Understanding millennials

[Trooper]

Your numbers might actually mean something if the qualifications required to enter ever stayed the same.

Just one example. We all know all WW2 and Viet Nam vets were required to have a high school diploma to serve.

Education standards have increased. But we are also seeing increased obesity. And less physically fit kids.

Again, it is not the kids fault. We have become a wealthy nation who has been into slow decline for about 100 years.

 

[hornadylnl]

Education standards have increased. But we are also seeing increased obesity. And less physically fit kids.

Again, it is not the kids fault. We have become a wealthy nation who has been into slow decline for about 100 years.

Don't forget that all WW2 and Viet Nam vets were 100% volunteers and never given the choice of going to war or jail. They're far superior to the youth today.

 

[Trooper]

Don't forget that all WW2 and Viet Nam vets were 100% volunteers and never given the choice of going to war or jail. They're far superior to the youth today.

Not sure if you are making humor there. There was a draft from WW2 through the end of Vietnam. About one out of three males served (with a draft there was less need for women in the ranks). So just the Vietnam era had 27 million young men turn 18 over the 14 years of that conflict. About 11 million served in the military with only 3 million going to Vietnam (numbers from LTC (R) Larry McIntyre who was on the editorial board of the Indy Star and now is a professor of journalism at IU).

We take fewer kids into the military. But with today's standards, and the decline of the nation as a whole, we could not pull off the numbers that we used to bring into the services. Plus minimum service requirement now is 8 years (most of that time would be spent in the reserves) so if we had the draft today, most kids would be drafted into the National Guard and not onto active duty. Just as easy to active a Guard unit than have to deal with the draftees on active duty. Plus if we had the draft, the military would cherry pick who they wanted.

 

[jamil]

I am always rather cynically amused when I hear the parents and grandparents mock the generation they raised for being lazy entitled little brats and then blaming them for not fixing the problems that originated in previous decades. By all means Boomers, enjoy those Social Security checks! I hope eating into my meager paycheck is worth it to ya

Boomers are now your grandparents. They raised the kids that raised the millennials. But yeah, every generation whines about the youth. And they're usually right. They just don't like admitting whose fault it is.

The so-called greatest generation had probably the greatest parents, or probably more likely, the greatest environment to make their kids resilient.

We shouldn't paint millennials with a broad brush though. I work with some fresh graduates who are just top notch. They're smart, competent, and hard working. Their parents should be proud. Of course, I'd be even happier with them if they wore shoes to work in the summer instead of flip flops. And even jeans would be a step up from the flannel night pants and tee shirt. My generation might whine about y'all whippersnappers but at least we get dressed before going to work.

 

[hornadylnl]

Not sure if you are making humor there. There was a draft from WW2 through the end of Vietnam. About one out of three males served (with a draft there was less need for women in the ranks). So just the Vietnam era had 27 million young men turn 18 over the 14 years of that conflict. About 11 million served in the military with only 3 million going to Vietnam (numbers from LTC (R) Larry McIntyre who was on the editorial board of the Indy Star and now is a professor of journalism at IU).

We take fewer kids into the military. But with today's standards, and the decline of the nation as a whole, we could not pull off the numbers that we used to bring into the services. Plus minimum service requirement now is 8 years (most of that time would be spent in the reserves) so if we had the draft today, most kids would be drafted into the National Guard and not onto active duty. Just as easy to active a Guard unit than have to deal with the draftees on active duty. Plus if we had the draft, the military would cherry pick who they wanted.

When they make the restrictions more difficult to get in or stay in, they're not having trouble filling the ranks.

 

[Trooper]

When they make the restrictions more difficult to get in or stay in, they're not having trouble filling the ranks.

Lot smaller military than in the past, of course. Now if we had to expand to WW2 size we might have problems. Plus we use civilian contractors to do what military members did in WW2 and Vietnam (logistics, intel).

 

[Tired of Lies]

Lot smaller military than in the past, of course. Now if we had to expand to WW2 size we might have problems. Plus we use civilian contractors to do what military members did in WW2 and Vietnam (logistics, intel).

Do we use contractors because we can't get enough in uniform or we just want to promote war profiteering? It appears that contractor part has gone up while our success at war has gone down.

 

[Echelon]

This country, as a whole, has become sissified. I am lucky to be serving our beautiful country, but I too required a medical waiver when I joined up, and I had to drop a little weight too. I went to basic training as an "old man" at 28 years old. Most of the "kids" I got stuck with were little *****es for the most part, with no real life skills. But... at 18, I was very liberal, very entitled, and had about as many life skills as they did. Things change, kids grow up.

As long as we can stop the pussification of our country, our kids will grow up just fine... different, but just fine all the same.

 

[Trooper]

Do we use contractors because we can't get enough in uniform or we just want to promote war profiteering? It appears that contractor part has gone up while our success at war has gone down.

After Vietnam they shifted a lot of the responsibility to the civil service. During Desert Storm we realized any major conflict would require huge amounts of manpower for support (logistics). In peacetime you do not need that many people but you have to scale up and quickly. So in the mid '90s we started the LOGCAP concept. I was on the team in Germany who put together that contract (bid once every four years so you do not have to bid during a conflict). It is now split into seven contracts.

We used civilians during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars as Sutlers. Only in WW2 did we try to use all military. Waste of manpower. Better to highly pay civilians who are motivated to make the money than deal with the bottom of the barrel for support work.

 

[rob63]

I recently turned 50 and I am often struck by just how much I seem to be just like my father. I also keep noticing how much my children remind me of me when I was their age.

If you read the Old Testament you will be amazed how much of it sounds like the same rotten behavior we are convinced is evidence of the approaching end of civilization. Human nature doesn't really change from one generation to the next.

 

[MisterChester]

Boomers are now your grandparents. They raised the kids that raised the millennials. But yeah, every generation whines about the youth. And they're usually right. They just don't like admitting whose fault it is.

The so-called greatest generation had probably the greatest parents, or probably more likely, the greatest environment to make their kids resilient.

We shouldn't paint millennials with a broad brush though. I work with some fresh graduates who are just top notch. They're smart, competent, and hard working. Their parents should be proud. Of course, I'd be even happier with them if they wore shoes to work in the summer instead of flip flops. And even jeans would be a step up from the flannel night pants and tee shirt. My generation might whine about y'all whippersnappers but at least we get dressed before going to work.

We will dress properly when you guys stop complaining about our skateboards on the sidewalk!