Originally Posted by
mopardave
Serious question now. Can I assume you served in the armed forces? So you would have sworn an oath of allegiance, right? How did that feel then? Genuinely curious.
It's an odd one for me, and I would guess for a lots of other people.
I wanted to join the military to fly and do cool stuff, saying a few sentences to make it happen was the process. If I could have done the same thing as a civilian, I would have.
How many pilots joined to be an officer? Or, like 95%, having a commission was just the game that had to be played.
Did attesting mean anything to me on a deep level, not really. Have I dug out blind and done everything that was asked of me over many deployments, exercises and day-to-day sqn life, 100%.
I have never done anything because of a duty to the Queen. It has always been a duty to the guy or gal next to me and because it is what I chose as a career and what I feel I am morally obligated to do.
I think if a lot of people actually stopped and thought about their service on a deep level they would feel broadly similar.
I dont know many who would continue to uphold their oath if they were no longer paid.
That would suggest to me, that like everyone else, it is duty to paying the bills that is important, not allegiance to HM in a way you would have expected 300 yrs ago.
And just to be clear, I am in no way suggestion ill against HM or the royals.
I am merely suggesting that a royal family has no place in a modern society and they offer nothing tangible to the country as a whole as the show is run by politicians.