[CheezyD]

What is with all these people? Why did they sign up? They just wanted the GI Bill and the snappy uniforms? I'm a vet and knew when I took the oath that I could go anywhere at anytime. I understand that the military life is not for everybody but damn it when you take the oath that's supposed to mean something. I'm sick of the whiners who are "shocked" to find out that the military actually expects them to be soldiers and is not Club Med funded by the government.

[nightdriver]

"They just wanted the GI Bill and the snappy uniforms?"

Uhmm, when I joined the Guard, there was a draft and no war. "They" said that a military obligation could be fulfilled by spending 8 years in the Guard instead of 2 years in the regular Army.

"They" also said that, if activated to regular deployment, the entire division would be called, not individuals or select companies.

All these promises turned out to be lies.

The Guard was sold as a home guard that would get paid only about one-fourth as much as a regular, but it would be possible to have a civilian life as well.

It was NOT sold as becoming a reserve bin of soldiers that would be the first to man the depleted ranks of the regular military at the first hint of foreign conflict.

After the abuses of the government in these last few years, we'll probably find there is going to be no one willing to be a part of the home guard at all. It's difficult enough living for 8 years as never a soldier, never a civilian as it is. And, oh, by the way, National Guard alumni get no GI bill and no veteran benefits.

[Doohickey]

You nailed it. The reasons given for enlisting in 1984 (when I enlisted) vs. 1997 (when I was discharged) are night-and-day. This is what happens in an entitlement society when you lure people in with bennies that have nothing to do with serving your country.

That said, I still believe that the all-volunteer force is superior in all respects to forced-conscription.