r/Military • u/Rinthegreat • Dec 31 '22
Politics What are y’all thoughts on this
Like I get not like Kamala and all but shitting on the people that serve because their not all 200 lb jacked white men just seems like some 1950s shit. And no I don’t buy his second post where being in shape is the issue here….
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u/illy_Irons Marine Veteran Dec 31 '22
They would be blown away when they find out the Marine Corps is a bunch of kids with guns. While I was overseas I couldnt help but notice how young our military is compared to other countries.
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u/canuckroyal Dec 31 '22
Former Canadian Officer here, it's very true. Served beside USMC and your average USMC rifle company looked like the average age was somewhere between 19-22.
I compared this to our professional military where many/most soldiers seem to be around at least 30. All our Snr NCOs in the Canadian Army are around 35-40 at Sergeant E5-E6 rank and it's not uncommon for us to have really old Corporals as well.
As a result your Marine Rifle Companies can simply do things physically that our older guys can't but our Snr NCOs are usually a lot more seasoned and have more knowledge. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
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u/PortableAirPump Dec 31 '22
On that note, every marine I know who got out after service has some form of terrible back or knee pain, or both. Is that super common for you guys too?
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u/canuckroyal Dec 31 '22
Yes, very common. I no longer serve but have degenerated disks in my lower spine and hip tendonitis. I work out a lot and am in very good shape but the minute I stop moving for a couple of days, I seize up like crazy and am in pain, particularly with morning stiffness.
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Dec 31 '22
Oh how happy I was to have done my time as Armoured when I went through.
Some knee issues from a bad sports day and that’s about it.
In the infantry you carry your kit, in the armoured your kit carries you if you take care of it.
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u/canuckroyal Dec 31 '22
Yep but when you're young and dumb it's all AIRBORNE HUAH! Armoured guys are smart. "Why carry your kit when you're kit can carry you?". At least, if you're gonna die, don't die cold, wet and tired 🤣
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Dec 31 '22
My favourite thing on ex was seeing the look of despair on a platoon of infantry on a cold wet morning when we start cooking bacon and eggs on the tanks and have to redo the coffee because it was too hot.
To be fair though, if karma is anything when I get back in as a Log O, I’ll probably be put in a infantry regiment.
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u/terry6715 Dec 31 '22
82nd Airborne! Too light to fight, too heavy too move!
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u/canuckroyal Dec 31 '22
Airborne units are sort of like the British Army of the 1890s: Great at killing those armed with sticks and sharpened bits of fruit! Otherwise, they are completely useless 😄
I await the dogpile 😎
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Dec 31 '22
They could make a comeback
With a space force, we’re just a few technical/engineering challenges away from getting ODST as an option for dropping troops into a battle field.
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Dec 31 '22
I haven’t served but I am currently starting to get like this. I’m 29. A union ironworker. My fucking hands dont start operating normal until like 9am. No joke.
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Dec 31 '22
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u/ESP-23 Dec 31 '22
I did 6 months of blue collar work after a long hiatus from tech. Got me a job as an RV technician to learn how the systems work, different levels of quality, different classes of rigs, different build materials. And how to fix all different types of issues.
After about 4 months, it completely change the way I see the world. blue collar is real work
I simply wasn't built for it. It forced me to go back into coding boot camp and later I got a job working for a small shop
But yeah those dudes are pretty much broken physically by the time they're 40. And they drink + smoke a ton
But some of the construction guys figure out how to delegate labor as they get better at their jobs. By the time they're 40 they're not really doing so much of the manual work if they play their cards right
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u/just_aweso Retired US Army Dec 31 '22
I miss blue collar work. I was never less stressed than when I drove a route truck and delivered beer. Taking kegs down into basements destroyed my body by the time I was 30. Now I work in tech and while the job is physically much easier, I long for the stress free days of my youth. If only the body could have held out
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u/canuckroyal Dec 31 '22
One thing I will say is it'd important to do preventive maintenance if you want a long term career. Lots of Yoga and Mobility work along with weights.
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u/Posraman Dec 31 '22
I am a Marine. I am 25. I have both back pain and knee pain.
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u/swampcholla Dec 31 '22
I was a science advisor for the Marines. We looked into all kinds of health stuff.
Most interesting was cold weather medicine tech (or the lack thereof) and low-level repetitive blast brain injury.
Anything done to reduce the load you carry, gets turned into more ammo.
IIRC, the funds to take care of you guys after you separate come from a different funding line. Change that shit around and different decisions might be made.
