Military People Stereotypes

ColorsWolf

New member
I would just like to ask some thing, please answer if you know any thing about this subject or just feel free to share your thoughts here, why do many people have so many stereotypes about some one who is a "military person"?~

I've noticed that often people when they notice from some form of indication that I am in the U.S.A. Military Navy, often from the shirt I am wearing because I have just left a DEP meeting, in-person they will "thank me for serving our country", but online it's a different story:

when ever I mention that I am in the U.S.A. Military Navy on online forums and then proceed to express my personal views, thoughts, and perspective on ANY subject: it seems most people will respond by saying that "that will be beat out of me soon by the Navy".~

What?~

I do not know what kind of "ideal" many of these people have about "what it means to be a Navy military man or person", but it seems if I'm "not it" in their eyes then "the military" will some how "correct me" into being "what they (not the military) think I should be".~

I know that many people have almost no knowledge at all about the U.S.A. Military, but no matter how much I have tried to reason with people who hold stereotypes of "military people" they seem determined to not be open to learning any thing that contradicts their held stereotypes or beliefs about "military people".~

I have not been shipped out to basic training yet, but I will be in January 2014 now, but my recruiters and every one in the military who have been in for far longer than I have have taught me much: including that "A Non-Marine, Non-SEAL, Navy Sailor is their specialty first. We don't say I am a Navy Sailor, we say I am a (Navy job) Aerographer's Mate and a U.S.A. Navy Sailor. Unlike a Marine who is always a Marine first, their job specialty second. You want action, you want combat go Marines or Navy SEALs that is their special area. You want technology and super specialized fields then go regular Navy, that is us."
 
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I do not know what kind of "ideal" many of these people have about "what it means to be a Navy military man or person", but it seems if I'm "not it" in their eyes then "the military" will some how "correct me" into being "what they (not the military) think I should be".~

More like, what they (the military) think you should be.

From what I've seen you write, you're a free-thinking person who believes that individuals have the right to express themselves and dance to the beat of their own drum.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but free-thinking is exactly the opposite of what you're taught in basic training. Don't think, just obey. Don't question authority. Don't second guess your commander. Do what you're told, follow orders, trust in your leadership at all costs. Free-thinkers don't make good sailors -- they have an annoying tendency to ask "why?"

I would assume that's what people mean when they say the military will beat it out of you. You'll be taught that your personal views, thoughts, and perspectives are less than irrelevant. You eat when they say eat, you piss when they say piss, you sleep when they say sleep, you run when they say run, and you shoot when they say shoot. But most of all, you think what they say think.

I could be wrong. I admit I'm not speaking from personal experience. So let's touch base when you finish basic training and see who's further off the mark.
 
I agree; many aspects of my personality are incredibly suited to being in the Military. More so when I was younger. However, I don't have that 'just obey" disposition. I couldn't do something that I felt is wrong. I even struggle with that on Call of Duty. And because I lack that mentality, it would be a very miserable life for me at best, and at worst, I could compromise an operation and/or other people.
 
Everyone joins thinking they know what they're letting themselves in for, but being in the military is a completely different lifestyle to what you'd have experienced up until now. It's more immersive than just about any civilian job you can name and for extended periods of time it's all you do for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. IME it also bears very little similarity to what TV and the movies would have you believe.

You've no doubt been making assumptions about military life based on the big differences between how you live now and how you'll live then, but it's the small stuff that you'll end up caught by. I'm not going to tell you "they'll beat it out of you", because that sort of thing is (or at least should be) frowned upon, but you will find a military life is different than you expect in a hundred tiny ways. If you're still in in 5 years you'll look back on yourself as you are now and shake your head at your naivety, although half of that will be due to 28-year old you laughing at 23-year old you no matter what line of work you end up in. Even earlier than that, by half-way through basic training you'll probably find yourself sniggering at some of your more starry-eyed expectations, and if/when you make it through basic the memory of telling people "I am in the U.S.A. Military Navy" before you actually set foot in training and expecting them to take you seriously will have you rolling around the floor in fits of laughter.
 
