Would compulsory military service sort out Ireland's social problems?

irishgeo · 22-06-2007 12:13AM #1

While sitting here, this thought flew into my head.

What if Ireland was to bring in a law stating that all young people had to do a year of military service before going to college. Lets say after the leaving cert and before college and only if you were 18 or over.All people medically unfit would be exempt. This would be decided by military doctors.

I think this would solve a number of problems

1. Obesity - It would get the the young people off their arses and away from the TV and xboxes and into a fitness regime. Even for a year it would do them the world of good.

2. Discipline - It would teach them some manners and to respect others, which would be useful to some of today's teenagers.

3. Binge Drinking - i think it would cut a lot this out as for the year i would recommend that only 1 weekend a month would be allowed off base.

4. It would give them some skills and perhaps an idea of what they want to do in college. You could have them train in various skills such as vehicle repair, cooking etc..

5. First Aid - Imagine having most of the young people being able to do first aid. It could save so many lives.

6. Driving Skills - They would learn how to drive carefully and with responsibility and perhaps they would not be allowed do their test with having done the military service.

7. Self Defence - they would pick up some self defence training as well as training on firearms, which would i think benefit them later in life.

I am sure their is many more bonuses which you may suggest.

I would put a no buy out clause so rich kids cant skip it.If Prince Harry and William can do it i don't see why our rich kids cant do it.

Its not likely anyone is going to get seriously injured as we are a neutral county and only do peace missions which young people would be exempt.

Just thought i throw this out and see what reaction it gets.

Sangre · 22-06-2007 12:14AM

Ridiculous idea but I thought this was particulary funny.

3. Binge Drinking - i think it would cut a lot this out as for the year i would recommend that only 1 weekend a month would be allowed off base.

Yeah, 1 weekened a month to drink. Yeah, that wouldn't encourage binge drinking.

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 12:14AM

i dont know what problems it would solve but i do think it is a good idea in general

in germany(frankfurt anyway) there is compulsory military service or if you would rather not join the army or whatever you can do 3years(instead of 2 in the military) in some form of public service like working in creches(were i learned of it) etc

MooseJam · 22-06-2007 12:16AM

no it wouldn't solve anything, and i can say that without reading your post , lots of countries have compulsory service and they have problems too

Patricide · 22-06-2007 12:18AM

I think although itd be a good idea in theory, id be against it sorely because i dont want to HAVE to join the army. Mabey a stint of army training or fca membership but sending people who dont want to go to some foreign batteground where they have a chance of getting shot, i think thats just too far for my liking.

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 12:22AM

Patricide wrote:

I think although itd be a good idea in theory, id be against it sorely because i dont want to HAVE to join the army. Mabey a stint of army training or fca membership but sending people who dont want to go to some foreign batteground where they have a chance of getting shot, i think thats just too far for my liking.

eh what part of neutral and voluntary peacekeeping do you have trouble with?

Voodu Child · 22-06-2007 12:49AM

"Well-balanced breakfast programs for children has created a generation of ultra-strong super-criminals; midnight basketball taught them how to function without sleep..."

What would military training do for the gougers of Ireland?

cson · 22-06-2007 12:55AM

Are you on crack OP?

As the saying goes, you can take the boy out of ballymun, but you can't take the ballymun out of the boy.

Dr Strange · 22-06-2007 12:59AM

PeakOutput wrote:

i dont know what problems it would solve but i do think it is a good idea in general

in germany(frankfurt anyway) there is compulsory military service or if you would rather not join the army or whatever you can do 3years(instead of 2 in the military) in some form of public service like working in creches(were i learned of it) etc

Just a quick correction. We have compulsory military service in the whole of Germany. It lasts about 10 months to a year nowadays and non-military service (you have the choice of either) about 13 months (in hospitals, home for the elderly, etc). It does sort out people, particularly if they haven't received proper discipline in their family homes. However, drinking is a major part of the nights in barracks during the service

The only difference is that you cannot be excused the next morning or you will know exactly what it means to have a splitting headache

What I mean is, the general mentality towards drink is that if you can drink and party you can also work. No problem being up till 4 or 5 in the morning and having some drink taken but you better be up at 6 (7 am) and be sober and ready for duty or else!

