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France To Reintroduce National Service


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On 26/07/2019 at 10:40, Longcol said:

What about todays adults? Has anyone under 80 done national service?

Apparently national service started to be wrapped up in Nov 1960. A person would have to have been born around 1942 latest, to be the final ones to sign up.

 

There will still be a few guys living who did.

Edited by Janus
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1 hour ago, Janus said:

Apparently national service started to be wrapped up in Nov 1960. A person would have to have been born around 1942 latest, to be the final ones to sign up.

 

There will still be a few guys living who did.

Yep - we've got the majority of the population who led useful, happy lives without doing national service - and yet many seem to want the next generation to do national service.

 

Doesn't make a lot of sense.

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1 hour ago, Longcol said:

Yep - we've got the majority of the population who led useful, happy lives without doing national service - and yet many seem to want the next generation to do national service.

 

Doesn't make a lot of sense.

I stand by my first comment, most people who want this to happen are people who are too old to have to do it themselves, gotta love those boomers 🙄

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8 hours ago, Longcol said:

Yep - we've got the majority of the population who led useful, happy lives without doing national service - and yet many seem to want the next generation to do national service.

 

Doesn't make a lot of sense.

France wrapped it up with generations  born to 1st Jan 77 latest (IIRC) which is how and why I still did mine in the late 90s, after years of deferral whilst I completed tertiary studies.

 

After the upbringing I had, I really didn't need to learn about discipline, nor to learn how to take orders, shoot, field-strip and clean a weapon, take care of my kit & myself, etc.

 

But if I hadn't gone & done it, some day a couple burly foreign legionnaires would have been at my door in the UK (or wherever else: tracking, capturing and fetching back AWOLs has long, long been one of the Légion's specific side jobs), handcuffed me, took me on a plane, for me to then serve my 12m in the military nick. So I had to put my life, career, etc. on hold for 12m (I'd already been in UK 3 years by then).

 

I'd opted for paratroop, because I'd just got married, and that specialty was double-leave (2 weeks in 12m i/of 1) and double-pay (2nd class private rate: €114pm net, i/of €52), plus the battalion was close to my hometown. But then the army GP said no, due to a depth perception problem.

 

So, thinking of doing something good for society, 'giving back' or whatever, I opted for the 'civil' branch: still living under military code (all draftees do, during their entire national service), I'd be assigned to some "hard" school or college in a "banlieue", there to help teachers with oversight/discipline, and to help kids with school and life generally. Think social/teacher assistant/courtyard monitor, with a buzz cut.

 

That is not what I ended up doing. Now I'm not complaining about the posting, because it was probably the most interesting national service posting one could ever do, short of working in the Elysée Palace or the Ministries - and that posting was a complete fluke. But suffice to say I ended up doing a 'Classe A' civil servant job (€35k on scale, usually at least 10 years seniority in job before getting there) for 10 months, on €52pm. Very budget-friendly extra manpower for the local administration, you see.

 

Don't kid yourself that draftees the length and breadth of France weren't being 'used' in exactly the same way, for years before (since the French Army went professional, really: little time and budget for national service types, just park'em somewhere useful/harmless for 12m and forget about'em).

 

Different kettle of fish up to the early 80s of course, when NATO was still expecting Commies to reach Britanny in 3 days, wherein every able and draftable body would count.

 

 

Edited by L00b
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12 hours ago, Longcol said:

Yep - we've got the majority of the population who led useful, happy lives without doing national service - and yet many seem to want the next generation to do national service.

 

Doesn't make a lot of sense.

The issue is the minority though, who arn't leading useful happy lives. 

 

The police forces and our government don't know what to do. They do not know what the answer is to knife crime is.

 

Young lives being snuffed out by stabbings. Usually we hear it weekly on the news. Sometimes there has been several in  the same day, and no-one has an answer.

 

Out of desperation we say bring back national service, and all manner of other ideas. 

 

Nothing seems to be working. 

Edited by Janus
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3 minutes ago, Janus said:

Nothing seems to be working. 

you mean 10 years of cuts to policing, community groups, young offender rehabilitation, etc. etc. etc. has coincided with an increase in crime?

 

i'm shocked!

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33 minutes ago, Janus said:

The issue is the minority though, who arn't leading useful happy lives. 

 

The police forces and our government don't know what to do. They do not know what the answer is to knife crime is.

 

Young lives being snuffed out by stabbings. Usually we hear it weekly on the news. Sometimes there has been several in  the same day, and no-one has an answer.

 

Out of desperation we say bring back national service, and all manner of other ideas. 

 

Nothing seems to be working. 

National service worked wonders for the Krays.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1305512/Krays-How-National-Service-transformed-twins-gangland-thugs.html

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I read the report a few days ago, or the article from a book I think it was. 

 

I understand that it mentioned national     service had a  positive effect on normal people.

 

However, it also described the twins as psychopaths-the author's  description not mine.

 

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