Other Nationalities in US Army - And Da Man

[Abbott Shaull]

Well yeah of course. There are still too many ticket punchers and not enough willing to realize that like it or not, we have been more or less in state of war with various extremist muslim groups since the 1980's. We just have been a long time at adding thing thing together until 911. Oh, well they can keep their zero tolerance rules, and other such silliness that they like to play.

Like only after a very public outcry was a certain Colonel was denied what she felt as well deserve promotion, after they certain pictures of some MPs and Iraqi detainees were found. Of course the enlisted personnel they busted, should of been for being so flipping foolish for taking pictures and keeping them. Do I think others were taking such photos, hell yeah, did they keep them, no many of them were smart enough to realize there some things you don't want as keep sake. If they had they made sure they were destroyed after this broke out. There were more and more people between the what was Staff Sergeant or Sergeant First Class of the group that was busted and the Colonel of the flipping Brigade inside and out of the chain of command who knew what was going on.

One sad thing with cameras and video camera getting smaller and these darn cellphone, walkman, cd-walkman, cassette-player, and various MP3 players. Soldiers will find way to take these comforts with them, and next thing they like to take pictures even when later they wish they may have never took them at later date. Ugh it does have me still going WTF were they thinking and to hear one of the MP was prison guard in real life and had been dismissed for being rough with prisoners...*Shrug*

[Legbreaker]

...in real life...

That right there may be a big part of the problem. Many reservists, etc simply don't see their military service as being "real" but more of a game. They're in a foreign country dealing with foreign people and doing a job that for most has occupied only a small percentage of their adult lives.

Add in the "video game" mentality whereby any mistake simply means going back to an earlier save... (and yes, I do know of people who think like that IRL!)

[dragoon500ly]

That right there may be a big part of the problem. Many reservists, etc simply don't see their military service as being "real" but more of a game. They're in a foreign country dealing with foreign people and doing a job that for most has occupied only a small percentage of their adult lives.

Add in the "video game" mentality whereby any mistake simply means going back to an earlier save... (and yes, I do know of people who think like that IRL!)

Here now! That's my boss you're talking about!

[perardua]

Sikhs and Muslims in the British forces have long been allowed to wear neatly trimmed beards and are issued turbans in the appropriate regimental/service colours for wear in uniform. Sikhs can also carry other religious items (known as the five Ks). There are obviously some operational constraints, but generally a common sense approach is taken. And why not The armed forces should be representative of the UK, and that includes being as inclusive as possible with regards to religion.
And many troops on ops have the grooming standards relaxed for operational reasons - we used to come back off eight day patrols with massive beards and long hair as water was to be conserved and not used for shaving.

[dragoon500ly]

I've known some commanders to insist that their troops shave every day, if no water, feel free to use the juice from the fruit cans...or just dry shave!

Didn't make sense then, still doesn't make sense now!

[Abbott Shaull]

I've known some commanders to insist that their troops shave every day, if no water, feel free to use the juice from the fruit cans...or just dry shave!

Didn't make sense then, still doesn't make sense now!

Yeah, been there done that. I can understand part of it during Basic and AIT training, when in the field. The only problem is you can only dry shave so many time before the razor is shot...

[perardua]

In field training in the UK we are always required to shave - it is part of field admin, especially in an environment with an NBC threat - plus the UK is hardly short of water most of the time. On ops, as I said, the thought is that there are better things to be doing with your time and drinking water. Plus, apparently, it helps you present a friendlier look to the locals.

I remember getting bumped by the enemy on an exercise during recruit training while I was shaving, and ending up having to bug out and tab across the training area with a half-shaven face. Good times.

[Abbott Shaull]

In field training in the UK we are always required to shave - it is part of field admin, especially in an environment with an NBC threat - plus the UK is hardly short of water most of the time. On ops, as I said, the thought is that there are better things to be doing with your time and drinking water. Plus, apparently, it helps you present a friendlier look to the locals.

I remember getting bumped by the enemy on an exercise during recruit training while I was shaving, and ending up having to bug out and tab across the training area with a half-shaven face. Good times.

