According to all the TV shows I’ve seen about the army, private time is scarce, but what private time there is, is it enough for the soldiers to sexually satisfy themselves? (Assume both men in the field and/or men on their home base)
I doubt that the army stocks its bases with women for the soldiers persual, and I would imagine that the soldiers are cautioned against fraternizing with the locals, so the only release for the average soldier would be master B, but according to TV many of the young, low ranking soldiers live in communal barracks. I would imagine that a barracks would not have enough privacy for a person to satisfy himself in one. Most communial bathrooms I have been in have been unfit for the task of MasterB, so how do soldiers in the army keep from going insane from lack of sex?
Any first hand knowlege on Master B in the army?
What would the punishment be for a soldier caught master B’ing?
When they’re overseas, they do (and/or did) have the time to attend brothels and such. I remember reading in my history text that a major problem with US soldiers in WWI was that French prostitutes were giving them STDs. Also remember the “Me love you long time” of Full Metal Jacket.
What soldiers do stationed in Mississippi, I can’t say.
I didn’t read Brokaw’s book The Greatest Generation but I’ll bet there’s one small detail he didn’t mention.
Many, if not most, Army personnel in WWII were married. The Army bought hundreds of millions of anti-venereal prophylactic kits. Many, many, many, many, many of them were used.
A guy I worked with at my last job was in the Navy during Desert Shield. Between forklifting pallets of fertilizer (no joke,) we used to talk a lot about his various adventures (and all of the prostitutes he patronized.)
He told me that the best ones, in his opinion, were in Bahrain. Apparently, the women there are quite beautiful, but if they are caught prostituting themselves the punishment is getting acid splashed on their faces under Islamic law.
The worst, he said, were the ones in Australia. He found them to be “skanky as hell” and “only occasionally would you find a good one.”
From these conversations I got the idea that the Navy guys visited hookers all the time in the various places they visited on shore leave.
Of course, this isn’t addressing the Army. On that note, I will say a pal of mine told me that guys jerk off under their covers at night. Makes sense to me.
Basically as i understand it these were more or less issued to the GIs in WW2 so that they may go ashore or go into town, blow a few bucks in the harems and get laid so that they may come back fresh and renewed. Several port harbors in many European and Asian countries still run harems for soldiers of many different nationalities to use.
The bureau of veteran’s affairs (no pun intended) has found over 100 women who said they were sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers, among service people returning from the Afghan and Iraqi wars. Many said they were told by their officers not to report the assaults. Among those who reported the crimes, some were punished for doing so. Yes, there’s a federal law to protect whistle-blowers, but the law has no teeth, and it’s widely ignored.
I’m sure there’s lots of consensual sex among soldiers, as bluethree says. However, as long as some officers believe that soldier rape is part of the cost of having women in the military, the goal of women’s equality in the military is a long way off.
I’m never been in the military but I did go to college. Communal living and communal bathrooms. Trust me on this, if you get a bunch of horny teenage males in this environment there’s still a considerable amount of masturbating going on, no matter how little privacy there is. Under the covers, close the stall door, whatever. Like you said, it’s either that or go insane.
First of all, with HIV a problem in so many countries, brothels and prostitutes are often off-limits, and in every unit to which I was assigned, they were always off-limits, and failure to comply with this order meant criminal prosecution, either under Article 15 or through a court martial.
Second, there are (generally) sufficient opportunities for sexual activity. Once you’ve passed basic training, you do get free time. Hotels in the area did a booming business on weekends as people sought private places to have sex.
Third, there is training given on sexual health, including contraception and STDs. Female personnel have an annual examination that includes a Pap smear and cultures for STDs, and blood tests for HIV. Again, in some units, these exams are mandatory; they were when I was in basic training and in school. Contraception in the form of the Pill was highly recommended, and condoms were free for the taking. If you happened to have an STD, you were required to list all of your partners; they would be notified and treated.
The other thing is that, when you’re living with so many other people, you lose whatever shyness you may have had. I remember hearing vague buzzing noises from women using vibrators after lights-out. If you gotta, you gotta, and what’s a little buzzing among friends?
