# WAR...So are ya ready to put up or shut up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 16, 2001, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001 "2001-09-16T18:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/21 "2001-09-16T23:15:21Z")
For those of you sincerely interested in finding out, I did some checking last night. The maximum age for enlistment in a typical situation is 27 for the Air Force; 34 for the Navy. Haven’t gotten around to the other branches yet. The ages are different if you have a special skill, such as being a doctor or engineer. And they may very well change in light of the present situation. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/22 "2001-09-16T23:56:39Z")
Sure, I’ll jump on that bandwagon. Um, got a few questions first, though, which haven’t needed to be asked in previous wars: Just who exactly are we fighting? Where are we going to fight them? What are we going to do when we get there? Look, it’s too late to enlist. We all got drafted this week, including those of you outside the US. The Theater of Operations is all around us. The enemy hasn’t even been identified yet, though. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/23 "2001-09-17T00:05:10Z")
Well, I wasn’t going to answer because the OP said > [@](#): > > And of course, the question is moot for those Dopers who are already in the armed services, the reserves, or are retired from same, because the question was answered before it was asked. But becuase the OPer seems to want to score some sort of point with her view-counting, I’ll be damned if I don’t allow one more tally for the scorecard. I was in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm. In fact, I was on the back of a 5-ton moving into Iraq during the ground war advance, open to the elements and god knows whatever chemicals Sadam had to lob in our general direction. You think I wouldn’t sign up if needed? I’ll be honest. I hope I’m not needed. No one _wants_ to go to war. Hopefully, I can pass this baton down to our current enlistees with a clear conscience. But you know what? Part of me feels that our country has gotten fat and lax. The only war most civilians want to contemplate is one that is guaranteed to have no US casulties. War as video game. Push the button and win! Do we as a nation have the stomach to grind it out on the ground, if that is what it takes to not only beat back the scourge of terrorism but eradicate this threat to innocents for good? I hope the answer is yes. I hope our training hasn’t gotten so washed out because of “sensitivity” or whatever else can compromise a military mission. If the answer is yes, we are up to the task, our current readiness is sufficient (or the training capability is in place to provide sufficiency for the task at hand) then I doubt I would re-up. However, if my country says _We need you again, divemaster. We need you to put down your pen, turn off your computer, stop writing your reports, and pick up your M-16 and NBC gear and report to (wherever)_, you will see me there. I don’t think I am too old. I’m in good health and good enough shape. And I bet I could still qualify Expert with my weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/24 "2001-09-17T00:10:46Z")
I had a grandparent fight in WWII, and another in Korea. My father fought in Vietnam. If my country called for me, I would fight as well. Civilians are a big part of war too. Industry, sacrifice, and courage are called upon for the entire populace of a country at war. ---
**Author:** ![Tr8rJake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tr8rJake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tr8rJake)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/25 "2001-09-17T00:12:31Z")
In the past two and a half years I lost my youngest son and my wife to lupus and in a month or two I will probably lose my court fight to get custody of my stepson. If I can be reasonably sure of responsability, I shall have nothing better to do than claim some small share of our enemies’ lives. It will be nice to have an enemy I can kill for a change. Infantry in case anyone was wondering, I was medical corps before but, if I’m going back it will be to fight. I object to conc… consciee… con … you know cowards. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/26 "2001-09-17T00:20:57Z")
As a civilian specialist, I may get the call to Monterrey, CA, any day now. Yes, **Stoid** , I will be glad to serve. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/27 "2001-09-17T00:51:09Z")
FRom ElvisL1ves: > [@](#): > > Look, it’s too late to enlist. We all got drafted this week, including those of you outside the US. The Theater of Operations is all around us. The enemy hasn’t even been identified yet, though. “We’re surrounded. That simplifies our problem.” Gen Chesty Puller Tell me who to aim at and I will be there again. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/28 "2001-09-17T00:56:16Z")
Well, I seperated from the AF in '98 after 14 years. I was almost medically retired due to asthma so I doubt if they’d want me. But, if they want/need me, I’d go. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/29 "2001-09-17T01:01:58Z")
Well, if an RE-R1[sup]\*[/sup] Reenlistment code will allow them to look past two bad knees, I’d be quite pleased to put the uniform back on. I don’t know what use there’ll be for a broken-down reactor operator, but I’m also a crack shot, so maybe I’ll try one of the other services on for size… Oh, wait. They need good knees even more than the Nav. Guess I’ll have to man the home front. [sup]\*[/sup]RE-R1 == Preferred Reenlistment. I’d be more than welcome back if it weren’t for my crappy knees. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/30 "2001-09-17T01:18:11Z")
No, I wouldn’t. I respect those who would, but I can’t do it. I do not believe in killing and I do not wish to support a war as the solution to this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/31 "2001-09-17T01:35:55Z")