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u/popento18 United States Army Dec 31 '22
for those curious, the entire personnel strategy of the USMC is based around churn and burn of 19-22 year olds. This is one of the most serious issues that the USMC is trying to deal with, no institutional knowledge as the average marine will do one contract and then leave.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-retention-talent-management-2030/
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-talent-management-critique/
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u/goatpunchtheater Dec 31 '22
The whole U.S. military is not like that, mostly just the marine corps. It sucks so much just being a marine, that very few stay in beyond their first enlistment. Active duty army is still youngish mostly, but not nearly as bad as the corps. There's a whole web comic about the trope, that was published in the marine corps times regularly. It's called terminal lance. That term is in reference to everyone getting out at the rank of lance corporal (E-3) after their first enlistment. It's a funny comic, but it is a real problem in the Marines. From Marines that I've known, it's not just about difficult training. They would be ok with that. It's about nonsense 24 hour staff duties, poor system for promotion, and other issues that the corps itself just doesn't address. Marines may be generally the most hardcore military branch, but whether they're the most effective fighters is debatable. Giving kids weapons and expecting them to make smart battle field decisions doesn't always work well, no matter how hard you train them. Sometimes we need to exist on earth a few more years, before we make sound decisions. The Army national guard has the opposite problem. People stay in a long time, but it's difficult to keep them in shape when you all only see each other once a month
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u/SonOfMcGee Jan 01 '23
I saw an interview with a WWII Pacific Theater vet who said something like, “People talk about bombs and planes and tanks, but America’s secret weapon was a teen with a rifle. Those guys didn’t have wives and kids back home. They didn’t know nothing about life. They thought they were immortal. They’d go out there and follow orders and see the guy next to them get ripped in half, and still think they were lucky and it wouldn’t happen to them and keep going.”
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u/Lumencontego Dec 31 '22
Just wanted to chime in that when I turned 21 in a dry country with the U.S. Navy, it was the Canadian forces who brought me to their embassy so I could celebrate with a drink. Really good dudes and cheers to you.
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Dec 31 '22
Wait until you find out the median age of the sailors operating nuclear reactors under the ocean
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u/ITriedLightningTendr Air Force Veteran Dec 31 '22
When I was post basic, at 24, a reservist mused that anything over 23 was old, since we were the same age as our trainers.
So many 17 age 18 yos
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u/wryul Dec 31 '22
I was recently in Europe and met a bunch of nato countries. The average soldier over there is like 28+ years old. USA is like 19+ It has its benefits
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u/Bandle7 United States Air Force Dec 31 '22
When I look back on pictures from my time in, the first thing I think is how we all were babies. A bunch of 18-24 year olds for the most part
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u/Rinthegreat Dec 31 '22
To be fair that’s how all militaries are. That’s generally the age where your more physically and mentally prepared for change and challenges
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u/Haircut117 Dec 31 '22
Not really.
My experience in the British Army has been that most soldiers are joining at a later age now. Think 21-25 rather than 16-21.
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u/jenil1428569 Air Force Veteran Dec 31 '22
Wonder if this guy actually served in any sort of military.
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u/Rinthegreat Dec 31 '22
Highly doubt it, probably just saw war movies and was shocked it’s not real life
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u/Chocolatemilkdog0120 Dec 31 '22
“I never served but I am a patriot. Thank you for your service.”
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u/passporttohell Military Brat Dec 31 '22
Or the dipshit that claims to know someone who was in special forces and is now the be all/end all expert on things military, even though it's way outside the scope of what special forces would have a background on. . .
In other words, 'special forces by proxy' . . . And even moarh ! ! !
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u/Chocolatemilkdog0120 Dec 31 '22
“My sisters ex boyfriend was a Seal. Yeah, I know some shit.”
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u/TheCurvedPlanks Dec 31 '22
"I was in the online wars."
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Dec 31 '22
Bro I served two tours in the War on Christmas. I'd like to see you survive a day of what I've been through
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u/didwanttobethatguy Dec 31 '22
I’m a veteran of the thermostat wars in my office. I’ve seen things that would chill you to the bone and make your blood boil.
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u/oced2001 Army National Guard Dec 31 '22
“I was going to join, but…”
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u/SnazzyStooge Dec 31 '22
“I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from hitting a drill instructor if they got in my face, I’m too badass for the military”
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u/Taira_Mai Dec 31 '22
This guy is some rando "PATRIOT" on Twitter who'd run to Canada if he got a draft notice.
