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    MajorBurnAngela Helm
    11/13/17 11:25am

    Well, you’d have to be crazy to enlist! Mental health doesn’t necessarily have to prevent people from achieving goals or happiness, but the Armed Forces is an extremely high stress environment. Perhaps if they restrict to non combat situations, though the need dor more combatants is probably why the restrictions are being lifted.

    This program probably won’t be executed well. I remember reading about how Chelsea Manning had come out to her commanding officer (serving in Bagdad) via email basically saying she was having significant issues coping. She got into a physical scuffle with a female officer, she had to be restrained by fellow soldiers twice, they thought she was going to shoot them or herself w/ her weapon.

    Her CO thought she was too valuable to be sent home. The computers with the classified info she later leaked, were not to be used recreationally, yet they were being used recreationally by several different people.

    I mean, look how great the Armed Forces are now with sexual and domestic violence, I think they’re going to put people in conditions where they’ll have significant issues, then cover it up when they snap.

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      Mortal DictataMajorBurn
      11/13/17 11:52am

      There aren’t really that many “non-combat” roles these days, especially as far as I’m aware most if not all personnel go through the same basic training before training in their specialties and would be expected if needs be to handle a weapon in combat.

      In a time of falling troop numbers and endless deployments the Forces seems the exact opposite of where you want to put people prone to stress and mental health issues.

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      MajorBurnMortal Dictata
      11/13/17 12:21pm

      You can be an engineer (Manning was a data analyst), communications, there are a bunch of placements in the Galley and on Instrument Reading/Techs (obvs I don’t know most of the titles), uh Medical and some Secretarial or Admin roles but even in those non combat roles, your vehicle can get shot down, IED’d and you can be stuck overseas, or at sea without access to meds or support. Often times combat comes to you, corners get cut. The same military that couldn’t provide working bulletproof vests probably isn’t going to be on top of your mental healthcare.

      That all said we’ve had ASD, ADD, etc and LBGT+ folks serving undiagnosed or closeted (comparison to restrictions, not gender preference/identity and being non “neurotypical”/diagnosis) who’ve served with distinction. Success is probably determined by the individual, and the military tends to gave a “one size fits all” mindset.

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    Mortal DictataAngela Helm
    11/13/17 11:48am

    Please they aren’t going to help these people get the treatment they actually need. They just need enough meatbags for the next pisspoor invasion the Pentagon puts together.

    This sudden turn to those with mental issues could be a sign that the old “get all the high-school dropouts” move has scraped all it could (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2008/01/dumb_and_dumber.html).

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      HanoverFisteMortal Dictata
      11/13/17 12:41pm

      This. Since they have done such a great job of caring for our currently/previously enlisted people, I am sure they will take the same level of care with the new ones.

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    BlakkNicholsonAngela Helm
    11/13/17 12:49pm

    We gotta pay attention.

    They pulled this same shit when I came in in 2005, before Afghan and right after Iraq really kicked off.

    Trump might try something real crazy to take the heat off this Russia investigation.

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    illuminancerAngela Helm
    11/13/17 11:09am

    I have major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, ADD, and a history of self-injury. My wife is bipolar with a side of anxiety. Neither of us should be anywhere near firearms.

    This is a very bad idea.

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      BigRockEntilluminancer
      11/13/17 12:00pm

      Not everyone in the military carries a firearm. There are plenty of desk jobs and support roles (mechanics, electricians, etc.) that need to be filled. I was in the Air Force, and the only time I touched a gun was in basic training.

      As long as the individual’s particular issues are taken into account when handing out assignments, they could potentially benefit a lot from the free health care that the military provides.

      It just needs to be handled correctly, which I will admit is not a sure thing with the military.

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      Cardi B's Other ShoeBigRockEnt
      11/13/17 2:41pm
      Not everyone in the military carries a firearm. There are plenty of desk jobs and support roles (mechanics, electricians, etc.) that need to be filled.

      What military is this? Daily carry in garrison? No one but MPs do that, but my desk job having ass most definitely qualified every year and carried an M16 and a 9mil with multiple magazines and live rounds every.single.day in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

      This is a Bad Idea and not because mental illness is scary, but because the military doesn’t do a good job of caring for soldiers it fucks up when they’re gon and I still don’t trust them no matter how much they tell you to go get care while you’re active.

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    Babylon SystemAngela Helm
    11/13/17 1:23pm

    What excellent way to get your squad killed.

    Reply