What does 'being in the military' mean to you?
 

Having read through the various opinions on the Warzone thread, there seems to a be several diverse opinions of what 'being in the military' means.

Does it mean you have to kill everything you see and then brag about it? Or put on lippy in a war zone and skip off to the disco carrying your body armour and helmet?

Did that program show us in a 'bad' light, or did it actually show the RAF as it really is today?

Who says I can't do both - at the same time?

*flounces off*

Being in the military means never having to say you're sorry.....

.... means being b8ggered about by professionals!

It means "Greatcoats on", swiftly followed by "Greatcoats off". Also known as on the bus, off the bus.

As far as having fun is concerned, I think you'll find that the wartime RAF had huge amounts of fun, when not on operations/sleeping. In fact the party factor rose in direct correlation to the operational activity, or close to it. I have no problem with people who work and party hard at all, and I'd be upset if I thought they had to spend their non-sleeping/training/standby free time in some kind of monastic existence.

GUess it doesn't mean anything afterall!

To you, 'being in the military' means little.You're in the RAF.

This is a pointless "How long is a piece of string?" question!

The answer will vary depending on who you are, what service you are in, what your role/job is and where you perform the job at the time.

It means different things to different people. Therefore there is no wrong and no right answer.

We all joined for different reasons, we all stay or go for similarly different reasons.

It means; Pride.

As in Gay Pride? All aboard.:E:E

Moose:

I know, that why I asked - I'm interesed after all the slaggin off that went on in the C5 thread to hear what people actually think it means to them.

I've seen one decent post - which I agree with: Pride.

Anything else?

YouTube - Apocalypse Now - Helicopter Attack- Kilgore

:E

I love that smell... Smells like... Victory!

Of course, thats complete bollox....

I think its the camaraderie, being in an organization that prides itself on pragmatism and getting the job done. Operating expensive, highly technical pieces of equipment alongside guys that age-wise, comparatively in civvie street, the guys arent even trusted to wipe their own behinds.

Oh, that and the fact that the job is (hopefully) recession/depression proof .

NEVER get separated from your kit

It's about looking after each other and going the 'extra mile' when you need to but no practice bleeding.

As to the TV show - you can only shoot what's in front of the cameras. Yes, you can creatively edit (anyone who hasn't worked in TV should watch this) but unless you're accusing them of computer generating welshwomen, they showed people who are in the RAF going to the disco because people who are in the RAF go to the disco, and there's nothing wrong with that.

This was not a hatchet job. This was feel-good fluff designed to let the audience think "oh look, they're just like us", demystifying the military and making it more approachable. This only works for a given audience - the one the show was aimed at, young people who go to nightclubs.

In a wider context, anyone who's featured on the news tends to react with disbelief at how bad the coverage is. They're not out to get you - it's always that bad, it's just that the problem is only obvious when they're talking about your specialist subject. TV loves the military at the moment because it's populist to cast them as underfunded, underequipped pawns of an unpopular government who are nonetheless brilliant at their job. Brits love underdogs. When TV stops loving the military, believe me, there will be no question about it.

P

Phil:

"it's populist to cast them as underfunded, underequipped pawns of an unpopular government"

That's not casting, that's true!:{

Being in the Military is not what I do, it is what I am, or;

Pride and frustration in almost equal measure