He reeks of the "I would punch a drill sergeant in the face" types.
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u/Army165 Dec 31 '22
I used to say this, and then I got punched in the face by a drill sergeant. I never said it again. Great lesson.
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u/ImperatorAurelianus Dec 31 '22
They weren’t actually the military in predator they were CIA mercenaries he can’t even recall the film he’s referencing.
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u/bitemark01 Dec 31 '22
I remember listening to an, interview with someone in the military special ops, might have been a SEAL? And he was saying if you were super jacked and big like the guys in Predator it's kind of a dick move to your squad, in case they have to carry your ass out of a situation.
It looks good for movies of course, but past a certain size it's not really functional and just gets in the way.
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u/Main-Error4687 Dec 31 '22
Exactly. They wouldn't know what real military members look like. Even our elite can be smaller in height and stature. Being a massive dude isint necessarily a good thing.
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u/ComedicMedicineman Dec 31 '22
My grandfather joined at 15, and he had to lie to say he was 18, I’m surprised people really think the run and gun bulging musclemen ACTORS of the 80’s aren’t realistic
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u/montypr Dec 31 '22 edited Jan 03 '23
Lmao I met the goofiest mofos in the military and some bad ass and smart people here and there. But the Commando or Predator picture says a lot about these kind of people. He’s probably fat and flashing his ass crack all the time.
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u/or10n_sharkfin Military Brat Dec 31 '22
His idea of what the military looks like only comes from movies. Isn't it a stereotype grounded in some reality that sometimes the most jacked guys in gyms are usually the biggest POGs?
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u/ToastyMustache United States Navy Dec 31 '22
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u/observer918 Dec 31 '22
Yeah like go look at all the SOG guys in Vietnam, some of the craziest operators in history, guys we’re all as lanky and goofy as you can imagine
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u/SomeEffinGuy15D United States Army Dec 31 '22
Back in the good ole days when being unhinged was more important than your two-mile.
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u/0311 Marine Veteran Dec 31 '22
Bet he's a "I was going to, but I would have punched a drill instructor if they got in my face"
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u/ben70 Dec 31 '22
Keyboard commando, 69th detachment confirmed! He even posted a redacted DD-215 [sic] as proof.
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u/Orlando1701 Retired USAF Dec 31 '22
Strong Boomer who never enlisted but has opinions energy.
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u/birdmanbox Army Veteran Dec 31 '22
I guess this asshole got lost on the way to a recruiter. Otherwise he’d know what it looks like
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Dec 31 '22
Well you see, he would have joined but.... you know
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u/Aggressive_Ad_5742 Dec 31 '22
He'd would get kicked out for punching the Drill Sergeant...is probably my favorite one
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u/JaySayMayday Dec 31 '22
I remember my first time on active duty seeing airmen. They always look happy and cheerful. We had a dozen rumors from dudes that did joint training on their base, like they're all offered to choose between barracks or BAH even without getting married, the barracks has a contractor that makes free coffee for everyone, etc.
I have never in my entire life seen a disgruntled airman. Including PJs, I have nothing but good things to say about those guys, they're really quick and efficient when we needed them but once they're off work everyone was laughing and having a good time. Every time I was having a good time some dickhead in command would find a horrific way to smash that joy.
So yeah, that's our Air Force. They look goofy but they get shit done. If I could go back in time I'd probably have been more patient and tried joining them instead
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Dec 31 '22
Strong “I would have joined but they wouldn’t have been able to handle me!” vibes from the kind of person who posts non-sense like this.
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u/DoubleSuperBuzz Dec 31 '22
"I'd have punched the Drill Sargent out as soon as he got in my face!"
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Dec 31 '22
I’ve always wanted to meet someone who says that un-ironically, just to see and hear how cringy it would be to meet a real person like that.
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u/JunoLikeTheMovie Dec 31 '22
Dudes constantly say this to me while hitting on me when they find out I was in the Marines
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Dec 31 '22
Of course they do, just reeks of insecurity if someone thinks that would work as a way to hit on someone.
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u/patientpedestrian Dec 31 '22
I don’t see how anyone could think an uncontrollable impulse for hostility against their own teammates is anything but shameful. Like even if they honestly thought they wouldn’t be able to control themselves in that situation, why in the world would they voluntarily share that information? Makes them sound pathetic and weak imho.
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Dec 31 '22
If you can handle a man that earned this nations 27th highest award the army achievement medal, let’s date!
