Militia and military relationship

[Sacrosanct]

With the recent armed occupation of federal buildings in my backyard, I got to thinking about how militias work in the US, and the relationship with military veterans (who seem to make up a large % of militia).

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, and I have no research or difinitive proof of correlation.

My background: I grew up in mostly rural areas (Alaska and eastern Oregon) until I was a teenager. Very conservative and Catholic farming family. I spent 6 years deployed in the military. so I like to consider myself pretty familar with the type of people who are prone to join militia

So why are so many militia veterans?

The military does a weird thing to you. There is a tremendous sense of brotherhood in the military. There are no friends I have ever made in my entire life who are as close as the friends I made in the military. I would drop whatever I am doing and go help them if they asked, no questions asked.

but the military is also very stressful, especially in a combat environment. The rush of combat is addictive for way too many people. It's also a time where it's the only time a person has a sense of worth. They know how other people rely on him, and it makes him feel important. For many, it's also all they know. Remember, the military breaks you down completely, and builds you back up from scratch. And it's also a time period where anyone who doesn't have your back is the enemy, quite literally. To add one more complication, the enemy is constantly dehumanized (they have to, because you can't have the luxury of moral quandries in the middle of a firefight).

so you throw all of these factors in, and is it a wonder why the militia is full of vets? They all have the same belief that it's them against everyone else and they have to stick together to fight back. Many of them hope to get into a fight, because they subconciously miss that rush. They dress in full combat gear and full loadout of weapons because it's the closest they can get to when they had value and respect. When you add all these things to a base foundation of xenophobia (or outright racism/bigotry), it's a recipe for membership to a militia.

In my opinion anyway.

 

[Janx]

That's an interesting insight.

I would guess Militias are a modern pattern for modern vets as motorcycle gangs were to returning WW2 vets. They didn't feel like they belonged anywhere else.

Militias probably offer the further comfort of familarity (let's pretend to be soldiers is a lot like let's be soldiers).

Top it off with any vet of any rank joining a militia likely comes in higher on the pecking order than Bob WannaBeSoldier who never served. So you'd get to be a leader or mentor with the "back in the Corps, this is how we did it..." That would have to appeal to a vet, having their practical experience being valued and looked up to.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I would guess Militias are a modern pattern for modern vets as motorcycle gangs were to returning WW2 vets. They didn't feel like they belonged anywhere else..

I think this is an astute observation.

Keep in mind, I'm not excusing any type of behavior, just making an observation as to why things seem to be as they are.

 

[Morrus]

Getting a last politics thread in before the closure, eh?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Getting a last politics thread in before the closure, eh?

I'm sorry, I missed something. Did I do something wrong?

*Edit. Oh, I see now. I didn't read that thread until just now.

 

[Janx]

Getting a last politics thread in before the closure, eh?

you're going to end the Politics experiment? Probably for the best.

Oddly enough, this topic doesn't quite seem political (yet).

It's mostly discussing why a vet might be drawn to join a militia. Not really delving into what the militia might stand for (politics)

 

[Janx]

I think this is an astute observation.

Keep in mind, I'm not excusing any type of behavior, just making an observation as to why things seem to be as they are.

I thought yours was good. I didn't really know that vets were joining militias. I would have guessed they would have thought it a wannabe activity, but once you raised the point, I could see a vet with a certain mindset using a militia to rebuild that community he had. If a culty vet had a mind, he'd attract wannabes, who would see his experience as leadership, and thus fill in the gaps of knowledge the wannabes lack.

That is of course a huge extrapolation that might make a good TV episode "issue of the week"

 

[Sacrosanct]

I thought yours was good. I didn't really know that vets were joining militias. I would have guessed they would have thought it a wannabe activity, but once you raised the point, I could see a vet with a certain mindset using a militia to rebuild that community he had. If a culty vet had a mind, he'd attract wannabes, who would see his experience as leadership, and thus fill in the gaps of knowledge the wannabes lack.

That is of course a huge extrapolation that might make a good TV episode "issue of the week"

Most militia people I know are almost all veterans at some point. Keep in mind, I'm not saying that all vets join militias, or that all militia members are veterans, just that when you pile on all of these factors (how you grew up + military experience) generally makes sense as to why one would join a militia.

i was in the army in the 90s, and it was constantly droned about how the Clintons were the devil, and thus the government was horrible and out to get you. The military generally is a pretty big echo chamber, which is unfortunate.

so you've got a basic level of distrust of the government and/or xenophobia based on how you grew up, the military reinforced this and added layers of a sense of brotherhood and worth + addiction to all things combat related, and viola! Predispositoned to join a militia when you come home.

For example, I was overseas for 6 years straight. When I got out, no one cared about my accomplishments, and all of my training working on helicopters didn't count for anything because it wasn't FAA approved courses. No one cared that I was the crewchief for the chief of Staff when he visited Korea, or that I was on the pope's security detail in Sarajevo. I ended up selling cars (one of the worst jobs of my life, btw). So I can see how someone like me would be drawn to an organization that says they value me and my accomplishments when I was in.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I think that your armchair psychoanalyzing of people that have a different mindset than you without doing any research is a great way to reinforce your existing opinions. It plays directly into confirmation bias. Unless you're going to go out and talk to vets in militias and ask these questions, you're just engaging in mental masturbation.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I think that your armchair psychoanalyzing of people that have a different mindset than you without doing any research is a great way to reinforce your existing opinions. It plays directly into confirmation bias. Unless you're going to go out and talk to vets in militias and ask these questions, you're just engaging in mental masturbation.

Looks like someone needs to read my original post again.