If you Had to Go to War, What Kind of Soldier Would You Make?

[Wildest Bill]

Lets say you get drafted to go fight in world war 2. You know we all like to think our selves as brave especially in a game of paintball. But they aren't shooting paintballs at you those are real bullets flying by. So what kind of soldier would you make in a battle situation like storming the beach at Normandy.

First would you be one of the first people off in one of those shuttles to the beach when the gate dropped or would you be moving the your way to the back so you could have more human shield type protection. When the gate open would you run out or would you bang your head against the side of the shuttle hard and appear to be knocked out and then fake dead for a while unless until the real heavy machine gun fire dies down.

Then would you run to the the first cover point or would puposely try to run behing someone else. Once there when your commander told you to run up and take out the machine gun pit would you say "yes sir sarge" or would you say "let Mikey do it".

Anyway I would like to thing myself as brave and not do any of these cowardly or more realistically say logically smart things(if your goal is survival) or would I be gung ho?

I don't know for sure what about you?

[MikeG]

I would make one who looked and sounded just like me so I could send him in my place
I'm a lover not a fighter:)

But seriously, if there was a conflict which required me to participate, I would perform to the best of my abilities.

[Eve]

I'd be a USO girl!

"Oh, I'm madly keen to entertain the troops!
Whether it's singly or in groups
I'll entertain in barracks, or even a large marquee!
I'll give them swing, or Wagner's "Ring," or selections from "Rose Marie!"
When the soldiers are off-duty for a moment,
I feel they need a bit of boop-a-doops—
It's my duty to the nation to stay well in circulation;
Oh, I'm madly keen to entertain the troops!"

[Blackclaw]

I discovered in my brief time in ROTC that I don't have the endurance to be a good soldier. So I'd slow everybody down over long distances. I've also discovered in the few moments of violence in my life (and in my first paint ball game - you know those things hurt if they hit you right!) that the adreline rush I get tends to lock my muscles up. After a few moments though I can get past this and function and do what needs to be done. I'm a determined bastard when I have to be and I'm a survivor and I'd do anything to help my team members get out of a bad situation.

[Saint Zero]

A very bad one. :D

Seriously, I'm not into shooting other people simply because of political differences. Defending the cause of freedom? Well... I'd go, and try hard for something that didn't require shooting. Maybe medicine. If I were stuck in Infantry, I'd never kill someone.

[broccoli!]

Actually I'm much better at sniping than at front line assult. I'm pretty self sufficient in the woods. I'm also patient to a fault when i'm in a situation like that.

broccoli!

[Max the Immortal]

I'd be a draft dodger :).

Hey, I intend to live a very long time, and I'm not letting a little (or big) war get in the way of that.

[Wildest Bill]

Originally posted by broccoli!
Actually I'm much better at sniping than at front line assult. I'm pretty self sufficient in the woods. I'm also patient to a fault when i'm in a situation like that.

broccoli!


Actually broccoli, I am just like you on being a sniper that is what I would pick to. Matter of fact, I usually always play sniper in paint ball.(it is so fun to watch people try to figure out who got'em.) But what kind soldier would you be in my analogy in my OP?

[AWB]

If a similar World War arose today, I'd probably protest it. Being (shudder) middle-aged, I don't know where I'd fit in anyways.

But back in the 40's, I'd have probably been caught up in the jingoistic propaganda and signed up.

And had I been one of the many that stormed the beaches of Normandy, I would've been as scared shitless as they probably were.

[Gunslinger]

I'd be flying Corsairs over Pacific islands.



Or, if I had to be infantry on 6 June 1944, I'd be with the 82 airborne jumping in behind the lines and cutting throats the day before.

[broccoli!]

O.k.... any Normandy positions are available? Or just beach stormers? If I had to be a 'stormer I know I woldn't be in the front of the boat that's for sure, i'd probably be one of those guys who dumped all my gear except my rifle and swam underwater 'till I came up to the shore, then bolted for cover. If I had ANY Normandy position to pick i'd be on the big ass destroyers operating the artillery.


