Do we really want an Emotional, Gay, Muslim Armed Forces ?

[landsurfer]

The latest recruiting drive for the Army ... and by association the other Armed Forces, seems to be targeted at groups in society that would not join traditionally. But why ?
Why single out Islam as a faith and ignore Sikhs, Gurkhas, Christians etc .....
Gay in the Army ...... nothing new there .....
Emotional support ..... was available for me when i needed it in the 80's ....

I would rather we had an Army and Armed Forces that was intelligent, sensible and overwhelmingly violent when required. Not representative of society.

[broadway]

Maybe a few Nazi stormtroopers as well.

[[XAP]Bob]

The latest recruiting drive for the Army ... and by association the other Armed Forces, seems to be targeted at groups in society that would not join traditionally. But why ?
Why single out Islam as a faith and ignore Sikhs, Gurkhas, Christians etc .....
Gay in the Army ...... nothing new there .....
Emotional support ..... was available for me when i needed it in the 80's ....

I would rather we had an Army and Armed Forces that was intelligent, sensible and overwhelmingly violent when required. Not representative of society.

Well, we all know that Islam is a religion of violence - so they match your desired demographic...

</sarcasm>

[Mick F]

Emotional support ..... was available for me when i needed it in the 80's ....

It wasn't for me.
Took me 20years+ to come to terms with it and I had to leave the RN before I could.

[old_windbag]

I would rather we had an Army and Armed Forces that was intelligent, sensible and overwhelmingly violent when required

I'd not expect anyone of the large well known faiths to join the armed forces, if true to their faith, in whatever capacity helping the fight. I'd expect those who rationalise killing under specific circumstances and with that I'd expect no religious ties or beliefs.

I don't think jesus went around saying you should love your fellow man but by the way on occasion it's okay to be overwhelmingly violent and kill or torture them. As for muslims they are always decrying terror attacks by saying killing isn't part of their religion. So a conflict of interest if joining up.

[mjr]

Having armed forces which are too unrepresentative is a national security risk, isn't it? You don't have to look far to see coups/revolutions when the democratic government doesn't reflect the military's interests.

[landsurfer]

Emotional support ..... was available for me when i needed it in the 80's ....

It wasn't for me.
Took me 20years+ to come to terms with it and I had to leave the RN before I could.

It was available to me Mick .... not sure it worked too well ..... Jules isn't sure it helped at all ... but they made the effort. I still have moments when the tears don't match the occasion... and the visit to the Cenotaph each year is a nightmare for me ..... But still proud to have served, glad i was there, and have no regrets about my choice of service. I think being in the Armed Forces teaches you to put bad stuff in boxes and up on the shelf .... but sooner or later you have to open the box. Or it opens itself when you least expect it.

[Mick F]

Yep.

[PH]

What does emotional mean? The OP seems to me to be a pretty emotional.
I thought the purpose of military personnel was to be prepared to fight for their country, so to me the question is "Whose Country is it?" And my answer includes all those in the headline.

[Tangled Metal]

Not if they're the only types allowed to serve. I mean his many emotional, gay Muslims are there anyway? Is this the government's way of reducing the defence spending? I mean a couple of hundred soldiers fitting that demographic won't cost much to kit out but not very effective fighting force of only through size of the force.

Personally I want other demographics to be recruited too. Also if you need to specifically target certain demographics with a tailored message then isn't that saying more about the attitudes within the armed services? I mean it's not about advertising for a demographic that's not well represented it should be about producing an armed services that all demographics feel able to join then presenting that.

What happens if a gay Muslim joins based on that advert then finds out the climate within the army is such that he or she feels excluded or not fully accepted? Change the organization first perhaps? I don't really know enough about it but if a minority isn't being represented is it not the case they feel not welcome in the service? Not that they don't know about it and that they can join it.

[Vitara]

There's an old Monty Python sketch that came to mind when I heard this on the radio.

I won't post the link here as it might offend. Neither is it what the campaign is all about, but it did make me smile on an otherwise dull car journey to work.

During my 10 years of military service homosexuality was illegal and if discovered would lead to dismissal. It was even a punishable offence to know someone was homosexual and not report it. There were several people I served with who it turns out were homosexual despite the regulations. Not only did they do their job just as well as anyone else, it is awful looking back that they had to keep their sexuality a secret.

[Mick F]

^^^^^
Wot he said.

[reohn2]

The latest recruiting drive for the Army ... and by association the other Armed Forces, seems to be targeted at groups in society that would not join traditionally. But why ?

To show the armed forces to be inclusive?

Why single out Islam as a faith and ignore Sikhs, Gurkhas, Christians etc .....
Gay in the Army ...... nothing new there .....

Could be because Muslims are the current 'out group' religion and as are gays traditionally,so once again inclusivity is being targeted as the marketeering thrust.

Emotional support ..... was available for me when i needed it in the 80's ...

It seems to be a bit hit and miss from what I've read and seen interviews with ex service personnel,also there seems to be a high proportion of exservice personnel living rough on the streets,men and possibly women who've served in recent wars and not integrated back into society after service,which seems to indicate something wrong with the transition from service life to civilian life.
The reasons could be myriad and of course not all to do with the services,but is a question that needs answering,are the servicesdoing enough to help their personnel after they've served(their purpose)?
IMHO the UK is very good at sending people to war to kill and maim but not very good at picking up the pieces of broken men and women who suffer perhaps more than others.

I would rather we had an Army and Armed Forces that was intelligent, sensible and overwhelmingly violent when required. Not representative of society.

But such a force needs to be representative of society because it is part of society,and society needs to realise how war brutalises people who fight in wars and indeed train relentlessly for war.
War isn't healthy for humanity and should only ever be a last resort,unfortunately that's not always the case As recent conflicts indicate.

TBH I'm part of society and who's brother served in Burma,Germany,and Northern Ireland in the 60's.I saw him leave home an 18year old and come back totally change and brutalized 25 years old with many psychological problems and a real drink problem,he would never stand up for the national anthem again during his lifetime ,whic was cut short at 58.

I don't have a problem with an armed force to protect and serve the country when needed but I do have a problem with war for the sake of political expedience,which is what I've seen in the Falklands,Iraq,Afganistan,etc.And I do have a problem with the way we treat our exservicemen on leaving the forces.
My 2d's worth.

EDIT,I also have a problem with sending troops to war who are I'll equiped to deal with it.

[Tangled Metal]

All wars are political. There's not been an apolitical war in the history of this sceptred Isle.

[reohn2]

All wars are political. There's not been an apolitical war in the history of this sceptred Isle.

Not when the country is threatened,then it's a case of protection of the country.
Thats not political thats survival of the nation.