Pros and Cons of military training for preppers

[Scythe13]

You're right midnitemo. Some are the read deal. But being a squady doesn't teach you to rig up solar panels (some probably could, but I think they'd be the minority), it doesn't teach you farming, crop rotation, plant nutritional needs, and much more.

Having said that, I do see many advantages, as well as disadvantages, and empty gaps where military doesn't even consider other things.

As a prepper (non-military) you have to learn EVERYTHING yourself, and you have to practice it yourself.

In a skill set system you can learn many military skills and practice them, if your pockets are large enough.

I don't know many military guys who have gone off for 6 months alone and survived with nothing but a knife and their whits. There are stories about survivalists doing that though. A training course on how to survive, even a week long course, does not guarantee you have the skills to survive. This is what I have issues with. Many military folk believe that the military shows them how to survive ad infinitum. When the truth is, for survival skills, it's not about how you learned them, it's about how often you use them. This is one of the issues I see with military training. It instills a base over confidence that is not necessarily based on well practiced skills.

A friend said he wanted to come out and learn survival skills with me because he'd not learned enough in the military. He didn't have to practice making fire or rope, until he could do it perfectly. He just needed to be shown and not practice EVERYTHING. Those are his words (not exactly, but paraphrased).

[Midnitemo]

What you say is true.. i dozed through many a course , some things i never practised and consequently forgot how to do , but the stuff that mattered to me went in and stayed in , i'll concede the guy who takes the time to learn it(his own time) is definately motivated and keen and sure to be a survivor but you just don't know well you will til you're doing it , a lot of guy's in the mob do know cos the'ye been shot at(not paintball)delivered babies hunted wild boar ate all sorts of disgusting crap , been on shovel patrol indefinately , built solar stills , forded dangerous rivers and live to do it again

[bigpaul]

I have the greatest respect for our armed services and anyone who served in them, but with respect they only train for war and to kill or be killed.....with some trades skills added on......they train people for a limited skirmish/battle they do not train LIFESKILLS for an EXTENDED period, things like Agriculture, Horticulture, Smallholding and Homesteading, Forestry Skills or handling livestock which will be invaluable post shtf, granted some skills are transferable but its not the answer to everything.

[Midnitemo]

I agree BP i have a lot to learn , there are some huge gaps in my knowledge , I'm not saying ex military are some kind of superman i'm saying they have a usefull set of skills to build upon and a good resilient attitude.

[bigpaul]

(2 September 2013, 15:28)Midnitemo Wrote: I agree BP i have a lot to learn , there are some huge gaps in my knowledge , I'm not saying ex military are some kind of superman i'm saying they have a usefull set of skills to build upon and a good resilient attitude.

I had a mate who served in Northern Ireland, according to him they were STONED most of the time(and I aint talking bricks-if you know what I mean!).

[Midnitemo]

i got the hard kind of stoned...lol

[NorthernRaider]

(2 September 2013, 15:28)Midnitemo Wrote: I agree BP i have a lot to learn , there are some huge gaps in my knowledge , I'm not saying ex military are some kind of superman i'm saying they have a usefull set of skills to build upon and a good resilient attitude.

We ex forces also will admit a lot of our best instructors came from civvie street.

[Scythe13]

This conversation seems to have done a full 180 haha.

Don't get me wrong, military is a better situation to come from than just civilian. HOWEVER, once you're out of the military, or you become a prepper, things change. Often quite dramatically.

There are many preppers with much better skills than squaddies, as there are squaddies with more skills than preppers.

The point of this conversation was to figure out whether it was better to come from a military background or not.

As far as I can tell, the advantage to a PREPPER (not Joe Public) is actually pretty minimal, as long as you're motivated and eager to learn.

[Midnitemo]

(2 September 2013, 16:05)Scythe13 Wrote: This conversation seems to have done a full 180 haha.

Don't get me wrong, military is a better situation to come from than just civilian. HOWEVER, once you're out of the military, or you become a prepper, things change. Often quite dramatically.

There are many preppers with much better skills than squaddies, as there are squaddies with more skills than preppers.

The point of this conversation was to figure out whether it was better to come from a military background or not.

As far as I can tell, the advantage to a PREPPER (not Joe Public) is actually pretty minimal, as long as you're motivated and eager to learn.

I'll go along with that...but it was nice to get paid to do it.

[Jonas]

I was in the Coast Guard - sort of a combination of the RNR and the RNLI. I didn't shoot anyone, though there were times that I wanted to. The biggest advantage to me were the courses that I was able to wangle orders for - the Advanced Instructors School, the Defense Information School"s Commanding Officer's Course, and most of all the Senior Officer Leadership Management School. Top-notch usable education in my civilian job.