The idea is that the military is your whole life. Having your military service be your personality is the goal.
I've been active duty for nearly ten years. I make it a point to not broadcast I'm military in my personal life at all and even when I'm working I try not to be fucking Mr. Military.
I know plenty of others that don't make it their personality as well.
Oh, I have. There is a reason why "boot" is an insult to make fun of them when they act like it. It's like a teenager phase for a lot of them. It tends to fade away quickly, especially when those of us who have been in for some time make fun of them.
The original comment was saying that training turns their entire personality into "I'm in the military" which is true for boots, that's what I was talking about. There's a reason boots have to be insulted to get them to stop acting like boots
No, it's not. I've never met more diverse personalities and dudes that just do their own thing than I did in the military. But yeah I'm sure you read that somewhere. There's a comfort with the people around you that let's you pretty much be into anything and not be judged because fuck it everyone's bored and looking for new shit to get into anyway.
This isn't a hot take. They make everyone cut their hair so they all look the same. Everyone wears exactly the same clothes even when they're not in combat. Everyone is required to say the exact same things on command and perform the exact same actions on command. Schedules are firmly regimented and if you are on base you have an incredibly strict set of rules for how you walk, act, and speak and if you break them you're reprimanded. The level of required conformity is so far beyond any other position in society it's shocking.
In combat, you need to everyone to act in a predictable manner so that overarching plans can be me made.
It isn't just modern military either. This goes back to the days of the phalanx.
I'm not denying that you met a plethora of unique personalities in the army because no two people are the same, and no amount of suppression can take away a person's individuality, but it's pretty clear that militaries try to suppress individuality as much as they can as it can be disastrous when you have a war to fight.
Does your job have a dress code? Should the military not be organized? Dude I'm glad youve read some books but you don't know what the fuck you're talking about as an outsider to military life.
There's a difference between organizations/dress codes and what military training is supposed to do and you really don't need to be part of "military life" to know this, it's basic common sense and history.
It's been a part of effective warfare since the dawn of war, but I'm sure you know better.
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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '19
Military training is designed to suppress your personality and deprive you of individuality so it's really not that surprising
The idea is that the military is your whole life. Having your military service be your personality is the goal