Why are you interested in the military?

[Ryz05]

What makes you interested in the military? I don't care the country. For me, I remember playing war games when I was young, and strategy games also fueled my interest. But it was really sinodefence.com that got me interested in recent military developements. I was just curious to know what the PLA has compared with other countries.

[wanderingmind]

Ryz05: I think you've asked an interesting question which I hope will receive good participation from the rest of the forum members. Myself, having served 20 years in uniform and another 20 years as a military employee, I'm interested in this forum because it's a meeting point. I find the U.S. military is not all that different from the Chinese military - except for our opposing ideologies and mindsets. For me, personally, what would be an exercise in frustration might be the "Iran Defence Today Forum." Trying to have a rational discussion with someone to whom you are the representative of the "Great Satan" would seemingly be fruitless. But, as this forum has shown, there can be exchange of information and ideas on a human scale. I am interested in the military not for the power it has, but because it serves as a microcosm of the society it represents, and also reflects the better attributes of that society, such as dedication and sense of duty, honor and simply being the best one can be.

[The_Zergling]

Actually what I was thinking was not represented by any of the options so I chose the last one, I was a big US military fan as a kid, wanting to fly F-14s for the Navy when I grew up, but gradually as time went on I guess I lost a lot of the idealism after the Iraq invasion...

So now I'm interested in the military primarily to see how it affects political discussions, feasibility and plausibility of threats and exercises.

[Gollevainen]

I served in the military....well every man in here does:cool: but anyway...I was intressed (among many other things) of military as a kid, partially becouse in kindegarden it was (and I believe still is) forbiden to play with guns or anything related to war so it was kind forbidden fruit to all boys...
And somehow it got on... But it was for me also a sort of national pride thing, not that related to engineerings (as a person, Im all but engineer type, despite my current studies), but to politics and expecially to history.

But in the hectic years of transistion 15-17, I went trough lot with my ideas and obinions and made a huge leap from the rigth wing nationalistic to this pseudo-hippy communist type of wannabe intellectual and I begun to look things from completely different angle. (among it I discarded my religion and resinged from the church)
But the intres to military didnt wind up, I just changed germany to Soviet Union...;) And after my national service, It got all new aspect and all sort of fanboyism drop out of my mind, and mist of searching artillery related stuff or possible artillery served comarads, I spotted the Ezboard's old sinodefence forum....and rest you know.

[bd popeye]

I started becoming instrested in the military by watching WWII movies on Tv and at the cinema when I was about 12-13 years old. I started reading abouts ships and planes etc. One of the things that got me really instrested was the US manned space missions in the 60's. The astronauts were always recovered by helos from a USN CV. That fasinated me. Then when I was in the 10th grade this kid that was a senior dropped out of school to join the USN. He wound up on a CVA. CVA-64 I think. He returned to school to vist and had on his "cruise jacket". (see below..not mine!) well to a 16 year old that was so cool and to listen to his sea stories was very intresting. So I decided to join either the USN or USAF. So when I graduated from high school I went down to see the USAF recruiter and and he was never there. I had seen an article in "Time" magazine about how ADM Zumwault had changed the USN. So because I could not get a hold of that USAF recruiter I joined the USN. The rest is history.

I served 20 years in the USN from 1971 until 1991. I served on 5 CV's and several shore stations.

I had two uncles that had 26 year careers in the USAF and US Army. My son has been in the USN for almost 9 years.

My intrest about all things military has never wained. And never will. :)

[FuManChu]

Need more options. I can't say why I'm interested per ce - I just am.

[Neutral Zone]

One of the first things I remember seeing on TV was the coverage of the Falklands War in 1982. I was mesmerised by looking at the pictures of the RN's Sea Harriers taking off the ski jumps of their carriers and landing back like helicopters, I'm from Northern Ireland and I've seen a lot of choppers over the years, the Harriers just looked the coolest things ever. For years it was my dream to be an FAA Harrier pilot, that never happened for various reasons, my eyesight is terrible for a start! But I'm just still interested in all things military.

[crazyinsane105]

I was pretty much interested in military affairs since grade school, but I really didn't have any knowledge about it. You see, all my other male friends have a huge interest in either sports or cars-or both. I have that much interest in the military. I guess it's because some of my family members (far off family members) held high positions in Pakistan's military back during '65 and '71. I only got interested after I stumbled across two sites: PDF and this one, Sinodefence. I became of of the first members on sinodefence and another one of the countless members of PDF. This was about two years ago when I was a senior in high school. Since then I've met quite people in real life that go on PDF (including the Webmaster himself) and maybe one day I'll end up meeting some of you.:china:

Since I joined, I realized that I had enough knowledge about military affairs to know nothing at all LOL. I mean, I probably know a whole lot more than the average Joe out there, but when in comparison to some of the members on this forum and others, I have very little knowledge. But that just motivates me even more to learn.