Paintball rocks, have you tried the new flatline barrels on the model 98's yet? Shoots straight and FAR. Perfect. I even modified some netting so it's a match with my Ghille suit... hehehe... Sniper? - Yes please.


punk snot dead,
broccoli!

[tracer]

Oh, I'd make just the darlingest little soldier out of papier mache. I'd paint him bright red, and put one of those enormously tall black fur hats on him, and put big brass buttons on his front going all the way from his neck to his belt! And then, I could take an old sock and use it to make him a little friend to play with.

Oh, wait ... that's not what you meant, was it?

[Wolverine]

Staying within the OP guidelines, I would like to believe that I would have the discipline to follow orders even though it meant my death. That the cause I am fighting for is better served in my death than in my life. That I have the courage to stare death in the face and not back down. That I'll do what I'm supposed to do.

But I won't know unless I'm placed in a similar situation. It's all guesses at this point.

[Blackclaw]

Gunslinger,

I'm a big fan of the Corsair myself. It was a powerful fighter. Had the habit of turning into a self-destructing monster in the hands of inexperienced pilots though.

Sorry, about the thread hijack..

[soulsling]

um...
I would've been exactly what I was when I was in the US Army...

Infantry. 11B baby! :D Hoo-Aaah!

Probably wouldn't have lasted more than 16 minutes either...

[Pyrrhonist]

Cluck, cluck, cluck. RUN AWAY! Cluck, cluck, cluck.

[Peculiar Pixie]

I'd be the worst soldier ever. In fact, I would get booted out before I saw any action at all. I loathe conformity. Especially enforced conformity. It fills me with rage and makes me want to vomit. I absolutely refuse to obey someone just because they tell me to or they have more patches sewn on their shirt than I do or whatever. The military is the last place in the world where you would find me.
Ugh.

[Fretful Porpentine]

Assuming that my general lack of physical prowess didn't disqualify me, I think I'd be a lot like Yossarian.

[Modian]

When reading the topic headline, my first thought was, "I'd want to be a sniper" Love em, and would love to do it. Taking someone's head off from 700 yards. Stephen Hunter writes great books on this.

Then I read the OP, and honestly, I'd be a back of the boat, human shield person. *G* Then I'd hide behind all the saps who got blown away stepping off the boat, and start sniping.

On a completely side note, this is my 4th post in one day... My hands are cramping...

[magdalene]

Originally posted by Fretful Porpentine
Assuming that my general lack of physical prowess didn't disqualify me, I think I'd be a lot like Yossarian.

Yep.

[Tymp]

I’d be the dead kind of soldier. To my way of thinking, an act of war is an acceptance of death. Once such an end is seen as inevitable, cowardice and bravery become irrelevant and the task at hand is all that matters. Of course, while I would hope to survive, I would rather focus on accomplishing the task that my nation, my people, my neighbors and my family deemed worthy and weighty enough to justify the sacrifice of my existence.

This is what I suspect of myself. I hope to never be in a position to learn the truth.

Did you ever see Woody Allen in Bananas?

There ya go.

[kinoons]

Um, Normandy on D-Day and me with only one medic bag. I'd probally be astonished at first, but I'd start treating the wounded to the best of my ability. Can't save them all but I'll be damned if I am going to loose them all.

[Agentakbar]

A dead one. I'm vehemently opposed to war (most war-there are a couple exceptions where more people would ahve tied if the war HADN'T been fought..).
I'd stand up and meet my penance.

Bri

[Goose]

I think I would make a good soldier. Just tell me what to do. I'm good at following orders.

[Wildest Bill]

Ok Goose,

I'm your commander in this scenerio. And I want you to run 50 yards(with no cover mind you) to that pill box with the 50 caliber spitting bullets out of it like it's nobody's business and throw a hand grenade in there. And don't worry about your 5 buddies that are dead now from trying it because they weren't fast enough(then thinking to yourselve that everyone of them out ran faster than you in bootcamp). Well? Would you do it or would you say, "let Mikey do he likes to run".

