National Service returning to the UK?

[TheQuirkyMaker]

Due to the threat of Russian aggression and US indifference, Europe is having to re-arm. France is going to re-introduce national service (compulsory conscription of youngsters into the armed forces for 2 years). Am I right in thinking UK young people won't accept this?

My Dad, a copper who (like all coppers back then) started on the beat, achieved very high rank by the time he retired. He'd missed compulsory National Service by about a month.

He did however encounter many men who joined the police after their spell in the services. And he had very strong views concerning the benefits accrued by the young men who'd gone through it.

His take was, "The only thing any of them seemed to have learned was how to get away with doing as little as bleedin' possible."

Am sure Russia would be happy to have you 👍

If it's voluntary it's fine. If it's coerced it's not. If it's not voluntary it'll end up in the courts.

France aren't doing compulsory national service and nor will the UK. Quite apart from anything else, neither the army nor any other institution or sector that people sometimes suggest has shown any indication of wanting it.

It hasn’t been suggested. It isn’t wanted by the Armed Services. It would be resisted by most young people. It’s not really worth discussing.

I’m in France and my peers did national service here. At least they all know how to clean, tidy, socialize with people from any social group, work as a team. They made friends for life. It might not make them independent but it makes them less useless as individuals.

Maybe not worth discussing here, but war has already come to Europe. We (meaning everyone living in a liberal democracy) are never prepared as we believe it is a return to a brutal past, but the countries on Russia's borders are preparing. With Trump siding with Putin, the drum beat gets louder.

My father did national service between school and university. He was of exactly the same opinion as your dad

Fat chance. We shall have to admit defeat and welcome our invaders with a nice pot of borscht and a decent bottle of vodka.

France only ended conscription relatively recently. I know when I left school my parents’ son in France had to do it.

My penfriends in France all did national service so not that long ago and they will be the parents of young adults now
We don’t have that memory in the majority of our population and may be harder to accept

Nevertheless if it was introduced it’s not something you can easily get out of. So people would just have to do it and as a parent whose kids had to do ccf it’s not a bad thing
I would imagine parents and children would rather they were Better trained and more prepared

After seeing the kind of support available and veneration for veterans in this country... over my cold dead corpse would I allow my son to risk it all for it.

If you think military service stops male violence I politely suggest you go and hang out in (or better, just outside) some squaddie pubs on a Saturday night.

Voluntary in Germany till June next year and if not enough young people sign up it will be made compulsory. Hope they do. Those who won’t do it should lose their citizenship. Stand up and serve your country. If you can’t find it in you - please leave.

And before anyone starts crying about not wanting to handle arms - you can do your national service in old people’s homes, child care, disabled assisted living etc.

I don’t want my sons sent into Europe to fight an unwinnable war. Not in my name.

It’s national service - not conscription FGS

Regardless of the alleged threat from Russia, national service is a very good way of ensuring our children learn to do the basics for themselves and not rely on mum and dad for everything. I knew kids at uni who’d somehow gotten through life without using a washing machine. Basic life skills are good.

Off you jolly well go then😁😁

My sons served in the armed forces over the past 20 years. Both deployed to Iraq/Afghan
Left because in their words "its gone all fluffy and woke"

Would you support him fighting if the UK was invaded?

I think very few people would be prepared to defend the UK but what would be the alternative..A life like Russia?

Modern warfare has changed so I'm not sure our island status will help, as it did in WW2. Our defences are very weak and no USA fo back us so if Russia was determined then we could face a threat unlike any other tike in history.

I understand from friends who work in the defence sector a war in Europe is no longer a remote possibility...scary thought

I spent 4 years in the TAVR (part time voluntary reserve). I learnt to drive heavy armored vehicles and memorably had a meal in the Black Forest cooked by army chefs consisting of fine steak, braised veg and chips garnished with herbs when our tank broke down and needed repairs.
It was amazing seeing REME lifting the turrets off our tanks and carrying out repairs in a forest miles from civilization!
Like the NHS, the British Army at it's best is superb!

Why do people keep focusing on sons!

This won’t be just for sons it will be for so sons and daughters.
That’s equality

It’s also worth noting military service isn’t just training to fight abroad it’s also for defence and protection services

I think it could benefit certain youngsters who aren’t doing very much of anything else. I don’t understand people saying they wouldn’t fight for the country, when it comes down to it you’d have to either fight or be killed surely?

Need help after leaving service?
Struggling with PTSD, addiction issues?
Mental health?
Don't bother asking the big armed forces charities .......

You can't "teach" love for or, pride in your country. That's indoctrination, popular in places like the USSR, DDR, Nazi Germany etc.

If you feel an affinity with the place you were born/live, good for you, but it's an utterly nonsensical notion in the first place. People don't choose where to be born, it's accident of birth, so being "proud" of it is no less ridiculous than being "proud" of having naturally brown hair, or being "proud" of being 5'2"

"Patriotism" is an illness, not a virtue.