jubby

I served with a SF unit, I left in 1991 and let's get this right, I was NEVER punched, kicked, even slapped about, nor did I witness it…. Not in the way it's being implied, yes I got knocked about, but no more than a footballer may get kicked in a football match……Shit happens. I'm not saying bullying never happens it will be different from Army to Army, unit to unit, prevalent mainly in conscript armies.

Hazing or as we Brits call it initiating…… Well I don't know about Hazing but we don't tend to beat the crap out of friends and comrades! It's backwood redneck bullshit!  My initiation; I had to (along with 2 other new guys to the unit) do a treasure hunt, (for my own cloths, in the arctic, -10 at the time) I was given my boots, snow shoes, a map and compass and my cold weather hat, did I mention I was naked! We all had a laugh…..when I got some feeling and my cloths back.

I don't mean to sound rude, but civvies; you watch way too many Hollywood and old black and white war films, for people who have not served in the Armed Forces you will never, ever get it! I say this not meaning to put anyone down, but civvies draw "facts" and conclusion from watching films like Rambo, and hearing bullshit stories from a SAS or Black Opp's bar fly's, I never once saw any bullying the entire time I served, save basic training and that was one recruit on another. Most modern thinking Armed forces discharge Bullies from their ranks.  From my experience people who display bullying type qualities don't tend to be very good soldiers, IMO they tend to be egotistical, (they don't bond well) basically not willing to step-up when things go pear shaped!

Think how much more effective troops are if they get taught SELF discipline, and free thinking along with a feeling of "espree de corp." instead of humiliation…………Ask anyone who has served, let alone in a, let say; tip of the spear type unit, regardless of nationality.

Bullying in forward thinking Armed Forces around the world is very much disapproved of for many reasons, Two the main reasons; it destroys unit cohesion, a soldiers self confidence, and not least it's very very expensive to train a SF soldier, to put a man though a basic military parachute course (average two weeks long) back in 1980 was over 50,000 pounds! I've read some comments about SNCO and NCO using bulling as part of training, I think there is a fair amount of misunderstanding in what is verbal encouragement and bullying…….Yes, it's a fine line, I finally left, PVR'd (Premature Voluntary Release) at my 16 year point, my last job before my discharge was the troop Sgt on the all Arms Commando Training. Team………….Bullying? Physical abuse, no, never! Verbal encouragement Oh yes, lots of it and a good "beasting" for the entire troop when an individual got out of line.  

One fact that seems to be overlooked, SF solders are volunteers……They can quit anytime and RTU!

I've no doubt I'm going to get some cheap shots taken for writing this, so in for a penny….. One other massive misconception regarding SF solders, it's called the Hollywood syndrome! Why do people think the more clandestine the unit, the more moody and bad tempered the Troopers are? Did you know a major phase in UK SF selection is a long jungle phase in which all candidates are under review over the whole period for compatibility when working in a small team, isolated for long period of time. So the mean and moody "Predator" (the movie) types SF troopers need not apply. A SF solders best asset………Apart from being a good solder, is knowing his mates have his back when it gets a bit thick, (NOT some dickhead self serving bully) and a sense of humor, a good sarcastic, "I bet that hurts" type of humor.

Bullies!  I have no respect for these gutless nobbers and any establishments who allow bulling to happen.

For a long time, I've admired those in volunteer special forces who have endured, and overcome,  the physical, emotional and mental hardships they subjected themselves to during elite forces training.  

The 'training' in OP's video is something entirely different.

You must be keeping some big files on people there sbk .

It might just be me, but I have chosen to go with smaller drives & keep copies of the important stuff on two seperate ones, that way, if one gets stolen,lost, destroyed or goes 'POOF' then I still have a copy on the other drive.

2TB is alot of storage.

sillyman99, on 2010-09-14 23:02:19, said:

Thailand's GDP is $ 272.43 Billion The UK GDP is $ 2.67 Trillion

If you think the ability of a government to ignore it's population and p1ss a 100,000 men's live's a week down the drain is a good thing - How about going to live there.... and taking your sons with you?!

I do not doubt that you have four languages under your belt but I seriously doubt that English is the fourth.  More likely the second.  I suspect you have miss-spoken here.

I have one language that I do well with.  I have worked with natives of other countries where I couldn't find any English speakers in the workforce and did well enough learning what I had to learn of their language to get the job done correctly and safely and make lifelong friends while I was at it.

I think the Obama award showed us just how "prestigious" the Nobels are not and just how political they are.  But invest yourself in such things if you need to.

I know many more common men who I respect than there are men who have received any Nobels at all.  The Nobel isn't much in my book.  It only elevates one or a few in each category above many others in the same category who have done work equal to, or above that, of the winners and many, many awards have been bitterly disputed within the group that performs in those separate categories.  Politics and favoritism are alive and well in almost all awards, Nobel or otherwise, given for anything on this earth.  That is human nature showing its faults.  This paragraph is an acknowledgement of such faults and acknowledgement of the non-value that I place on awards.  I have received many awards for many things in my life.  They all went to the trash.  I can only see them as overlooking my peers and mentors.

Those of you who are becoming upset over this really need to go and see for yourselves. If you were not aware There are literally thousands of abandoned and orphan kids in the villages of Thailand. The reasons for such are multiple; such as car accidents, children whose parents are married but not to each other, illnesses such as HIV, and unwanted teen pregnancies. Yes the majority of times extended families do step in, but there are tons who fall through the cracks and Thailand is not exactly the pinnacle of social welfare.

Many of these kids end up in horrendous and abusive situations, and some are even left to die in hills. Yes it would be good if the government was looking out for these kids, but we all know that hill tribe kids are a low priority in this nation.
So some Christians are actually doing something about it. Is that a bad thing to give a kid a home and some rice to eat. And obviously this is coming at a great sacrifice because they are not rich people. Give your head a shake and think about how you can help the situation instead of just making destructive comments.