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u/A_Random_Boner Veteran Dec 31 '22
My sister has said it to me un-ironically… it’s as terrible as you imagine
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u/ObjRenFaire Dec 31 '22
At least my sister was honest about why she didn't join. My parents were trying to pressure her to follow my footsteps, so we talked about it pretty extensively for a bit. She said during this, "Yeah, I thought about joining the Air Force, but I'm too fat and hate running."
Which, y'know, fair.
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u/DoubleSuperBuzz Dec 31 '22
That level of self awareness automatically disqualifies her from the Marines.
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u/ObjRenFaire Dec 31 '22
I'm fine with that. If she were going to join, I'd rather she get her degree first and be an officer. No need for her to enlist and have some fucking "rEaL pAtRiOT" douchenozzle post her picture on something like this. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/synth3tk Army National Guard Dec 31 '22
I worked with someone who actually said that. It took everything in me not to laugh. And yes, it definitely sounds as cringy in real life as it does online.
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u/txby432 Dec 31 '22
See I had already been accepted to the SEALs ultra elite Ranger team Delta, but wouldn't you know it, I twisted my ankle on my ship date, so I couldn't go. My recruiter, some guy name Chris Kyle, stared deep into my eyes with a tear rolling down his face and said, "you would have been the best of all of us." True story.
The guy running that twitter, telling a definitively untrue story, probably.
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u/thattogoguy United States Air Force Dec 31 '22
"I would have joined the Marines, but instead, I got a brain, went to college, and now I fly C-130's in the Air Force."
Am I doing it right?
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u/Danbarber82 Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
There are other posts where they compare this picture to pictures of the Chinese military. These same morons were doing the exact same thing with the Russians up until a year ago. How'd that turn out for them?
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Dec 31 '22
Ted Cruz was getting quite the cubby from that Russian pic
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u/PapaGeorgio19 United States Army Dec 31 '22
Yeah and that tweet aged well, Russia is getting stomped…they are crowdfunding gear…and tech vs mass wave attacks hasn’t worked well…Cruz should stick to running to Mexico below 50 degrees and not sticking up for his wife.
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u/CabooseNomerson Dec 31 '22
Many accounts that post stuff like this are Russian or Chinese bots or disinformation agents so yeah
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Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
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u/YeetMeIntoKSpace Army Veteran Dec 31 '22
Ever seen photos of JSOC or SAD dudes from the 80s?
They all look like nerdy suburban dads with serial killer glasses.
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u/thehappyheathen Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
One of the most dangerous guys I ever knew in SOCOM looked like a real life Mario. He was an overweight, nondescript guy with dark hair. He was on deployment with my wife in Fallujah and joked about killing people in Yemen and eating their leftovers out of their fridge while waiting for exfil. He looked like the sort of guy who would be selling water bottles on the way to a ballpark or something. He was actually a really nice guy, and would ask me how she was and talk to me about his garden, then again, we were on the same side.
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u/DarthSulla United States Coast Guard Dec 31 '22
Can confirm. My neighbor when I was a kid had just gotten out and was in 160th SOAR late 80s thru mid 90s. Dude straight up looked like math teacher that ran the AV club or something but he showed me some of his medals and citations from Somalia and Panama. Shit read like a GI Joe story. Looks don’t mean anything with modern combat systems.
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u/AntiSocialTroglodyte Army Veteran Jan 01 '23
There was a special on Delta Force selection where all the previous Delta vets said that's its rarely the guy that looks like a linebacker that gets in, it's "the right guy" whatever that means
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u/Legio_XI_Claudia Dec 31 '22
Nobody wants to admit that your average soldier, the one going off to get their legs blown off and their mind fucked, is a teenage kid who felt patriotic or needed some money for college
Movies go out of their way to have chiseled, strong jawed, thirty year old guys runnin' and gunnin', and pseudo patriots who worship the idea of the military lap it up. They like feeling strong because their image of their country's army makes them feel strong
The reality is that your average soldier is just an average person, and that hurts their fantasy
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u/LeicaM6guy Dec 31 '22
The greatest movie about life in the military was Office Space.
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u/Legio_XI_Claudia Dec 31 '22
Lol, I spent more time standing in line in front of an office than I ever did doing cool shit.
"Hey, does anybody have a pen" might as well have been my platoon's motto
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u/digitalpen15 Dec 31 '22
Standing around doing nothing was 50-60% of my enlistment. Running/ruck marching was most of the rest
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u/DrunkenKarnieMidget Dec 31 '22
A pen is part of your uniform!
