May 21, 2013

Is Enlisting Worth It?

Enlisting in the armed forces carries a lot of challenge with it. The hardships are great, and any day you may be called upon to risk your very life in the service of something larger than yourself. Since there’s no draft, this is a volunteer military, so you have the option to think about it. When you do, a lot of things are going to go through your mind, both for better and for worse.

On the one hand, the military is all about keeping the country safe. This goal of safety is no easy task, and it can easily result in being badly injured. But on the other hand, there is also the issue of making sure the fight is as far away from the United States as is humanly possible. If the fight gets too close, let alone right on our soil, it can be disastrous. One of the most noble goals in the world is to serve other people, and keep them safe even if you don’t know them.

While the war on terror has not always gone as smoothly as one would hope, ultimately its purpose is a just one. But what about where you can go from the foundation of a military career. Not only do you receive training in a valuable skill. You also receive one of the best possible lines on your resume, for when you rejoin the civilian world. Sooner or later you’ll come back, and the more patriotic people might call you a hero. You’ll know you are one when you feel like you don’t deserve the title. Ultimately, it’s a decision that requires some thought.

Do you Want to Join the Military?

A military recruiter will have a hard time taking no for an answer, and will press you and drill you for a yes. They want to recruit more soldiers because they generally are going to earn a bonus every time that they sign up a new soldier for their branch of the military. You should not join simply because a pushy recruiter is trying to get you to, because then the liklihood will be great that you will have regrets and want to quit later on, and you may find it difficult it not completely outright impossible to do that.

When you decide that you want to join the military, you are going to want to make sure that you are doing it for you. Do it for your career goals, your school goals and your personal achievement goals, but do not join unless it is completely 100 percent your decision. Do not let your friends, your family members or any recruiters tell you to do it or not to do it, unless it is your own personal decision. Do not let anyone tell you not to try something, because if you really want to go out there and give back to your country, then that is going to have to be your own distinct decision to make and you simply cannot let anyone else have an impact on you. Make sure that you take the time to really consider what your options are rather than making a split decision and the results will definitely be more to your liking.

Is the Military Right for You?

Is the Military Right for You?

When it comes to joining the military, it should be pretty apparent to you that everyone has different reasons for getting started. Whether you decide that you want to join the army or the navy, the air force or the marines, and whether you decide to enlist on your own or you get some nudging from a friendly recruiting officer, the results are always the same: Joining the military is going to give you a distinct chance to take charge your life, do something with your life and actually achieve some of your goals.

If you decide to join the military so you can go over seas and shoot guns, then that is up to you. If you decide that you want to join the military because you are looking for new career opportunities and you want to go to college with the government’s help, then that is your prerogative as well. The only thing that really matters when it comes time to join the military is that you are doing it for the right reasons for you. Do not join because your friend is joining, do not join because your girlfriend broke up with you, do not join because you want to cause death and destruction everywhere you go. make sure that you are joining the military for legitimate reasons. The reason why you are going to need legitimate reasons in order to join is because once you decide that you are going to join, you are going to find it relatively difficult to change your mind.

Make sure that you are joining the military for all the right reasons and none of the wrong one, and you should not have any regrets going over seas to serve your country. Joining up will give you a real chance to fight for your country and to make something of yourself.

Top Reasons to Join the Military

ARLINGTON, VA - OCTOBER 27: Members of the Chi...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Top Reasons to Join the Military

People decide that they would like to join the military for a wide variety of different reasons. Everyone has his or her own distinct reasons for joining depending on personal preference, life situation and career goals. Here are some of the top reasons for why people join up:

As a Test of Courage: For many people, joining the military is sort of like a daring activity. People go and join up with the military because they want an opportunity to prove that they are brave and courageous and that they have the guts to do it. For many people, it is just a “man thing”. Many men join the military because they feel like it is a way for them to prove that they are strong and tough, because not just anyone can “make it” in the military.

For Good Citizenship: For many people, the reason why they decide that they would like to join the military is because they want to fight for their beloved country, becoming a good citizen. The pride that comes with joining the military and being able to fight for your country is something that cannot be replicated in any other way. Being able to join the military is like pledging your allegiance to the entire country by proving that you would be willing to do anything to pay tribute to your home country. The biggest consideration when this is the course of action that you take is the fact that once you make the decision, it is not one that you can simply take back at will.