More like, what they (the military) think you should be.

From what I've seen you write, you're a free-thinking person who believes that individuals have the right to express themselves and dance to the beat of their own drum.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but free-thinking is exactly the opposite of what you're taught in basic training. Don't think, just obey. Don't question authority. Don't second guess your commander. Do what you're told, follow orders, trust in your leadership at all costs. Free-thinkers don't make good sailors -- they have an annoying tendency to ask "why?"

I would assume that's what people mean when they say the military will beat it out of you. You'll be taught that your personal views, thoughts, and perspectives are less than irrelevant. You eat when they say eat, you piss when they say piss, you sleep when they say sleep, you run when they say run, and you shoot when they say shoot. But most of all, you think what they say think.

I could be wrong. I admit I'm not speaking from personal experience. So let's touch base when you finish basic training and see who's further off the mark.

Correcting as requested: see this the mentality that many who have little interaction with the military or little understanding of the military life have.~

This is not a "bad" thing, there is just some need for education here.~

Let me explain:

1. The first thing many people not in the military need to know is: most if not ALL of us serving in the military are here because we volunteered by our own free will, with most if not all of us knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into and thus I chose this path of life and every thing that comes with it: it's not all completely about "obeying" it's about a commitment you made upon joining the military, agreeing to all of its' rules, and signing that legal contract.~


2. The military or at least from what I know of the Navy is not some "big evil corporation that will allow no room for free thought and crush all mentions of questioning authority": the military is an organization with jobs and like many organizations with jobs it has rules, but these rules do not make those of high authority "gods" incapable of ever being corrupted or questioned, the military is an organization run by "people": when an order is given whether it is illegal according the military rules and/or the country's rules OR not, there are procedures, rules, and measures and practices to be followed and than can be taken to question it and more.~


An example is joining a banking corporation: now according to the rules and regulations of that banking corporation and the laws of the country it is in taking money from the banking corporation for yourself without permission is illegal, you know this, you knew this before joining this corporation and agreeing to work for them, would you do it any way "just because you felt like it"?~

Most likely not.~

The same goes joining the military and for example deciding to get drunk on duty, the military has now a "Zero-Tolerance" policy in regards to being intoxicated from alcohol or ANY substance while on duty: you WILL be fired and NEVER allowed to come back in.~

Another military example that applies is abusing your authority for "sexual abuse" of female military personnel, again the military takes these kinds of things very seriously.~
 
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Everyone joins thinking they know what they're letting themselves in for, but being in the military is a completely different lifestyle to what you'd have experienced up until now. It's more immersive than just about any civilian job you can name and for extended periods of time it's all you do for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. IME it also bears very little similarity to what TV and the movies would have you believe.

You've no doubt been making assumptions about military life based on the big differences between how you live now and how you'll live then, but it's the small stuff that you'll end up caught by. I'm not going to tell you "they'll beat it out of you", because that sort of thing is (or at least should be) frowned upon, but you will find a military life is different than you expect in a hundred tiny ways. If you're still in in 5 years you'll look back on yourself as you are now and shake your head at your naivety, although half of that will be due to 28-year old you laughing at 23-year old you no matter what line of work you end up in. Even earlier than that, by half-way through basic training you'll probably find yourself sniggering at some of your more starry-eyed expectations, and if/when you make it through basic the memory of telling people "I am in the U.S.A. Military Navy" before you actually set foot in training and expecting them to take you seriously will have you rolling around the floor in fits of laughter.

