Is the Military a cult?

[DavidM]

Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, Regimental Executive Officer at Forward Operating Base Salerno on Khowst, Afghanistan under which Tillman was serving at the time of his death, has made critical statements about the Tillman family’s search for the truth based on Tillman's apparent agnosticism. In comments to ESPN, Kauzlarich said: "These people have a hard time letting it go. It may be because of their religious beliefs" and "When you die, I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don’t believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt. So for their son to die for nothing and now he is no more... I don't know how an atheist thinks, I can only imagine that would be pretty tough."[21] It has been alleged that these statements by Lt. Col. Kauzlarich, a conservative Christian, were made because the officer was trying to divert attention from the role he may have played in the alleged coverup.


This is a perfect example of how a cult operates!

  Yes I did say this!

If everything is a cult, then the term is meaningless.

No I didn't say this!

 

[DavidM]

The front page of the times has an article written by a journalist who laments the fact that his nephew has joined the marines. He feels that his nephew has not made a "...well informed choice..." but has been "...manipulated..." by the President and recruitment officers. Along with this I found the nephew's own words very revealing. The nephew wrote the following to his uncle, "What I want for my life is to stand above the majority." "I believe in honor, discipline, courage....I wish to be bigger than myself, to be a part of something more-something important-something significant...." I think I wrote down these same words in my journal when I joined the Assembly.  I  am not going to take the time to match up all of the similarities between the military and the Assembly (Maybe someone else would like to?) but I can't help but think about it from time to time.


Tom here is where I started!  I started the question, "Is the military a Cult?"


     If I said, "The Military is a Cult" then I guess I would expect your responses as appropriate. Perhaps if you read the responses of others you might learn something about yourself. These responses aren't reacting to my question as if I am attacking them. They are just giving their opinions from their experiences. If you thought I said "The military is a cult" then I apologize. I was just opening up a discussion. 

[DavidM]

Here's another I think is pretty interesting.

If I tried the officer's corps, I'm sure my experience might have been a bit different.


Oh, I don't know so much. I think (I'm only guessing here) that the US took a leaf out of the former Soviet Union's book here somewhere down the line. In the Red Army of WW2 an Infantryman was usually not even referred to as a "man" or a "soldier". Soviet Generals of Infantry would, if they were asked the strength of their Divisions, reply with the chilling phrase, "My Division has (so many) Bayonets". Veterans (some highly decorated) often remembered this with great bitterness, which is understandable. It may have been different for Guards Infantry Divisions; these were accorded a certain amount of extra privileges, but who knows?

The thinking was, of course, that where you have a large subservient population subject to conscription, it is not any great difficulty to procure more Infantry. If they cannot be had by turning out the common jail of the nearest city, they may be taken from the nearest gutter. Tanks and aircraft though, were a different story as these cost money and resources to manufacture. Thus it was cynically said in the Red Army at the time, "Tovarisch, if you lose Infantry you have lost nothing, but if you lose Tanks it means at least the Punishment Battalions .. or the salt mines!"

That's not of course the result so much of the military's being a cult as it is of its leadership thinking like Cheap Charlies. However, if this present war escalates, or, if Gawd forbid, the US resorts to conscription, who is to say it won't happen again?
Casey

[DavidM]

Another,

Air Force here. I don't know about calling it a "cult" but there is some brainwashing that goes on to take you from civilian mindset to a military mindset. They don't drain your bank account like a cult though

[DavidM]

On the other BB some people are taking jabs at each other!  What's the issue?  The rivalry between the branches! You know what I mean, Army vs Navy.  I was just thinking about this today. It is a tactic for a superior to "pit" subordinates against each other. This happens all the time in prisons, in factories etc... (I will support this if anyone wants) It is a great way to maintain the control for the leaders. This I would give as an example of "cult" like behaviors in the military!

[DavidM]

This should be moved to the "Is the Military Gay?" thread!

I used to think that the Marines were pretty much a cult when I was in the AF. But there was nothing religious about it...

They had all sorts of um, shall we say traditions that they upheld in the dorms at DLI in Monterey such as the Sunday afternoon GI party (dorm cleaning) which always ended with up with one poor slob being carried by four other guys to the dumpster, throwing said poor slob into the dumpster, closing the lid and banging on said dumpster for a few minutes. I have photos of this fascinating ritual.   

They also had a funny little circle dance they'd do regularly at the NCO/EM club. Once, I even observed (through the dorm windows that they never seemed to close the curtains of   ) a sort of exercise where the Marines would hunt each other down and raid one another's rooms while in their underwear.

Plus, there was that habit they had of yelling "Semper Fi!!" at random intervals for what seemed like no good reason.