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JustaDom -> RE: Recruiters and the lies they tell (11/4/2006 10:44:52 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: WyrdRich
Recruiters lying more than politicians is certainly not new. One of the cadence calls that stuck in my head from 20 years ago ran, "Rainbow, rainbow (a new arrival still in civilian clothes) don't be blue, our recruiter screwed us too."
That jody is a gem, it'll be around long after we're gone. As for the article LotusSong posted the link to, sadly I can say the same thing about asshat recruiters Near as I can tell, many if not most recruiters (especially Army recruiters) disregard proper conduct because of a belief far up in the ranks that the ends justify the means or simply not considering anyone from a middle class background or lower to be a worthwhile human being. I could not disagree more.
Militaries have lied as it has suited them since the dawn of civilization. The difference today is the hypocrisy of pretending to toe the line and the claims of operating openly and truthfully. I joined knowing that I was just a sales figure to my recruiter, a walking ASVAB score. Of course, I was also older than my first two TI's (Training Instructors) by three years. Sadly, so were my knees and I spent four months in Basic instead of the six weeks it was supposed to take. During that time I met many young men and women who should never have been cleared to be sent to a summer camp, much less the military.
I was an old man of 25 when I joined the Air Force, I knew the risks and what I was walking into a lot better than the 18 year old kids they target in high school. I accept being injured in Basic, shit happens and I just had a dodgy knee that neither I nor the docs at the MEPS station could have known about without an Xray or MRI. I do have some serious problems with what happened after I was injured and that is why I will never recommend anyone ever joining the military under any circumstance I can think of. I got through Basic anyway when I was returned to training despite continuing to deteriorate and completed my enlistment but I should have had surgery at Wilford Hall or back home and been medically discharged from Basic.
There is a wide spectrum of good and bad when it comes to recruiters. I believe most of it is bullshit that recruiters are made to do by those above them but they willingly execute it which makes them just as guilty. I don't have much sympathy for the recruits who join under the mistaken impression that they can get away with acting irresponsibly, immaturely, stupid enough to pop positive on the drug test and other idiocy. I do have a good deal of empathy for the people who are now permanently disabled when they should have been screened out by anyone with a brain and a pair of eyes. I hope that someone has reserved a special spot in hell for the assholes who cleared the 18 to 19 year old kids who I had to get medical attention for when I found them in the latrine after attempting suicide or kids I met who will never walk again without crutches. Allowing them through was callous negligence at best and evil at worst.
That being said, there are some of the finest examples of human beings I have ever met in the armed services are the saints who came back from retirement to volunteer as unpaid support staff after giving 20+ years to their country. I learned more about service and sacrifice from a few years working alongside them than I could have imagined learning in the scene; I can honestly say I am a better man and a better dominant because of what I learned from their example.
Sincerely,
Joe
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