So pissed off at tories putting military youth groups into deprived area schools

[trashcanjunkie]

We live in Newcastle. Yes it's a deprived area. I feel aghast at the fact the only half decent comprehensive school in our area has a cadet group based at school, with fucking army wankers there recruiting kids. The whole army campaign to get them young and 'make them better people' boils my fucking piss. They're cannon fodder who will likely get shipped out to oil wars, and left up shit creek without a paddle, wanting for basic kit etc. Then they either get blown to pieces, die, or come home horrifically injured or psychologically shattered. Now the government are rolling out another military type program and are putting money into sending them into schools in deprived areas.

Fwiw I've nothing against youngsters learning discipline or survival skills etc. I just have an issue with recruiting cannon fodder from 'us plebs'....

Army wankers I will tell my dh that he crawled on his stomach clearing minefields so people could return to their homes and fields perhaps he should have spent his life on benefits instead 'll just pop his medals in the charity bag shame on you

I'm an Ex Army Wanker. So is DH.

I hated school, didn't work to my full potential, was bored, was taken advantage of by a civilian boss, had no prospects.

DH was from a seriously deprived area, was bought up in poverty, had a mother that ate every other day so her kids got fed. Was abused by his stepfather and expected to die before he hit 30.

I had a 24 year career, DH had a 22 year career. At the end of it we had enough in savings to buy our lovely home outright, a pension that means we don't need to work. DSD and DD have prospects coming out of their ears - that neither of us had. We had purpose, education, training, camaraderie, loyalty, discipline, strength and compassion. We discovered brains we never knew we had and used them to their fullest.

I don't mind being called an Army Wanker. I've done so well for myself that it barely registers

I'm in the armed forces, I'm certainly not a wanker or cannon fodder. What I have is (on my terms anyway) an excellent career.
I came from a terrible family, the armed forces has given me so much more than just a job.
They've part paid for my Masters, I've been fortunate enough to represent them in a few sports, and I've been able to learn to ski, etc

And not all people who leave the armed forces are 'damaged' in my service 99% of us leave with no issues (mental or physical).

dallas I mind being called an army wanker because I'm in be RAF

I completely share your sentiments about what the armed forces has given you. Without RAF discipline God knows where I'd be now.

And why does it say 'tories' in your title didn't Labour fight to get cadets into state schools? it started in the mid noughties didn't it? You are an ignorant, ill educated, bigot.

I know an incredibly posh chap went to one of th big four boys' schools that cost 30+ grand a year. He did ccf and went into the army. He suffers from ptsd and had a medical discharge after he was on patrol on the frontline and a 12 yr old suicide bomber advanced towards him and he had to shoot the child in the head.

The previous generation in my family were from properly deprived northern areas, scratching existences out of a bleak hillside in Lancashire as farm labourers. Their kids went into the army and the RAF at the bottom, worked their way up in non-infantry roles and, as others have said, have set themselves up for life and given their children advantages they themselves never received.

Cadets can be great for young people and it is up to the kids to decide whether they want to be infantry. Injuries and ptsd happen to anyone everyone, whether from Eton, Harrow or an inner city school. The army has been pretty crap in the past at helping the medically discharged, but this culture is changing. If you go into the navy or raf, you are less likely to receive life changing injuries and much less likely to end up with mental health issues.

Oh, and I play full contact rugby two leagues below premiership level - have done for 10 years and admittedly have injured my knee and hand - but I have a first class degree and a PhD and work as a lecturer at a Russell Group uni, ta! My worst concussion was from a fall when eventing my horse and even then my brains remain unscrambled.

Pinkipook

Oh yes, the Sports. DH played Army football for a while and did sports tours to lots of lovely places. I was a snowborder and spent 2 months in Austria and Canada over the winter. Oh and diving - trips to Malaysia, Belieze, Australia and Egypt. I've got a couple of friends who took part in the Commonwealth Games, another 3 in the Olympics and one in the Paralympics.

Not bad for wankers and cannon fodder

Got to love a nice armed forces bashing thread hasn't been one in a while.
Think of those "army wankers" like me, my DH, my dad and all the other men and women who serve or have served while you sleep soundly in your bed.

People like you boil my piss OP. You disgust me.

MyBreadiseggy from Lightening Towers off to work now damn all those opportunities

I agree with you OP. And yes, this is a recent Tory thing: there was a report on it on the today programme yesterday morning. I found it chilling: the kids were all going on about how much fun the guns were. Not the map reading.

It's cynical and retrograde at the same time. Bring back national service, what the youth of today need is another world war ... Disgruntled of tunbridge wells is running the country.

lightening I've just told DH about this thread, and it's just taken him 10 mins o lace up his boots because he was laughing damn all this cheap housing, great travel opportunities, solid salary and education opportunities for our children. How dare the government have the audacity to offer that to the next generation
(And just for the record OP, I no longer have a military career, as I was blown up on the job, say what you will about that, I still loved my job and never would have changed it!)

the kids were all going on about how much fun the guns were. Not the map reading.