I made no such assumptions and I do not know what life in the active duty Navy Military will be like.~

I know only what I have learned and been taught so far.~

Perhaps things will be different in a thousand tiny little ways than my life now or perhaps it will be vastly different than my life now, what ever it will be like: I welcome it and I look forward to what ever it will be and I will try to make the best of what ever situation I find myself in or I am doing and I always find some way to appreciate every thing.~

I signed my contract knowing full well exactly what I was getting myself into: I am ready and willing to die for my country, agreeing to all of its' (the Navy Military's) rules.~

I do not like it when people make assumptions about the kind of person that I am and the kind of things I would do: military or not, it is not fair to me nor to any one it is done to, and it is very presumptuous of those who do so.~
 
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It's the same as someone about to start their first semester of university calling themselves an aerospace engineer, or a guy applying for an apprenticeship calling himself a plumber. All their research into the job may have been done, but they have no qualifications or experience so to claim the title is laughable.

That said, you've already decided what you're going to believe and as I've noticed that you don't actually ask your thread-starting questions in order to hear other points of view I'll leave you to it. Best of luck with your chosen profession.
 
I am former Air Force.

It's human nature to categorize people based on our existing knowledge base. It is shorthand thinking. If we didn't do this, we would be overwhelmed with information overload. Not good, not bad, it just is.


As a service member, you will be expected and held to a higher standard of conduct than the average citizen. We don't give guns to those who guard the gates unless we trust them not to use them against us. "Higher standards" is a societal subjective concept. It means that behavior that lies outside societal norms are discouraged. (Although, I would like to note that the US military integrated before the rest of US society did.) As such, when people say that BMT will beat freethinking out of you, this is what they mean.

There is a misconception that service members are not allowed to question authority. There is nothing further from the truth. We are called to follow lawful orders without hesitation. That means we always evaluate the orders we are given, knowing that we rarely have all the information available, in an extremely small window of time. If we carry out an unlawful order, we are held just as accountable as we are if we fail to carry out a lawful one.

Individuality is permitted in as much as it 1) doesn't interfere with the mission, and 2) doesn't detract from the professional image needed for societal trust.
 
I am former Air Force.

It's human nature to categorize people based on our existing knowledge base. It is shorthand thinking. If we didn't do this, we would be overwhelmed with information overload. Not good, not bad, it just is.


As a service member, you will be expected and held to a higher standard of conduct than the average citizen. We don't give guns to those who guard the gates unless we trust them not to use them against us. "Higher standards" is a societal subjective concept. It means that behavior that lies outside societal norms are discouraged. (Although, I would like to note that the US military integrated before the rest of US society did.) As such, when people say that BMT will beat freethinking out of you, this is what they mean.

There is a misconception that service members are not allowed to question authority. There is nothing further from the truth. We are called to follow lawful orders without hesitation. That means we always evaluate the orders we are given, knowing that we rarely have all the information available, in an extremely small window of time. If we carry out an unlawful order, we are held just as accountable as we are if we fail to carry out a lawful one.

Individuality is permitted in as much as it 1) doesn't interfere with the mission, and 2) doesn't detract from the professional image needed for societal trust.

Thank you SO MUCH!~ FINALLY some one understands what I am talking about!~ XD

When it is just me saying these things, 1 or 2 people or no one will believe me let alone take me seriously when I try to explain it to them, I am SO glad some one who is in the military besides myself has finally spoken up on this issue!~

Thank you!~ ^_^

Let me elaborate for Emm and every one else who didn't get my point with my last post:

I do not like it when people make assumptions about the kind of person that I am and the kind of things I would do: military or not, it is not fair to me nor to any one it is done to, and it is very presumptuous of those who do so.~

I have my own thoughts, feelings, view points, and perspectives of every thing and I am and I am trying to be the kind of person that I want to be.~

I agreed to all of the laws, rules, and regulations of the organization that I signed up for.~

This is what other people on online forums almost always do to me: they assume I will question some one of authority the first chance that I get and that some how having an individual thought of my own without even acting upon it will immediately alert every one and have me singled-put for "being a free-thinker".~

To make such HUGE assumptions that I am:

1) Unlawful, unruly

2) Have no self-control

3) Have no sense of timing or how to read a situation

and 4) Have absolutely NO respect for those in command

to make ANY of these assumptions when some one leaps to their imagined situation of me "always questioning authority and being disrespectful" is mind-boggling, it's unfair, judgmental, stereotyping, generalizing, highly presumptuous, and just plain ridiculous.~

It's even more sad when these assuming people don't even want to be open to understanding what kind of person I really am like, what the organization I work for is really like, and what they think they know is often just a fantasy.~
 
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We are called to follow lawful orders without hesitation. That means we always evaluate the orders we are given, knowing that we rarely have all the information available, in an extremely small window of time.

