Aug 30, 2017 11:58 PM
(Aug 30, 2017 09:53 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]I see this more from the perspective of the transgender person. The Pentagon spends 600 billion of taxpayer dollars to support technology and personel designed to kill people. That's all they do. If a tiny fraction is spent on performing a soul-healing surgery on transgender members, so fuckin what? These people didn't ask to be born with broken souls. More power to them if they can find some loophole in the vast transphobic system they are born into that allows them to correct the mistake they just happened to be born with. If joining the military is a means of becoming a whole person, so be it. Is that not the same motive anyone joins the military for? To become a more fulfilled whole person?
Here's another point to bear in mind. The majority of members of the military are not front line warriors "taking a bullet" for their country. They are the vast number of personel behind the scenes that support the warriors with data and technology that enables them to perform their mission. Transgender members largely fill these roles. I myself was an electronics tech in the Navy for 9 years working on communications gear and radar. That was my mission. It was not to take a bullet for my country.
To become a more fulfilled, whole person? Are kidding me? This is the complete opposite of what's found in the military. You become part of a group. Individualism is suppressed. It’s not a safe occupation that encourages independent thinking by any means. Conformity is no longer an option. Your life is dictated by others. You may be fighting for freedom but you’re giving up your own freedom. You may be fighting to protect the rights of others but you're giving up some of your own rights. You are a resource—a GI (Government Issue). You are the property of the United States. They own you.
A loophole to obtain sex reassignment surgery? Are you kidding me? The military isn’t known for timely or proper medical care.
I don’t think that anybody should join the military for the benefits, whether it be travel, money, health care, education, etc. The risks outweigh the benefits. You could get killed or injured, or have to kill or injure another person. You could end up suffering from long-term mental or health problems, etc.
It doesn't matter what your MOS is. You're always at risk for deployment.