[Bumbazine]

No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making other bastards die for their country.
- General George S. Patton

I'd probably be another sniper type.

[Show_Biz]

Having been in a war, I'll tell you I could never do it again.
I was so naive.

[Balance]

Disregarding the fact that I would have been thrown in the stockade long before (I'm really bad at following orders), and assuming that I was actually packed into one of the landing craft...I'm not sure.

On past occasions when I've been in danger, I've noted in myself a tendency to go completely cold inside--no emotion, no real thought, just taking the shortest path to the far side of the crisis. I find that disturbing. I probably wouldn't shove forward, but I wouldn't hide, either. I'd probably even charge the pillbox, particularly if they had shot one or more of my buddies.

Of course, I'd probably try making a sling out of my underwear to throw the grenade from cover first. I'm an engineer, not a fighter. What can I say?

[That Girl]

I'm skinny now. If I was scared shitless I'd be a bad target.

[Rysdad]

There's really no way to know. Until you've been under fire (thank God I haven't), you don't know how you'd react.

I just hope I'd comport myself honorably. I guarantee that I'd be doing my level best to help "the other guy" become a martyr for his cause.

[Jophiel]

Back during the Gulf War, my mother made some comment about sending me to Canda in case the draft started. It was tongue-in-cheek, but it made me think and I resolved that while it's doubtful I'd enlist in a conflict that didn't directly threaten our country, I would go without hesitation should the armed services call upon me. In my mind, that's part of the price you pay to live in this nation. Of course, now I'm a 27yr old single father, so I think I'm in the clear..

Anyway, if I had to go defend the Land of the Free, I'd prefer to be in a noncombat position that still had some risk to it. In other words, I don't want to shoot people, but I wouldn't plan on shooting for a desk job. Medic comes to mind, and in all honesty I could see myself risking my own life to help someone in the field, but I assume the US armed forces want their medics to have something beyond a high school first aid course and reruns of St. Elsewhere as their sole training. If not that, I'd go for artillery where at least I could kill people without having to look at them. But if the chips were down and I was in an infantry unit pinned in the mud by machine gun fire, I like to think that I could make that suicide run to disable it. Until it happens, I won't know. Let's hope I never find out, eh?

[stormy652]

Well since I do play on a winning tournament Paintball team and have been playing pretty regularly, (recball and speedball equally!) I feel I have to add my two cents.

Since a war would be more like a recball game (usually woods or town setting. Varied terrain, no real set battlelines, etc..) I am best suited to playing a position of ambush. Not sniper! Sniping IMO is long-range action. That's no good for me, I cannot sit still like that. What I am famous for around my area :) is crawling up past people and hitting them from behind. On the other hand I sometimes hammer the trigger and run at them (lots of fun!)

Long story short, I would say I'd make a good hit and run, get in get out kind of soldier.

[soulsling]

Long story short, I would say I'd make a good hit and run, get in get out kind of soldier.

Ya mean a guerilla?

What was the average lifespan of a marine/combat medic/infantryman storming normandy beach? from the time they arrived at shore that is? Anyone know?

From the training I've been through alone, I have to admit, if it ever came down to having to go into an actual war, (I don't mean like Bosnia, 'cause when our unit was out there, it was mostly sit and watch and wait to rotate out and go back home), I would definitely make a mess of myself in my pants at least once. I remember fellas that did that in Basic Training alone.

My dad was in a few wars, and you can tell he's still a bit affected. My grandfather was in WWII, fought for the British. He's a Rabbi now, hates war.

Mommy, I really don't wanna go to war...
(ETS October 2002 from IRR)

[Cervaise]

I would be a shitty, shitty soldier. If I weren't already ineligible for military service because of my defective lungs, I'd be jumping at the Yossarian reference other posters above were quicker to get to.

