“So, you’ve known some good ones then. It only takes one bad one to change your mind, though... or to make you aware that there *are* those who will do that... (but perhaps you already know that and pick carefully who you associate with...)...”
What is clear is that you don’t know squat about the military. There is no more vetted group and no more restricted lifestyle than the military.
Those background checks, security clearance checks psychological testing checks and constant monitoring of your life including being able to be charged for getting a sunburn or not getting a haircut means that you don’t “know some good ones” and that “It only takes one bad one to change your mind, though”, it means that you are constantly seeking out and punishing anyone that doesn’t measure up.
You don’t have to waste people’s time pointing out that bad people are everywhere, but you also don’t have to waste their time pretending the military isn’t a very elite, selective group compared to their civilian counterparts as far as criminality and rule breaking is concerned.
In the military you are usually assigned your “associations” you don’t choose them, your squad or your section or your team or your boat or your squadron or your platoon or your company or your battalion are your life for most of the time.
From the time that you become a PFC you are looking for any bad guys and dealing with them, from E3 on up to General you have some level of responsibility to discipline fellow soldiers.
Just look at the structure of a squad,”Squad - 9 to 10 soldiers. Typically commanded by a sergeant or staff sergeant, a squad or section is the smallest element in the Army structure, and its size is dependent on its function.”
If my memory is correct there are even more layers of leadership within that little group of 9-10 soldiers.
All this doesn’t make for God like perfection but it sure does mean that the military has a vastly smaller number of bad guys than civilian life and you don’t have to be “pick carefully” to avoid them, for one thing you can bust their ass, nobody wants flakes in their unit.
You said — What is clear is that you don’t know squat about the military. There is no more vetted group and no more restricted lifestyle than the military.
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Sorry..., I’ve heard too many tales about it from relatives, immediate family, and also friends — so I know a lot different than what may be conventionally told...
Now..., here I’m talking about *direct* from very close relatives, in that in the military, there were guys (military guys) selling military weapons from facilities where they were kept. Now, mind you..., I’m not the one who was in the military, but talking to close relatives who *were* in the military and they know what has gone on there.
A lot of weapons were sold “out the back door” so to speak, by military people...
In fact, I was *assured* absolutely, that if I had the money, I could get almost any weaponry that I wanted. And although they (i.e., those relatives) did not do it, they “knew” who did and where to go and what contacts to make.
Then there were the accounts of what happened while in the military. Again, I’m not the person who was there, and only listening to and taking in from the people who were there and getting “confirmation” from two or three of them talking about it, from different places.
There’s also the drug trade in the military and using military transport to get drugs around. That’s another story, and apparently there’s money to be made there.
In terms of the “drug trade” that’s a consistent theme, over and over again, I hear from many military people. That is extensive.
I’ll guarantee you that these stories don’t get into the daily papers..., that’s for sure... LOL... but I know what goes on there...
Thank you, ansel.