinstated anytime soon.

 

Do we have to fight the Vietnam war over again here? Take that to the "Fightin' Words Forum".

 

fritz

[AzRednek]

 

 

How about using the current session of congress as the time frame for this draft to be reinstated?

 

I'll go along with that. I'll bet you one six pack of genuine Arizona Green Chile beer, Arizona's finest brew. Does Texas have anything near as good you might offer as a stake in the bet??

 

[fritz]

Never having tasted that Green Chille beer (although it sounds pretty darned good), I guess the first thing that I would come up with, depending on whether you are a wine or beer lover) is Shiner Bock, brewed just up the road from me.

 

If you fancy wine, we have some old-timers still fermenting some very good mustang grape wine. It's better than that French or Italian stuff. Homemade wine was a big deal for a farmboy to partake of, and not get caught by the teachers. There were no written rules restricting it (just like a lot of other things that common sense told you not to try).

 

But it was not near as bad as the drugs that later became fashionable in school. Thank God I graduated before they took over.

 

The bet is on.

 

fritz

[AzRednek]

Never having tasted that Green Chille beer (although it sounds pretty darned good), I guess the first thing that I would come up with, depending on whether you are a wine or beer lover) is Shiner Bock, brewed just up the road from me.

 

If you fancy wine, we have some old-timers still fermenting some very good mustang grape wine. It's better than that French or Italian stuff. Homemade wine was a big deal for a farmboy to partake of, and not get caught by the teachers. There were no written rules restricting it (just like a lot of other things that common sense told you not to try).

 

But it was not near as bad as the drugs that later became fashionable in school. Thank God I graduated before they took over.

 

The bet is on.

 

fritz

 

Either one is fine with me, whichever will be the easiest for you to transport. Send me a private message with an address and I'll send you a sample of the Green Chile beer. You wont be disappointed, its great stuff. I have a few left from the family Christmas party.