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Post by earl on Dec 14, 2007 9:55:48 GMT
Can't think of a scarier scene than to have some coked up 23 year old squaddie waving an assault rifle in your face.
Drugs are rife in the Irish army too. My uncle used to tell stories of his entire barracks taking acid and trying to 'fly' out the barracks window. Although, it was the 60's when this happened, so who wasn't on acid?
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Post by earl on Dec 14, 2007 10:47:45 GMT
as I said, it was the 60's! |
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Post by earl on Dec 14, 2007 11:21:57 GMT
Why do you think that drugs are such a big problem in their army especially when they know they're likely to be tested? Kids will be kids. All the military training in the world isn't going to take that instinct out of 'em. Put a kid in a stressful situation with a load of other kids, and stuff like this will happen. Under that uniform, he's still a young'un from a poor estate in Liverpool, Brighton, Glasgow, etc. |
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Post by Wasp on Dec 14, 2007 18:56:58 GMT
There are the reasons as Earl has said but also some take drugs to ease their mind which is tortured with horrific images.
A few soldiers I know have dappled in drugs, one infact is now a heroin addict although he has left the force. He carried his colleagues leg after it was blown off in a bomb here. To this day he relives that terrible day and still hears the screams and smells the burning flesh. It went for his nerves and drugs was sadly his way out from the mental pain.
Another suffered alot of bullying, had counselling becuase of the stress he was under and he ended up taking drugs to be someone else in the hope his so called colleagues would like him more.
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Post by Harry on Dec 31, 2007 15:36:21 GMT
You get home on leave and your mates are doing what they want. Its easy to fall back into the mode of before you joined up. Its hard to condone drug use but any squaddies i've know always dabbled during leave and its not like they get high during work or the night before work but no doubt there will be those who do. Its like some sick fetish on here how much anti britishness exsists. Every damn thing is turned into Irish v British. It sad and pathetic
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Post by Jim on Jan 1, 2008 2:24:50 GMT
I agree with what harry has said.
Most of them arent popping pills when they are at barricades, they're doing it when they on leave or on free time at a club and its not exactly hard to get them. Was going into Subway after coming out of a club and some fella stopped me, clearly eating the face of himself, wanting me to buy a few e's. I think the government should be more concerned about how easy it is to get drugs than who is taking them, thats irrelevant. If I was out in afghanistan I'd be off my tits at every oppurtunity, would make the time go in faster.
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Post by Harry on Jan 1, 2008 13:08:35 GMT
It must just be me then, but anti britishness obviously effects some lifes more than others. I used to be very anti irish until i learned more and i stopped letting the isuue of irishness affect me and learnt to deal with it.
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Post by Jim on Jan 1, 2008 14:31:36 GMT
I use to be very anti-british but this forum and living in england toned that down, too. I'd even go and apply for a british passport someday if it didnt take a billion forms and most likely an interview  |
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Post by Wasp on Jan 1, 2008 18:47:02 GMT
Some good points there Jim and Harry. I think most if not all of us had quite alot of anti-Irish/British. Probably because of our backgrounds, friends and the way we would have followed/believed our ownside. Pointscoring is something we are all guilty of, although sometimes we may be seen to be pointscoring when we are not.
I think we all have to try and not to point the finger without thinkling what it would be like if the shoe was on the other foot. To do with passports I could never apply for an Irish passport, not because of any Irish feeling or anything like it but simply because it is not my identity or my nationality. But I do know quite a few people from bothsides who have Irish/British passports and have no problem holding an Irish or British passport regardless of their political viewpoint.
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Post by Blue Angel on Jan 1, 2008 21:15:38 GMT
they have drugs as a problem the irish army has general fitness as a problem due to the high proportion of out of shape and older soldiers in it*. I've read one report which reckoned that about between 15-20 per cent of the permanent forces would fail a strict medical and get round them by various dodges and in the reserve it was only 'suggested' that they do physicals -until recently at any rate - the recent re-organisation of the Free Clothes Association into the Reserve Defence Force saw an alarming loss of manpower as unfit and unskilled people were weeded out.
*Since the irish army is so small promotion is hard to come by and you end up with a dad's army type of effect whereby people can be still only a captain at age 50 or if only a corporal if in the ranks at age 40-45.
Marcus
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Post by Jim on Jan 1, 2008 21:34:39 GMT
I think that unfit and unskilled people might be a reflection of irish society as a whole than just the army, which is sad considering we have put out some of the best athletes and footballers in europe or even the world.
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Post by Jim on Jan 1, 2008 21:36:31 GMT
I think we all have to try and not to point the finger without thinkling what it would be like if the shoe was on the other foot. To do with passports I could never apply for an Irish passport, not because of any Irish feeling or anything like it but simply because it is not my identity or my nationality. But I do know quite a few people from bothsides who have Irish/British passports and have no problem holding an Irish or British passport regardless of their political viewpoint. I know many too, some people will take a passport to one place but not the other. I've a friend who went to the middle east and didnt dare bring a British passport with him, he brought his Irish one and applied for it for that reason. I didnt apply for a British passport, but it wasnt out of any national identidy, it just takes too long, there are more forms to fill out and I needed one within a month which wasnt going to happen, so I went down to Dublin and got an Irish one. |
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Post by Wasp on Jan 1, 2008 23:12:27 GMT
Jim on your point about your friend going to the middle east, I know a few people who worked there and a few more who went on holiday to places such as Egypt. They all applied for Irish passports as they felt it would be a hell of alot safer for them if anything happened.
On Setanta's point about drugs I also hate them because I see first hand what they usually lead to. Unfortunately when people are getting the buzz they are not realizing that there will come a time that they will not be able to enjoy themselves without the drugs on a night out unless they stop completely.
Sadly this all to often leads to trying harder drugs and the results all to often are disastrous.
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Post by Harry on Jan 2, 2008 9:02:54 GMT
I dunno. I just hate drugs. I didnt think posting a BBC atrical was being anti-British. If a soldier is taking stuff when he's on leave well he/she has to think of the come down and the manic depression they're in for when they're back on the job. They're mugs for doing it and it could make the difference in that split second decision making they were trained for. I don't think you meant it as anti British but so many threads seem to come down to us and them no matter what we are talking about and i've played my part. For the new year i'll try and do better ;D ;D |
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