[thinksnow]

Well, I was Comm in the Marines, but I also am a hell of a shot. I was quoted in Continental Marine a few years back while at the Rifle and Pistol Team tryouts missed it by that much! (Two years in a row). Figuring I was 1 of 40 nation-wide that made it to try-outs, I figure I would do alright. The farthest I've shot for score to date is only 600 yards, though.

In all truth, I'd really rather not go into battle, and certainly not as a Comm-guy.

[Czarcasm]

Well, since I've got a psychological aversion to violence that is so strong I've gone my entire life without ever hitting anybody, I guess I'd be a U.S.O. girl too! ;)

[broccoli!]

Wildest Bill & broccoli!'s Black Ops Ninja Sniper Squad... Who wants to help me rule the world? Uncle Spam needs YOU! We'll have carefully placed people in every country, and when that country doesn't ally to us, we take out their leader from one of our well-placed SDMB snipers. If the new leader doesn't join us, *bang* he's gone too. And just think it all began with one little post and everyone wanting to be a sniper...

[handy]

One that is easy to sneak up on.

[thinksnow]

I'm in, I suppose. I think I should mention though, that even though I was in the Marines for 6 years and played rugby for 3 and started a fraternity in college, I've never been in a fight in my life. Go figure.

Anyway, a buddy of mine in Reno has connections with folks in the Orient and was casually mentioning that there are places that hire mercinaries, snipers and whatnot. Payment is in gold, so transfer of funds is usually not a problem. I have a decent job right now, but should things ever go south...

[PunditLisa]

Remember Prissy from "Gone With the Wind"? That would be me. Well, except I probably wouldn't be screaming, "Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothing about birthing babies!" because that would make no sense.

But then again, perhaps I would...

[Lumpy]

I saw this in some movie set in Vietnam. Some brand new jerk gets off the chopper and two minutes into his tour steps on a landmine and gets killed. An onlooker shakes his head in disgust and says something like "They should have shot the stupid bastard in the recruiting office and saved everyone the trouble".

That would be me.

[pantom]

Lumpy, likewise.

Mark Twain once described himself as having "lit out for the Tropic of Cancer" at the first opportunity during the Civil War. That would be me if I didn't step on the landmine and made it to my first battle.

[Homer]

When I was a kid, I was a chubby, weak, frightened kid who got picked on.

Now I'm not.

I'm not afraid of death, and if war broke out, I'd go willingly, to serve and die, if need be, for my country.

I would trudge right up to the enemy, and shoot him right between the eyes, before kicking him away and shooting the next, the next, and the next. Mercy comes only in death.

I'd live to die, fighting with the most I could give, ignoring sleep, pain, and hunger, waiting for one more taste of enemy blood.

If I got shot, I wouldn't care. Throw a patch on it and keep going. Fuck it. To quote Painless Blaine, "I don't have time to bleed."

You wouldn't want to meet me. The enemy would whisper my name and tremble at the thought. Death, pain, anger, hatred, and a pure, blinding vision. The vision of victory.

You don't fuck with me. I'd be a soldier.

--Tim

[RickJay]

Originally posted by Wildest Bill

I don't know for sure what about you?

I think a lot of people would be surprised at how good a soldier they'd make.

After six years in the Army and a considerable amount of study of military theory and history, I can say that, when it comes to soldierly qualities, there are a few things you can be sure of:

1. Most of the people you would think would make good soldiers don't.

2. Many of the people you would think would not make good soldiers do.

3. Overt machismo and bravado is a sure sign a guy will be a completely worthless soldier.

4. Contrary to what people will tell you, a smart soldier is a better soldier than a dumb one.

5. If you have capable superiors and are part of a reasonably weell organized military, you will be a good soldier. If you are led by thudfucks and are part of a crappy organization, there is virtually no chance at all that you will be a good soldier.