These are just a couple of the reasons for why someone might like to join the military. Ultimately it is up to you to decide which reason is going to drive you to join up as well. Just keep in mind that the military is not ideal for everyone, but it may just be ideal for you.

Support for Military Families is Essential

Support for Military Families is Essential

For as long as anyone can remember citizens of the United States have been going off to war leaving behind their family members for an undetermined amount of time. The stress that comes with leaving ones family is incredible and the stress felt by the family being left behind is equally as enormous. To have no control over your loved one as they go off to war is overwhelming to say the least and then to be left manning the ship so to speak is a big job. For those families that are left behind to fight the battle of life at home there are some helping hands available. In each community there are a number of resources cropping up to help those who have to maneuver life on their own.

These resources offer to the families of the military everything from moral and emotional support to help with the basics of every day life from car pooling and getting the children where they need to go to finding a way to pay the bills that mount up. Being a military family member who is left to work and wait for their soldier to return can be a full time job. This means that they need some extra hands and a little extra moral support to get through the rough times. It is extremely stressful wondering if your loved one will return home or become a casualty of war. The family left behind has to be as tough as the soldier shipping out because they are going to be pushed to their limits with emotions and day to day life. Thankfully the resources are becoming more available for the many families left to cope while their soldier is off protecting the country.

Hurrying up to Wait

It has been said that the typical method that the military uses is composed primarily of “hurrying up to wait.”  And while this is often the case, a lot of people never really think about why that is.  After all, being ready is all about being early, and that often entails charging both on the battlefield, and toward it as well.  The military has been known to make a grand entrance for as long as their have been armies marching around.  After all, a lot of the purpose of an army is to be seen, and to put forward the silent question of, “do you really want to mess with all of this?”  Part of that is the level of energy which can only be shown off in this manner.

There is a certain need for any armed force to put on a strong presence.  Nobody is going to respect an army that looks to be in any way weak or vulnerable.  While everybody has vulnerabilities, showing them off is terrible.  This is why military personnel often do not sleep very much.  After all, the enemy could attack at any given moment.  And for the very same reason, they veritably leap out of bed, throw on their fatigues, grab their weapon (or the tools of their trade) and get into the fray.  And if the fray just happens to have not begun yet, that is fine.  They can wait.

The entire notion of hurrying up to wait even extends into the notion that a military force can appear to be in many places at the same time, simply through hurrying up to get from one potential engagement zone to another one.  This can do more than just stop an enemy in a force on force battle.  It can actually also act to demoralize them into believing that they do not have any chance of defeating this force at all.  This is a very good thing.

The Military’s Relationship With Society

Some people would say that the officers of the military (whether they be commissioned or non-commissioned) are the finest people in a society.  After all, they have taken an oath that they will do whatever it takes to defend the world in which we live (our country, our culture and our very way of life), up to and including giving their very lives for the purpose of something which is greater than themselves.  That is a pretty good argument for the notion that military folks are a special breed.  And the fact that they keep themselves in good shape and are constantly striving to improve how well they can do their jobs (through acquiring new training, pushing themselves in their workouts and studying both the history or warfare and the tactics which win battles), they make their own argument for being pretty awesome on a daily basis.

The average military person gets up at roughly five in the morning, almost every day.  At that point, they go through a good waking up workout, which is often followed by putting in some time on the rifle range, going through an obstacle course, and doing some boxing or wrestling with one of their buddies.  If not for the fact that these people might get called up to go give their lives at any given moment, it would almost sound like being a professional athlete.

But it goes deeper than that.  While the individual soldier is just another person who pushes him or herself beyond the normal level, the military itself (which is composed of millions of such individuals) is a human wall in our society.  Their purpose is to keep people who would harm society out of it, and keep enemies who would like to come and hurt us occupied in the cause of defending themselves in a far off place.  That is an interesting relationship to have with the rest of society, and it works well.

