What's Wrong with the Military?

Note: Architecture + Morality would like to welcome its readers to a new contributor to the blog, Civilserviceman. A native of north Louisiana and a recent graduate in civil engineering from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, Civilserviceman spent several years in the U.S. navy as an enlistee. His perspectives from a person who served his country in the high seas will add even more depth to the topics discussed in this blog. Enjoy!-- Corbusier

Years ago it was not uncommon for a judge to give a convicted offender a choice, the Army or prison. Most of the time the convicted offender would take Army life over prison life if the Army would accept him. This is not the case toady. Today if a 19 year old comes in with an ounce of weed he is given a fine and some community service for his offence. Our liberalized society has made the military a bad thing. You have to volunteer to serve your country because your country shouldn’t be able to make you do anything you don’t want. I believe that in some parts of the country, being San Francisco and some corners of the northeast, you would be more respected being in prison than if you served in the military. We can force people into prison but can’t put them in the military. That just doesn’t make too much sense. So why don’t we go back to the ways of the past?

Today the media reports problems within the military in recruiting and retention. I don’t think there is a problem with recruiting members of society to do the jobs in the military that require more intelligence, but the military requires ditch diggers too. I believe that most of the people that are ambitious enough to join the military have a good head on their shoulders and want to do something with their lives. They aren’t druggies and trouble makers in society so they are qualified to do better jobs than the ones that are given to them. I submit that if we were to put some of these convicted offenders to work washing aircraft, painting ships, and doing general maintenance work around bases, the persons who volunteer for the military could be used to their full potential. This is one benefit to putting the petty offenders who are making no contribution to society in the military.

Another thing we must understand is that not all of the people doing bad things in society are bad people. Okay, a lot of them are and couldn’t be trusted to work in Wal-Mart, but some of these people have a lot of potential if they find something that interests them. Taking a 19 year old kid that has done some petty things and putting him in the military would expose this person to things which he has never been exposed. For example, if a kid is sent into the Navy and gets stationed on a ship as a deck hand, that person will be painting, standing lookout watch, hauling lines, and doing other things that need to be done but don’t take a lot of brain power. But, as this person lives on the ship he might find that he is intrigued in the gun systems or propulsion systems. Once being in the Navy myself I know that the opportunity is there to go as far as you want if that is the lifestyle that you choose.

Another benefit to these people is stability. We all know that a kid that is committing crimes at a young age usually comes from a home where there was a lack of discipline and stability. The neighborhood provide no future for these kids and many times the ones that try to better themselves are looked down on and harassed by their constituents. What a tragedy. The military would provide structure and stability for some of these people that have never seen it and remove them from a society that will only push them in a downward spiral. Who knows, maybe if we give a kid a job, he makes a little money, and has something he is proud of there will be a change in that person’s life.

In conclusion, I believe that putting people in the military who have no direction in life, drop out of high-school and don’t work, and generally become a burden on society is a good thing. In essence you would turn a burden on society into a person who serves his society. I understand that not all of these people being put into the military will be successful in the military and maybe only 25% will be, but that’s a lot better than having to keep these people in prisons and pay all their court costs for years to come. If only 25% get their lives turned around that’s 25% less people that will be living off social programs and in a perpetuated state of nothingness. That sounds good to me. Our tax dollars could be better spent by supporting our national defense than by building more prisons and hiring more guards. Maybe some day our country will rid itself of some of it’s liberalistic views and get back to the ideals that made this country great.