Do members of the military get too much respect? What profession do you respect the most?

[SonOfVoorhees]

I treat everyone equal as long as they are not arseholes. Just because you are in the military doesnt mean i will automatically treat you better. Will just treat you the same as everyone else.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I have more respect for Firefighters than Soldiers. I mean they run into burning buildings for a living. A situation just as, if not more, dangerous than a firefight, and firemen see "action" more often than soldiers do. Also they don't get paid either.

 

[StarCecil]

I actually think all of those troops are there as relics of the past. Once upon a time they may have been needed but its not necessary anymore and the US just doenst know how to recall them.

Those troops are useful and do see plenty of work. US troops in Europe provide major support for local troops as well as US troops serving abroad. Their presence also allows the NATO members to maintain lower troop levels and also acts as a deterrent force for military action in Europe. The Marines, Airmen and sailors in Japan are America's ability to respond to threats in the Pacific-Asian region.

The most important aspect of the US military that makes us the most powerful force on the planet is our ability to deploy anywhere on the planet. Besides which, all the countries we have troops in are there as per defense treaties and are fulfilling your desire for troops to defend other countries.

Iraq was what I actually meant but the corporate greed statement. I strongly believe that if the war in Iraq was not nearly as profitable for big business as it is then the US would have pulled out years ago or very well might not have even gone.

I think that heavily oversimplifies the situation while also overlooking certain aspects of the situation in favor of a pre-determined point of view.

 

[Jacob Haggarty]

Although i disagree that all soldiers are "heros", i do think they deserve tremendous respect. Yes, it's the "they lay their lives on the line" chestnut, but it actually does hold a lot of sway. The difference between your doctors and soldiers, is that soldiers have to go through emotional and physically draining situations a lot more often than doctors.

The examples you gave, like an AIDS scare one, are a little bit over dramatic. I'm not saying those sorts of things don't happen, but they sure dont happen all that often. Besides, there are a plethora of strict protocols you have to adhere to if you are a doctor, so if someone has a very contagious disease, you have to wear specific clothing, and keep the person in quarantine (for example). You make it sound like day in day out doctors have nothing but dramatic life-or-death decisions and heart breaking tragedy. It's just a job, like lot's of others. Doctors are extremely well trained, and they work together very well, so the chances of running into a disease that NO ONE recognises is slim-to-none.

Ok, soldiers don't have to go through it everyday either, but they certainly have to do it a lot more than most professions. Everyone in the army/navy/RAF is trained first and foremost as a soldier. That means everyone has to pitch in. Its not a case of having soldiers fight and chefs "whipping up pasta". Yes, they do cater for the army, but they are soldiers that know how to cook, not cooks that know how to soldier.

The point i'm trying to get at is although paramedics and doctors and surgeons deserve respect, they aren't above soldiers in any way. I personally think that both fields require the same tremendous respect.

Also that you make it sound like an episode of scrubs or house or something.

 

[Jacob Haggarty]

I have more respect for Firefighters than Soldiers. I mean they run into burning buildings for a living. A situation just as, if not more, dangerous than a firefight, and firemen see "action" more often than soldiers do. Also they don't get paid either.

Firefighters DO get paid... they are also protected up to the teeth. Just like soldiers.

Both deserve the same amount of respect. All services like them do. Police, doctors, firefighter, soldiers.

 

[Gudrests]

....Last I checked surgeons get paid a WHOLE LOT. not as much for the military my friend. Pretty sure surgeons also don't ever really have the need for anything so much as ..well the knife they use for work.

1: After a decade of accumulating debt while learning to be a surgeon people then need to pay malpractice insurance against the certainty that someone will sue them for the slightest complication, whether they were at fault or not. After about a decade of being paid "a WHOLE LOT" a surgeon may have those debts paid, and now needs to build up for retirement which at this point is only 15-20 years away unless an accident or Carpal Tunnel renders his/er hands slightly less than perfectly dexterous.

2: Surgeon may not be a life threatening career, unless you count constant exposure to diseases, but it is dangerous. My brother is a security guard and works at a hospital a few nights each week and not a single week has gone by that he hasn't had a story about a patient striking the staff, or some thug beating on the patients and/or the staff.

3: Military pay is pretty bad, though not that terrible considering soldiers don't need to pay for food or board while working.


I have a lot of respect for the military, but I find the argument that surgeons(or just doctors in general) should be respected less because they get paid "a WHOLE LOT" to be weak and groundless.

