Fri Jul 1, 2022, 05:38 PM

Marius25 (2,343 posts)

Question for those in or close to the military

In the event that violence increases, especially if the Supreme Court ends voting rights next year, what is your opinion on how the military would view things?

It's commonly believed like most law enforcement that the military is very Republican. There were members of the military at the insurrection.

In your experience, do most members of the military respect their oath and hate the rise of right-wing fascism? Would they stand up against the MAGA terrorists trying to create a dictatorship?

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10 replies	Author	Time	Post
Question for those in or close to the military (Original post)	Marius25	Jul 2022	OP
I retired in '99 from the USMC after 35 years	MarineCombatEngineer	Jul 2022	#1
I agree with this assessment	Skittles	Jul 2022	#5
I don't think the military would do anything. In Turkey, the military is supposed to intervene when	Karadeniz	Jul 2022	#2
The Turkish military lost.	TheRealNorth	Jul 2022	#3
I know. My husband and I were glued to the TV, rooting for the military. When Obama came on	Karadeniz	Jul 2022	#10
We heard this for all 4 Trump years	AkFemDem	Jul 2022	#4
I think the military would be by and large loyal.	Elessar Zappa	Jul 2022	#6
military are supposed to be neutral, but there was a lot of recruiting and	demigoddess	Jul 2022	#7
Troops do what they are told.	Chainfire	Jul 2022	#8
...	MarineCombatEngineer	Jul 2022	#9

Response to Marius25 (Original post)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 05:43 PM

MarineCombatEngineer (9,669 posts)

1. I retired in '99 from the USMC after 35 years

and my experience is that the vast majority of military members are loyal to the Constitution and their Oath, there are a number of RWNJ in the military, but the Security Forces of each branch pretty much know who they are and would be put down pretty quickly if they tried any shit.

They would have to have the NCO's and Officer's Corp on their side for it to succeed and I just don't see it happening.

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Response to MarineCombatEngineer (Reply #1)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 06:25 PM

Skittles (149,451 posts)

5. I agree with this assessment

I don't have near your experience - I grew up as a GI brat and served a stint in USAF, but I cannot see the mass cooperation it would take to succeed.

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Response to Marius25 (Original post)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 05:46 PM

Karadeniz (20,215 posts)

2. I don't think the military would do anything. In Turkey, the military is supposed to intervene when

their democracy is threatened, although no telling if erdogan has let that stand.

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Response to Karadeniz (Reply #2)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 05:54 PM

TheRealNorth (8,398 posts)

3. The Turkish military lost.

They tried to stop Erdogan in 2016.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt

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Response to TheRealNorth (Reply #3)

Sun Jul 3, 2022, 08:29 AM

Karadeniz (20,215 posts)

10. I know. My husband and I were glued to the TV, rooting for the military. When Obama came on

and endorsed Erdogan, I rather wished he'd kept quiet.

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Response to Marius25 (Original post)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 06:21 PM

AkFemDem (1,494 posts)

4. We heard this for all 4 Trump years

Right up to January 6 when he was threatening that he “had” the military and police and bikers (?!?) and other “tough people”- notice how they didn’t show up to arrest Nancy Pelosi 🙄

Again and again, the military did the right thing. What more proof do people need??

Also, FWIW I have immediate family members who are 1) military and 2) law enforcement and they are democrats. Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years.

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Response to Marius25 (Original post)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 06:28 PM

Elessar Zappa (10,855 posts)

6. I think the military would be by and large loyal.

Law Enforcement worries me more.

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Response to Marius25 (Original post)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 06:40 PM

demigoddess (6,539 posts)

7. military are supposed to be neutral, but there was a lot of recruiting and

brainwashing done by the evangelicals when we were at the Air Force Academy. They worked very hard to get the cadets into their sphere. Wouldn't bet on how neutral they would be now.

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Response to Marius25 (Original post)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 07:36 PM

Chainfire (13,679 posts)

8. Troops do what they are told.

It is beaten into them in boot camp. (figuratively of course)

As a general rule, if your captain says, get in the truck, you will get in the truck. If he tells you that those people are the enemy you say "Yes sir." If he says, "If the enemy crosses that line, shoot them," that is most likely what they will do.

People who think for themselves and have the moral courage to act on it are rooted out and sent home early. You are taught that the legal theory of the UCMJ is not to obey illegal orders, however, you know that it will be the officers on the courts martial that determine whether the order was legal or not, and the benefit of the doubt will go to the officer, not the grunt. It leaves a trooper with a moral dilemma between a rock and a hard place.

The best hope is that you have honorable, well trained officers in charge of troops.

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Response to Chainfire (Reply #8)

Fri Jul 1, 2022, 10:51 PM

MarineCombatEngineer (9,669 posts)

9. ...

The best hope is that you have honorable, well trained officers in charge of troops.

Very true, however. if you don't have the NCO's on your side either, then you're pretty well screwed.

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