My emphasis.
 
We are called to follow lawful orders without hesitation. That means we always evaluate the orders we are given, knowing that we rarely have all the information available, in an extremely small window of time.

My emphasis.

I've already explained it in great detail, if you still do not understand then I can not help you.~

I'm sorry.~
 
You don't have to explain anything. What it means is that you're expected to analyse whether something is lawful and right without full information. You could, in theory, blow up a building that has bad guys in it and not know or be told that behind it is a school because that information was deemed irrelevant. So now, you've killed a bunch of kids. Some people could deal with that thinking they just followed orders, I couldnt and I doubt you could either. But we'll see.
 
You don't have to explain anything. What it means is that you're expected to analyse whether something is lawful and right without full information. You could, in theory, blow up a building that has bad guys in it and not know or be told that behind it is a school because that information was deemed irrelevant. So now, you've killed a bunch of kids. Some people could deal with that thinking they just followed orders, I couldnt and I doubt you could either. But we'll see.

Ah I understand what you mean, and I agree with your point.~

We do the best with the information that we have at the time, that is why it is helpful to try to be prepared and gather as much information as you can find, but this still does not cancel out the possibility that some thing might just be what we didn't expect it to be.~

As military people we accept the possibility that these kinds of things might happen and we take full responsibility for what ever may happen as a result of our actions or inactions whether we had full knowledge of such things or not.~

Personally, I don't think I'd end up a situation of direct combat, because my job is to study the sky, the weather, and the ocean and how they all interact together, but there is always the possibility of becoming engaged in direct combat or ending up in a situation like the one you described.~

I think it would tear me apart inside to severely hurt any one and to kill any thing (Human or not), I don't know every thing about what I might do because honestly some things you just don't know until the situation is already happening, but in the end it is up me to decide what to do in that kind of situation: no one is going to jump inside my body and pull the trigger of a gun for me (that I know of), and I have to decide where to aim it.~
 
I think it would tear me apart inside to severely hurt any one and to kill any thing (Human or not), I don't know every thing about what I might do because honestly somethingsyou just don't know until the situation is already happening, but in the end it is up me to decide what to do in that kind of situation: no one is going to jump inside my body and pull the trigger of a gun for me (that I know of), and I have to decide where to aim it.~

But you deciding not to blow up that building might compromise the operation and/or your colleagues. That's why I feel people like me, or you, shouldn't be in the military.
 
But you deciding not to blow up that building might compromise the operation and/or your colleagues. That's why I feel people like me, or you, shouldn't be in the military.

Still I chose this path, I made a commitment and I want to see where this path might take me.~

Thank you for your concern,

love,

ColorsWolf
 
I'd like to clear up some more stereotypes about military people:

Stereotype: All military people approve of violence.~

Truth: Some do and some of us are pacifists whether you believe it or not.~ I'm not just speaking for myself here, there are people who have been in the military far longer than I have and some who still are in the military, who are all pacifists.~ We do not believe violence is the best nor should it be the first option, and we do all that we can to use and to exhaust all options to prevent violence: like some one once said, "There are no winners in War, every one loses some one they love."

