Thankfully when I was in, generally small ■■■■ was handled in-house. One time when in Japan, I forgot I was supposed to help catch 2 birds coming back from a croaa country hop. Instead of getting written up, I spent the next 2 saturdays repainting the aoon to be new maintenance control office. Nothing in my record book. Now, probably get written up, office hours, and a page 11 in my record book.
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That said, my daughters Chief did her a solid a few years ago. She was home on leave, went out to watch a MMA match, had a beer and got oulled over. She blew a .09 where. 08 is the limit. Not drunk, but got nailed anyways. She had just been frocked to 1st Class (wear the rank but not paid, Navy thing). Instead of getting kicked out for an alcohol incident, her chief backed her and all she got was she lost the stripe for 6 months. Got it back and good to go.
Wow! That’s cruel.
I remember that.
Which is pretty much the attitude of many young Americans:
A late 2023 poll from Echelon Insights reported on by Newsweek surveyed 1,029 voters between October 23rd and 26th, and it found that 72% would not be willing to volunteer to serve their country if the United States were to get involved in a major war.
I have to assume that this meant to say “between the ages 23 to 26”?
It looks like the retired dentist volunteered for active duty but did not expect to be sent to Afghanistan.
Retired Army colonel, 70, sent to Afghanistan
By R. NORMAN MOODY
Gannett News ServiceDr. John Caulfield thought it had to be a mistake when the Army asked him to return to active duty. After all, he’s 70 years old and had already retired - twice. He left the Army in 1980 and private practice two years ago.
“My first reaction was disbelief,” Caulfield said. “It never occurred to me that they would call a 70-year-old.”
In fact, he was so sure it was an error that he ignored the postcards and telephone messages asking if he would be willing to volunteer for active duty to “backfill” somewhere on the East Coast, Europe or Hawaii. That would be OK, he thought. It would release active duty oral surgeons from those areas to go to combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan.
But then the orders came for him to go to Afghanistan.
You know the military is desperate when it recalls 70yr olds - StarDestroyer.Net BBS
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No. The poll was conducted between October 23rd and 26th. “Voters” could be people of ages anywhere from 18 on up and of either sex. And who knows what demographic area the poll was conducted in.
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Always happens when the economy is good and lots of other jobs available.
The military hasn’t seen this in quite a while, really since Vietnam. I don’t recall this being an issue in the 80’s and 90’s with economic conditions clearly better than today. Furthermore, the issues today with potential recruits are more numerous than in the past.
Fred Reed, the old guy knows of which he speaks. In this column he advises against enlisting.
https://fredoneverything.org/enlisting-in-the-military-a-very-very-bad-idea/
I just finished a documentary talking about the guys who went into Afghanistan from the CIA right before the special forces deployed in 2001 and one of them was a SFOD combat medic in Vietnam. I was like damn man there was no enjoying retirement I guess.
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It gets in the blood. Warriors gotta war.
Billy Waugh went at 72. He weren’t no dentist.
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Nothing like Americans showing their love for the good ol’ USA by burning the flag!
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How patriotic of them to side with terrorists, just like their older lib siblings did for 20 years. 
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Heck even the Rock can’t convince anyone to join!
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Motivated feller
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Statistics are still about the same:
The Department of Defense developed a method for estimating the number of young adults who would be eligible to join the military. In 2020, its Qualified Military Available study estimated that 23% of Americans ages 17–24 were eligible for military service. (This age group represents 90% of the military’s applicants.) That was a decrease from 2016, when the department estimated that 29% were eligible.
In the fall of 2022, Joint Advertising Marketing Research & Studies (JAMRS), a program run by the US Department of Defense, polled people ages 16-24 about their likelihood to join the military and why or why not. When asked, “In the next few years, how likely is it that you will be serving in the Military?” 2% replied, “Definitely,” and 7% replied, “Probably.”
Conversely, 32% replied “Probably not,” and 58% replied “Definitely Not,” amounting to 90% of young people who are unlikely to consider the military as a career path.
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The “rules-based international order” is just another way of saying that the US has the right to be the world’s bully. Who wants to risk their life for that?
Of course, the risks were very low for US forces when the opponent was smaller second or third-rate militaries without significant air power or bands of insurgents in sandals. Fighting against a near peer armed with hypersonic missiles is not nearly as attractive.
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Mandatory service, if you’re physically able no exceptions whatsoever.