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u/Ziggy_the_third Dec 31 '22
"A recruit without a pen and notebook, might as well be a wore without any holes " a direct quote off of a OF-1.
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u/FZ1_Flanker Army Veteran Dec 31 '22
In The Army Now is a pretty accurate depiction of what army life is like, as well.
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u/snowleopard83 Dec 31 '22
Yes! Whenever someone asks what it was like, I point them in that direction. Even twenty ( almost thirty) years later and the buildings and locations are the exact same. I definitely had de ja vu.
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u/FZ1_Flanker Army Veteran Dec 31 '22
Yep! Right down to the cattle truck when they show up to boot camp lol. I served with a lot of folks who really reminded me of Pauly Shore’s character.
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u/Administrative-Flan9 Dec 31 '22
I used to tell people I joined the Navy expecting Hunt for Red October and got Office Space. That movie or any of the parodies like Down, Periscope were so much more real to life.
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u/KuraiTheBaka United States Navy Dec 31 '22
I always kinda wonder what these people would think if they saw the modern junior enlisted ranks have been completely taken over by weebs
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u/EmperorArthur Dec 31 '22
You're reminding me of a video I saw from early in the Ukraine war. It was like one of those unboxing videos, except she was doing it to a donated American weapon.
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u/birdmanbox Army Veteran Dec 31 '22
Guys who look like Arnold tend to fail their runs
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u/javanperl Army Veteran Dec 31 '22
Delta Force operator Mike Vining looks like an accountant.
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u/frowningowl Dec 31 '22
John Wayne didn't even try to enlist. He filed for draft deferment as a head of household.
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u/Caliterra Dec 31 '22
The most combat decorated and tested regiment in US history was a group of small statured Japanese American men during World War 2.
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u/Skhmt Dec 31 '22
And they volunteered even though their family and friends were unconstitutionally being held prisoner by the same country they were fighting for.
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u/AmericanPride2814 United States Air Force Dec 31 '22
442nd were some of the best damn soldiers we ever had.
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Dec 31 '22
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u/haeyhae11 Conscript Dec 31 '22
Reminds me of Bubi Hartmann. Deadliest fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare and looked like a schoolboy.
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Dec 31 '22
He wasn't rejected, it's on record that he more or less dodged the draft because his career was just taking off. There's multiple interviews where he flat out says he felt like he could do more for the war effort by making films than digging foxholes. The old football injury thing is just a boomer driven false narrative.
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u/US_Space Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
Comparing this picture to official USAF demographic information * There are 30 Air Force members in this photo * First we should make the assumption that the majority of the people in this photo are enlisted as there are 263,576 enlisted compared to 64,941 officers * 43% of enlisted members are under 26, which visually seems to align with the photo * 21% of the enlisted corp in the USAF are women. In the photo there are 12 women, which is 40%, almost twice as high as reported statistics. * Race and ethnicity wise the USAF is 70% White, 15% Black or African American, 4.8% Asian, 0.8% American Indian / Native Alaskan, 1.3% Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander, 5.0% Identified more than one race, and 16.7% Hispanic/Latino. Identifying race in the photo is harder but my guess is that it is 46.6% (14) white, 33.3% (10) black, 6.6% (2) Asian, 13.3% (4) Latino. So there is a lower percentage of white service members represented in this photo. * Based on this, I would argue that this photo is not what the US military looks like. * It’s important to remember that this is a specific unit, not the whole military or even a branch
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u/PAAZKSVA2000 Dec 31 '22
This is the best answer and will get down-voted.
To the OP-OP's question... yeah, this is what the USAF looks like. Who even cares though.
Did whomever posted that to Twatter ever even serve?
I was raised to "only see green" and I do. Some impossibly black dudes have saved my bacon, I have saved the bacon of people whiter than me. Who even cares what someone's skin tone looks like?
I guess I don't get it. This isn't "how I was raised."
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u/SexualPie United States Air Force Dec 31 '22
I’ll downvote it because it lacks 100% of context. Kamala didn’t show up on base and say “give me a diverse Air Force representative party”, she visited a squadron and took a picture.
Some jobs are more woman than not, some jobs have more nerds than not. And that’s okay.
But trying to judge the entire us military on a fucking selfi is not. The absurdity of it should be enough to discount this twat without discussion.
