DG's Journal: Ask the Soldier

So in the spirit of Salon's "Ask the Pilot" column, let's try my own version and see how that goes.

Soldier. Questions. Ask.

DG

Here's a few

[Ethelred Unraed]

If you had been a junior officer at My Lai with the Americans, what would you have done?

Do you think Canada should be more or less involved in peacekeeping? Would you go on a peacekeeping mission if you had the choice (assuming you haven't already)?

What's the best thing for you about being a soldier -- and the worst?

Will you help my glorious cause and help me to seize power in a global mission of conquest? Would it help if I called you really kewl things like Swordmaster Duncan Idaho?

Cheers,

Ethelr

Re:Here's a few

[FortKnox]

Heh... dippin into the Dune saga... I like!

So, from a military perspective... what do you think of the war?

Re:Here's a few

[DG]

With regards to Question 1... it's very difficult to honestly answer "what would you have done" questions. I our heads, we all think that we're going to storm the enemy position and single-handledly wipe out the defenders (Victoria Crosses for everyone!) but the reality of combat is quite different. It's impossible to predict how one will react in a firefight, never mind in a situation with a different army, with a different culture, in a different time.

But having said that... I like to think that I would h

Re:Here's a few

[Ethelred Unraed]

Doesn't Duncan wind up as a ghola? Not much of a recruiting image. :P

Well yeah, but he keeps getting resurrected. Which is kewl.

Uh, of course he keeps getting resurrected because his Emperor (Leto II) is always killing him. But you didn't need to know that part.

OK, how about Thufir?

Strike that. I don't want my underlings to be smarter than me.

Anyway, thanks for the answers, and thanks for doing your job. :-)

Cheers,

Ethelred

Simple

[SolemnDragon]

What 3 things can we civilians do to make the return to the states easier for soldiers, especially soldiers who have seen combat?

Assume that the civilians in question do not want to discuss politics, and only want to make some very brave, possibly very scarred, people more comfortable with returning to every day life.

Also: What one thing can we do that would be of most comfort to those still overseas?

Does it bother you when random people say thank you when they see you in uniform in a public place?

If not: H

Re:Simple

[DG]

Whoo... good question.

I'm really not much of an authority on this, and frankly I'm terrified of giving you wrong information or the wrong impressions. But let's be bold.

The first thing that I 'd suggest is picking up a couple of books by Col Dave Grossman "On Killing" and "On Combat". "On Killing" is the first ever study of the mental and physical costs of requiring people to kill in combat; it's sort of the military version of the Kinsey Report. "On Combat" is aimed more at identifying how to armour one's

Re:Simple

[SolemnDragon]

actually, yes. i thank them all the time.

i think it's important.

and i meant basically for ANY that i meet, not just one in particular. Namely, what can WE, as civilians, do for YOU ALL, as soldiers?

but those are good answers and i appreciate it.

my mum was an EMT. I believe in thanking those who save lives and do the hard grownup stuff.

Re:Simple

[DG]

Well, you have to keep in mind that soldiers aren't some sort of archetypical, massed bloc. Under the uniform, we're all people, and we tend to think and act just like regular people. If you come up and thank me for the job I'm doing, my natural reaction is to try and figure out how my job *specifically* has intersected with your life, such that I've done something to deserve thanks.

It's the other side of the coin of someone coming up to me, spitting on me, and calling me a "baby killer". I haven't killed a

Does it bother you

[AB3A]

...That the real problems and solutions are political? That you may have to put your life on the line for a cause you may not understand or agree with?

Oh, and I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Thank-You!

Re:Does it bother you

[DG]

Well as I stated in a previous post, Canada has done a very good job of getting involved with the "just" wars and staying away from the unjust ones. That makes it a lot easier.

But, OK, let's say we HAD gotten in bed with the US and joined in on the Second Gulf War. The justification behind that one is utter bullshit (no WMDs, and little to no threat even if he did have them) Not only that, but it misrepresents the West as Crusaders, and stirs up exactly the kind of terrorist activity that it was supposedly

Re:Does it bother you

[Tet]

the Second Gulf War

Just a minor correction... it's generally considered to be the Third Gulf War (although in theory, at least, only the first conflict was actually a a war).

Media Information

[Ra5pu7in]

What media sources do you follow (if any) to keep up with U.S. and/or world views on the current wars/engagements in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere? Do you feel that these and/or other sources have been relatively accurate in their accounts or that there is a lot of sensationalism or inaccuracy involved?

Re:Media Information

[DG]

Mostly the CBC and various Canadian newspapers for commercial news. I have... internal sources... who can bring me up to date on stuff not readily reported on the public airwaves.

The only American news sources worth anything are the Daily Show and the Colbert Report - which should tell you what I think of American news. ;)

DG

Equipment

[Alioth]

The closest I've been to the military is CCF at school. We were the last year to have the good 'ol Lee Enfield 303. The year after us got the cadet version of the SA-80. This leads me onto the whole equipment issue. The SA-80 in service (L85A1) which is issued to British troops has had a poor reputation throughout, and despite modifications, still has a poor reputation compared to the various weapons it replaced.

How is the Canadian military about equipping the soldiers? Do you have these controversies too,

Re:Equipment

[Ethelred Unraed]

Do you have these controversies too, or does the military have a reputation of supplying the Right Equipment Every Time?

Surely you jest. There has never been a military that supplies the Right Equipment Every Time. ;-)

Think "military intelligence" and other oxymorons. *g*

Cheers,

Ethelred

Re:Equipment

[DG]

Like Ethel there said, no soldier ever thinks he is properly equipped, and perhaps no soldier ever is.

Canada certainly comes from the school of squeezing every penny. Sometimes that's a good decision- our standard sidearm is the Browning Hi-Power, which has been unchanged since WW2 (and many of them are WW2 vintage) But the design is rock-solid, it's as reliable as hell, and accurate enough for the job. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Other items... not so much. And lately, especially with high-dollar item

Trauma

[Doctor O]

Hi DG. Ethelred lead me here, and as I'm carrying this around for quite a while, I'm glad I can ask.

A (former) good friend of my brother was stationed in Kosovo as a sniper for the Bundeswehr. I met him from time to time, he was one of the nicer persons I met in life. We enjoyed talking about computers, philosophy, life and death. Then came the Kosovo. He was there for more than a year.

When he returned, I almost didn't recognize him. He had changed a lot. The first weeks, when there was a sudden sound, he'd

Re:Trauma

[DG]

First, let me say that I'm not the resident expert on Post Traumatic Stress. I've done a lot of professional reading about it, and I've run into examples of it, and I've experienced a lot of stress myself (but far less than the level that becomes truly damaging) but I am by no means an expert on this.

But moving forward....

Combat and conflict inflict terrible stresses on a man. You're constantly cold, wet, hungry, and terrified. But beyond that, war can expose men to terrible psychic horrors - and not just o