Hey Inaluct. It's nice to hear from you.
Stage 1 is basic training (bootcamp) and everything that entails, while Stage 2 will likely be where he gets specialized training for whatever his designation requires (for instance: how to drive and fire a tank, probably some basic to intermediate communications training, pathfinding, vehicle maintenance and basic repair, etc.). Stage 3, I would think, would be a commission. I'm not an expert, having not been through it myself, but it's atleast an educated guess.
As far as going into the military:
I've got various physical stuff that prevented me from so much as being drafted (my dad was drafted for Vietnam, and rejected, and I've got worse health problems than he does. Basically,
Hell Itself would have to open up and swallow the White House, with the 1st family in-res., before the army would ever look my way.), and I tend to be fairly anti-violence anyway (being on the recieving end of a lot of violence and abuse can do that to a person), so I never
seriously considered applying to the military, but I've got a lot of admiration for people who do.
We've got family who have fought and died (quite a lot of them), as far back as the American Revolution, and military matters (mostly arms and armour) have been a big hobby/occasional profession, in my family since basically forever. It definitely has an appeal to it, especially the great benefits, if you're willing to make that kind of sacrifice.
The U.S. Military is an all-around excellent establishment, and I'm 150% for supporting our troops in every way possible, but I'll just point out that the civilian government over that military hasn't always made decisions, in the past several decades, that have always benefited those troops and their families, or even done all it could to protect U.S. interests, in every single instance.
And those great benefits didn't come easily: My grandfather fought in two wars, was wounded (both physically and psychologically), and had a lot of problems he didn't get help with, and that went on for decades, which had a big impact on his relationship with my grandmother, my dad, my uncle, and myself. My dad lost his best friend in a war that the government didn't even acknowledge *as* a war (Vietnam), for years and years.
Ofcourse, the U.S. track record is
much better than a lot of other countries, and noone's perfect, so this isn't me bitching, just stating a fact to take into consideration (I don't think anyone should make that kind of decision without looking at as many sides of the argument as possible).
As a civilian, I respect anyone willing and able to fight for our country. I'm very, very proud to be an American, and a large part of that is pride in our armed forces.
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Topic: Life and Times of Strife26 (Read 161347 times)