How the public views us

[Evan]

I get the alot of why do you want to go into the army (more of the why would you want to go into the Canadan millitary= DU i love Canada.)Because i live in the U.S , and then they give me all this **** about how the U.S millitary is better. Both of my parents want peace to the world(so do i) but like Homer(on the simpsons)says "sometimes the only way to get peas is with a knife".

 

[deathwing5]

Man, I can‘t believe people won‘t have respect for their army, it bugs me too, even, way before I could
sign up. I was talkin wit this one girl she pissed me off. She‘s telling me she has no respect for
soldiers, she‘d basically have no problem
butting shoulders with them on the street.
I can‘t stand those anti-soldier people
i‘ve talked to. it‘s so true you should be proud
of your uniform Funk those people who say
otherwise, and it‘s even more true, they‘ll
be kissin the asses of the men and women
of the army when they need them. But that‘s
the thing, everyone‘s lucky enough to be in
such a good, safe country that they dont
even think of respect for the soldiers
who have them that. ARRGHH this topic
always gets to me.
I feel a bit better for getting that out

 

[deathwing5]

SO who‘s had the most amount of people tell them not to join the army, or best argument or one liner telling them that they shouldnt join?

Mine was by my cousin he was mad that I was signing up he said this and it amused me.
"Bro why the f*** are you gonna waste your life in the army, You think we came from Kurdistan to Canada just to go back and fight in Afghanistan"
other than that and 2 other girls who are against soldiers challenged me for it.
share your experiences.

 

[Cycophant]

My family and friends have been suprisingly supportive of my decisions, considering there is virtually no history or experience of the military anywhere in my family.

However, one aunt was a little skeptical. She questioned my desire to join, considering we were sending soldiers overseas without rifles (or permits), incorrect camo prints, etc. I can‘t imagine a lot of the news lately has helped that already-despicable public opinion of the Canadian Forces.

 

[McInnes]

mum: are you outta your ****ing mind!
thats what she said when i had told her that i had applied.
other than that everyone has been extraordinarily supportive.

 

[Ruthless4Life]

BOTH my parents and pretty much all my family members and relatives are against my joining the military.

My parents think that the military is not a good career and they don‘t really respect what they do.

And my uncle said "Want to be a soldier? Anyone straight out of gr. 12 can do that!"

That just sums it up.

 

[D-n-A]

my family was supportive of it

I come from a military family, so, heh

my brother joined the army a month ago, an he‘s at St Jean now

Dad‘s ex-US Army

grandparents were in the canadian army an RAF

etc, etc

 

[deathwing5]

that‘s cool, my dad was small arms instructor
one of my uncles was a tank driver
and my grandpa was in korean war,
everybody else was infantry. :warstory:

 

[D-n-A]

cool

my dad was a Airborne Ranger
grandfather (dad side of family) was a bomber tech in a Lancaster Bomber

other grandfather was a Infantryman in the Canadian Army

great grandfater was a Engineer in the English Army
other great grandfather was most likely in the Russian Army

 

[kurokaze]

Originally posted by hawain_light:
[qb] I get the alot of why do you want to go into the army (more of the why would you want to go into the Canadan millitary= DU i love Canada.)Because i live in the U.S , and then they give me all this **** about how the U.S millitary is better. Both of my parents want peace to the world(so do i) but like Homer(on the simpsons)says "sometimes the only way to get peas is with a knife".

[/qb]

Just curious, why exactly do you want to join the
Cdn Military vs. US? (Aside from the wannabe JTF2
title - that can easily be wannabe SEAL)

Also, have you already applied? If so, how was
the application process, how much difficulty did
you have?

 

[Evan]

Definitly the Canadain. i‘m born and raised Canadain. when i was young i wanted to be a U.S Marine, Then they got boring(i want to operate in a smaller group), as i got older i got really intrested in millitary history(American), Then British history(mostly 17/18 century)(i like the british/canadian parade uniform).I then slowly transitioned in to the Canadain millitary about the time i was living in Nunavut.

