throwaway account: i am an enlisted member of a nato aligned military, recent sexual assault allegations and leadership misconduct scandals and coupled with covid-19, have exhausted most of the working members at the base i am stationed at. discussions of unionization, criticizing policy makers and high ranking officers in public has become a common occurrence. on a zoom call with a 100 or so troops, a handful of them just berated the senior officer of our division about handling sexual misconduct allegations and recent media stories of racial/homophobic/transphobic hatred. rumour has it that is not just the base i am stationed at
people are becoming outspoken about their political beliefs, both on the left and right. one person once said in a mess hall [content warning transphobia]
spoiler
that trans people where freaks of nature
and he was berated, openly, despite being a senior non comissioned officer in a room of very junior members
i am on my way out, during the pandemic i was radicalized sharply left and put in paperwork to quit, but was held to finish the terms of my contract (2 years) because recruiting is shit. there is a big culture change and its being embraced by the new generation of troops, traditional army and military values are being upended at the lowest level, if leadership was smart they would try to embrace it and direct it in some neoliberal ghoulish way, but instead they just resist it which means the longer this shit continues to fester, the bigger the bubble will be when it bursts
it seems like it is not just my country, but others are also going through the same turbulence, although i cant say for certain since all i have access too is that specific countries news
you can actually google "nato country" military sexual assault and find stories of women coming forward with abuses of power from all levels of the military, it is literally not unique to each country, better yet, you can also google "nato country" courts martial, because some countries, such as my own, publish their proceedings and stuff but be warned as there are usually intricate descriptions of sexual violence
every country, every country has these same people plaguing the top echelons of command, im willing to bet just as psychopathic peoples are over represented in the boardroom, the same it is for the military, as the rank divide and officer/enlisted class divide is instilled from the beginning of a members career.
lots of people join at 18 with no life experience and have no idea what healthy relationships or consent or anything like that looks like. its become less of a problem in my country, as the average age of enlistment is mid-late 20s, so some people usually have a bit of either schooling or life experience when they join and a more likely to call out improper behavior since they have the knowledge to identify it, as opposed to traditional "army bullshit"
throwaway account: i am an enlisted member of a nato aligned military, recent sexual assault allegations and leadership misconduct scandals and coupled with covid-19, have exhausted most of the working members at the base i am stationed at. discussions of unionization, criticizing policy makers and high ranking officers in public has become a common occurrence. on a zoom call with a 100 or so troops, a handful of them just berated the senior officer of our division about handling sexual misconduct allegations and recent media stories of racial/homophobic/transphobic hatred. rumour has it that is not just the base i am stationed at
people are becoming outspoken about their political beliefs, both on the left and right. one person once said in a mess hall [content warning transphobia]
spoiler
that trans people where freaks of nature
and he was berated, openly, despite being a senior non comissioned officer in a room of very junior members
i am on my way out, during the pandemic i was radicalized sharply left and put in paperwork to quit, but was held to finish the terms of my contract (2 years) because recruiting is shit. there is a big culture change and its being embraced by the new generation of troops, traditional army and military values are being upended at the lowest level, if leadership was smart they would try to embrace it and direct it in some neoliberal ghoulish way, but instead they just resist it which means the longer this shit continues to fester, the bigger the bubble will be when it bursts
it seems like it is not just my country, but others are also going through the same turbulence, although i cant say for certain since all i have access too is that specific countries news
Leftist coup time!
How would discussion of unionization go in army unit? Reading neat anarchist lit about self-selecting officers? :meow-floppy:
http://euromil.org/
OMG I want to hear more. Write a book!
you can actually google "nato country" military sexual assault and find stories of women coming forward with abuses of power from all levels of the military, it is literally not unique to each country, better yet, you can also google "nato country" courts martial, because some countries, such as my own, publish their proceedings and stuff but be warned as there are usually intricate descriptions of sexual violence
I apologise that I was ignorant of this before
its a pretty well kept secret, lots of active cover ups it happens in every insitution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Basic_Training_scandal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailhook_scandal
https://nationalpost.com/news/vip-guests-of-top-general-were-drunk-and-abusive-on-canadian-military-party-flight-probe-finds
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-battles-sexual-abuse-military-9271383.html
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/22/navy-staff-tolerated-widespread-child-sexual-abuse-of-recruits-royal-commission-says
every country, every country has these same people plaguing the top echelons of command, im willing to bet just as psychopathic peoples are over represented in the boardroom, the same it is for the military, as the rank divide and officer/enlisted class divide is instilled from the beginning of a members career.
lots of people join at 18 with no life experience and have no idea what healthy relationships or consent or anything like that looks like. its become less of a problem in my country, as the average age of enlistment is mid-late 20s, so some people usually have a bit of either schooling or life experience when they join and a more likely to call out improper behavior since they have the knowledge to identify it, as opposed to traditional "army bullshit"
trench bolshevism is back in style :sicko-yes: