What are some pros and cons of a soldier?

Answer 1

The major advantage of conscription (the Draft) is an immediate availability of military-age males to fight. The major disadvantage of conscription is that many of those drafted may not want to fight, hence either fighting ineffectively or causing morale issues as the Army discovered in Vietnam.

Answer 2

Advantages

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1) It's cheap. A military that is not conscripted has to compete on wages/benefits with jobs in the civilian sector. Conscription permits the military to pay substantially-lower wages.

2) It provides large numbers of people. If your country faces a really substantial conflict, it might need to use a higher percentage of the people than would ever voluntarily join the military. A draft allows you to do this.

3) Domestic Security. If people are able to handle both guns and hand-to-hand fighting, there is going to be a lot less trouble in bars. Nobody wants to get in to a real fight/attempt to mug anybody who is likely to be able to kill them or cripple them.

Disadvantages

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1) You get the scum with the cream. A draft brings in a lot of slackers, criminals and people who could not tell their behinds from their elbows with an illustrated guide. The military now has to find a way to keep these people busy and out of trouble, and dumb down teaching to make sure it reaches them.

2) Dumbing-down the training produces less effective troops.

- The recruits for volunteer armies tend to be motivated, intelligent and patriotic. They are going to listen more carefully than conscripts, and actually put in effort to learn what they are doing.

- Training conscripts to do anything complicated is simply not worth the trouble. They are generally only going to be in the military for 2-4 years, and they are not going to put in much effort while they are there. This can mean a shortage of officers/trained personnel to keep vehicles going and lines of communication open.

3) People resent it. Quite frequently, they resent the army rather than the enemy that forced the army to expand. This can increase soldiers going AWOL and lower efficiency, productivity and morale. Volunteers have by definition, volunteered to do what they are doing.

4) Internal rivalry and distrust. The long-term members of the military are likely to treat conscripts like they are dirt. Why? They are probably undisciplined rabble that has to learn everything the regulars have known for years. Conscripts will learn quickly that the lifers are not going to help them out, and so they will find other ways to get what they need. This can lead to theft, fights, difficulty integrating lifer/conscript forces and morale problems.

Answer 3

The pros are a softer environment, for instance the training at Fort Jackson (where 70% of the trainees come through) is much more safety oriented as of the last 15 years, and also no "tough drill Sergeant" that we new of exists in the Army now; and obviously women have more job opportunities. The cons are that a softer environment destroys the warrior culture that defines the only group of people in the world unified for the objective to destroy and kill. Further cons are the physical differences that are considered too little to notice, but when one sees the numbers it is more evident it is an issue: 20% more cardiovascular capability in men than in women, and 40% more upper body strength in men than in women. Many say strength isn't necessary in a military of pushing buttons, it is still absolutely necessary when shells weigh 60lbs and tires 70lbs; as told by Gulf War veteran Mary Roou who was in charge of trucks of supplies that had to be emptied in a hurry: "Women could lift the boxes, but there's no way they're going to lift as many boxes as a guy, as fast." In '97 it was reported women who had already completed bootcamp accounted of more than twice the stress fractures as men. consequently, Minor anatomical differences include the sex organs (reports in the '90s of urinary tract infections from long marches where the female is to embarrassed to squat in the desert, thus holding it) and menstruation, which has supposedly caused problems in high altitude flights, and extensive, expensive change to accommodate females have taken place. The cons of expenses is major: for instance much money has been spent on ejection seats in fighter planes because women's bone structures are too fragile, money was spent changing ships in the Navy, from lighter doors to pregnancy friendly environments. Another major con is pregnancies, that not only take up millions of tax dollars to accommodate the new mothers, but the added inconveniences of the simple possibility of 15% of the whole military force getting pregnant, requiring money and attention, and then subtracting that from the combat ready force in addition to injuries throughout. But overall, unfortunately with the cons outnumbering the pros, when units (from the division to the Soldier) are not equally interchangeable (a 40% upper body strength and 20% cardiovascular difference, including the added possibility of pregnancy, is not interchangeable), it is simply an added difficulty in logistics and readiness for the commander to account for.

Answer 4

the cons of child labor:

1 children are torn from their families

2 sometimes in order for children to join the millitary they have to hurt or kill a family member to prove their loyality

3 girls are oftern used as sex slaves as a reward for the boys that are child soldiers

4 they arent all used for combat some are used for cooks, spies, wives (sex slaves) nurses ect.

5 children during this age are just learning how to develop and to function themselves to live on their own when their older.

6 taking childs away from a proper learning environment can damage them physically and psychologically

7 every child needs to have the oppurtunity of an education

8 should live in a violent free area so they can learn but with the forcing or cambat labor disrupts that time period.

Answer 5

Pro: You help out your country and you believe for what you are fighting for.

Con: The chances of getting killed are on the high side, you might get to go home to your family, and you won't be home for long time and will have to travel a lot.