Should National Service be mandatory ?

Blue Maverick said:
If it had been around I’d have done it as well. You do know you could do admin jobs seen as you’re very good on a keyboard releasing others to go to the frontline.
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They literally wouldn't let me in the army, mate. You'll know that to sign up to the army in any capacity these days you have to pass a grueling physical training exam in case a war does break out in the future, and I'm physically not capable of completing that exam. They would turn me down.

As @gaz76 has said above, 76,000 applications were rejected on medical grounds between 2018 and 2023.

A mate of mine is an actual Coldstream Guard and part of the King's Guard outside Buck House. He plays in a royal military brass band as well. He's done the Trooping the Colour, the Edinburgh Tattoo, you name it. Lives in barracks in Twickenham. For as long as I've known him, playing in military brass bands is all he's ever wanted to do.

To get in the army, even just as a tuba player, he spent months carrying that tuba on his back while walking from Salford to Ashton and back. He took that training exam three times. Passed with flying colours the first two times but the army wouldn't let him in because he'd been slapped with an Asperger's diagnosis at four years old.

He only got in after the third exam because he went to his GP beforehand to get his Asperger's diagnosis taken off his record. Anything like that in your medical history is enough for them to turn you down. And my mate actually passed the exam. I'd have absolutely no chance, so, no, I wouldn't even get to do these admin jobs of which you speak.

Feels like you've woken up with an axe to grind, which is fine, but don't take it out on me.
 
Johnny Mars Bar said:
Given National Service was scrapped in 1960 you must be the FO-est of FOCs.
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It would be interesting to know the views of that generation of national service, and the reasons it was scrapped.
I think nowadays it wouldn't just be the flat feet excluded but also all the young folk with inhalers, mental health issues, and the overweight. That is a lot. Added to exemptions for those in full time education, or certain jobs it will end up landing disproportionately on certain demographics I'm sure.
 
Good luck with that. The world is a totally different place from when it was scrapped in 1960. The vast majority of kids now would just refuse to go. They can't lock them all up for refusing there isn't enough room. Also the instructors would absolutely fail to keep them under any form of control or inspire any enthusiasm. If anybody watched that tv series Bad Lads Army that aired years ago when they recreated national service it showed what an impossible task it would be.
 
paulchapo said:
Good luck with that. The world is a totally different place from when it was scrapped in 1960. The vast majority of kids now would just refuse to go. They can't lock them all up for refusing there isn't enough room. Also the instructors would absolutely fail to keep them under any form of control or inspire any enthusiasm. If anybody watched that tv series Bad Lads Army that aired years ago when they recreated national service it showed what an impossible task it would be.
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Loved bad lads army must be 20 years old that now, Corporal Nayocas or however it was spelt.
 
youngbob said:
They literally wouldn't let me in the army, mate. You'll know that to sign up to the army in any capacity these days you have to pass a grueling physical training exam in case a war does break out in the future, and I'm physically not capable of completing that exam. They would turn me down.

As @gaz76 has said above, 76,000 applications were rejected on medical grounds between 2018 and 2023.

A mate of mine is an actual Coldstream Guard and part of the King's Guard outside Buck House. He plays in a royal military brass band as well. He's done the Trooping the Colour, the Edinburgh Tattoo, you name it. Lives in barracks in Twickenham. For as long as I've known him, playing in military brass bands is all he's ever wanted to do.

To get in the army, even just as a tuba player, he spent months carrying that tuba on his back while walking from Salford to Ashton and back. He took that training exam three times. Passed with flying colours the first two times but the army wouldn't let him in because he'd been slapped with an Asperger's diagnosis at four years old.

He only got in after the third exam because he went to his GP beforehand to get his Asperger's diagnosis taken off his record. Anything like that in your medical history is enough for them to turn you down. And my mate actually passed the exam. I'd have absolutely no chance, so, no, I wouldn't even get to do these admin jobs of which you speak.

Feels like you've woken up with an axe to grind, which is fine, but don't take it out on me.
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I’m not taking it out on you, there was a debate on tv which I thought was interesting, obviously people don’t think like me in that it would be a good thing I suppose we wait for conscription instead then
 
its working well for Putin - he is having massive success forcing Russians into the army to fight .......... oh no wait.......
 
at this current time were not at war in the sense however that could change, i cant see any wrong in bringing it in for those who leave school and have long term unemployment,lets say after leaving school if you have not worked in a 3 year period then yes into the forces you go and learn a trade
 
bluethrunthru said:
its working well for Putin - he is having massive success forcing Russians into the army to fight .......... oh no wait.......
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Exactly that. There are some pretty negative stories of conscripts on both sides, and I'd regard Russia and certainly Ukraine to be more military minded populations than our own.
 
Blue Maverick said:
I’m not taking it out on you, there was a debate on tv which I thought was interesting, obviously people don’t think like me in that it would be a good thing I suppose we wait for conscription instead then
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But you didn't mention any of this in your first post. You just said "Make National Service mandatory because war in Europe is coming and we need to toughen up our British youngsters to fight foreigners". You can't start adding all these caveats just because you didn't think your first post through properly.
 
Blue Maverick said:
Unfortunately it maybe a necessity, the forces we have are just not enough, there maybe be lots of crying and wailing but there’s a pretty good chance in the next few years war might happen in Europe now. People have to stop this thinking it’s nit on our land because once it reaches our shores it’s too late. Many other countries have it and times are changing fast they’d need to get a move on.
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The fuckers can't even push to West Ukraine let alone make it to Dunkirk.
 
There simply wouldn't be enough resources to conscript the entire cohort of 18-year-olds. Not enough buildings/camps and not enough beetroot-faced NCOs to shout obscenities at them.

So they would have to be selective, and on what grounds would you make the selection? Fitness? Intelligence? Courage? I suppose it would depend on what skills the army felt it needed most. But if you're having a selection, I can't see them taking anyone who made it absolutely clear they didn't want to be there.

It does occur to me that you could get volunteers, of any age, down the Drill Hall and teach them how to shoot, and in some cases how to make IEDs. You then at least have the basis of an insurgency force, in case we get invaded. But a mass army isn't happening. It's not needed, for one thing. You at most need twice the present numbers, but highly motivated and skilled at modern warfare. Which likely includes stuff like controlling drones and so on, not necessarily lying in a muddy trench with a rifle and grenade.
 
Blue Maverick said:
Unfortunately it maybe a necessity, the forces we have are just not enough, there maybe be lots of crying and wailing but there’s a pretty good chance in the next few years war might happen in Europe now. People have to stop this thinking it’s nit on our land because once it reaches our shores it’s too late. Many other countries have it and times are changing fast they’d need to get a move on.
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I assume we'd be spending money on modern arms, before needing a huge army.

The war in Ukraine is almost old fashioned due to the financial constraints on both sides, and Russia's uncaring attitude to using young men as cannon fodder.
 
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