Jesse “The Governor” Ventura is lobbying to get that changed, though. I heard about it on the radio this morning.
Which part? Will he not allow 18 year-olds be sent into combat or will he (more likely) just let them be drunk when they go?
Um, actually they don’t card for age on military bases. If you have the Active duty or Reserve ID card, they’ll sell you booze.
LOL! It is still there… I cant believe it…
ROTFL
Okay… I ll fix that… like… the third time?
And dont be rude Nukeman… or I ll not send you the dead squirrel I found in the morning…
loons
Who will soon write Britttish with many more t s out of frustration…
Voila. I couldnt resist.
Greetings from the depths of my soul 
Lowering the drinking age.
Now that I am 47, I see the wisdom in raising the drinking age to 46, lowering the draft age to 16, and issuing driver’s licenses to a very narrow range of ages–say 45 through 49.
Watching something objectifies it. Engaging in something makes it subjective. The distinction isn’t instantly apparent, but compare for a moment watching violence and engaging in it. Watching desensitizes you and makes you eager to engage in violence (Dylan Klebold of Columbine High School) whereas being in the midst of violence gives you a much more balanced and realistic view of it (the survivors of Columbine High School). Being desensitized to sexual behavior could have the effect of making a person a sexual delinquent, particularly given the quality of most sexually explicit material. Just a theory folks. I’m no Jesse Helms.
Actually, a well-handled sexual situation would be a great introduction to sex for many young people. Just as a violent film might not be so bad if it followed up on the violence to show the rehabilitation of the survivors, the rage and loss of the family of the victims, and so on, a sexually explicit film in which the sex scenes are followed by fears of disease and pregnancy, trauma of abortion, adoption, childbirth, trying to support a child on welfare, HIV or herpes infections, grandparenthood in your 30s, marriage to someone you found sexually attractive rather than fell in love with, divorce, recrimination, single parenthood, and on and on, would probably be a good thing for kids to see. Wasn’t there a film recently (called Kids, I think) that depicted a lot of these things? Naturally, it was rated R so at least in theory only adults could see it.
It was NC-17, if I recall correctly. Horrible to give it that rating since it did show the results of the kid’s actions. Three or so people ended up getting AIDS.
yes! I managed to get into someone’s signature!
Ranger how long did you get your DD-214 handed to you? Any age drinking in the military is as old as pull-tabs or PBR’s popularity.
I left active duty in 1991. My two permanent party locations were FT.Gordon, GA and FT.Lewis,WA. In both states the EM and NCO clubs used hand stamps to determine age of service (who can/cannot booze it up.), the base liquor stores on both bases also carded as did every mini-px except for the rare occasion where you would be friends with a civillian working there.
It was easy to get booze for take home, just buy some for a buddy who is overage so long as he/she makes the purchase. In Georgia near Gordon there was a mall in Augusta that had a bar called The Bulldog. I never got carded there, but that is a far cry from getting legal service. I once got an MIP (minor in posession) charge in Tacoma while at a club. The judge fined me 20$ and said that I should try to “avoid getting caught in the future”.
The opinion that the military, specifically the Army ignores local law when it comes to alchohol sales is bunk. When in a state that requires you to be 21, then the base drinking age is 21. If you are in a state that allows age 18 drinking then usually the base reflects this (Ft.Siel, OK was an 18 base but the base CO raised the limit to 21 in all NCO and EM facilities because of disorder and frequent brawls. Meanwhile you could get a gallon beer at a local bar lett than a mile away. Yes, an actual gallon beer. 3$ at the time.).
Oh, and on a semi-related note. Prostitution and drug laws that exist in the US are virtually mirrored in the UCMJ (the uniform code of military justice) and apply to soldiers overseas where it may be legal locally to indulge. Hell, in Korea certain brands of SoJu (local brew featuring formaldyhide) are “off limits” because of health reasons even though you can buy them anywhere.
I keep in touch with many of my service mates and can tell you that, if anything, things have gotten more strident. In 1990 the Honorable Dick Cheney (yes, the vp nominee only I never spell it right) declared a “Decade of Health”. Let me tell you, the decade of health sucked. I joined up to shoot big ass guns not do laps.
pax,
zen101
D.F.A.