to those in the army...

[munster]

to joining. I have friends that were/are in many different branches. Just like everyone mentioned...there are ups and downs from what I was told by the people I know. Missing family was the major down that I was told about. Missing the birth of a niece/nephew, death of a close relation, etc.

I personally chose not to join because I couldn't be away.

[tomoyasu]

yeah, i have a few friends/family that have been or are in one of the services. an upside to is it that ill be able to get an evo, a down side is that i wont be able to drive it too much. i would love to wait atleast until after new years, but people keep pressuring me to join as quick as i can.

[idreamidrive]

Im gonna join the coast gaurd

[Bennett @ ESG]

I just watched The Guardian last night Joel. It would suck if you died but it would be cool to be a ghost under the ocean who saves people.

I would personally never join the military, not my thing.

[idreamidrive]

i was joking. i wont be done with school till i am 27-28 and i doubt they will want me when i am that old. plus i would join the other boat ppl if anything

[JDMJedi]

I joined at 24. There was a guy in my unit in Korea who joined at 37. My orderly room NCO is 46 and joined at 40. You can come in until 42 now I think.

[kotomile]

Tomo - I was just like you right up until I joined. I did ROTC in high school (USMC) and liked the discipline, the exercise, the weapons, the drills, etc. Now I'm in the army and I have all kinds of decisions when/if I get out. I can use my training to get a nice paying job, I can go to college with my GI bill, I can come back in as an officer, I can stay in and retire, etc. Make sure the job you sign up for is something you want to do. It just occured to me most of thejdm'ers who are in the army are "90" series MOSs (94F, 98Y, 96B, etc.), heh. And don't worry about having something nice and never being able to drive it, it's not like you're ALWAYS going to be deployed.

Sean - If Isreal decides to bomb Iran it'll be because Iran had it coming. Iran (and most other Muslim countries) has already called for Isreal's destruction. Isreal has to defend itself, or else it'll be just one more victory for fundametalist Islam and one step closer to replacing the US constitution with a caliphate.

[Sean @ NDF]

OK, then let's just nuke the entire Middle East and be done with it, right? I don't think the US will justify bombing Iran out of the blue now, unless some major shit happens in Iraq that can be blamed on Iran. Israel will be the initiators for Iran's involvement. Israel will go after Iranian nuclear facilities, and you think Iran is going to sit idly by while they get destroyed? No. They will retaliate against Israel, and most likely the US because of our recent buddy buddy agreement with them. There's no way we can stay out of this inevitable Iran/Israel conflict. We sell Israel weapons, but they don't have all they need to take out Iran. And when we help them, YOU guys in Iraq will be in a HUGE SHIT STORM!!!! You'll not only be at risk from the Iraqi's cut throat, back stabbing way of fighting, but you'll be in danger from Iranian troops and missles. The war is a waste. If Bush wanted a war he should have started it with Iran in the first place. I have a lot of respect for the troops there, but it gets me pretty upset to see their dedication and patriotism go to waste.

[kotomile]

Just a few critiques;

1. Iran declaring Isreal's destruction while starting a "peaceful" nuclear program IMO is Iran initiating the conflict.

2. Iran already retaliates against the US by supporting destabilization efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

3. The US and UN have been "buddy buddy" with Isreal since the UN created Isreal. Someone has to stand up for them..

I agree the war in Iraq isn't going well, and I believe it is at least a distraction from the "real" war on terror in Afghanistan. I dunno, I don't get too involved with Iraq. Afghanistan and the other central asian states are my speciality.

[Sean @ NDF]

OK.

1) Iran's retaliations now are not direct attacks on the US.

2) You mentioned Iran's 'peaceful' nuclear program. You don't mean the 30 year co-op one in the 50's that the United States help them to create did you?

Iran having nuclear programs is no secret, both Iran and Israel want each other dead. US is going to get stuck in the middle because we have to play big brother to every damn country in the world. My opinion still stands that we should have invaded Iran first. We knew they had nw programs. In August 2002 when Alireza Jafarzadeh revealed those two nuclear sites, and the US said they were unknown to them. Bullshit, they fucking knew. US knows everything. Iran had been getting uranium from China for years, and were saying we didn't know? And then in 05' when Iran broke the Paris Agreement, why didn't we do anything about it?

We have 150,000 US troops in the wrong country. This war is worse than Vietnam for christ's sake.