MILITARY SUBCULTURE: THE INSIDE SCOOP

Being part of a subculture is what really defines you. You can either be born into one, or you can choose one. I chose mine. I am fortunate to be apart of a military subculture. They take care of you, they treat you like family, and they make you a better person. However, before any of the limelight comes into play, you have to go through a series of tests to be granted acceptance. When you enlist into any branch, you have to go to a place called MEPS, or Military Entrance Processing Station. They put you through a series of tests, such as the ASVAB ( the initial, standardized test for all enlistees), as well as some mental health and wellbeing evaluations. This is normally a two day process, and on the second day, you go through a series of bloodwork, seeing and hearing tests, classwork/paperwork, physical evaluations, and drug tests. After all, you can’t be a liability to the military, you have to meet specific mental and physical standards so you can be mission ready at all times. The military is an elite club, where only the best of the best are allowed entry.

Over the many years since the military was established, so have the tactics and strategies of war. It started out that people would fight close range (due to lack of weapon advancement), and keep going till someone surrendered, or everyone died. Most of the fighting was based off of swords or sharp, hand held objects similar to that of a sword. Then it upgraded to close range rifles that still had a dagger attached to be able to continue the fight after the gunpowder ran out. Of course, ever since then, they have been perfecting the weapons we use in combat. One of the biggest breakthroughs they came across was chemical warfare. Very dangerous and deadly, to say the least. The military is coming us with more efficient ways to fight war though, with drones not even flown by troops. Every way we engage in combat is changing, becoming less and less important to send bodies to other countries. It’s a bittersweet breakthrough.

The next thing that has continued to change throughout history is our uniforms. They have had to change to accommodate to types of weather and climate, as well as what weapons they are fighting against. Most, if not all, the branches have several uniforms to accommodate to their mission, and of course, we all have our dress uniforms for occasions, too. The uniforms have standardized amongst men and women, as well. Women has just as many rights in the military as men do, now, too, so the uniforms has also become the same.

The military as a whole has adapted over time with their values and how they accept people. They’ve had to conform more to society’s acceptance to gain more troops and support as well. The tactics of training have been a big thing that has been changing for the past few years. It used to be that drill instructors could get in a trainees face and touch them (i.e., hit them, correct them), but now, they can’t even swear at the trainee unless it’s “piss”, “hell”, or “damn”.

The only branch that still has not changed (but politically has been) is the Marine Corps. Hopefully, at some point in the near future, training tactics will go back to being the same as there were a decade ago. Pain teaches valuable lessons, lessons most enlistees now won’t ever know. The better side of things, however, is that there are way less people who protest our troops. Instead, they support them. Support is a huge, huge factor of this subculture. It helps us deal with PTSD from war. It makes us feel loved and not forgotten in times of loneliness. We gain more supporters within a matter of days now, rather than years.

It is with great pleasure, to have the support of civilians, but more times than not, they tend to become arrogant about the military and claim to be a specialist about all things military. Some may have a little bit of a clue, but unless you’ve gone through any basic trainings, you’ll never have the full scope of the military. Do all the research you want, it’s good to be educated, but it gets hard when civilians start conflicting with the military because they think they know the whole truth about it. Like I said, though, support is not something we will ever turn down, it’s something that will always be needed. We will always have people who disagree and think we commit heinous crimes for no good reason. In other words, conflict will always be predominant with anything the military does.

Constant training is a huge factor in military life, as well. You have to be ready for combat 24/7, 365 days a year. You never know what could happen Everyone has a specific job assigned to them, but in times of need we come together to do one job: protect our country and the people in it. Of course active duty military has the most training, as they do their job every day. Guard and Reserve units get training once a month and two weeks out of the year they go to a place to focus solely on their training. Every few years they come up for deployment, too. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntGRosZ6VzU )

The men and women in the military come from all around the country. Some even gain their citizenship through the military. That’s the best part about the military. People from other countries want to join our military. That circles back to it being an elite club. We have all ethnicities and races in our military, too. Several people speak secondary languages, which helps us out in missions. Each different person, and personality that comes through the military helps in a specific way. Sometimes in ways people never thought possible. We have to have brave men and women, too, people that are not afraid to give their life up in order to defend our country. It definitely takes special people to be willing to do that. That is the only quality that is discriminated against in the military. If you can’t be trusted with someone else’s life besides your own, you can’t join. The military is not part of a selfish team. You have to be willing to engage in teamwork with whatever you do and also be willing to defend your battle buddy’s life, as well. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgXop4aYo44 )

Overall, the military subculture is not something everyone gets into. Some people just aren’t strong enough. Some people don’t have what it takes to be apart of the culture. We need able bodies, not liabilities. Although we always need troops, we have to be sure that the troops we receive will be able to take care of this country. To protect it’s people and it’s land. This isn’t a subculture where anyone can join, and that has to be accepted. This subculture has been the best thing to ever happen to me though, something I will never take for granted, and something I will try to devote my career to. I’ve never been treated so much like family, never been taken so well care of, and I’ve never met any other person like the ones I meet in the military. I will never find anything that gives me such a sense of honor and pride; of fulfillment. Some people will never understand, and some people will never know, but it is important that people have the idea. This subculture isn’t like the rest. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAt8x_tvPNA )