National service also gives you the opportunity to sort out your future by providing driving classes and full licences after completion, apprenticeships, paramedic qualifications and even a medical degree (however, you will have to sign up for quite a couple of years for military service as a doctor after graduating but the course is paid for). The work as non-military service personnel will open up possible courses in medical and health science courses, particularly if you didn't have good school grades. It is a way of demonstrating that you can do it successfully.

Overall, I do think that National Service would be a positive thing here but given the, as I see it, traditional lack of respect for authority, it may be hard to implement. It would get some of the kids off the streets though and maybe provide them with some goals for the future in an environment of comradship that is not based on anti-social or criminal actyivity.

Best,
Preusse

ctc_celtic · 22-06-2007 01:01AM

i think its not a bad idea, dont know if it would solve many or any problems.

think in many other countries you have to join the military if you dont go to college after school.

i reckon if your on the dole for more than a few months, you should be made to enlist, that would soon make plenty of lazy f**kers get jobs.

griffdaddy · 22-06-2007 01:03AM

irishgeo wrote:

7. Self Defence - they would pick up some self defence training as well as training on firearms, which would i think benefit them later in life.

Too right mate, it's a fúcking disgrace how many middle-aged people are walking around without basic weapons training these days.

o1s1n · 22-06-2007 01:05AM

You want to give scumbags firearm training?

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 01:09AM

ctc_celtic wrote:

i reckon if your on the dole for more than a few months, you should be made to enlist, that would soon make plenty of lazy f**kers get jobs.

that is a ****ing great idea, even the fat bastards can work in the kitchens

also mandatory service would help by taking 18/19/20 year olds off the streets(in general) at a time when they would otherwise generally be ****ing around the place (like i am now) and that would stop a few problems i think

sorry for getting the german thing a bit off

An Citeog · 22-06-2007 01:10AM

I agree with the OP too. I think there are a lot of benefits in doing this. I've got friends from Germany, Norway, Finland etc who all did military service and thought that it was definitely worth it, both the health benefits and the discipline.

Re: the being sent to foreign battlegrounds, that doesn't happen. It's only the PDF that would be sent there rather than conscripts.

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 01:12AM

o1s1n wrote:

You want to give scumbags firearm training?

the point is the scumbag is ,for want of a better word, beaten out of them in the army and they are forced to take responsibility and have respect for people.

also i think in bulgaria you can choose to do your time as a cop my supervisor when i was in the airport did that and said it definitely changed him

littlejp · 22-06-2007 01:13AM

PeakOutput wrote:

eh what part of neutral and voluntary peacekeeping do you have trouble with?

Where do you think Irish soldiers go on these Peacekeeping missions, South of France? They go to places like the Lebanon which are no holiday.

I can understand military service in places like Korea where they have the threat of war or invasion but for a supposedly neutral country like Ireland, I think it's a ridiculous idea. It might solve some problems but you would also be training people to be killers.

PeakOutput wrote:

also mandatory service would help by taking 18/19/20 year olds off the streets(in general) at a time when they would otherwise generally be ****ing around the place (like i am now) and that would stop a few problems i think

Why don't YOU join the army so...

tolosenc · 22-06-2007 01:17AM

PeakOutput wrote:

eh what part of neutral and voluntary peacekeeping do you have trouble with?

Voluntary - It's not the individual soldiers who volunteer, but they are rather volunteered by the Government/Armed Forces.

That, and being neutral peacekeepers doesn't mean you don't get shot at. The fact that the place you're in requires peacekeepers should surely click some element of danger with you, no?

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 01:23AM

littlejp wrote:

Where do you think Irish soldiers go on these Peacekeeping missions, South of France? They go to places like the Lebanon which are no holiday.

yes but the ones that go VOLUNTEER to go.........i am open to correction here but as far as i know the units that are sent on the peacekeeping missions from the irish army sign up to do so ............if you don't sign up you dont have to go so it is a non issue

Why don't YOU join the army so...

i got to the final round of the cadetship recruitment a few years ago and didnt make it as they only took 3 people that year(out of 1200) i decided to not apply again as i "hadnt had enough fun" it is still an option if i dont get into college in september

That, and being neutral peacekeepers doesn't mean you don't get shot at. The fact that the place you're in requires peacekeepers should surely click some element of danger with you, no?

dont be a patronising prick

Nichololas · 22-06-2007 01:26AM

cson wrote:

Are you on crack OP?

As the saying goes, you can take the boy out of ballymun, but you can't take the ballymun out of the boy.