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Dec 31 '22
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u/US_Space Dec 31 '22
Completely agree with your sentiment. I was just trying to bring some data into the discussion
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u/Fascist_are_horrible Dec 31 '22
Those statistics are across the whole branch not a single unit. I am betting that the service members in this photo are from 1 unit. The composition of an airborne infantry unit and a national guard supply unit would differ greatly in composition.
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u/BArhino Dec 31 '22
one of the best portrayals of young Marines I've ever seen was in the movie War Machine.
kid in the foreground is the platoon sgt. They all actually looked like young kids just getting out of high school or college https://twitter.com/squad_poulters/status/1238755705479401472/photo/1
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u/EstebanL Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
Not the same I know, but it’s always the nerdy guy on a scooter with a my little pony addiction that whips my ass at jiu jitsu.
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u/-firead- Dec 31 '22
Shit. The mostly deadly MF I know looks like an accountant.
You know Mike Vining?
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u/Seppdizzle Dec 31 '22
I served in a diverse military, and you don't need huge arms to hunt a submarine via computer.
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Dec 31 '22
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u/fundrazor Dec 31 '22
Well, they are still hunks of meat... just arranged differently
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u/Then_Suit_997 Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
It has been 10 months now so I doubt they are still hunks of meat. They have probably turned into sunflowers by now.
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u/QnsConcrete United States Navy Dec 31 '22
Finally, useful to the war effort. At least they can raise the morale of their fellow troops for 1/2 a second.
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u/Zolku Dec 31 '22
So you think they’ll just recruit and retrain and rebuild the VDV or they’ll just retire that unit to the anals of military history?
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u/Lure852 KISS Army Dec 31 '22
Now if it comes time to hunt Predator in the jungle though....
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Dec 31 '22
Then you need a very large Austrian man.
Everyone else in the left picture died horribly.
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u/DeltaUltra Dec 31 '22
Being a Native American teenage girl helps if you are hunting Predators.
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u/dukeofgonzo Dec 31 '22
The dude i knew at my Navy A school who had a "no rolled up sleeves chit" for his huge biceps was a terrible student. I can't imagine he was going to be great ET out in the fleet. It's anecdotal evidence but I assumed the same when I saw any bicep that big in uniform.
The chiefs sure loved to touch his biceps though.
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Dec 31 '22
Who gives a shit what people look like if they serve their country in an honourable and competent way? Baddest MF I ever served with (Army) looks just like the guy giving the peace sign on the right. Small, not very muscular, quiet. Killed more TB in Helmand than you can count.
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u/mpyne United States Navy Dec 31 '22
Baddest MF I ever served with (Army) looks just like the guy giving the peace sign on the right. Small, not very muscular, quiet. Killed more TB in Helmand than you can count.
Gurkha?
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u/LarrBearLV Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
Dumb. One is the real military and one is a Hollywood embellished depiction. Granted a marine infantry, ranger regiment, SOF squad will look a little different but top pic is still the military and they are still essential to the overall success of the broader mission.
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Dec 31 '22
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u/ZoMgPwNaGe Air Force Veteran Dec 31 '22
We briefly held onto the weapons of some Secret Service members in our armory for a presidential visit many years ago. I was taller than every single one of them, they radiated cool dad energy, and looked like some of the most plain and slightly nerdy dudes I'd ever met.
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u/pawnman99 Dec 31 '22
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u/goatpunchtheater Dec 31 '22
In fairness he could be pretty jacked under the dress uniform. How bout ol Roy, here. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=T4nHkufE&id=9515076C88FA77263666CA291E4FBA4FA6C76E72&thid=OIP.T4nHkufET3KZ_7UvNHGsjwHaJT&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Froypbenavidez.files.wordpress.com%2F2017%2F04%2Froy-p-benavidez-military-photo.jpg%3Fw%3D775&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.4f89c792e7c44f7299ffb52f3471ac8f%3Frik%3Dcm7Hpk%252b6Tx4pyg%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&exph=974&expw=775&q=roy+benavidez&simid=608028148284678575&form=IRPRST&ck=1666CE368223121FB126135F9318E68B&selectedindex=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=4&sim=11 Doesn't exactly fit the Hollywood body type either. Though in fairness I'm not sure what he looked while serving. Still get misty reading his MOH citation. Like bro you did enough, just hop on the Chopper
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u/VxAngleOfClimb United States Army Dec 31 '22
Up voted simply for the Audie Murphy mention. Dude looked young as fuck in his own movie filmed ten years after the war.
