Serving or ex armed services?

[Sniper]

And that's just the unauthorised discharges as the guys get outa bed?

Its funny how many UD's there were, none my my section

[pritch]

The crowning jewel in my four years would have been taking part in the parade in Paris to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Armistice Day.

In my time in the Battalion we did very, very, few parades, we always seemed to be on nature walks... Generally if they wanted a parade they used the Scots Guards who were useful for that sort of thing.

For six months we were in the area populated by the biggest number of species of hornbill anywhere. Heard lots, never saw one.

The only other parade of note was the farewell parade for the 99th Ghurka Brigade in Kuching, Sarawak at the end of "Confrontation". We were issued shirts with the Ghurka patch for the event, there was a company each of Ghurkas, 1 RNZIR, and 42 Commando. A real challenge to organise as all three units march at different pace. Too big a challenge as it turned out :-)
But a truly memorable aftermatch function. Well the early bit was memorable, the rest seems to be missing..

[swanman]

mind you after having said my last comment I was kinda surprised to read this one

just curious... why is this the soft thing you imply?


(mind you this IS the pom army)

A good army is founded on good discipline, controled agression, and high standards in self belief and trainging physically and mentally. All those things I mentioned eat away at that. I see that you are a woman,no disrespect but female front line soldiers may seem fair and right and all those good things but in reality they break up that solid non-sexual maleness that when you see working well is actualy very impressive.

It's funny that men often get slagged for being agressive, and driven by testoserone etc, well in the Army this is actually a good thing so long as it is controled.

I guess if you haven't experienced it everything I jus said sounds like a lot of poney, but I guess that's life. You got to see it to understand.

[swanman]

Dead friggin' right. That one year working for the Army and working for blokes who'd trained at Sandhurst and Duntroon taught me that I didn't want to be a manager, and that a decent manager is a long way from anyone I'd ever worked for, before or since. They inspire you to do your best without being patronising or insisting that you do things their way.

Got any jobs Swanman?

I wish, need a good one myself. I would love to start up a bike shop in Albany.

[Brett]

I was all ready to enroll for the airforce to train as a pilot...untill they sold off all of the planes...and didn't buy the F16's...now i work in construction as a Project Manager...hmmm that went to plan...

[terbang]

NZ Army as a Vehical mechanic, Australian Coastwatch as a maritime patrol pilot.

[Rashika]

A good army is founded on good discipline, controled agression, and high standards in self belief and trainging physically and mentally.

Something not achieveble by non males?

All those things I mentioned eat away at that. I see that you are a woman,no disrespect but female front line soldiers may seem fair and right and all those good things but in reality they break up that solid non-sexual maleness that when you see working well is actualy very impressive.
It's funny that men often get slagged for being agressive, and driven by testoserone etc, well in the Army this is actually a good thing so long as it is controled.

I'm curious, is there no place in your army for anyone except testosterone filled males with control who arent gay?
No place for good managers and organisers of people/stores unless they are male?
Yes controlled aggression is good for an army, and no I would not want to be a grunt, hense being a medic, but there is a whole lot more to an army than simply killing, and someone has to do all the other shit. Unless you think a killer is good at everything else as well?
I guess I shouldn't be in a male dominated workplace either too huh? must be bad for the poor sexually charged males around me?
I dont want to start a bullshit session that would never be sorted, but I think it is a shame you cant see what each person brings to the armed services whether male of female....each has benefits.
Cheers mate :spudbooge

[Sniper]

Something not achieveble by non males?

You kidding????? Theres a certain time of month when the army is at its deadliest.

[Colapop]

I don't give a shit who I serve with as long as that person has got my back as I would have theirs. I served with a 'chick' called Venus who could piss standing up, drink most guys under the table and slug it with the best of them in any bar fight (or other) and yet she was still feminine. She even liked wearing dresses!
I think I see what you mean though Swanmann although it's all of the armed forces that are being told to go easy. It's not a gender thing it's a PC thing.
Gone are the days where if someone was not pulling their weight you could take them round the back of the barracks and give 'em a bit of a sorting out, and you can't take a 'stinky' to the shower block for a scrub-down either.
Scumdog said it best when he said you don't get a good dog by treating it like a pussy (or words to that effect)

[Sniper]

Pity nowadays you can't beat the shit outta them until they toughen up

[sAsLEX]

I'm curious, is there no place in your army for anyone except testosterone filled males with control who arent gay?
No place for good managers and organisers of people/stores unless they are male?
Yes controlled aggression is good for an army, and no I would not want to be a grunt, hense being a medic, but there is a whole lot more to an army than simply killing, and someone has to do all the other shit. Unless you think a killer is good at everything else as well?

Your raise good points, swannys comments however were focussed mainly at the squad small front line unit rather than the organisation as a whole(how i read it). In which case he has a point. Woman have been shown to reduce combat effficiency of groups as the other members react differently when they are injured etc.

*pt* and as winja will point out of course woman can serve in the forces, someone needs to do the cooking and cleaning! *pt*

[James Deuce]

I wish, need a good one myself. I would love to start up a bike shop in Albany.

And I 'd like to work on a parts counter.

There's a plan here somewhere.

[jahrasti]

Timor, loved it there. Nothing like hearing shooting at 5 in the morning to set your mood for the day. Had a couple of others, but Im not allowed to say

cool were you in the sas? oh dont worry I get it Sat And Sun

[pritch]

I'm curious, is there no place in your army for anyone except testosterone filled males with control who arent gay?
No place for good managers and organisers of people/stores unless they are male?

Sorry Rashika, I'm with swanman here. I have never talked to anybody who has been at the sharp end who has been in favour of mixed gender frontline troops. The idea is usually put forward by people with little or no military experience who are pushing a feminist agenda.

The US Army tried it, some of the women couldn't handle the obstacle course, so the obstacles were lowered. The guys were then flying over the course no effort required. Some of the women found the stress levels involved in exercises too much for them, so they were given little cards to wave when feeling stressed. Guys then claimed gender discrimination and they too were given the cards. As soon as the situation approached "realistic" out came the little cards.

Eventually the impracticability of the whole idea of mixed gender infantry became too serious to ignore and all the females were posted elsewhere. The official Pentagon decision was while an all female infantry unit just might work there was no need for such a unit. (I did note that the Pentagon announcement was made by a female Colonel.)

There is no reason why women could not function perfectly well in the rear echelons. Having said that I believe that for both strategic and cultural reasons no females should be posted to places like Afghanistan, or perhaps even Iraq, at all.

None of which is meant to be a put-down of anybody, the fact of life is that the "teeth arms" are a unique situation. I'm sure any future enemy would be intensely grateful to find they were facing a politically correct, OSH observant, gay inclusive, infantry.

But all this is getting away from bikes a bit :-)

[Sniper]

Women and the military. Its a personal preference thing. I wouldn't fight next to a women basically because she would compromise the integrity of my squad. 30% of men would stop in an advance to help their best friend who had been shot. Compare that to 75% chance of 3 or more males who would stop in an advance to help a women they don't know who got shot. Now suddenly Im 3 men down because some girl got shot and when a section comprises of 8 men, Im fucked.

I would rely on information provided by a women more than a man though. Its a personal thing.