I think some of the naysayers here need to brush up on their diplomacy skills. "Hell no!" isn't very insightful advice. The "Join if you want to be a murderer" isn't very helpful either. These kinds of statements aren't going to be too effective with young men who may think they have a thirst for adventure, be it right or wrong. Furthermore, these kinds of statements won't help us win elections, and will really alienate people who may otherwise be converted.
For what it's worth, I would argue against joining the military at this time. Having said that, I also have some experience with it, and can understand your feelings I'd imagine. I had joined the Army Reserve in 2002, before we had even gotten involved in Iraq. I was in college at the time, and the thought of going active duty wasn't a consideration, especially since I had moved around during my childhood (ten schools in twelve years) and would not enjoy continuing that in the active military. I had joined as a Combat Engineer, despite having almost maxed out the ASVAB test. In fact, some of the other would-be soldiers at the MEPS station had thought I was crazy for not joining the Air Force, or some cushier MOS. But, being the young man I was, I had a thirst for the more adventurous, combat arms side.
I ended up getting deployed to Iraq in 2003, and had invaded with the initial strike. Now, I don't have any horror story to tell you as a cautionary tale against joining; hell, I didn't even have to fire my weapon. However, I will tell you that while I was there with nothing but time to think, I had wondered what the hell the point of being there was. From my perspective, it really was a clusterfuck, and nothing but a waste of resources and military personnel.
Sure, rolling through a city while guns are blasting is quite the excitment, I cannot deny that. However, that sort of adrenaline rush was far less than 1% of the overseas experience. Most of it was either boring or annoying. Imagine if you will, wearing full military gear in the blazing sun, doing hard labor, and refreshing yourself with water that is almost as hot as coffee. Imagine picking up shitty toilet paper that the wind had swept away from a makeshit bathroom so that we could impress some goddamned officer. Imagine waking up with a layer of sand on you, every single morning. Imagine hearing Islamic chants on loudspeakers for days on end. Imagine having an out of company inspection of our areas to make sure we didn't have pictures of naked women. Imagine wanting to see your girlfiend or wife, or your child being born. Imagine the stench of rotting animal carcasses while travelling along the roads. Imagine the sight of a blown up bus, with dismembered parts of men, women, and children, who were clearly neither terrorist nor enemy combatant. Now, imagine what is actually being accomplished, and whether or not it is truly worth it.
The bottom line is that as our government becomes increasingly irresponsible, the idea of serving in its armies to do its dirty work becomes ever more distasteful. Most politicians have pissing contests in which they try to demonstrate how much they love and support the troops. The politicians only use the troops for political capital. The reality is that they don't give a fuck about you, and would never dream of performing the tasks that they would have you do. In fact, they even look down upon you as being a filthy dog. This is not an age of the Heroic Ideal, in which at least the king and nobility would shed their blood with you. No, our current system of warfare is far less honorable than it was during the medieval era, at least in terms of the elites' involvement.
Ultimately, I have no problem with the military. It is there to perform a function. However, the problem I have is with the people, most of whom would never even think of serving, who use others as their pawns. I can accept being a pawn in a strategic military sense, but not in a poltical one.
To sum up, stay home, make love to your woman, and don't bother joining a conflict which our masters in Washington have no intention or clue of winning.