In my experience, if you wanted a good soldier, you got a reasonably intelligent and likeable person who wasn't in terrible physical shape, and you're all set. I pick those particular qualities because

A) Obviously you have to at least be healthy, but you don't need to be an Olympic athlete,

B) Intelligence DOES help. A soldier's duties are many, and the smarter s/he is the better those duties will be executed. Military operations are by their nature very complicated and confusing, and involve a great deal of planning, coordination, and application of stuff you learned in a classroom. Every dumb soldier I knew was worthless.

C) If you've got serious social or personality problems, that can be an obvious hindrance to working in a team, which in the Army is the only way you CAN work.

I think there are two misconceptions floating around:

FIRST: In my experience, you would be very surprised how you'd measure up. Peculiar Pixie can say she's incapable of conformity or Balance can say he sucks at following orders, but you're assuming being a soldier is merely doing drill all the time. You don't know how you'll react to Army-style discipline - frankly, it gets to be sort of a hoot more than anything else - and being a soldier is a fairly interesting job at times. Being a soldier is not an overly difficult or disciplined job! It's DIFFERENT, but that can be fun. IMHO, any healthy, non-stupid adult can make a decent soldier.

SECOND: It's impossible to say how you would or wouldn't react in combat or what job you'd be good at without actually learning and applying the skills. I mean, it sounds fun to be a "sniper" or ambush guys, but ambushing guys is not a job in the Army. Most people in the armed forces are not infantrymen, and even infantrymen don't get to just ambush guys.

Any military operation is based on a plan, either a pre-planned operational design (e.g. Normandy) or contingency plans (e.g. if we get attacked in camp, you will man machine gun position C.) By and large, your effectiveness in that situation is going to be dependent upon how well you remember your role and how effectively you're led by your sergeant/officer when the plan goes to hell, as it usually does.

To continue on with the Normandy example, you'll remember in "Saving Private Ryan" how soldier rallied around Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore) when they began moving up the beach towards the German fortifications. That part of the movie was absolutely true to the real battle on Omaha Beach; the shattered first waves were rallied by junior officers and sergeants who gathered whomever they could and moved on. BY YOURSELF, you'd be completely ineffective and probably paralyzed with fear; but with a structure and a plan, however slapdash it might be and even if it's no more than "Let's go up this beach and kill all those Jerries," it's easier to function. If you can concentrate on your role within a larger operation you can intellectualize the task at hand and keep functioning. If you're well led, you will fight well. If you are not, you won't.

[MaryJane]

I married a draft-dodger in 1970 and a couple of other friends did too. In this part of the country we looked on it as a kind of community service. There were a lot of American ex-patriots living here and it's easy to see why. Big Decision, eh? You could go half way around the world to some hell-hole jungle and be napalmed...or...not.

I have played paint-ball "war games" and know that I would have been dead meat in less than 48 hours in the real world.
Which leaves me wondering, who the hell would aspire to being "a good soldier"? You'd have to be a fully paid-up robot to buy into that thing.

[Fairy Princess Kitty]

I wouldn't make it into the army, I'm in horrible shape, well not horrible but not the greatest. If they ever did drag me out there I'd crumble into a useless heap and start crying. Or I'd suck it up and try to be a leader. Either way I'd end up dead.

Kitty

[Emperor Penguin]

I don't know what I would do.

I would like to think that I would be the type who does what needs to be done. Nothing less, nothing more.

I pray I never have to find out. I mean that in all honesty. I just finished reading Birdsong, by Sebastian Faulks, which concerns WWI and trench warfare. The accounts I read there and elsewhere have given me the barest, slimmest, tinyest hint of the sheer hell that is war, and I can honestly say I hope I never have to experience it.

[Spiny Norman]

Being ex-infantry myself, I must agree with RickJay - team playing is what it's about, physical fitness comes along the way. (I weighed something like 120 punds when I started basic, and I was a pretty damn good soldier. And I have the regimental gold watch to prove it.) I'm also one of the most peaceful persons you'll ever meet, but it turned out I was quite aggressive when the adrenaline got flowing and I saw a chance to to gain the upper hand for myself or my unit.

