Recruiters Lying

[MarkD]

A guy I know was telling me about his son's friend who, to escape a crappy home-life, joined the Navy. He said the recruiter promised him he wouldn't be going to Iraq or Afghanistan, but didn't get it in writing. He said he wanted to get skills he could use to be a paramedic when his enlistment is up.

Yup, he's apparently going to be trained to be a Corpsman, and will be going to the sandbox (he said he'll be a "sand sailor"). The young man is apparently OK with it, he's not concerned and expects the time to fly by. My acquaintance is upset that the recruiter lied, but I told him what others who've been there told me, if it's not in writing it doesn't count.

I give the kid credit, he's not getting what he hoped for (and I can understand preferring to spend time on a nice ship eating good food instead of sleeping in a tent eating MREs) but he's making the best of it.

(Pet Peeve time) I really don't understand people who enlist, or families of people who enlist, who don't realize that going into harm's way is part of the military's job description. Just like a guy I know who thinks everyone who enlisted in the military, including Paul Tibbets, did so to make money for college. (\Pet Peeve time)

[Aaron]

Oh, we certainly do get a few who really are doing it for the college money. Taking my college classes on base, I'm exposed to them on a regular basis. However, even most of the ones who joined for their own benefit believe in earning it, in other words serving their country and doing their duty.

The ones who really do only care about themselves are the subject of my limitless scorn. We still get a few who don't expect to have to do anything dangerous or 'military' and they tend to be universally reviled.

As for the specific case, it could have been like when I needed my parent's permission to join at seventeen and convinced them I wanted to be an Aviation Electronics Technician (I had no such goal) when I really wanted to kill people, blow stuff up, and break things.

[clyde621]

I really wanted to kill people, blow stuff up, and break things.

Oh the horror, holding face

[Aaron]

hehehehehe

And that's the edited version of how we say it...

[GroundPounder]

I am currently in a "recruiting and enrollment" position on the 'officer' side of things at the moment, and I won't WANT anyone who isn't fully committed. I don't want any of my prospects signing up unless they know what they're getting into. It's not a question of "if" you go to war, it's a question of "when" and "how long/often."

I've known a few bullshit-artist recrutiers, but at the same time I find the "evil, lying recruiter suckering children with college money" role to be the rallying shriek of those who have opened their minds so far that their brains have fallen out.

Not saying you're trying to make this claim- you obviously know how it is!

[Erik]

Isn't it a requirement with a highschool diploma (or equivalent) to be able to enlist?

If someone enlists into the military, without grasping that it's actually *the military*, they shouldn't blame some recruiter, they should sue their highschool for not teaching them how to read newspapers and give them some common sense.

I mean, even in a mandatory service like the one I was in, everyone, including those that was in noncombat roles like mechanics, paperpushers, etc, was very well aware that there were weapons around, and that they one day might very well be required to actually use them,,, And that's regardless of what their current assignment was...

[308Mike]

Unless you have something in writing, the military puts you where THEY need you. If you're going in as a corpsman, and at the time they're getting ready to assign billets they happen to have several ships who have personnel who're rotating out, that's where you're going even if you thought you were headed to the sandbox.

I suppose if he REALLY wanted to play it safe, he could have opted for submarines. When you consider the size of the Navy, there's a better than even chance he would be on a ship instead of hanging out on shore - but he's GOT to get some experience under his belt and he'll learn more in combat medicine than he'll ever learn stateside, all of which will make him more valuable when he gets home (if he decides to leave the service).

[mekender]

Reminds me of the classic anecdote of the guy that was promised to be put into the Bugle Corps by his recruiter and then ended up as a eleven-bravo in Vietnam instead.

[Erik]

We used to get deserted soldiers here a few years ago, with the anti-war circuit.
They were propped up in front of our newspapers and tell everyone how they didn't know better since they were poor and never finished highschool, but recruiters called them at home to sign them up, and kept calling them until they finally gave in and signed up, with the promise that they would be stationed as mechanics inside the US. Then once they had signed up they were made Marines and sent to Iraq before they knew what happened.

I found those stories somewhat lacking in credibility...

[308Mike]

Then once they had signed up they were made Marines and sent to Iraq before they knew what happened.

Oh that's too funny!! You don't just sign up for the military and THEY decide which service you're going into. You have to score higher on the tests to get into the Marines than you do to get into the Army or Navy, and the NUMBER ONE job of EVERY Marine is RIFLEMAN first, your trained job second. The Marines have the longest and highest wash-out rate of all the service's boot camps. Once you complete Marine boot camp, if you go to another service, you don't have to go back through their basic training. Other service members joining the other services go back through basic training - although I imagine if you went the Special Forces/Special Warfare route, you'd get to skip basic training if you joined a different service, including the Marines.

So why would they take people who had no idea which service they'd joined and stick them in the hardest service training just to watch them wash out?

Sounds like that lying POS Jesse Macbeth, who the liberals thought was telling the absolute truth 'cause it's what THEY believed (or wanted to believe).