Growing up

in #life5 years ago

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My son is staying with me for the weekend and I thought about what differences would I see if he had gone to the army. I am glad he didn't as it wasn't great ,but I think maybe it would have done him some good.He would have grown up a little quicker and be more disciplined. The only difference in growing up between us is I was a hands on father and was always around.I had never really had a father figure as he was always away and never attended any of my school events.

I went to the army straight after school, not by personal choice,but you were conscripted and refusal meant jail time. I had never spent time away from home and had a sheltered,but streetwise upbringing.I wasn't disciplined and got up to mischief on a regular basis.

Two years in the army straightened me out and I grew up from a boy to a man over that time. You don't really have a choice as you do many things that you can't say no to. You start becoming responsible for your actions as there were massive consequences for bad decisions,

I was in the Reconnaissance Regiment which is an arm of the Special forces and they have their own rules. They did things differently and the punishment dished out would make grown men cry. Other bases never had the types of punishments we had as they were the regular army and followed the rule books.

You quickly learnt what was expected of you and what wasn't. being punished and getting extra guard duty was the least of the punishments dished out.When this happened I would smile and take it as that was getting off lightly.

The Brigade Sergeant major was a founder of the Special Forces in our Country and even though he was only a Warrant Officer and was outranked by many others in the base who had Officer rank he still punished them. No one questioned his punishment as you just didn't do that as it would end up being worse for you.

His favorite punishment which was in no Army manual was chopping railway sleepers.This to me has been the harshest punishment I have ever seen and I saw grown men crying.They loved their barbecue's on this base and they needed firewood. Truckloads of railway sleepers used to arrive and they needed to be converted into much smaller pieces to create a fire.

One sleeper could take you up to 6 hours to chop into smaller pieces as this wood wasn't Pine but Iron wood and sometimes Mahogany. You had to chop against the grain to make the smaller pieces and it was demoralizing.You could have ten swings with the axe and not even dent it and only sparks would be seen coming off.

The punishment could last up to a week depending on how many sleepers you were given. The Sergeant Major would then come and inspect your pile and would know if you had cheated him or not. He knew how much wood came from one sleeper so you had to make individual piles showing your work. 10 sleepers would take you roughly 6 to 7 days to chop as it was done in your time after hours. Many individuals used to go through the night having no sleep.

I was smart enough to dodge this punishment as I helped someone chop one and it wasn't easy. This taught me very quickly to think about everything I did beforehand and leave nothing to chance.

I think my son is too soft and like most kids today has no idea how hard life used to be. I am glad that he didn't have to endure what I had to, but I still wonder if it would have benefited him or not.

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Wow now that is an interesting story.

I've got images of Cool Hand Luke in my head!

Different era, I think it'd be the officers getting axed for that sort of thing now.

I did my growing up homeless - totally different end of the spectrum, but probably the same result - you learn to look out for yourself and fend for yourself!

Many of today's youth are apparently very comfortable staying at home with their parents and have little desire to ever grow up, hopefully yr son isn't one of them!

How was the rest of yr time in the army? Surely the training was just the low point.

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No as we were treated badly by the permanent force members. We were their skivvies. Training wasn't so bad as when you are super fit there is nothing that can get you down. In those days I could just run all day. Most of the time it was interesting and trying to lie your way out of trouble. I became a very good liar quite quickly and could read people and knew when to tell the truth and when not too.

You grew up homeless, in your teens I presume, but there you are doing fine. You must have a brain of steel to have been able to effectively raise yourself.

It was only for a few months while I was 18. Then I discovered the benefits system!

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Railway sleepers generate smoke that is most likely not exactly healthy as they they are pressure treated with preservatives to protect them against rot. No smoke is really good for health but that stuff sounds particularly bad.

All I know is we never got to eat the meat they cooked as we were the low life in the base. maybe it was a good thing then. The wood is the hardest wood I know and it makes sense it was pressure treated. It literally created sparks every time you hit it.

Ooouch, that does sound quite harsh. I think most dad's think their sons are too soft these days!

I think you are probably right as most kids just play on their computers.I tried to get mine to play sport, but he had no interest in it really. I thought team sports help you more and it would help him later in life as the camaraderie you build stays with you for life. i have seen some ex players from teams I was involved with and we help each other 20 or 30 years later. It's all networking at the end of the day.

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Howdy sir cryptoandcoffee! Most kids ARE too soft nowadays and have a hard time standing up to pressure, at least in this country. I don't think the two years of service is a bad idea if it forces them to grow up and be more responsible.

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