And i haven‘t joined up yet, but i would if i could(i‘m fourteen).

 

[mht]

Just to throw in my two cents...
While I was at school, most of my friends were indifferent towards the military. However, there were a couple who said things like "I hate the Army, they just brainwash you to kill people.", "You‘re going to lose the ability to think for yourself.", "Canada doesn‘t even need a military, the US will protect us."
I don‘t think you can/should even attempt to debate such people (I did, but that‘s just because I want to make them feel dumb). It‘s clear they‘re incredibly ignorant and short-sighted. Although, one of my friends went to Florida Air Academy and served with the Regiment in Bermuda; it was nice to have him on my side of the arguments. We‘d come back from the bars and he‘d be yelling cadence at the top of his lungs
One thing‘s for sure, you know that should the time come for the military to meet an imminent and serious threat, all the critics and nay-sayers will magically have disappeared.

 

[sm0ke]

it‘s incredible to see the ignorance and disinformation that people display regarding our military. For the most part, living in NS anyhow, people are closed to anything that doesnt effect their lives directly, and even when they do display an opinion, it‘s usually for very petty reasons, or is nonsensical. You‘d think for a country made up of 70% baby-boomers, that our population would be more willing to learn or at least attempt to understand our military. Instead they‘ve relegated it to the back pages of the news paper, with most of the other important information they neglect to take in...

 

[nULL]

Um, isn‘t that a GOOD thing? I dunno, but if society seems to like to scorn the military, won‘t that mean that people who join in REALLY want to BE there?

 

[sm0ke]

Definitely. What I‘m saying is that without any sort of understanding about what the military is, what we need it for, or what it does, then it‘s almost impossible to garner any sort of support from the public. Most Canadians know literally nothing about the military, only that the Forces are in need of money...and that the Sea Kings like to fall apart

 

[Jarnhamar]

If we didn‘t have police officers would that lessen or increase the crime rate?

Same goes with soldiers.

 

[rolandstrong]

I disagree with Null here. It is not a good thing to view the military as a back page article. It costs lives. Disinterest in the military means reduced funding, which in turn reduces training, thereby leading to ineffectiveness. This is precisely what happened in 1939 for many allied nations, and lives were lost accordingly. A good book on the Canadian attitude and phenomenon is "Marching as to War" by Pierre Burton. What we see today in the attitude toward the military is not new...its happened before. It is our geopolitical position

 

[Albertan]

One thing I have noticed regarding civilian views of military ppl is a rather odd and disturbing one. The majority of the guys I work with are under the impression that military personel are a bunch of arrogant pricks that eventually go insane from all the war fighting and other such bad experiances all soldiers endure.

A lot of this attitude is the result of a few former military guys that have come and gone in our company. Most had negative things to say about their service. One guy who is a complete freak was bragging that he got to rape women while on a peacekeep tour and that the CF were doing medical experiments on him etc.

I question the validity of most of those ‘former‘ miltary guys though as a few basic questions regarding which regiment they were in and what postings they were given seem to be dificult questions to answer.

Nevertheless as a result, most ppl when they hear of my intention to join will blindside me with horrific tales of losing my mind and all sorts of rediculous stuff.

I find it hard to stomach some ppls perception of you guys and I try my best to defend ya, don‘t worry about that! Especially after having actually met a few CF guys and interacting with them. I think you guys are awesome and I think I am in the silent majority in my sentiments. Keep up the good work.

 

[blackhat56]

g‘day guy as a FNG let me say I enjoyed my many years as a soldier, and always wore my uniform with pride and even now it chokes me up a bit when I see a relish suit, but I work in the base in esquimalt and I have to shake my head when I see the state of the grubby sailors and bin rats, and it reflects on all of us doesnt it?

p.s. anybody tell me how I can use my old cap badge as my avatar? thanx mates