Mandatory Service: Obligation or Opportunity?

_{This is a publication based on the suggested topic proposed in the Hive Learners community through their discord, which on this occasion is Mandatory Service.}

"Live as if you were going to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were going to live forever."
<< Mahatma Gandhi >>

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Image from Pexels at Pixabay

Military service is something that I remember from the time of my youth, before I was 18 years old, which is the age at which all young people are called to participate in compulsory military service.

I remember that in the days when it was my turn to serve, we young people were very afraid because the idea had been instilled in us, the idea had been instilled in us that military service was something to be very afraid of.

That one was going to go through a lot of work, that one was going to be mistreated by the military while performing this service.

At least in my case, my father made me very afraid of that and well, my case was particular because I had a father who always instilled in me that type of fear towards him and towards the military.

My father worked with the military for many years, I would later also be involved in working with them and I learned many things from them, but I was very afraid of military service.

More than anything because of how badly my father spoke to me about what they were going to treat me there and that caused me to try to avoid being part of military service as much as possible.

Today I regret it because I had to fake it until I was sick, a mental illness so I couldn't do service.

Fortunately, the specialist who saw me concluded that I was definitely not suitable for military service because I perfectly interpreted an illness to be unfit for service.

But this is part of another story that I am not going to tell here, what I want to tell you is that the service here lasts two years, which unless the laws have changed is still mandatory and is currently punishable, well I don't know if currently but in at that time, non-existence of compulsory military service was punishable by law.

You could fine your family, your parents, and that was a problem.

Image from WikiImages at Pixabay

While I was working for the military I was able to meet many young people who were recruited and who were doing their service and I was able to talk to them and see how they were treated.

Then I realized that the military brings many benefits because it gives the opportunity to young people who do not have access to education or have dreams.

They have the opportunity to get a profession and study through the State because the State gives them all the preparation that they need at a technical level and prepares them very well in the areas in which they want to perform.

For example, telecommunications, I met many young people because I worked in the telecommunications area who specialized in radio repair and telecommunications engineers.

Then they operated radar machines, repaired radars, they were also in the news part.

What I mean is that the State, through the militia, prepares these young people and gives them an education that perhaps, being someone with low resources, they would not be able to access, it was going to cost them a lot of money and was out of their reach.

I believe that in reality military service should not be mandatory, it should be something optional because as @michupa commented in this publication, a person should feel comfortable with what he is doing.

Image from Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke at Pixabay

And a person who is obliged to provide a service or do something she doesn't want to because she certainly isn't going to be efficient in what she's doing.

And she's going to do things with displeasure. So I think that the approach they should give to this should be changed, and the army should be presented as an attractive opportunity for young people, to study and of course to raise the pride of the nation, to feel like part of a driving and motivating force for the entire country.

This would then awaken the feelings of nationalism and the sense of belonging of doing something valuable for your country and the pride of being a citizen and being part of the military.

So I think that things should be taken from this point of view.

Finally, today I would tell you that if I were in good physical condition and they gave me the opportunity, I would be delighted to do military service at my 56 years of age, because I would love to learn communications techniques and radio, and electronic repair through of the military.

As I say, I was working with them as a civilian for seven years and I had a mostly positive experience, and I would be delighted to be able to do it again.

I hope my health allows it.

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