# Are there soldiers who have never handled a firearm once during their military career? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637 "2012-10-23T17:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637/61 "2012-10-26T16:01:48Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Not all of them. Remember Hawkeye’s speech? That was fiction. And set in the 50s. In a war with no front lines they require medical personnel to carry side arms for protection. I don’t know if that was the case then. It certainly is not now. However I know from personal experience that some doctors are in more danger from their own gun than the Taliban. > [@Steophan](#): > > No, actually it does, for certain values of “more than one”. Certain ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637/62 "2012-10-26T16:51:05Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637/63 "2012-10-26T23:18:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Overheard conversation between my young nephew and my sister: > > “What’s this plane?” (pointing to a toy B-2) > “Oh, that’s a soldiers’ plane.” > > Clearly, at least some folks do use “soldier” to refer to all of the military branches. By no means all, but a large number of civilians could take everything they know about military terminology and tactics and fit it into a thimble. Kind of like the story about a lieutenant colonel who was attending some function in Washington DC. He had a conversation with some matron who kept addressing him as lieutenant. Ribbed about it later he said he’d considered the source and taken no offense, but he’d love to be around when she was introduced to a rear admiral. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637/64 "2012-10-27T01:21:19Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > …semper fu… Love it! Did you coin that? I know several people who used to serve in the USMC, and they are quite insistent that they are “former Marines,” not “ex-Marines.” They regard it as lifetime membership in a very proud, tradition-laden club. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637/65 "2012-10-27T01:57:15Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Love it! Did you coin that? > > I know several people who used to serve in the USMC, and they are quite insistent that they are “former Marines,” not “ex-Marines.” They regard it as lifetime membership in a very proud, tradition-laden club. No, I didn’t come up with that. One of my co-workers was a Marine before coming to teaching. It’s what the jarheads call the hand-to-hand combat they are taught. Like I said, Marines as a group don’t seem to get over the basic training brainwashing the way the members of the other branches of the service do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-soldiers-who-have-never-handled-a-firearm-once-during-their-military-career/638637.md?page=3)