Discipline is hard at first, but that's because new recruits don't know jack about the job - later, even lowly privates are expected to think, react, communicate, show initiative. The drill bit is - well, fun isn't the word (sometimes it is - few things beat seeing a senior NCO screw up an order and fight to save face) - but not a problem. Soldiers are handling a lot of dangerous stuff (guns come to mind) and there can't be any room for screwing up, hence strict procedures in a lot of situations. This doesn't turn you into a mindless robot, it just makes sure you can field-strip your rifle in darkness even if you haven't slept for 48 hours and keep your mind free for listening for movement in the dark, taking orders, keep an eye on your cooking or whatever.

I haven't been in combat (a fact for which I'm very, very grateful), but there's really no way of knowing how one'd react. A D-day scenario is probably the worst imaginable, becuse it's so clearly a matter of luck who'll live and who'll not. Once you get into broken country, skill plays a much larger role.

One word for all the sniper types out there: You can't go off acting alone! - your squad or platoon leader has designated a job for you, and you had better get your ass in gear and start doing it. Your mates are expecting you to - soldier comradeship is much laughed at, especially among those who've never worn a uniform - but even in an Omaha Beach scenario, you try to stick with your unit, do the job at hand and get the mission done. I personally believe that as long as my unit were moving, I would be, too. Leave my pals in the lurch ? No way.(Besides, getting off the beach would've been a Good Thing - talk about a field of fire).


WWI is another scenario, because the generals generally speaking were indescribably incompetent - the tactics have been perfectly described as "stopping machine gun bullets with the chests of brave men". Would I have gone over the top ? I honestly do not know.

S. Norman

[Bluesman]

RickJay, that was one of the few lengthy posts that I can say I agreed with, top to bottom. Each of your points can be verified by historical example, and I can provide personal testimony to each of your points myself. (Fifteen years active duty, and counting.)


MaryJane, on the other hand, has no idea what she's talking about.

[Rysdad]

Originally posted by handy

One that is easy to sneak up on.

Thanks for the grin, handy. :)

[Never Say Dice]

I'd be average. Don't stand out, and it's over sooner, that's what all my friends tell me.

[G. Nome]

If I was terminally ill I would like to be accepted into one of the armed forces as a suicide bomber. In the window of time between diagnosis and being too ill to move I could be disguised as a tourist, get close to a chosen evil dictator and explode myself. I'm almost serious. I can't understand why the terminally ill don't seem to have ever taken this pragmatic stance. Even though I am a pacifist I admire Colonel Oliver North because his philosophy during the drugs for guns scandal seemed akin to mine. When he saw something that needed doing he just went ahead and did it. What's so stupid about that?

[Heath Doolin]

A Sniper is right up my alley.

Reasons:
1)I am extermely good with long range targets. I have hunted in the past and picked stuff off at 600-700 yards in moderate wind. With training, I could do a lot better
2)I have extremely good eyesight (medically I have been told I have abnormal recognizance of small movements- all that meant to me was that I had fast eye reflexes)
3)I am a loner type. I have always worked better when left alone for long periods of time.
4)I can maintain positions for long periods of time.

Do I want to do it though? Hell no, I am a better lover than a warrior.

[Gordo]

I've seen some comparisons to Yossarian, but I'd be more like Billy Pilgrim (of Slaughterhouse-five): a wimp, a coward, and completely insane.

[DigitalMuse]

A really bad one. I d wince at the loud noises. Cower when people came after me. and I also kinda of a pacifist so Id be suggesting we talk about our problems instead of fighting

[Tripler]

Moving over from another forum for just a moment . . .

I think I'd make a damn good soldier. I got to hang out with the Marines in High School and college, and my current AF assignment is pretty 'joint' in function. My commander has actually said to my face that he considers me an asset as "the first guy I know to pick up a rifle and fight".

Call me crazy, but I'm kinda hoping that someday I get to prove just how crazy and tough I am (God forbid a war breaks out :( )

Tripler
This message brought to you by a link from MPSIMS.