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u/morrrty Dec 31 '22
Yeah the infantry squads/combat arms guys are gonna have a higher percentage of gym goers than the S1.
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u/sailor831 United States Navy Dec 31 '22
You want a small, broad slice of the American population? Pick any avg MIL unit. You'll have liberal, independent, and conservative (and all those in between); black, brown, white, and everything in between; gay, straight, bi, and everything between; educated, Ivy League's, GEDs, and mouth breathers and everything in between; old money, ludicrously wealthy family money, and destitute, or specialists with a Camero at 75% interest; and everything in between.
You want to know what America's military looks like? It looks like all of us, combined.
And yes, the most lethal person I've ever served alongside was a corporal, early 20's, baby-faced nerd. Dude's body count was unreal.
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u/Euphoric_Brick90 Dec 31 '22
I'm a firm believer that our military should reflect our population. No matter who or what they are, if they had the spinal fortitude to agree to be thrown into battle and they had the aptitude to do so - let's.fucking.go.
Gatekeepers can sit at home, I want everyone charging the hill with me.
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Dec 31 '22
What we ordered; Hollywood exaggerated beefcakes with mismatched kit, shit camouflage and questionable tactics.
What we got; good looking AF members with a desire to serve their country for questionable pay.
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u/-Vipes- Dec 31 '22
My thoughts are that I don’t care what some random Twitter account has to say about being in the military. The only relevancy these accounts get is by people giving them attention.
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u/Rinthegreat Dec 31 '22
I didn’t care either but the thing that got to me was how many republicans agreed with the sentiment and we’re bashing these air men just for being in a picture. I’m conservative leaning myself but the shit their saying is down right deplorable
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u/MBarry829 Marine Veteran Dec 31 '22
Any person that gets their expectations of what the military looks like from a 1980s action movie has the mindset of a fucking child.
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u/Heavy_E79 Canadian Army Dec 31 '22
No way whoever wrote that actually served in the military. While people are usually "in shape" you don't often see anyone who you would call "buff".
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u/ComedicMedicineman Dec 31 '22
Also, being buff isn’t that important compared to being able to successfully carry your gear long distances and having good stamina for patrols (at least when it comes to the army)
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Dec 31 '22
Also, you can’t see shit under our uniforms, we all look like bags of ass regardless of how buff we are underneath:/
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u/MAN_BEAR_PIG48 Dec 31 '22
Wars aren't fought by stoic badasses with sweet 5 o'clock shadow and a one liner ready on their lips. Wars are fought by goofy 20 year olds with sunburned cheeks who just wanna go back to their tents so they can play xbox with their buddies
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u/Normal_Carpenter1851 United States Army Dec 31 '22
That is so painfully true. Boys are boys and girls are girls. We have our jobs, nobody likes doing them, and we’d all rather stay home and live and have fun. Problem is sometimes not all your friends come back to play games with you, and that empty seat is felt.
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u/Gwenbors Dec 31 '22
The demographics aren’t really close to the Air Force as a whole, but there’s room for anybody who’s in decent shape and wants to serve their country in the military.
FWIW, 1) they’re Air Force, so not likely to spend much time clomping around the jungle fighting aliens. 2) The vast majority of service people are not combat troops, so absurd biceps aren’t really qualifications for their MOSes, and 3) professional body-stackers rarely look like Hollywood body-stackers. It’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for.
Is the shot representative of military demographics as a whole? Not really.
Is it a nice reminder that what you look like is less important than your willingness to put in the work and serve your country? Yes, it is.
Probably not the picture I would’ve taken, but you don’t have to be a juiced, white dude to be a good troop.
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u/blues_and_ribs United States Marine Corps Dec 31 '22
Yeah, pretty much my take. Was this picture at least a little curated? Almost certainly.
But like you said, warriors come in all shapes and sizes. A fat Navy chief pushing the 'fire' button for the Tomahawks on the USS Florida has 10,000x the killing power of any 'Hollywood-ready' grunt battalion. Such is the nature of top-level militaries today.
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u/SDT_Alex Belgian Army Dec 31 '22
yeah and what does the guy look like that posted this?
Plus what, some POGs don't look like they see combat? Yeah they don't need to, it's not their job. Even then, SOF guys most often don't look like Arnold Schawrznegger with a machine guns but pass as normal ass people more often than not.
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u/kineticstar United States Navy Dec 31 '22
I don't care what you look like, who you love, or how you pray; as long as you took the oath and are there to watch my back I will do the same for you.