A few thugs(when you have security there to protect you and orderly's), debt that can be paid back really quickly with the amount of money they make, and exposure to diseases when you clean up before and after surgery and have every part of your skin covers and hole in your body covered so you can't catch the disesses.....VS. you are your own security and you are in a foreign place where you NEED weapons that if used to there full potential can kill hundreds in a matter of seconds, where you cannot go under 40 while driving and HAVE TO crash into other vehicles to move them for the fear of explosives going off in your face that are not only meant to kill you but you maim you as much as possible? Last I checked...no matter how often a surgeon works, They still eventually get to go home and won't stay at a hospital for months at a time on constant alert that someone might try and kill them and the people they work with.

I'm not saying it's an easy job...but if debt and a few high thugs = a war...you have your priorities really really messed up.

I never said debt + thugs = war. Just saying that I respect both types of people who go through that stuff equally. My point more or less being that a doctor saves lives in a tough environment and a soldier that takes lives(sometimes) in a deadly environment garner the same amount of respect from me. And the high score goes to doctors who work in war zones.

I understand your point now a bit more but just remember, at the end of the day. Who risk's their lives on a daily basis? That's why they more or less deserve more respect. I've never seen a doctor who was handicaped for the rest of their life mentally or physically from preforming a surgery. Never met one that has a plate in his head because a surgery went wrong, Same thing with the inability to stay indoor because of a fear of inclosed spaces from where they were fighting. They are both extremely needed professions. But there is a reason you solute the soldier.

And yes the doctors who work in on the field are a giant fucking target with there lack of supplies and at most a pistol or rifle with not as much ammo, I agree there you need some big balls to do that.

 

[Slycne]

I'm sure I'll get the "But the military risks their own lives" argument. However, not only do less than 15% of military members ever even see anything even close to resembling real combat.

Sorry, but I'm not about to thank some cook in the navy for whipping up some sweet pasta when no one even bothers to thank the real heroes out there.

True story, a guy in my Basic Training/Infantry School was changing his MOS from cook to infantry because that's primarily what he was doing when deployed and he figured he may as well get the proper training for it. Though you are correct in general most member of the milatry are not ever involved in combat. I remember seeing a figure a while back that for every one infantrymen there are something like 12 other people needed to support them, from cooks, logistics, intelligence, etc.

All that said, shouldn't the argument simply be that other unsung heroes deserve more respect not that soldiers need less? Is there some kind of shortage on respect going around?

 

[funguy2121]

You know the scene. Two people are introducing themselves to each other.

Person A: What do you do?
Person B: I'm actually a Vet. Marine Corps.
Person A: Oh wow. Thank you for your service.


Now that's all well and good, but I've always thought that not only do members of the military get too much unconditional respect, but that other people who provide invaluable services don't get near enough. Sure there are the basic Police and Fire Fighters, but they get plenty.

I'm talking about people like Pathologists, Teachers, EMTs, Surgeons, social workers, etc. These people certainly do as much individually, if not more than any one member of the military. Plus as a whole I guarantee the previously mentioned professions have done more good than the military.

I'm going to go with ER doctors, nurses, EMTs, and paramedics. These people save millions of lives and have to endure some of the most emotionally and physically draining situations out there. Watching children die when you don't know what's wrong with them, missing saving someone's life by 20 seconds, having to tell an only child that their one remaining parent has passed away, etc. I would be a constant ball of tears if I worked in some city ERs. I'd be curled up in a ball in the corner in no time from some of the tragedy I'd inevitably have to see.

I'm sure I'll get the "But the military risks their own lives" argument. However, not only do less than 15% of military members ever even see anything even close to resembling real combat, but emergency response and doctors put themselves on the line constantly. From the constant threat of general sickness, to more serious stuff like AIDs scares and other deadly infectious diseases. Then you also have the paramedics and EMTs who are sometimes in sketchy situations. Shootings, stabbings, gang violence, etc. Plenty of these brave people have been injured or killed while trying to save someone.


Sorry, but I'm not about to thank some cook in the navy for whipping up some sweet pasta when no one even bothers to thank the real heroes out there.


I'm sure I'll get some hate for this post due to people being groomed to think the military is somehow better and braver than other professions, but I'd like to see someone logically explain to me why they deserve the gratitude they get when other professions have to go without.

I've never seen a "Support our Pathologists and Surgeons" sticker.

All of the professions you mentioned have vast swaths populated by military-trained people. The military has done quite a bit for technology, medicine and the environment. Not that they don't occasionally fuck up, being after all a group of human beings burdened by the necessary evil of beaurocracy*ahem*levees*...