Interesting aside (well, to me anyway) – I just got off the phone with my uncle, who is 47 and very pissed off. He went down to the Marines office on Friday to enlist. They wouldn’t take him. According to him the age cut off is 35. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/32 "2001-09-17T01:52:09Z")
No point, don’t assume one. (really, am I known for my ambiguity?) I was just noting that only 7 out of over 100 had responded, and all had been yes. The “hmm” was the question that brought to mind…is everyone a yes? Are the “no”'s being silent? No big deal. And beagledave…it’s “cowardice”. Also, since I’m not calling for war, the answer is no. stoid ---
**Author:** ![Jeu\_D\_esprit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@Jeu\_D\_esprit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeu_D_esprit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/33 "2001-09-17T01:52:10Z")
Check out the news stories from recruiters (search on any major engine). They’re getting a lot of volunteers, from the wrong groups. Older Americans, physically unfit and reserves who are past call up age but want to do something. Apparently the majority of younger Americans have not yet decided if they are “on the bandwagon” yet. For myself, they have my info. If they want to call me up, I’ll go. But I will not waste their time by reminding them I exist. Besides, the university I am at is one of the centers they call on for info and advice with middle eastern problems. I’ll probably be of more use there than enlisted. And yes, I’m 37. Kind of old and wobbley. ---
**Author:** ![AuntPam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@AuntPam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntPam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/34 "2001-09-17T02:00:08Z")
Stoid: I worked in 4 World Financial Center–that’s one block from the Twin Towers–and I left NYC on a ferryboat at 9:12 AM on Tuesday, sobbing with rage. I’m an old liberal democrat peacenik. Way too old to enlist. But the first thing I did when I got home was to hang up my American flag. And this weekend, while we who live in this area all thought about what’s step 2 for these unspeakable motherless murdering bigots (CBW? a small “nuclear device”?), I asked myself the real question: So what if the choice is between dying, and taking orders from a tyrant? If your answer is “I’d rather die,” then you might as well enlist. If your answer is “Maybe we can reach some kind of accommodation with them,” I urge you to come to New York and see, IN PERSON, what happened here. You can smell it, and taste it, too. You can read it in our faces and in our tears. I do not believe we should seek blind revenge here. We cannot randomly kill civilians to force our will on the Afghanis or Saddam Hussein. We can’t conquer hate with hate. But we must take action–coordinated multi-national worldwide action–that guarantees the most fundamental of human rights–the right to live in peace. Otherwise, it will be YOUR town next, Stoid. There’s a Revolutionary War flag that says all this better than I just did: DON’T TREAD ON ME! ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/35 "2001-09-17T02:06:07Z")
Um, look at my screen name, look in my sig, and then you tell me whether I’m ready to go. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SDP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDP)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/36 "2001-09-17T02:11:58Z")
I am 17 and a junior in high school. I will enlist when I graduate. Then again, I have been planning on doing so since the sixth grade, so I may not be the kind of person you are looking to have respond. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/37 "2001-09-17T02:25:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\*“We’re surrounded. That simplifies our problem.” Gen Chesty Puller > > Tell me who to aim at and I will be there again. \*\* ## Isn’t the general’s point that when you’re surrounded there is no difficulty determining who to aim at? ## ( Not calling for war, won’t volunteer, would serve if drafted. ) Just my 2sense ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/38 "2001-09-17T02:27:42Z")
I’ve been supporting DOD in a civilian capacity for most of my professional career. My wife and I talked about this very subject last night. She would be terrified to have me in uniform and subject to combat orders. She points out, reasonably, that I am older and a father-to-be (less than two weeks until her due date now). But it seems to me that this is a mistake. For the older, married folks to ask the younger, unmarried folks to lay their lives on the line, while we are exempted because of our families, is asking too much. If we’re willing to call for war, we should be willing to go. And, although I’m fatter and slower than I was in high school, I’m wiser and deadlier, I hope. I would go. Mrs. Bricker would kill me, but I would go. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/39 "2001-09-17T03:23:14Z")
I’m not going to enlist until I see what’s going to happen. If they actually go through with it and call for war I’ll enlist if they need people. Marc ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001/40 "2001-09-17T03:36:56Z")
I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past few days. I’m not too old yet… 27, so some of the services would probably take me. Not in great shape either, but that’s what training’s for, isn’t it? I’ve always had difficulties imagining myself in the military. I have great difficulty thinking I could kill anybody, but I suspect it’s possible. (Do they still let conscientious objectors serve as medics?) I also have great difficulty believing I could follow orders unquestioningly, but that too is possible. The bottom line: I don’t know if I’ll sign up, but I certainly do know I can’t ask our servicemen and -women to take risks I wouldn’t be willing to take myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-so-are-ya-ready-to-put-up-or-shut-up/82001.md?page=3)