Shared interests In The Military

In the American Civil War, it was common to speak of one’s first experience in combat as “seeing the elephant.” This was a life changing experience. Afterwards, a man was always different than he was before.

In contemporary society, in many ways having served is similar. Answering someone with “Roger,” or using “say again” instead of “repeat” are some of the minor symptoms. Others can be more important. Military service has exposure to ground truth. This helps insulate the armed forces from some of the forces that ossify and cripple corporations, bureaucracies and other organizations that are better able to insulate themselves from reality. Television comes to mind. Thus in the armed forces it is possible to tactfully oppose even a high ranking officer without some of the fear which this should cause in a civilian environment. Shared concern for one’s comrades is a powerful inducement to swallow one’s pride and work with somebody you may not like personally, if they can do the job and help keep your friends safe and alive. Soldiers understand the importance of the mission, and will sacrifice when needed.

Back in the “real world” these are more unusual. Saying the right things the right way is more important than saying true things. “Values” refers to prices rather than beliefs that one strives to uphold. Sacrifice is something the other guy should do.

This means that whether still in the service or after demobilization, soldiers can often speak to each other better than to the rest of society.

Thus there is a potential market for a social networking service which caters to soldiers and which will allow the same types of options as the existing services. Something that will allow soldiers who are hip hop fans to find each other, or soldiers who think the best of all possible worlds is to criticize the translation of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Soldiers who have been in the same unit will often find something they can happily discuss. This might be legendary personalities they were around or the mural painted in the stairwell of the barracks. Finding out what happened to the people that you knew but who weren’t important enough to stay in contact back in the day can provide thrills and excitement in unpredictable ways.

Additionally, all soldiers love to tell war stories, and this is always better when you don’t need to stop and explain every other term or phrase to the audience so they can appreciate that which makes the story memorable. This also allows new audiences who have never heard the story of the time you got shot at over Baghdad hit or the time you went to sleep in a deadlined vehicle and woke up as it was driving through the desert.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

For a great way to network with or keep in touch with US Military members please check out the author's US Military based social website at militarysociety.com

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