[Scratch]

I have several reasons why, I chose "interested in the engeneering" because I think this is the beginning of it all.
When I still was a kid, I was fascinated by airplanes. I went to airports several times with my father to see those birds taking off and landing. And it was impressiv, I mean those things are huge and really heavy, but still they fly like birds. So relatively early I became interested in technologies. (A bit strange is the fact that I always had problems with math but was quiet good in physics.)
This interest extended first to military planes. Over that I came across the Bundeswehr somehow. That was the time when I also became interested in politics on a rudimentary level. I started thinking about the role a military plays in a modern world and what it stands for and got caught by the ideas.
This in turn led to a wider interest in military technologies in special, and to a wider interest in those in general.
Politics and history are things that also come into play here.
Well, so I ended up where I'm now.

After school I joined the military a draftee. During that time a made the final decission to become a volunteer and apllied (?) for the duty.
I chose the job of a GAF pilot. I went through the test phases last summer. So I thought I could start in october-06 or I'm not suited for it. The dumb thing now is, the last test results weren't ready early enough. So I got out of duty last nov but can pretty sure start next august.
After all the benefits I got during my education and upgrowing (?) (I just had the luck to be born in one of the richest, savest and IMO just best ;) country in the world and I decided it's worth fighting for what it stands and paying back something for what I recieved; oh how pathetic).
Somehow many people around me don't understand me really in that regard.

And while surfing through the net I stumbeld across SDF. I'ver looked at several defence-forums and never liked them because it so often is an unfriendly atmosphere. This is however different here. It's very constructive and you learns something here. But perhaps even more importan is the fact that you can talk to so many people with similar interests in a civilized manner.

edit: holy crap is that long ... :)

[bd popeye]

And while surfing through the net I stumbeld across SDF. I'ver looked at several defence-forums and never liked them because it so often is an unfriendly atmosphere. This is however different here. It's very constructive and you learns something here. But perhaps even more importan is the fact that you can talk to so many people with similar interests in a civilized manner.


Thanks for the complement to our forum. We try hard to keep the discussion friendly and civil. :)

I found the old forum because I was thirsting for knowledge about a PLAN CV. It's been almost two years now...Wow!

[Ryz05]

Really interesting reading - thank everyone for the comments! I didn't put up a "Don't know" option because I think there must be at least one of the choices that suits. People can pick more than one choice for the poll.

[isthvan]

Well it is kind of hard not to gain interest in military when you are kid and your country is at war… I started reading military journals with 11 and practically absorbed all books on that subject I could find in local library. After war ended I have more or less lost interest on the subject but after my conscript service I regained part of that interest.
Also I was always more interested in military history and tactics then on shiny equipment most people are impressed whit…

[Finn McCool]

Also I was always more interested in military history and tactics then on shiny equipment most people are impressed whit…

I agree with you there Isthvan. A lot of the time I don't have as much technical knowledge as some of our members.But of course I learn and try to bring what expertise and interest I have (tactics, geopolitics, etc.) to the discussions. I read Defence Talk too and I joined but I didn't really post there because I just like SDF a lot more. Why? Well, I like the faster pace of posting and obviously we are one of the most professional forums out there. But mostly there is a real community of posters here and I feel like I actually know the other members; their viewpoints, their areas of expertise, their personalities.

As for the military, I would consider joining the Navy but am more interested in going into the State Department or CIA.

[Dongfeng]

Sorry for being nerd but to me the most wonderful thing about the military is how it is driving the development of the science and technology. Take the WWII for example, if you compare the weaponry used at the beginning of the war with the one used at the end of the war, you would be amazed how far the technology went. Of course, killing is always a bad thing.

I was from an engineering background and I am alway keen to learn about about the latest technology.

I strongly agree with wanderingmind that even thought US and PRC see each other as potential enemy, there is a lot of common ground for people from both sides to have a civilised conversation.

[DarkEminence]

When I was little, I was horribly interested in chemistry (and had a fascination with making things explode). Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I could make stuff explode with chemistry! And, that bombs were powered by chemistry!

After that, I've been interested in military affairs, but with a scientific eye (I may not know what a piece of equipment is, but give me a few minutes and I can tell you probably how it works).

[planeman]

Men in uniform just do it for me ;) I couldn't agree more :coffee:

[bd popeye]

Ha Ha Ha!!:)

Planeman has used his editing skills to delibertly mis-quote me..:)

I never posted that..but it is funny.:D Let's just leave it at that!

PS>>> If I did post that I sure don't remember!