Talking to Your Family about Joining the Military

Joining the military is an honorable choice. It can still be difficult to tell your family about your decision, since they are likely to start worrying about you getting hurt. By telling them about your decision, why you made the choice you did, and what you hope to gain from the experience, you can help them understand your choice and respect it.

If at all possible, you should consider including your family in your decision. If you are dealing with your parents and siblings, this isn’t necessarily true. If they object to your decision, you don’t need to include them.  However, if you are married and if you have children, it is absolutely essential to include your family in the decision-making process. Your choice will decide where they live, where they go to school, and how they spend the next four years of their lives.

It’s important to tell your family why you made the choice you made. There are lots of options to advance in life, and the military is one of many. Tell them why you decided that the military would help you in your career of choice. If you are joining the military to serve your country, tell them that; it is an honorable reason to make that decision.

Rather than focusing on the negative, as your family is likely to do, focus on what benefits you’ll gain from joining the military. You will get to travel the world, meet people from all different countries, gain work experience, and earn money towards college. Focusing on these upsides is a good way to give your family some perspective and show them the positives of you joining the military.

Making the decision to enlist in the military is a tough one. Don’t let your family make it an even tougher decision.

Coast Guards and Not the Baywatch type

Seal of the United States Department of Homela...
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Coast Guard is one of the national organizations, armed military force, assigned with Customs and Security duty along with law enforcement powers and take part in search and rescue tasks as well.
Few of the main responsibilities of the coast guards are search and rescue, ensuring the safety of vessels in the territorial waters, maintaining sea marks, border control and the are entrusted with the duty to enforce maritime laws of the country. Also being a Military force, they are responsible for defending the harbors, patrolling the seas and naval counter intelligence during the wartime. The coast guards will be having Ships , fixed wing aircrafts, helicopters etc at their disposal.
The duties of the coast guards may vary depending upon the country. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a law enforcement agency as well as a military body. USCG has a wide variety of resources at their disposal, which includes Ships , which are traditionally called as Cutters and patrol boats, They maintain a fleet of around 210 aircrafts ranging from Dolphin Helicopters to C-130 Hercules military transport plane. The USCG operates under the department of Homeland security during the peacetime and can be transferred to the command of department of Navy by the president during the time or war. USCG have jurisdiction over both territorial as well as international waters for carrying out law enforcement operations.
USCG established new command knows as deployable operations group (DOG) specializing in anti terrorism and law enforcement. It enables supply of specialized force units for deployment to various units that come under dept of Homeland security and Dept of defense. The Coast guard reserve has around 8500 reservists.
Her Majesty’s Coastguard in UK is purely a search and rescue unit, the customs and law enforcement comes under the jurisdiction of UK Border Agency and they lease life boats, tugs and aircraft through private organizations or government.

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If its is locked then it is dead

Starburst MANPADS.
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SAM, Short for Surface to Air Missiles also known as Ground to Air Missile (GTAM) are basically anti aircraft missiles, The development of surface to air missile was carried out in Germany during late world war II.
SAMs can be portable or fixed types. The movable ones known as Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) can be moved around and fired using over the shoulder launchers by an individual. It has a range of around 5 kms. Larger SAMs are fitted over portable launchers or based in immovable installations , the range of larger SAMs vary, few SAMs like the Russian S 400 has a range of over 400km SAMs form an integral part of the defense system onboard the warships.
One of the most well known MANPADS is SAM 7 Missile. It was developed by the USSR in the year 1959. It is shoulder launched, and has a range of around 3 kms. SAM-7 was first used in combat in the year 1968 and it is still widely used
HAWK (Homing All the Way Killer) system used by US army offers medium range, low – medium altitude air defense. All weather Day – Night capability of this system makes it highly deadly and dependable. It is used by the Marine Corps since 1960′s, HAWK has undergone many developments since then. HAWK missile units are teamed along with a set of radars to acquire and track the aerial target, command post and IFF system. After the target is acquired, the fire control locks on to the target with a tracking radar and missile will be launched either automatically or manually. The Hawk system has the capacity to fire one missile every 2.5 seconds and each battery can hold up to 50 missiles. On the present day more than 32 countries around the world use different versions of HAWK SAMs.

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