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The US defence secretary’s decision to review military standards on combat and physical fitness and appearance opens a Pandora’s box of widely differing rules among the services.

  • Sequentialsilence@lemmy.world
    45·
    4 days ago

    How much you want to bet we’re going to start having military parades to “show off our strength”.

    The US doesn’t do military parades. George Orwell said it best in 1941, “Why is the goose-step not used in England? There are, heaven knows, plenty of army officers who would be only too glad to introduce some such thing. It is not used because the people in the street would laugh. Beyond a certain point, military display is only possible in countries where the common people dare not laugh at the army.”

    • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      4 days ago

      No, I think this is going a different direction, disqualifying women for certain roles, even if they meet the physical qualifications. Keep in mind that whenever this administration states their goals, they are lying. Often, their goals are explicitly the opposite of their public justification.

      War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.

      • FaceDeer@fedia.io
        7·
        4 days ago

        Frankly, as a citizen of a formerly-allied country that the US is now openly discussing annexing by force, I’m fine with them crippling their military with absurd rules and standards. Go nuts, Hesgeth. Pile on the racism and sexism and whatever. Kick out any pilots or gunnery officers or whatever that are good at their jobs but that can’t run a mile in whatever arbitrary time you pick. Ensure there are lots of well-trained former military personnel in your country that are bitter at your government but no longer under its control. I’m sure it’ll go great.

      • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        6·
        4 days ago

        And here i was thinking about an entire third different direction; using “fitness” and “readiness” requirements the purge the military

    • d00phy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      1 day ago

      The US may not have military parades in a traditional sense, but they absolutely have something similar: at just about any outdoor sporting event from the college level to pro, there’s some sort of military “thing.” Whether it be a fly-over, funded by the Pentagon, or a color guard there for the national anthem. Also, at NASCAR races, the Army either used to or still does sponsor a car. Those are the examples I can think of off the top of my head. It’s not. North Korea or USSR by any means, but it’s kind of always there.

      Edit: correcting some misspellings

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      4·
      4 days ago

      How much you want to bet we’re going to start having military parades to “show off our strength”.

      Trump specifically asked for this in his first term. As I recall, his advisors recommended against it.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_2018_Washington_Veterans_Day_Parade

      The 2018 Washington Veterans Day Parade (colloquially called “Trump’s military parade”) was a planned military parade that would have taken place in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 2018, in honor of the Veterans Day holiday (which took place on 11 November).

      The parade was expected to include members of all five armed services; the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the Coast Guard, with other units that were to be dressed in period uniforms representing earlier times in the United States military history.[3] A memo from General Joseph Dunford reported that the parade was to have focused on historic battles and conflicts such as the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.[4] Between 5,000 and 7,000 service members were to have taken part in the parade, which was to begin at the U.S. Capitol and end at the White House. The evolution of women in the service was also to be highlighted in the parade, along with an emphasis on the price of freedom.[5] The parade would have included 100 wheeled vehicles instead of tanks, as well as a heavy air component featuring 50 aircraft at the end of the parade.[6][7] U.S. President Donald Trump would have been situated in a reviewing area and surrounded by military heroes.[8] Medal of Honor recipients would have been included in reviewing the parade with the President and would have marched in the parade.[5]

      Opinion of parade

      Support

      In February 2017, very few lawmakers backed the idea of a military parade. Senator David Perdue, a Republican of Georgia, told reporters “He’s the President of the United States. Personally, I would prefer not to do it. But he’s the president.”[20] Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, supported the parade if it honored the military itself, and not the “…Soviet-style hardware display.”[20]

      AMVETS, a group that advocates for military veterans, felt that potentially the parade would inspire more Americans to join the armed forces.[21]

      Against

      Other politicians spoke out against the parade. Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat of Washington and members of the House Armed Services Committee released a statement that highlighted “A military parade like this - one that is unduly focused on a single person - is what authoritarian regimes do, not democracies.”[20] Senator John Kennedy, a Republican of Louisiana, told reporters “We’re not North Korea, we’re not Russia, and we’re not China and I don’t want to be”, while speaking out against the proposed parade.[22]

      Robert O’Neill, a former Navy SEAL, tweeted in February 2018 that any military parade would be “…third world bullshit.”[23] Other military veterans echoed the sentiment with calls for the money to be spent on housing, employment and mental health care to better support the troops.[22] A veteran of the War in Afghanistan highlighted that it would seem unreasonable to hold a parade in celebration while a 19-year-old war (per 2020) was still ongoing.[21]