[diamondgeezer]

That's harsh and most unfair. Granted, the US likes their soldiers to be fairly brainwashed, but do really think a soldier feels nothing for the lives he takes?

[Stryke 9]

At the time, he'd better not, or he's a damn poor soldier and dead to boot. If he gets some kinda guilt complex later... well, fine, it's his own damn fault, but at least he was a functional soldier.

You can't go around on a battlefield sympathizing with the guy you're evicting from some bunker with a 20mm round. If you did, you wouldn't be shooting him, duh.

[diamondgeezer]

Professionalism and training overcome emotion, that's the whole point. And if a bunch of guys are shooting at me I'm damn well going to chuck a grenade in to their fox hole. But I don't believe a sane person could shoot another person dead and feel nothing, even a trained soldier.

[Odyssey]

I'm pretty certain that at least some of the soldiers won't give a damn. Probably the same sort that think iraqis aren't people.

EDIT: These people would probably feel something after they shot... "Yay, I got 'un!"

[diamondgeezer]

A soldier like that would make me ashamed of our armed forces. And I'm saying that as someone planning on joining up.

[Stryke 9]

DG: I'm sure when you're ducking bullets and trying to find something to hide behind, in the adrenaline rush of full combat, you feel full compassion for the guys you're picking off and are just wracked with guilt and thinking only about the families that will be getting their fathers and sons home in body bags. Uh-huh. But even if that's true, you're the only one, and there's a reason you haven't been recruited then.

[Unknown Target]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer

Look deeper. See past the tits.

So, should I, like, move them aside or something?

[01010]

Originally posted by Unknown Target


So, should I, like, move them aside or something?

I think he's an arse man. They worry me.

[diamondgeezer]

Stryke: oh hell no, when I'm up in my X-35 duking it out with the bad guys then it's him or me. Either I kill him or he kills me, that's the whole idea. But I'm not going home to my family and saying 'guess how many A-rabs I shot down today'

[Odyssey]

Originally posted by Unknown Target


So, should I, like, move them aside or something?

He's probably talking about one of those funky newfangled x-ray thingummybobbies...

[Stryke 9]

DG: Then for ****'s sake, what the hell you joining the Army for, boy? Gonna kill people, and come back home with a syndrome, to boot.

[diamondgeezer]

Dude, I'm not signing for the sake of killing people. It's part of the job but it's not the reason I'm applying.

[Odyssey]

What is the reason you're applying, then? I see no other point to the army...

[Stryke 9]

If he says some vaunted thing about patriotism or somethin', I swear...

[Stunaep]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
A soldier like that would make me ashamed of our armed forces. And I'm saying that as someone planning on joining up.

Read Remarque. "No changes on the Western Front" (loose translation) is an excellent bok.

[Stryke 9]

It's All Quiet on the Western Front here. Great book, yeah.

[diamondgeezer]

You think people join up because the want to kill people and not get arrested? Bloody hell.

I'm applying for the Navy because:

1. I like aircraft
2. Women like the uniform
3. Making officer is a damn worthwhile goal in life

It ain't patriotism - hell, I'll have to swear by God to protect the Queen and I don't like either of them very much. I'm doing it for me. I want to fly fast jets for a living, and joining up is what it takes.

[Stryke 9]

So get a job on Northwest or something. You really imagining that you're gonna avoid active duty nowadays?

Personally, I find someone who joins the combat branch of the military without the intent to fight at all somewhat contemptible, anyway. I mean, really. Idealism is one thing, that's quite another.

[Odyssey]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
1. I like aircraft
Get a private pilot's license then... I like flying, and that's the course I'm planning to take.
2. Women like the uniform
If you say so
3. Making officer is a damn worthwhile goal in life
Why? Since when? It just shows that you're passed on less propaganda than privates get

[diamondgeezer]

Stryke: What the hell? I already said the 'him or me' bit. I want to be a combat pilot. My point is I'm not going to be proud of the lives I've taken. Sure, I'd be proud if I shot down a MiG and saved three thousand pepole on my carrier, but I'd be proud of the lives I'd saved.

Odysey: Do you have any idea what an officer cadet has to go through? You like aircraft, you say. Well, when you qualify on a Cessna Skyhawk and I qualify on an FA2, then we'll meet up and have a race,