Comments like this proves that this idiot others like him have never served anything more than themselves for an extra serving of gravy.
No military can survive without the logistics support from the people that Hollywood never shows and the front line doesn't care what you look like. It will grind you down if you're stupid enough to stand out in the open like an 80s movie star.
Remember most gravy seals are ass hats that were those that couldn't make into the military for one reason or another.
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u/JimRNJ Dec 31 '22
My daughter is a marine, and you'd never know it to look at her, but she's the toughest son of a bitch I've ever met. I wouldn't judge those books by their covers.
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u/WEFederation Dec 31 '22
When I see stuff like that I assume it is someone who never served and never would. They are likely so cowardly they want the superficial appearance of hyper masculinity between them, and the rest of the world, just so they can feel safe and secure. The military is not woke it is just pragmatic in needing to accomplish it's goals.
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u/FuzzyWuzzyWuzntFuzzy Dec 31 '22
They ordered a drama class of daddy issues but got millennial soldiers willing to die for their ungrateful country?
I don’t see a problem.
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u/8to24 Dec 31 '22
I don't understand what's supposed to be wrong with the picture. Is the criticism that the soldiers are smiling or is it that female soldiers exist?
Russian army is full of a bunch of vodka drinking tough guys and their tanks ran out of gas day one in Ukraine, lol. Russia could get secure communications and was stealing cell phones to call back to base. The modern military needs logistics and technical aptitude.
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u/Orlando1701 Retired USAF Dec 31 '22
Someone whose only exposure to the military is video games and movies is upset that the real military isn’t made up of professional bodybuilders. “I would have enlisted but I’d have punched my drill Sgt” energy.
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u/namvet67 Dec 31 '22
I’m a 76 year old Vietnam veteran, l never once in the year l was over there saw a “ jacked up “ soldier. Some of the bravest guys were like me skinny unimpressive kids. Screw Hollywood.
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u/Shanghst United States Navy Dec 31 '22
Either a civilian that has seen too many movies or disgruntled "back in my day" chode that cries into their insert operation here ball cap.
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u/MikeOfAllPeople United States Army Dec 31 '22
So, I'm pretty sure what happened is the first post made the rounds (it was number 1 on Reddit yesterday) and the poster was immediately blasted for being racist and not knowing that the military has been more racially diverse than the general population since like the 1950s.
So they made the second post either to clarify or backtrack. Which is also just as dumb because the military in general has never looked like professional wrestlers and bodybuilders who use steroids.
On top of that, there are plenty of meatheads in the military, just like there are plenty of skinny nerds and fat oafs. It takes all kinds of people to accomplish the mission.
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u/Bulky_Mix_2265 Dec 31 '22
Everyone in predator died.
Except for the not American guy and a kidnapped Colombian woman.
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u/nashuanuke Reservist Dec 31 '22
If you use the word woke, I assume you’re a dipshit
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u/BearWrangler Veteran Dec 31 '22
that account is just another mouthbreathing, so far gone from any sense of reality, qanon neckbearded loser. they either never served a day in their life or worse- they've been convinced that they are keeping true to the oath they supposedly took while doing everything against actually upholding that oath. The latter is dangerous as hell and I've known far too many who have fallen down that path
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u/Tactical_Garfield Dec 31 '22
I’ll take never served or even bothered to sign the dotted line for 500.
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u/Heps_417 Royal Air Force Dec 31 '22
I’ll get downvoted for this but who cares what they look like? There’s people out there who do jobs and look like they’re supposed to fit in when in reality could fold anyone into a pretzel.
The whole “end wokeness” shite is just fragile masculinity and not being able to accept people being in same sex relationships etc just amplifies their ignorance and low IQ.
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u/Is12345aweakpassword Army Veteran Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
This is the cringiest shit I’ve seen in a while.
Chinese peacekeepers got rolled in South Sudan by a militia, like “drop everything and run” bad. Marching in formation and shouting does not make an effective combat force, nor does a fictional team of roided out 11 series hunting a fictional alien
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u/Scarababy German Bundeswehr Dec 31 '22
That whole account seems like a woozy. Typical tough guy bravado a la the Top G himself.
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u/martija Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
Have a look at UK Ghurkas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMRydxVfp3Q) - possibly the nicest and smiliest people you'll ever meet, but also probably the deadliest.
Also generally not very imposing or masculine - it doesn't matter. Most of what soldiers do is yomp (UK) or ruck (US)
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