Wish me luck

That was business as usual during the U.S. Army reorganization / reorientation in the '70's. We went Vietnam -> Middle East -> Western Europe in training exercises, but got sent to Central America. (Vietnam training at Polk was useful.)

Since you care who you serve with, do whatever THEY are doing. Finland doesn't have any pressing military needs.

 

I guess I do not seek glory, only a way to redeem myself. When I finished my service I was asked to continue, very few were asked, and I said no. Why? Because I thought chasing ladies and drinking pints was more “glorious”. At least that was what I said to myself. Honestly, I do not know did I walk away because of the ladies or because I was scared. That thought have hunted me ever since, did I choose the easy way? And if I did: doesn’t that make me a coward? A thing every Jäger despises, for a reason. Re-enlisting would have finally provided me another chance to prove myself.

I may no longer belong to the Lutheran church but their way of thinking still corrupts me. I would never allow myself blindly follow a feeling; rationality is all that I know. Which may a be another shackle I should find a way to release myself from.

And you didn’t? Would you have happily been transferred to serve under some CO you have never met before with troops equally alien to you? Wouldn’t you rather serve the officers already know to you (unless they were utterly incompetent) and with the troops who you know and trusted? Still, that is a valid point. Our next training will take place on Feb 7th – 12th so I should ask my brothers for their opinion. Nevertheless, the answers will not be surprising; most of them will take the pay check and walk away. I can’t blame them, only I and Haimi were without families. A lot of them might have been on duty only for the pay roll, because soldiers do not pay taxes. On that the old Viking laws still stands. In comparison: it would take eight to ten years from me to save money for a bran new BMW M3 in my current job or two years serving in Afghanistan…

 

The U.S. Army had a charming custom for decades of transferring individual men from unit to unit as needed, instead of keeping units together. Thus unit integrity was destroyed pretty much annually as new men transferred in and out. You learned to make new friends easily and keep track of old friends as best you could. I think this started after WW II as the Army was was remodeled after standard business practices for more "efficiency". (I don't think this sort of treatment of employees works in big companies either.) It was routine to serve under officers who'd screwed up someplace else and were transferred so they could avoid responsibilty for their actions or incompetence. Good thing U.S. Army non-commissioned officers are gods in human form.

They have since ended this asinine policy and now transfer entire units together. That way, the guys today know who's to the left and right of them in a bad place.

I think you should do whatever your buddies are doing. Of course, money trumps everything.

 

That is an utterly alien thought to me. Ever since the Viking times Northmen have served in units formed by men of same locality, same village, same town, same municipality, same drill squad. That tradition saw its peak in the Winter War. Companies were formed out of men who lived in the same village/town/municipality etc. The fighting morale of those companies were beyond understanding, they kept fighting no matter what. That is what we call “the miracle of the winter war”: no-one was willing to abandon a friend, a neighbor, a relative. One hundred and five days of unwavering resistance. The downside of that system was that a single battle could wipe out the male population of an entire village. Nurmo, (30 kliks north from Lapua, which you should know, as anyone with military background should), where my cousins live, was one of those. For the operation Barbarossa they changed the system and surprisingly, the troops were no-longer as efficient as the high-command thought. Then they changed it back, and now some young officers are trying to invent the wheel again.

A wise choice I guess, although I have no idea what “asinine” means. All I can say is that if I know my CO like I know Haimi, my response to any and all orders will be: sir, yes, sir! And with brothers I trust: move on, move on, we have a duty to do! But with a CO I don’t know nor trust, my response will be: Yes, sir! (I’m gonna pretend to do whatever and then circle back and report it’s impossible.) Between soldiers I do not know the response would be like, hell, let them fry, I’ll stay behind ‘em and cover my own ass. Get my point?

Damn! In my rage I have already tossed away the last drafting letter, but you are right I should consult my brothers. Now I have to phone to the HQ to get the right phone numbers, but I will.
Do not get me wrong. Money is not the incentive for me, or at least the main incentive. A BMW M3 costs 107 000 Euros and a Porsche 911 112 000 Euros. Over half (57%) of the cost of both cars are taxes. Soldiers don’t make that much money, but the benefits are great as they do not pay taxes. I am of the gentry, I could sell property to buy such a car, but I would be paying more taxes for selling that property than the tax free value of such car is.

 

There is a small bonus from serving with people from other locations also.

We had a fella on our fire team from Puerto Rico and I learned a lot about his homeland from him, much more than reading or hearing from someone not from there ever could have explained.

I also learned a great deal about how someone can look and sound completely different than me, but still hold the same convictions in his heart.

Btw, he went on to gain his citizenship while he was part of our team.

 

When you say joining for another term will make you tax exempt, is that just for the amount of time you are serving, or for the rest of your life? If taxing is as bad over there as I'm lead to believe, then that could be a huge life-altering thing to re-enlist. Then again, that runs both ways. If you're going to a high-impact area like that, being tax-free for the rest of your life would be the last thing on your mind...

 

I have been told that serving under the stars and stripes is the easiest way to gain citizenship. Sadly for me those USMC recruiting officers told me in Oregon 2009 that I was too old to join…
Nevertheless, serving in the US army differs very much with serving in the Finnish army. Firstly the first is at war and the latter is not, at least officially. Secondly Finland is alongside with Austria one the very last monocultural societies in the old world. Thirdly the very mentality of the nation is based on unyielding notion of freedom of the individual. Hmm. On second thought that is actually also a very American notion.
Anyways, trust is a thing one must earn here, it cannot be granted by the mighty order of the superiors. I guess people can also look so very alike and still be so very different…

Exactly. As a truck driver my income tax rate is between 7 and 17 % of my gross income, depending on my income. My older brother who works as an ambulance (ER) doctor has an income tax between 49 and 56 %. Of evry food item one purchases one pays 14 % of the cost will be tax and so on. The welfare society (which my American family so aptly called socialist society) is funded by taxes and taxes are not distributed evenly. Those who can afford to pay more are taxed fiercely harder than those who cannot. The wealthiest are the ones who are mostly responsible for the funding of our system. And I cannot say that is the wrong way. The more one earns the more one pays.

And no. One is tax exempt only as long as one serves on active duty. Why there is not a rush to re-enlist? Re-enlisting is not so easy, only some 500 soldiers a year are re-enlisted. Most of them have to apply and then pass the physical and psychological tests. I did not, because I was asked to re-enlist, I did not have to apply, and still I was stupid enough to say no. At least for the first time. This time I am more puzzled. But you are right, this time I might be paying my tax exemption with blood. Finland is not (officially) at war so it is quite difficult to get as many volunteers to fight in Afghanistan etc. The tax benefits are a great incentive. But in a nation that has been five decades accustomed with peace, is that enough? After ten years, they wouldn’t be asking me if it would be enough.