Hmm…so what you are saying is that anyone who voluntarily, on their own free will, signs up for the military to protect freedom - then immediately loses those rights?
You further imply allowing anyone to change their mind would be so widespread as to cause chaos?
Seriously, ExTank, this is 101-level utter nonsense. What are you really describing? This doesn’t sound like a military comprised of dedicated defenders of freedom, it sounds more like a federal penitentiary.
Well, yes. Yes, exactly. You sign away tons of rights when you join the military that the rest of us citizens enjoy.
I am fully aware that there are very stringent rules and regulations when you enlist. There is no room for error and following orders is key in any job in the military.
All I am suggesting is forcing someone to remain in the military, when they have decided they no longer wish to be there, cannot be conducive to morale nor wise by having that weak link in the chain of command.
Perhaps allowing a yearly, short window of “opt out” might not be a horrible thing.
I can imagine that every person in the military has seen a few examples of people they wish would just go away. Getting rid of deadwood has always proven to improve efficiency and quality.
Why would it be so heinous to allow an enlistee the opportunity to leave?
Why would you possibly even want to keep someone who decidedly doesn’t want to be there?
It just doesn’t make good practical sense.
The U.S. Armed Forces weren’t enacted and organized to practice democracy. You can voluntarily leave the military when your term of enlistment is up (or resign your commission, if you’re an officer). Unless some sort of stop-gap policy is in place and you’re committed “for the duration,” like the people in WWII.
This notion that our servicemembers can leave the armed forces like it’s a damned revolving door just because snuffy has a case of ass-hurt is ludicrous. When you join up, you raise your hand and pledge an oath. Like marriage, it is often “for better or worse.” And too often like marriage, when it’s bad, it’s very bad. So allowing any swinging Richard the ability to just “opt out” when the going gets a tad rough is asinine.
The other issue is that everyone has moments that they want to quit, usually right after they have been beasted, right before they are about to be beasted again, or after training when they have to get used to the day-in-day-out part of garrison life. The OP did not start this thread screaming about how he hates all things military, rather that he “isn’t happy” some of the time.
This may or may not be remedied by dishonaroble discharge, and the advice he is getting is getting some counseling and getting to the root of it first.
It’s pretty common to not always find a great fit in your first career choice. Maybe it’s the uniform, maybe it’s not. Before you do something drastic, see if you can be sure.
So what happens when this hypothetical “opt out” window opens and half the people scheduled to deploy to Iraq take it?
They don’t lose their rights. They agree to waive some of them for a specified period of time.
For what it’s worth, I think our military recruiting process is about the shadiest thing the government does. Recruiters all but lie to young, impressionable, impulsive people, and it’s someone else’s problem when those people realize they aren’t getting what they signed up for.
I can maybe see some sort of policy where recruits get a general discharge if they opt out within 90 days of completing basic training (provided they agree to waive a portion of their back pay). But this “annual opt out” you propose is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard.
As retired career Army I can say that in certain circumstances from a functional perspective the Army would have been better off just letting certain people quit. However that could cause a spiraling morale problem for the people who don’t quit.
The historical and real reasons you can’t just quit the military is since basically “time immemorial” people signed up to be men-at-arms, legionnaires, soldiers, supply clerks et. al. because it brought consistent food, income, chances at greater wealth and etc. I’m not saying true patriotism or sense of duty doesn’t exist, but I am saying throughout human history military forces have by and large been filled by persons who want to get something out of it in a tangible form that they would have difficult getting elsewhere in society.
If you let all of these persons simply leave on demand, then they would serve up until battle was imminent and then quit. That just simply is not a practical policy for military forces of the world.
You don’t want someone beside you in combat who doesn’t want to be there, but historically if only people who wanted to be there were present you’d have a hard time fielding armies, and unless the enemy also had “at will” enlistments you could be in for a real world of hurt.
I believe if you want to get out then that is up to you. Dont let all these other people tell you any different. Ive been in the military for a number of years now and Ive seen all the stupid shit that goes on and the stress it can cause. I have seen a number of these forums and I wish people would actually help people when they have a question instead of criticizing the person. I hate that the military tells you to ask them for help but when you do they really dont do anything. Its always whats best for the military and thats bullshit they should listen and put the persons best interest first not the militarys. To all the people that are all abou the military good for you but help people when they ask a question dont just tell them to suck it up or honor your commitment. I believe thats just stupid. This is just my opinion and from my experience. I say if you want out get out and dont let anyone tell you that you are a coward or you dont have balls. The military is not all its cracked up to be.
This thread has been dead for over a year, or what we refer to here on the Dope as a “zombie.” The OP hasn’t returned to update us with his status, but whatever he’s decided to do he’s probably done it by now. But he hasn’t been back since April, 2012, so we just don’t know right now.
Since the OP hasn’t been back, I’m going to close this. If anyone wants to talk about getting out of the military, they are of course free to open a new thread.