Page 3 | War, conscription & fitness

petitetiti · 2024-01-27T18:56:21+00:00

I have no idea how fit people were the last time there was military conscription in the UK. I don't think even a small fraction of the 18 to 50 (?) are nearly fit enough. What happened in Ukraine? What would happen in the UK? It would take YEARS to get this generation fit again.

RH1234 · 27/01/2024 20:14

Firstly, this is very unlikely to happen.

Hypothetically, fitness will just improve, it’s not hard to build fitness and drop weight with good routine. (Minus any health conditions).

As a veteran I would obviously put my uniform back on and do my best, not because I believe in war, “oil disputes” or religion based disputes, but because I have a wife and daughter and if it meant it gave them a slightly higher chance of having better hope for the future that’s all that matters to me.

However, the comments about people point blank refusing, that doesn’t bother me. If I’m putting my life on the line, I want to know the person next to me wants to watch my back as much as I’m watching there’s.

Luckily this is hypothetical and if it all went wrong it’ll be all ex forces and new joiners (Afghan and Iraq boosted recruitment) who will step up as required.

EasternStandard · 27/01/2024 20:16

I don’t think this will happen but it wouldn’t take that long

DojaPhat · 27/01/2024 20:19

FruitBat53 · 27/01/2024 20:13

3 out of my 4 grandparents served in WW2 and the other grandparent took in refugees. It scarred all of them in different ways. But like a PP mentioned, there was a huge sense of national pride and belonging. Britain is now a mass cultural experiment rather than a country.

I hear this!! But take solace in the young generation - especially the Brits descended from the Windrush generation. These kids saw just how accommodating and welcoming the of Brits and government were and have been to their grandparents, particularly the Home Office, so that's at least one demographic we can count on looking at the recruitment figures.

Bululu · 27/01/2024 20:55

@JaneyGee excellent post.

Babyroobs · 27/01/2024 20:58

Most wouldn't even pass a medical based on mental health, physical fitness adhd, autism etc. the ones that don't already have mental health issues would try to get signed off I think. I am trying to think how my four kids in their late teens and twenties would react. Ds1 would accept he had to do it but be terrified, DS2 would be fit enough and likely up for it as would dd. Ds3 would try to get out of it on the basis of MH. Hopefully it will never happen, but it is a worry.

Naptrappedmummy · 27/01/2024 21:21

Babyroobs · 27/01/2024 20:58

Most wouldn't even pass a medical based on mental health, physical fitness adhd, autism etc. the ones that don't already have mental health issues would try to get signed off I think. I am trying to think how my four kids in their late teens and twenties would react. Ds1 would accept he had to do it but be terrified, DS2 would be fit enough and likely up for it as would dd. Ds3 would try to get out of it on the basis of MH. Hopefully it will never happen, but it is a worry.

Edited

They would have to have a very very very high bar for exclusion based on MH, a bout of depression etc wouldn’t get you out of it.

The men of conscription age in my family consist of DP, DBro and 2 brothers in law. They’re all pretty mentally and physically robust, I think they’d just get on with it and be silently terrified.

SunaipāUrufu · 27/01/2024 21:23

bradpittsbathwater · 27/01/2024 19:08

Why so many posts like this tonight on MN? It looks like it's the same poster trying to drum up worry and hysteria. The user names are a similar style. Get a life!

or learn some manners, and dont read a thread if its not your cuppa ?

Original poster

petitetiti · 27/01/2024 21:34

PartTimePartyPooper · 27/01/2024 19:44

It’s really interesting. I’m in a mostly middle class area of SE England and I’d say 80%+ of my dd’s secondary school age peers would be fit enough to serve based on their health now - but they are mostly not yet 16. There are some with disabilities and other health issues eg coeliac, asthma, diabetes. But for the most part everyone is in good shape, taking part in lots of extracurricular sports/activities free at school or in out of school clubs, walking home from school etc.

So does something happen in late teens - a mass decline in fitness? Why is that?

My dd just today got the news she starts cadets next week and she’s super keen. I don’t really understand why she would lose interest in staying fit and active as she gets older. I was actually the opposite- hated sport until I was 18 when I took up kayaking and then rowing and cycling, then got hugely into the gym in my late 20s.

What am I missing? If our younger generation really areas hopeless as this thread makes them out to be then where are we going wrong? Maybe this accounts for the MH problems - people need the endorphins and energy and well-being that more physical activity promotes?

I also live in the SE and I agree that it's all fine until 16. I was speaking to a GP friend recently and she said that diet generally worsens when young people start feeding themselves like first time away from home at uni etc.

OP posts:

Paul2023 · 29/01/2024 23:20

Zaapp · 27/01/2024 19:16

I read a poll somewhere said that 40% would point blank refuse to go. I don't think they can put 40% of 18 to 40yr olds in prison. They were saying to judges not to jail rapists and burglars recently as there's no room for them.

Show quote history

Well that’s reassuring! So if the shit hit the fan and the UKs way of life , their families and friends freedom was under attack, 40% wouldn’t go ?

So they’d rather the alternative, which doesn’t bear thinking about..

15 countries in Europe still have a national service of some sorts ( not all directly military)

AlecTrevelyan006 · 29/01/2024 23:25

catagoryA · 27/01/2024 19:01

This generation are HUGELY fitter than the first or second world war generation, hardly any of them have syphilis, TB, cataracts, miners lungs, rickets, scurvy, or any of the thousands of causes of ill health that dogged earlier generations.

There are many reasons conscription wont happen, poor health of young people is not one of them.

Show quote history

You’re confusing fitness (the capacity to undertake physical work) with good health.

there is no doubt that the physical fitness of the general population is not as good as it was in previous generations

AlecTrevelyan006 · 29/01/2024 23:29

But there isn’t going to be any conscription anyway

catagoryA · 30/01/2024 22:17

AlecTrevelyan006 · 29/01/2024 23:25

You’re confusing fitness (the capacity to undertake physical work) with good health.

there is no doubt that the physical fitness of the general population is not as good as it was in previous generations

Show quote history

No I am not.