Anyone for National Service?

Would u please explain what it is. If we have it , it must be called something else.

Hi Thea! I have been wanting to respond here ever since I got the notifier but Iwas at work then. Here in Italy national service ended at some point during the last ten years. When my son, who ic now 31, was called up they were gradually phasing it out and he had the choice of either joining the services or doing work with the social services, both for a year, and he chose the latter. It was an eye opener for him and he enjoyed his time doing it. He was under the local council and the local community welfare assistance. He visited elferly people doing errands for them like shopping, collecting medicines from the chemists, driving them to the doctors and delivering meals. He was made aware of some very awful siruations which he would never have known about had he not done that year. I think they made a huge mistake in doing away with it here, The youths have altered since it ended and I put a lot of the blame on the fact that they receive no form of discipline anywhere nowadays in most cases. Parents and schools are not like they used to be and with no more national service there is no situation where they have to 'look up' to someone.

Let me get this straight... Is this "National Service" when young men go to the armed forces and get trained in the fine art of killing people via fire weapons? I was lucky enough not to go through all that rubbish... Not that it would be a bad thing to have the people ready just in case a war breaks open, but what we call "army time" had very little to do with actual training, but more with humiliating the ones of lower ranks. You get to do push-ups or scrub toilets just because some moron commands you and he is higher in rank. If you don't, that's insubordination... Not to mention that this national service teaches every illiterate moron to shoot a fire weapon. That's smart, isn't it? I passed through a preliminary selection for enrollment (to leave out the physically impaired ones) and there was a bunch of guys that needed help in filling out the papers because... they couldn't read or write... I said I am lucky, because I missed national service by little. My enrollment got delayed because I was in college (that was the law - they let you finish college and you go afterwards), but until I finished college, the law changed and the army passed to a "professional" level, by hiring volunteers that make a career in the army, and the common folk is not forced by la to serve for a certain time (I think I was sentenced to 4-6 months as a college graduate).

nope,ours is still voluntary-for now-although one wonders if mandatory service might teach some of these kids discipline and manners. i could imagine the wailing if some of these kids had to make their own bed every morning and put down the playstation.

No there is not a National Service out here - I wish that here was as then the unemployed youth would at least be fed and could do some good work like cleaning cemeteries and planting food etc and social and community work. Maybe they would get skills training too. They should not get weapon training though. Far too many cowboys out here as it is. We do have a defence force and there is not much that they do apart from joining in with the police on some occasions of violent demonstrations. They drive around in jeeps and wear dark glasses. It could be a good thing but no weapon training. We are only 120 miles long and 46 miles wide so any foreign power would have no difficulty invading and taking control out here. Not that anyone would want too

national services are not mandatory here. in fact it is tough to get into the army as there are many aspirants. in school and college level there is a cadet training program (called NCC) which again is not mandatory. i once did try to get in the army only to find out that i have a flat feet..so joining the army was out of question, on medical grounds.

thea oh yes here in the united States we have the National Guard where young men can sign up and get college credits while serving in peace time, and they are being trained as reservists to go to war if they are called. I do not think we have the thing where they must sign up when they are eighteen anymore, but during the war years all the young men had to sign up when they reached ate 18. My son always managed to miss being drafted as he was always just a few years over the limit then now for the last few years there is no mandatory signing up. But what got me was this horrid war in iraq where so many of our California young men had to go and so many never returned. they never talk about that part of that stupid search for weapons of mass destruction. weapons that never were found, but all the young lives lost can never be retrieved.

Military service? Ours is all volunteer, though there has been a draft at times in the past. I never served. My Dad was in the army long, long ago, but no other immediate family members were.

Is that like some sort of military thing? I know that men in the US have to do something about the draft at the age of 18 but, beyond that I have no idea.

Our military is voluntary. But there are perks offered as incentive, like paying for your education. Of course now, with two wars going on, not all the young men get to take advantage of the education. Sad. It's been my observation that this can be a good thing, but government beauracracy gets in the way...not to mention wars getting in the way. I do think that young men need the structure at that early age. Teaches them to be responsible and accountable. If it works like it should...the best laid plans, you know, don't always turn out as they should. Pres. Obama has suggested a mandatory plan for madatory community service. Don't know how well this would go over as it seems from my research that it would be used to indoctrinate young people with the governments agenda...and not used for teaching ethics or accountability and responsibility. I would rather see it stay voluntary and actually be a positive force for good. Perhaps if the government was trustworthy, I'd be all for it. You know me, the eternal cynic...anything the government does gets bogged down in paperwork and red tape...and propoganda. How does it actually work other places? Is it a force for good or just a 'program' that makes things worse and wastes money and lives?

Hi thea, we dont have it per se. We have something called National Cadet Corps., or NCC. But it is not mandatory. People can join it if they want. Well, I did join it, and they were to teach us horse riding. At that time, my father went abroad, and his sister was my guardian. She didnt agree to send me for horse riding, and that was the end of my dreams. I love horses. :( I think they are lovely and graceful creatures.