The military also provides a background of regiment and self respect that produces some of the best individuals currently working in every corner of civilian life, from politician to pharmacist to inventor. So I don't think one really can show them too much respect.

But that's not what you're talking about. Funny how you mentioned the bumper stickers. They still make me cringe. But the thing is, those stickers aren't about the military at all. It's important to distinguish "the military" used as a collection of syllables designed to invoke the semiotic response of shutting down debate and rational thought from the very large group of people that protect our country in innumerably more ways than carrying big guns. Just as it's important to distinguish using the word "Chinese" to describe a wonderful culture full of great people from using the same word to describe their godawful government. "Support our troops" may have meaning to folks who either have loyal friends and relatives serving in a pit of Hell or are impossibly naive, but that's quite a different meaning altogether from the opportunistic chickenhawks who came up with "be patriotic! Support the troops!" as a way to demonize everyone who thinks that fat cats shouldn't send the poor to die so they can get fatter.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

I came to the conclusion "No one cares" years ago shortly after witnessing a car cut off a blaring fire engine.

Does that count yourself in as well?

I offer basic courtesies to people encountered in real life. This includes getting over to the side of the road for emergency vehicles.

 

[Sammaul]

I came to the conclusion "No one cares" years ago shortly after witnessing a car cut off a blaring fire engine.

Does that count yourself in as well?

I offer basic courtesies to people encountered in real life. This includes getting over to the side of the road for emergency vehicles.

Ok, I guess that means you have a decent way of dealing with (extra)ordinary situations.

Don't get me wrong, but your first response gave me the idea you share the same feeling ''noone cares'', while I applaud anyone able to make the distinction.

You notice that ''no-one'' cares, and at the same time care enough to write it down, which gives me the feeling taht you, in fact, do care.As I do.
Sry drunk rght now.

anyway, i feel the same as you, though do not as easily dismiss everyone else.

again,sry drnk

 

[Jacco]

I think the difference is that military personnel are away from their families and friends and home for long periods of time. Whether they see combat or think they will get killed or not is not the issue.

Sure police and EMT's and surgeons see and experience much more stress on a routine basis, but they always get to go home at the end of the day and see their kids and kiss their wives, etc.

So while they do deserve much respect for what they do (and with the exception of police officers, get it) it isn't as big of a commitment as being shipped out for 9 or 10 months.

 

[let's rock]

they are risking, and some giving, their lives. They are perfectly willing to take a bullet in the head for you, they actualy don't get enough respect. Yes, paramedics and ER doctors see people die, and firefighters risk their lives, but pretty much all miilitary service members watch somebody shot and murdered in front of them, and military is much more high risk than a firefighter, plus military people are saving your ass from another 9/11 by being so kind as to reduce the terrorist population. Which is another reason, firefighters and ER doctors never have to shoot anybody. these people are willing to die AND kill. I do respect poliece officers for what they do, I respect them a lot, but still not as much as I respect military personel

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Ok, I guess that means you have a decent way of dealing with (extra)ordinary situations.

Don't get me wrong, but your first response gave me the idea you share the same feeling ''noone cares'', while I applaud anyone able to make the distinction.

You notice that ''no-one'' cares, and at the same time care enough to write it down, which gives me the feeling taht you, in fact, do care.As I do.
Sry drunk rght now.

anyway, i feel the same as you, though do not as easily dismiss everyone else.

again,sry drnk

Don't be so quick to think that. I tend to just skim the Recent Comments section on the main page and reply to low-post topics, regardless if I have anything meaningful to add or not.

But yeah, I do have pretty low regards toward the general populous. It's more apparent online, where I am more a rampant ass than the quiet but polite individual you'll encounter on the street.

 

[GaltarDude1138]

Personally? I don't know. They've just been voluntarily indoctrinated to serve their country. And since somehow service in the military looks good on a resume, most people I know do it so they can get a higher-paying job after they complete their tour of duty and college.

So IMHO they're just regular people, just outfitted with a million dollars worth of training and indoctrination and get to wear fatigues everywhere they go.

 

[Doc Theta Sigma]

If we're going by the recent war in the middle east... They get as much respect as officially sanctioned murderers need. Then a whole lot more. I give them a bit of respect, I personally wouldn't choose being shot at for a living. But I don't throw roses at their feet.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

I respect High school teachers more than most professions. They are there to help you at that point in your life that either makes or breaks you.

On topic... I think military should get more respect than the average citizen until you get one of the ass holes who happen to be in the military. Thus, I respect all members of the military generally more than other professions, but like in any profession, if I meet someone who's a dick, I'll give them the same respect that your average dick would get- none.