Removing the military enlistment ban on Asperger's syndrome
Ichinin
Veteran
Joined: 3 Apr 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,653
Location: A cold place with lots of blondes.
Chicken Man wrote:
There are civilian jobs in the military that autistic folks may work, and if not should be able to work. Civilian contractors should be fine in such settings, such as military bases and whatnot. They do not face the same expectations as soldiers.
Every single member of the armed forces, which I will shorthand with the word soldier, is expected to be disciplined, follow rank and file, obey orders, understand orders, stay at attention, stay focused, avoid distraction, pay attention, notice facial cues and emotions in potentially deafening combat, have a good sense in combat, keep wits in combat, have impeccable self control, be decisive but not impulsive...The list goes on, but discipline is key. Are you disciplined? How well do you respond to discipline? It is key in the military.
Perhaps some aspergers, adhd, and other atypicals could do well in the military. But the majority? Probably not. This is the logic behind such a ban. The symptoms can create problems in one or all these areas and put lives at risk in combat. I tried joining but was disqualified for my conditions. I don't want to put a soldier at risk because I'm below average at some of these requirements, anyway. But us atypicals are good at other things...
But I digress, perhaps an atypical would make an excellent soldier, I don't know. But that's what the military is. It's what the military wants. The military may need programmers, but when someone joins they are expected to be a soldier first and whatever job they do second. If you're deployed your base may be attacked at any moment. You will have to drop what you are doing, grab your weapon and join the battle, or whatever your combat role is. Could you do this? Could you get up in the middle of the night and fight the good fight? Can you not sleep but in 3 hour increments, if that, amid gunfire and mortar blasts? What about if power goes out and the only light is muzzle flash, tracer rounds, and grenade blasts? Will you remember to pull out your nightvision goggles? Did you make your bed this morning? Ask yourself these questions before considering enlisting. Remember deployment is at home and abroad. Are you prepared to do all of the above in response to a domestic threat? Once you sign your name you are G.I. and there can be severe consequences if you don't make the grade.
I'm not trying to deter anyone. An atypical might make a great soldier. But there is more to it than simply doing your peacetime dayjob in the military. You must be prepared for war to be a soldier. If you don't think you can be the best soldier you can be be the best at what you can. I mean there must be a logical reason for such a ban, huh?
Like I said. There are civilian positions you may qualify for, such as computer programmer, and you can still serve that way. If not you should be able to. Civilians aren't expected to fight. There shouldn't be a ban on civilian employees. However, take it from a fellow atypical, I'd make a terrible soldier.
Every single member of the armed forces, which I will shorthand with the word soldier, is expected to be disciplined, follow rank and file, obey orders, understand orders, stay at attention, stay focused, avoid distraction, pay attention, notice facial cues and emotions in potentially deafening combat, have a good sense in combat, keep wits in combat, have impeccable self control, be decisive but not impulsive...The list goes on, but discipline is key. Are you disciplined? How well do you respond to discipline? It is key in the military.
Perhaps some aspergers, adhd, and other atypicals could do well in the military. But the majority? Probably not. This is the logic behind such a ban. The symptoms can create problems in one or all these areas and put lives at risk in combat. I tried joining but was disqualified for my conditions. I don't want to put a soldier at risk because I'm below average at some of these requirements, anyway. But us atypicals are good at other things...
But I digress, perhaps an atypical would make an excellent soldier, I don't know. But that's what the military is. It's what the military wants. The military may need programmers, but when someone joins they are expected to be a soldier first and whatever job they do second. If you're deployed your base may be attacked at any moment. You will have to drop what you are doing, grab your weapon and join the battle, or whatever your combat role is. Could you do this? Could you get up in the middle of the night and fight the good fight? Can you not sleep but in 3 hour increments, if that, amid gunfire and mortar blasts? What about if power goes out and the only light is muzzle flash, tracer rounds, and grenade blasts? Will you remember to pull out your nightvision goggles? Did you make your bed this morning? Ask yourself these questions before considering enlisting. Remember deployment is at home and abroad. Are you prepared to do all of the above in response to a domestic threat? Once you sign your name you are G.I. and there can be severe consequences if you don't make the grade.
I'm not trying to deter anyone. An atypical might make a great soldier. But there is more to it than simply doing your peacetime dayjob in the military. You must be prepared for war to be a soldier. If you don't think you can be the best soldier you can be be the best at what you can. I mean there must be a logical reason for such a ban, huh?
Like I said. There are civilian positions you may qualify for, such as computer programmer, and you can still serve that way. If not you should be able to. Civilians aren't expected to fight. There shouldn't be a ban on civilian employees. However, take it from a fellow atypical, I'd make a terrible soldier.
We are first individuals, not our diagnosis. Some people do well following orders, exercising etc, just look at the sports forum, some others do better with free hands developing software, doing intelligence and creating new technologies. The main difference is if you wear uniform or not.
I had problems following orders from inept people who just want to live by the paperwork, anyone would do the same if they ever took a peak at what was going on in an everyday open network and seeing all the attacks against IT systems every f*****g second, even happens occasionally in protected isolated networks with "problems on two legs". Compliance won't do s**t against that.
I really, really, really, hate paper pushing people who thinks security is all about writing a document. The kind of useless contra-productive people that should be first thrown at the Russians in a war.
I now sincerely despise the armed forces, especially the HQ and it's paper culture, that is why i had to leave. On the other hand if s**t hits the fan, they will be the first one who takes a KALIBR missile up their asses. I don't think i'll miss anyone.
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