Hardly surprising! We had an air rifle when I was a child and it was SUCH good fun shooting targets, cans and apples in the garden. Map reading not so much...

I am not a gun wielding violent maniac.

MyBreadIsEggy, great that you loved your job and sorry to hear you were blown up. From my pov as the parent of a son who lives in a moderately deprived area, I'd quite like him to have to opportunity of having a brilliant varied interesting job that can make a difference to the lives of others but without the possibility of being blown up or blowing anyone else up. No disrespect meant to you, your Dh or anyone else who serves in the forces. It would be a shame if the only choice for young people from deprived areas was the army.

I bloody loved air cadets, opened up masses of activities, cheap holidays, different friends, training in sports, and a bit of discipline. Left me with a fondness for the forces, but I never joined up!

Not a private school BTW!

And it would be a mistake to believe that the government's motives are entirely altruistic. They don't give a shit about these young people. Not all of them can go in the army and better themselves though, or there won't be any left to claim benefits and be demonised.

It's not the only choice....but it's a bloody good choice! I had no GCSE's and no career prospects when I left school at 16. So off I did trot, down to the Army Careers Office, picked up the paperwork, went home, handed it to my mum and just said "mum can you sign this." And with that signature, my mum gave me the best future I could possibly have got. The army paid for me to re-sit my GCSE's, paid for me to get Level 2 NVQ's in English and maths, Level 3 in ICT, numerous vocational courses, they paid for my theory test and practical driving lessons and test, they paid for a few train tickets a couple of times a year so I wasn't paying out of my own pocket to go home, they gave me amazing sports opportunities, career progression, I saw some of the most incredible places on this planet, as well as some of the most horrific things you could imagine. Yes I ended up getting seriously hurt. But the likelihood of that happening is very slim. It's just bad luck really. The only reason people get so uppity about injured and dead soldiers is because that's all the press write about. If a newspaper front page said "79,999 soldiers survived today - 1 dead", the paper wouldn't sell. The amount of people that actually get seriously injured or killed is very small in comparison to the number that don't.

Through work I have been doing a project with the army cadets, have a look at emir website, their are literally hundreds of detachments, loads and loads are based in local schools,, th detachments are in every single area even the remotest Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Traditionally high areas of unemployment such as the north east have provided lots of recruits to the armed forces, due to lack of opportunity, and those recruits have learned trades and skills that may otherwise have been denied of them.

I do not think it is wrong to offer the opportunity to anyone that wants to take it. unless the army go out there and show the youth what they can offer we wouldnt have an army to defend our country, no one is forced to join up.

Written by West Yorkshire person with all mothers side being military from South Shields for three generations.

I'd quite like him to have to opportunity of having a brilliant varied interesting job that can make a difference to the lives of others but without the possibility of being blown up or blowing anyone else up.
You can say no disrespect but that doesn't make it respectful. Anyone who tried to degrade a role in the armed forces to "blowing people up" has no real grasp of the vast range of opportunities available. I feel like we're playing the stereotypical armed forces bingo here. Waiting patiently for "baby killer" to come up, that seems to be a favourite on here.

The Army and Navy were at my DC's school recruiting at a careers event the other day, they have a cadets group for both based at the school. I don't think it's anything to do with whether an area is deprived or not.

Bloody iPad, changes spellings and grammar like I change my knickers. Apologies for grammatically crap post above.

fucking army wankers

How fucking dare you! That's the likes of DS1 you're talking about! A young man who spent most of the Christmas period tigh deep in sewage and flood water through choice helping those in the north of England.

He joined at 19, he'd have joined sooner, but we all felt it was important for him to do his A levels first. He's already been picked out for great things in his regiment and he's been with them less than an year. Oh, and he's skilled too!

DH is an RAF wanker, what a tit he is. He left school with average qualifications and is now a very highly, skilled aircraft engineer.

Yanbu, OP. I his sort of thing makes me sick. It's all very well filling the heads of niave, impressionable youths with crap about opportunities for travel and challenging yourself blah blah blah but they should be forced to show them the other side of the coin. Take them to a military hospital to see people who have had their limbs blown off. Show them videos of foreign children lying dead in the street.

Killing people is more than just another career choice.

It's just not appropriate really, is it?

My DP worked in a supermarket for minimum wage, was overweight and depressed. He now earns well over double his peers and that will continue as the army have given him a skill that will always be worth money. We own our house because of the army lending us 5k to buy it. He has the opportunity to go anywhere. They are paying for him to finally take the degree he's always wanted to do but never would be able to as he has a family he provides for. It's not the only choice but it's a bloody good one if you feel stuck in a dead end job. Why would you want to take that away from the kids that do benefit just because you think your kids are too good for it?

The cadet groups in public schools are to harness the next generation of officers, completely different to putting it into state schools
YADNBU