[jinpei]

Love the engineering of these deadly but unique machines.

My old man served in the Korean War. My oldest brother served in Vietnam War.
Both in the US Army.

I started as a ME major but ended in CS, but still love anything mechanical and electronic. Also love building 1/72scale WWII warplanes when I was young.

Found allot of really great info in this forum. Keep up the good work.:coffee:

[wanderingmind]

After I read the responses since my first posting, I had to stop and think back for a few minutes, and decided to add my own reply to the central question:

I was a "Baby Boom" baby, born two years after the end of World War II. When I was a three-year-old, my father was recalled to duty with the National Guard and stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where we joined him. I still remember proudly carrying his "tin pot" helmet up the stairs to our apartment every afternoon when he came home. For two years, I was an "Army Brat," in all the best senses of the term. When he was released, we went back to Minnesota, but Dad continued to wear his uniform one weekend a month and to summer camp two weeks every year.

Just after I got out of first grade, we moved when Dad went on duty as a full-time National Guard technician in another city, wearing his uniform to work every day. This, of course, gave me status with my schoolmates. And, every chance I got, I was at the armory, learning how to strip and clean everything from .45 pistols to Browning Automatic Rifles to M-1 Garands and M-1 carbines to Model 1919A4 air-cooled light machineguns. His fellow guardsmen were happy to show me things, and by the time I was a third-grader, I could perform every function on the 105mm howitzer crew except loader -- those shells were just too darned heavy for me. I could plot a grid coordinate, level, lay and elevate the gun to the proper settings, and open the breechblock. At a big occasion for the dedication of a new armory annex, I even got to pull the lanyard on a blank charge!
:D

Then my father was medically separated from the Guard with a heart condition, and back we moved to my old hometown. However, my connections to the military didn't end. Our church would conduct a paper drive every year, and I would ride the truck. Besides newspapers, people would contribute old books and magazines, etc. I don't think there was ever a drive where I didn't bring home my own weight in books for my personal use. I once possessed dozens of English Literature textbooks, McGuffey's Readers, etc., from the early 1900's, as well as World War I and between-the-wars Army field manuals and other things.

And I pored over these books! I read literature classics and things that were way beyond my years like they were going out of style. In fifth grade, my teachers were astonished that I had read "Ivanhoe" - which wasn't even on the required reading lists until the freshman year of college. I didn't care -- I was in hog heaven! (And I still read an average of six to eight books each week. Just ask our happy librarian!)
;)

While I was absorbing all these books, I also absorbed some of the things they talked about. Reading "A Message to Garcia" out of a 1910 McGuffey Reader, you can't help but understand the underlying concepts of duty and initiative and honor. I guess I indoctrinated myself in the higher military concepts as I went along... By my late teens, I knew I would be either a professional military man or a pastor or - combining both worlds - a chaplain. After I found out there would be no money available for college, my choices were firmed up.

In my senior year in high school, I was all set to join the Army Security Agency as a German linguist with a guaranteed assignment to Germany, when I got a letter from a friend a year ahead of me in school who had taken the same deal. He did get his guaranteed first assignment to Germany, and was placed on immediate "temporary duty" to Vietnam as a rifleman... So, I went to the recruiting office next door to the Army, got a "No B.S., No Guarantees" speech that I liked - and at 17, a month out of high school, I was sworn into the U.S. Air Force, where I spent 20 years as a military man - and have now worked for the Air Force as a civilian another 20 years.

So, I'm interested in the military profession as one who was impressed by it, who was indoctrinated in it, who has served in it, and who has studied it all my life. Right now, in the books I took out from the base library yesterday, I have Lt Gen Gus Pagonis's book on leadership and logistics in Operation Iraqi Freedom, a book on the Army's enlisted pilots, and a re-read of Alan Warwick Palmer's book "The Gardeners of Salonika" - the story of the British army's operations in Salonika during the Great War.

In fact, I'm going to give a plug right now for a book I just finished reading for the second time: "Enduring The Freedom: A Rogue Historian In Afghanistan" by Sean M. Maloney. He teaches in the War Studies Programme at the Royal Military College of Canada and is the Strategic Studies Advisor to the Canadian Defence Academy, and his style of writing, his wit and his candor are exceptionally refreshing. If you want an understanding of coalition warfare as practiced in Afghanistan in 2005, look no further. It's exceptionally good!
:coffee:

[ahho]

After the second iraq war, i noticed that tank vs tank is not about number anymore is about their technology, and was insterested in this because what can give so much advantage to the US.

i was like hmm US is gonna have a hard time since iraqi have so many tank and planes, but after i went to this site, you got a 4km tank gun and bvr missile making it so one sided. Kind of scary to know the reality but hey sometimes you gonna face it.