Don't get me wrong, I do understand why we were expected to shave every day even while in the field, due to fact NBC threat was always there. I am just saying at time common sense should be used at times. As presented a friendlier side, well after you put on camo paint/makeup doesn't really matter if you clean shaven or not when your units rumbles into town. While during the battle you just fought to take the town, the local town folks won't give a damn if you are clean shaven or not.

[rcaf_777]

Sikhs and Muslims in the British forces have long been allowed to wear neatly trimmed beards and are issued turbans in the appropriate regimental/service colours for wear in uniform. Sikhs can also carry other religious items (known as the five Ks). There are obviously some operational constraints, but generally a common sense approach is taken. And why not The armed forces should be representative of the UK, and that includes being as inclusive as possible with regards to religion.
And many troops on ops have the grooming standards relaxed for operational reasons - we used to come back off eight day patrols with massive beards and long hair as water was to be conserved and not used for shaving.

Just remember you have a tuban or helmet which offer better protection, you will know when the bullets fly, that being said Sikhs in indian army have long gone into battle with no helmets

Breads are nice, but they stop you from getting a good seal againist your gas mask, the britsh and french armies have along had the tradditions of their Pioneer and Sappers having breads

Short Hair or high and tight, means it easier to wash and clean and find ticks and fleas, this come from WWI

The point I am making it that all things are enforced in the military for a reason, and if sign a waiver you need to know this and know that when go into combat you will not have the same protection as the other guy

[perardua]

Somehow, I suspect that Sikhs and Muslims in the British forces are aware of this, and as I mention, operational needs come first. If you're interested, the rules on religious dress (along with fasting, prayer and other considerations) in the British forces are here:

http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Guide_on_Religion_and_Belief_in_the_MOD_and_Armed_Forces.pdf

As an aside, SOP for improving respirator seals in situations where individuals cannot shave (lack of equipment or facial injuries) is to cover the beard in vaseline.

[Abbott Shaull]

One of the interesting things after TDM and break-down of National government the threat of Chemical and Biological weapons ironically increases.

[Legbreaker]

The use of them too I'd think. Some gases are ridiculously simple to make and in an environment where mass casualty producing weapons are a quick, simple and effective way of balancing out a lack of manpower...
Yes, they can be a two edged sword (if the wind changes for example), but that didn't stop their wholesale use in the Great War (WWI). As protective equipment wears out and is unable to be replaced, even the basic chemicals will become more and more effective.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

The use of them too I'd think. Some gases are ridiculously simple to make and in an environment where mass casualty producing weapons are a quick, simple and effective way of balancing out a lack of manpower...
Yes, they can be a two edged sword (if the wind changes for example), but that didn't stop their wholesale use in the Great War (WWI). As protective equipment wears out and is unable to be replaced, even the basic chemicals will become more and more effective.

And the frightening thing about it is that some of the chemicals required to make 'quick & dirty' chemical weapons are very easy to acquire and some of them are quite easy to make (as long as you have some basic knowledge of chemistry and geology)
The interesting aspect for T2k though is that through a lack of safety measures or understanding of such basics as wind direction and gas spread, there's probably going to be a number of 'own goals' scored by the people trying to develop crude chemical weapons.

[Rapparee]

I read an interesting book there, The Green Marine-Graham Dale. An Irishman who gets unemployed after the Dot Com boom, works as a volunteer firefighter in Texas before joining the USMC Reserves. He said the only restriction was that as a non-US citizen he couldn't be assigned to Recon or Intelligence. Of course he was still allowed to be shipped to Iraq:L

[Abbott Shaull]

I read an interesting book there, The Green Marine-Graham Dale. An Irishman who gets unemployed after the Dot Com boom, works as a volunteer firefighter in Texas before joining the USMC Reserves. He said the only restriction was that as a non-US citizen he couldn't be assigned to Recon or Intelligence. Of course he was still allowed to be shipped to Iraq:L

Yes, but in T2K war, I think there would be plenty of Nationals working in the Intelligence and Recon/Scout/Cavalry units.