Yes, do we really want to train the knacks to use weapons properly?

littlejp · 22-06-2007 01:27AM

So you want to take other 18/19/20 year olds off the streets where just pissing about, yet you don't want to join because you haven't had enough fun yet. Sounds a bit hypocritical to me?

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 01:30AM

littlejp wrote:

So you want to take other 18/19/20 year olds off the streets where just pissing about, yet you don't want to join because you haven't had enough fun yet. Sounds a bit hypocritical to me?

i never suggested i get any special treatment did i?

although if there was enlistment into the air corp they would need more officers and therefore i would have probably already been accepted so you have no point at all really

littlejp · 22-06-2007 01:39AM

My point is basically that it is not right to force ordinary people to join the army. Use it as a form of punishment instead of prison maybe. The last thing I would ever want to do is join the army (bar a Nazi invasion or the like).
You said yourself you didn't want to join because you want to have fun. I'm the same and I believe most people want to just have the craic and get out into the world when they hit 18, not join the army.

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 01:42AM

littlejp wrote:

My point is basically that it is not right to force ordinary people to join the army. Use it as a form of punishment instead of prison maybe. The last thing I would ever want to do is join the army (bar a Nazi invasion or the like).
You said yourself you didn't want to join because you want to have fun. I'm the same and I believe most people want to just have the craic and get out into the world when they hit 18, not join the army.

my point is that at 18 alot of people are not mature enough to handle their new found freedom and that is where the problem comes from............now in my opinion it is not a huge problem but it is one that would be solved by national service.

also i have already said a choice to do some other type of service besides military is a good idea

biko · 22-06-2007 01:45AM

Only if it's coed.

WindSock · 22-06-2007 01:45AM

Good Idea. It can't hurt. There is a sincere lack of self discipline with all us young 'uns. We're all too namby pambied.

Mahatma coat · 22-06-2007 01:50AM

All in all a good idea, I was in the FCA as a Kid and after a while in the curragh even the 'hardest' of scummers can be broken down and turned into a functioning member of society.

I like the German system where you have the choice to concienciously (Sp)object tobeing shipped off over seas to your death, and join the civil defence etc

arybvtcw0eolkf · 22-06-2007 01:52AM

We don't need 'the draft'. We don't have an external or internal security threat. Internally gangland is a greater threat than anything else at the moment, soldiers can't deal with gangland.

Irish soldiers can, and are 'detailed' for oversea's service, both peacekeeping (old UNIFIL mandate) and peace enforcement (All missions since 2001).

'Peakout'Put', we already have a large officer cadre in the Defence Forces. We don't need more. In fact our officer number's are at 'emergency' strenght since a large officer recruitment drive between 1971-73.

yellowellie · 22-06-2007 01:54AM

Sounds like a great idea to me. Or a diluted version would be that only scumbags (who have gotten themselves into trouble) would have to go. Send the troublemakers off instead of handing out those anti-social behaviour order thingies.

Didn't Enda Kenny propose something like this before?

ctc_celtic · 22-06-2007 02:00AM

one fella i went to school with was a complete head case, but joined the army and says if wasn't for them straighting him out, he would be in jail or dead by now.

and theres plenty more like him in Ireland.

PeakOutput · 22-06-2007 02:00AM

Mairt wrote:

Irish soldiers can, and are 'detailed' for oversea's service, both peacekeeping (old UNIFIL mandate) and peace enforcement (All missions since 2001).

thanks for clarifying that..........do you think though that conscripts would be detailed for this type of deployment seen as on the website it says that peacekeeping is particularly challenging for a soldier.

'Peakout'Put', we already have a large officer cadre in the Defence Forces. We don't need more.

i understand that

arybvtcw0eolkf · 22-06-2007 02:06AM

PeakOutput wrote:

thanks for clarifying that..........do you think though that conscripts would be detailed for this type of deployment seen as on the website it says that peacekeeping is particularly challenging for a soldier.

i understand that

I wouldn't like to serve with concripts.

Ireland's fine peacekeeping reputation has been built on professional soldiers doing a professional job over the last 50 yrs. Lets keep it that way.

Irelands youth can be brought into line with tough government and judical policies. I also believe tackling crime in this country, ie sentencing criminals should be taken solely out of the hands of the judicary (sp'ing).

Would compulsory military service sort out Ireland's social problems?

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