We do the best that we can in the best ways that we know how with what ever we have to work with or not to work with, nothing is ever "black and white": there is always far more to the picture than many can see at first.~


Stereotype: All military men are or will eventually become "tough", "jaded", "unstable", "never smile", or "cowardly".~

Truth: We can all be any of these at any time, some are more of one of these than the others more often, but like always it's an individual thing.~

For me personally: I love and enjoy every thing, I love to talk, I love to smile, I love to laugh, and I love to make jokes.~ I hope that I continue to do so and if I don't then I hope that some how I will remember how to smile, how to love, how to enjoy life, and how to appreciate every thing, for truly: in my opinion if you are not content then there is no point in the life that you are living.~ I'm happy just to be alive and when I'm dead I'll be happy to be dead, for I appreciate every thing.~


Stereotype: All military women eventually get taken "advantage" of.~

Truth: I know for a fact that there are some military women who can wipe the floor with any one at any moment metaphorically and literally.~ What ever a woman can or can not do is up to herself same as a man, no one else.~ If you want to know some thing about some one ask them, don't assume any thing, ever.~ Yes, many military places still treat women like their porcelain dolls and it is not fair to them.~ Some women might not have earned their their position with exactly the same requirements as their male versions and some might have, for many it was not their choice to be treated this way.~ Regardless, do not make the mistake of underestimating what a "military woman" is capable of.~
 
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Truth: Some do and some of us are pacifists whether you believe it or not.~ I'm not just speaking for myself here, there are people who have been in the military far longer than I have and some who still are in the military, who are all pacifists.~
lways far more to the picture than many can see at first.~

You sure this isn't simply people not understanding pacifism?.. honestly I had to look it up, because I was 100% sure you could not be one and be in the military. I had believed, until 2 minutes ago, that a pacifist military person was right up there with jumbo shrimp and atheist christian..

I was incorrect. Pacifism is a hugely wide spectrum including things I would have never considered pacifist. :).. might require you offering up some re-education when calling yourself pacifist.

Stereotype: All military women eventually get taken "advantage" of.~

To be fair. Sexual assault in the military is borderline rampant. The stats are insanely high compared to civilian life. Considering how the world can paint in broad strokes, its no doubt that people make that stereotype.

Tough or not.. tough people get assaulted all the time. Being tough is irrelevant. Just ask any inmate in a federal prison.
 
lways far more to the picture than many can see at first.~

You sure this isn't simply people not understanding pacifism?.. honestly I had to look it up, because I was 100% sure you could not be one and be in the military. I had believed, until 2 minutes ago, that a pacifist military person was right up there with jumbo shrimp and atheist christian..

I was incorrect. Pacifism is a hugely wide spectrum including things I would have never considered pacifist. :).. might require you offering up some re-education when calling yourself pacifist.

This is why being a Pacifist and being a military person are not incompatible things, Pacifism can mean many things depending on who you ask: but all Pacifists try to avoid, prevent, discourage, delay, or stop violence in some way.~

To be fair. Sexual assault in the military is borderline rampant. The stats are insanely high compared to civilian life. Considering how the world can paint in broad strokes, its no doubt that people make that stereotype.

I can neither confirm nor deny that, as I do not have any experience in this area nor do I have specific data in regard to this subject at hand.~

From what I have heard how ever, this is a gross misrepresentation of the reality of these matters.~

As military personnel it is mine and all of our's DUTY to do all we can to prevent these kinds of things from happening and to stop them when they are happening by any and all means necessary: regardless of every thing, I will not hesitate to physically take down (not kill) any and all rapists.~

Tough or not.. tough people get assaulted all the time. Being tough is irrelevant. Just ask any inmate in a federal prison.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong.~

A truly persevering individual will always find a way to accomplish their goals no matter what the circumstances are, I'm not saying it is impossible to get raped as a "tough" individual, I'm saying you are doing a great disservice by completely disregarding them as individuals with each their own characteristics.~

Every thing matters at all times in all situations.~
 
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I'm sorry, but you are wrong.~

A truly persevering individual will always find a way to accomplish their goals no matter what the circumstances are, I'm not saying it is impossible to get raped as a "tough" individual, I'm saying you are doing a great disservice by completely disregarding them as individuals with each their own characteristics.~

Every thing matters at all times in all situations.~

Fair enough, irrelevant was a very strong phrase..
 
So, victims of sexual assault who fight back unsuccessfully are somehow not persevering enough? I hope I'm reading you wrong...
 
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