Pretty much. They wouldn’t trust you with the cannon either if they absolutely didn’t have to. There is a reason that the term “army proofing” exists for making and set of instructions or device so simple and routine that it annoy be screwed up. And then... someone finds a way. But when you pay the guy with the cannon less than many fast food employees make.... I mean- a Doctor has to have already had years of schooling and supervision before they are entrusted with a human life. Even the police, who have less hours for certification than a beautician- still require some community college. PFC Gomer gets to hold a human life in his hands at a point in his life someone ha to teach him how to shave and make a bed.
"Army Proofing" isn't necessarily enhanced simplicity or durability either. Often, it's making equipment hard or impossible to mess with to such a degree it's like child proofing. It's not enough to tell a Joe, "don't do this, that or the other thing." You have to make it impossible to mess with.
Case in point with the aforementioned armor. The crews are only equipped with the absolute bare minimum needed to maintain the vehicle. There are certain key points inside that are assembled with fasteners that are completely incompatible with the tools crew has. In other cases, some fasteners are locked with lacing wire.
Just to reinforce this a little further, I've heard senior guys tell juniors when asked what the big deal was that, "not only are you not trained, you don't have the clearance to see inside. If opening it doesn't kill you, you might still face a court martial."
Now, that wasn't necassarily true, but I would nod in appreciation as the senior winked at me because it often made my job easier as the one with the training and tools.
Lol. I was uncharacteristically imprecise wasn’t I? But yes. Dead on. Not to be confused with “Marine Proofing” which doesn’t exist- because Marines can break anything in ways that would make Einstein question his understanding of physics.
Oh yeah, for sure. I've had the distinct honor of working and training with Marines. Don't get me wrong, they absolutely Get Shit Done, but they also have an almost supernatural ability to Fuck Shit Up.
Oh yeah. I tease equally, but nothing but respect for the corps. I do firmly believe that a marine never dies- they get transferred to guard the gates of Heaven. There’s something to admire in every branch- but the unique genius of a true marine is something else to behold. They can break anything- and in the right circumstances that’s not a bad skill- but man. I’ve seen guys with fuck all training and no education who can’t program a VCR make shit work with whatever they had on hand and a dirty look; and hand to the sky sometimes I’ve thought that an engineer wouldn’t have been able to better- or even pull it off. It’s another brand of creative thinking.
Having been in the Army and lived in the barracks I wouldn't trust them either. Granted you can have a toaster in your barracks room. Had a full kitchen in mine, stove/oven, microwave, toaster, and a full size fridge. The toaster was mine but everything else was provided for by the army. Now you do need to actually be in the army and not still in training but you can have them. You need to understand there are all kinds of people in the military but the average age is 19-20 for those in barracks. You can't keep a toaster in most dorm rooms in college either because at that age you will be irresponsible at some point. The hope is that in your moment you don't burn down the building.
That said, where do you stand on the age old trope of, "Old enough to join and die for your country, not old enough to drink."
Personally, having served in the Army and been in a position of leadership, I think drinking age should stand as is. In my experience, junior soldiers 18-20 are still essentially children, often still behave as such and therefore should not drink. Even a few of the ones who are "of age," were utter raging morons and should have been prohihibited from drinking entirely.
I never liked that saying. Anyone regardless of occupation can die for their country. The goal is to make the other guy die for his. You're also under strict supervision when performing your job. To break it down for those who don't know, you have roughly one Sergeant for every four soldiers. A Staff Sergeant for every two sergeants and eight soldiers. A Sergeant First Class for every four Staff Sergeants. It maybe more or less but this is the generally how it works. Off hours however you have a bunch of unsupervised frat boys who can do pretty much anything that's not illegal as long as they make it to formation in the morning. Drinking can be a real problem in that kind of situation. Having been in charge of my share of soldiers I can promise you they will do something stupid at the drop of a hat.
Case in point with the aforementioned armor. The crews are only equipped with the absolute bare minimum needed to maintain the vehicle. There are certain key points inside that are assembled with fasteners that are completely incompatible with the tools crew has. In other cases, some fasteners are locked with lacing wire.
Just to reinforce this a little further, I've heard senior guys tell juniors when asked what the big deal was that, "not only are you not trained, you don't have the clearance to see inside. If opening it doesn't kill you, you might still face a court martial."
Personally, having served in the Army and been in a position of leadership, I think drinking age should stand as is. In my experience, junior soldiers 18-20 are still essentially children, often still behave as such and therefore should not drink. Even a few of the ones who are "of age," were utter raging morons and should have been prohihibited from drinking entirely.