Would you encourage your daughters to enlist?

[LadyDoc]

I'm polling the studio audience to get your impressions.

With you guys having BTDT, and knowing how some of you feel about women in general, and also women in the military, would you encourage your daughters to join-up?

I have an ulterior motive in asking this. My middle daughter will be a senior this fall, and although she loves art and really likes history, and has excellent grades, she just has not really decided what she wants to do with her life.

I have suggested in passing that if she really doesn't know, she could consider the military for a few years to give herself some self-discipline and some clarity. Though she is an aggressive rugby player, she is a bit timid elsewhere in life and lacks self-confidence. I think the experience would be good for her, but I also wouldn't want to push her where she doesn't want to go.

What/How do you guys feel about women in the military? Would you encourage your daughters?

[K.M.I.A]

HELL YES!Everybody should serve their country.EVERYBODY!

[Ops NCO]

For the most part, yes. I only qualify my "yes" as there are some folks who probably aren't suited for military life at all. But I think that's generally a minority.

That being said, I think it would be a good experience for her. I served with lots of guys (we had no women in our unit), who needed a few years to mature and get an idea of what they wanted to do with their lives. And, as Brother KMIA said, it is good for people to serve the country that provides so much for them.

If she does sign up, get her on here. I bet we could find someone on here who wouldn't mind mentoring her.

[SOWT]

Qualified yes, she needs to decide what she wants to do before making the rounds. She should talk to more then one branch before signing, each service has positive and negative aspects.

[AirborneCA]

In the Air Force but yes........definately

[Skysoldier]

Lady Doc.....this is very important discussion!

In answer to your question: Yes, I would offer encouragement, but only if they bring the subject up.

This is only my opinion.....but here goes.

If she decides to consider it, give her all the support you can.

But, she must decide to consider this on her own. No prodding from you (which I am sure you are not doing.)

If she seems interested, let her know that she can come her and ask questions.

I promise you that we will give her honest answers and good advice on both the pro's and con's of serving in the Military.

I can't promise you that VB won't try to hit on her.....nobody can!

[dakoteyah27]

Rugby: breaking through to your objective meanwhile other players are beating the crap out of you to keep you from making your objective but still trucking on.

That is a great base mind set to have in the armed services. I say hell yeah, we need more people like that.

[AbnJack]

I already did, and she did enlist in the AF, did six years active. She has since ETS'd and is moving on with life with a better understanding of many things, including that the world is a large, complex place and she is not the center of it.
She hasn't been out for very long and is still adjusting to the helter skelter of civilian life.

[Skyshark]

If I had a daughter I would tell her to join the Air Force. I would also tell her to stay as far away as possible from Pope Air Force base.

No shit. That is what I would tell her.

My son on the other hand has already decided he wants to join. (11 years old) However he does not want to be enlisted. He wants to go to college and become a Doctor and then serve in the Army as a Doctor. I told him that IF he had to be an officer that is the field and job I would want him in.

[VB]

Yes.

[skywalker]

Yes I would encourage, my daughter who will be 18 in Aug. has talked about it but nothing more,I told her that the military offers a whole new world to get one ready for life just be sure that's what you want and I'll back you 100%.......

[RedFalcon]

I would definitely discourage my daughter from enlisting. But that is me...I'm an arch-chauvinist when it comes to soldiering.

My son on the other hand, I would send off with all my blessings in a heartbeat. Unless of course, they are putting females in the Infantry when he is old enough to serve, in which case I would discourage him from enlisting and the USA can continue on the road to becoming the most back-asswards nation in history without his assistance.

I know this is an unpopular stance on the issue. I don't care.

[Falschirmjaeger]

Seems the consensus is that women should join the Air Force, which would be my recommendation for the most part, depending on the temperament of the girl.

By and large, I think the Air Force does the best job of embracing a culture that rejects misogyny.

Having said that though, there are certain women who thrive in the Army and Marines, so your mileage may vary.

I suppose at the end of the day, it depends on what sparks the young woman's imagination and lights a fire in her belly. Lacking a definitive desire to butt-stroke an uncooperative insurgent, I would encourage her to see what the AF has to offer.

[vnvetret]

My elder daughter graduated HS as valedictorian and got her BA from U of Il as top graduate in the College of Communications. So, when she started talking about the Service Academies, I was highly encouraging. She wanted to become a pilot, and was almost evenly divided between the Navy and the Air Force, but leaning toward the Navy. Both academies strongly recruited her, but, the surprising upshot was that she couldn't fly for either service because she was too short. She is a tad over 5'2" but both the Navy and the Air Force said that their airplane cockpits were configured for no shorter than 5'4". So, she went to neither but went on and got her MBA from Loyola, again, top in her class. If she couldn't fly, she didn't want to go to either academy. Navy and Air Force both said "No waivers!" but I think they lost a solid gold candidate.

[Rocket1972]

Yes, with no service restrictions (i.e. Army, Navy, AF, Marines). I think every young person should serve their country to understand what freedoms they enjoy.