Drinking Age -- Fort Bliss TX

[Coramoor]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

So it's OK to drive drunk, be in accidents and be in fights in public?

That's how you're allowed to have "fun" in the Army?

Well, until the late 60's members of the armed forces under the age of 21 couldn't vote.

That was a travesty.

A drinking age of 21 simply brings this post in line with the rest of the country.

That's hardly what I am saying.

I'm pissed off at the current attitude of punishing everyone for the misconduct of the few.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

That's hardly what I am saying.

Really? See below:

"We want an Army that can go into a combat zone, risk their life and limbs, kick down doors wearing 100 lbs of armor, and ruthlessly kill our enemy...but we don't want them drinkin', whorin', or fighting amongst themselves.

It's like the Army is taking away everything that is fun and only offering more deployments in return. Awesome."

The fact is that I don't think the Army does want them "drinkin', whorin', or fighting amongst themselves.

Our military is supposed to be professional. That's a heavier load than getting busted for underage drinking in the chapter house.

At least, that's what I think.

[Coramoor]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Really? See below:

[B]
The fact is that I don't think the Army does want them "drinkin', whorin', or fighting amongst themselves.

Our military is supposed to be professional. That's a heavier load than getting busted for underage drinking in the chapter house.

At least, that's what I think.

You are right. A Soldier in the Army faces situations much different than a kid drinking in a frat house.

We want our Soldiers to be professional enough to understand proper escalation of force and the rules of engagement...but don't trust them to make decisions concerning other matters at home? They are allowed to determine if it's time to kill a person or not, but they aren't allowed to have a few beers during their time home from combat.

People are going to screw up. That's a given. Especially in an organization with hundreds of thousands of men and women, many of which are just coming home or getting ready to go back to a combat zone. If you haven't done it, you can't begin to understand what it is like and what goes through a young Soldier's head during those times.

[epchick]

Yeah well, you don't live here, so you can't possibly know the sheer amount of accidents and deaths we've all had to deal with.

Sorry, i'm not willing to put my family at risk just because an underage soldier wants to have a few beers when they are home.

[33girl]

Was it drunken driving back & forth over the border or just in general? If it was the former, I would think the over the border ban would solve the problem w/ out eliminating alcohol altogether. Isn't Mexican alcohol higher proof too? If so that might cause a lot of the problem. If your normal drink up till you taste that stuff has been Miller Lite and you don't know how to handle strong stuff, you're going to get really stupid really fast.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Was it drunken driving back & forth over the border or just in general? If it was the former, I would think the over the border ban would solve the problem w/ out eliminating alcohol altogether. Isn't Mexican alcohol higher proof too? If so that might cause a lot of the problem. If your normal drink up till you taste that stuff has been Miller Lite and you don't know how to handle strong stuff, you're going to get really stupid really fast.

Most of the incidents have been located on base, but the most recent ones have spilled over onto non-military property---but none have been drunk driving over the US-Mexico border (at least that i'm aware of). In fact, the soldiers have been prohibited from going over to Mexico because of what's happening at the moment.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by epchick

Most of the incidents have been located on base, but the most recent ones have spilled over onto non-military property---but none have been drunk driving over the US-Mexico border (at least that i'm aware of). In fact, the soldiers have been prohibited from going over to Mexico because of what's happening at the moment.

Thanks for clearing that up. I couldn't tell whether the Mexico thing was what was driving the other problems or just a facet of it.

I mostly think as Coramoor does on this issue, but if they can't stay on base without getting into fights w/ each other, how cohesive of a unit can they create if they have to go into combat?

[epchick]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

I'm pissed off at the current attitude of punishing everyone for the misconduct of the few.

Its been more than a few, and i think its high time that steps were taken to aleviate the situation.