Anyone here military buffs?

**TheAeon** · July 2, 2009, 01:13 PM

Or just anyone who is into stuff related to the military?

I happen to be one of those and would be interested in who else here follows that particular trend.

**evo_Sieg** · July 3, 2009, 12:58 AM

Like what stuff?

**konigstiger** · July 3, 2009, 01:53 AM

what you have in mind Operator?

**the General** · July 3, 2009, 04:09 AM

Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, Tanks, oooooouuu how about uh Tanks,

Abrahm's, the British Mark IV and the Leopard are the one I like best. There are 3 other of which I can not put a name to. One is scandinavia. It has a fixed gun-barrel. But the unique thing is that it can burrow underground a bit to protect itself and use itself as an Artillery. It can also ram through pretty much anything.

**Sealedsoul** · July 3, 2009, 09:27 AM

Into it somewhat, find the stuff fascinating, but not into hardcore where i know tonnes of stats.

**TheAeon** · July 3, 2009, 10:38 PM

@evo_Sieg & koningstiger
I don't particularly have a specific field where I like to focus on. I got started after watching the movie "Top Gun" and since then like to watch some war movies or TV series involving the military (i.e. The Unit, Future Weapons). I can say that I'm a big supporter of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corp - I consider the Air Force to be the spoiled brats of the military and the Army fits the acronym "Ain't Really a Marine Yet".

I like to cover all kinds of stuff from handguns and rifles to tanks, artillery, helicopters, fighter jets, to naval vessels.

@the General
Sweden has a new artillery piece that has a crew of two (maybe even one), it can automatically pack up and move out then unpack at a new position, the crew compartments are sealed to protect against biological and chemical weaponry, and the gun is so accurate a crewman can eyeball a two-mile shot on a small sedan.

I asked the question because I've read some stuff on here but I found that what was focused on how the military does things was a little too "simple" (i.e. a carrier landing with the LSO just saying "Cleared for landing" when they'd be doing stuff like "You're at quarters of a mile, call the ball" and "Deck wind at 20 knots axial. Deck tilt 5 degrees" and such). It just feels like stuff that has come covering the Seed series is a little dumbed down on the military end.

**Lunamaria** · July 3, 2009, 11:43 PM

Its "dumbed" down as to most people it doesn't matter, most of us don't know how armed forces work and don't want to learn. Making it big, complicated and 100% real means you alienate a lot of people and makes the vast majority that don't know have to learn. That detracts from at least my enjoyment if not others.

To make an RP fun and accessible you have to take a line between what reads well and what is realistic.

Its like the movie effect, too much detail can detract from the things that matter, IE character interactions.

**TheAeon** · July 4, 2009, 04:13 AM

I can understand that entirely. Even I don't get into stuff which goes into such a technical side (I admit the example I provided was a little too much on the details).

Though I think some of it makes it a little too kid-friendly. I mean Seed and Destiny already did enough with ZAFT's academy taking in grade-school children to teach them how to use multi-million-dollar pieces of equipment (and don't get me started on Kira Yamato and his "promotion" at the end of Destiny)...

Okay, Seed and Destiny definitely did stuff which can be considered to be bad on the military end, enough said.

But being in the military not only involves a lot of training and conditioning but also a lot of responsibility and discipline. I have a friend who's currently applying to join the military for his psychology studies and just to get in he needs in the line of 8-12 referrences and recommendations - though signing up to be a combat psychiatrist brings on an Officer rank instead of Enlisted. The U.S. Navy SEALs would-be operators have to go through at least eight months of formal training before they can truly carry the Trident emblem that applies to SEALs.

Anyone see where I'm getting at?

**Lunamaria** · July 4, 2009, 04:53 AM

Um I'm not really sure?

I get you say that kids in mobile suits shouldn't happen,

Well it true, its fairly rare, most pilots of the era are not kids, but those in the series are and it focuses on them.

Pilots do under go training and tests, and have minimum ages to join. No one in AD can join as under 16 to some factions 18 to others I believe.

But teaching kids to fight is an age old tradition, using them in battle in hard times is has also happened in the past.

Most people understand that officers need to be older, no one leads a squad without at least a year of distinguished service in character to my knowledge.

For ZAFT its like Israel in a way, its expected that many young people spend some time in the military before going onto other careers. That is at least how I see it.

Training is shorter in AD, I'm not 100% sure why. The need for troops at the time for both sides would have been a major factor. Now it would be longer but I'm not sure how much, ZAFT greens get at least six months. That's the only time amount I know off hand.

**TheAeon** · July 7, 2009, 01:03 AM

At least the Earth Alliance had the smarts to label anyone at grade-school age a junior soldier. And I'm pretty sure had the Archangel not lost most of its actual crew Kira's friends wouldn't have been given positions in the CIC.

But ZAFT employing children to pilot the most advanced of their arsenal seems like a VERY big gamble (one the military wouldn't probably engage in). Forget the kind of training they offer in the ZAFT forces, teenagers are far more vulnerable physically and mentally to what's demanded of them in the military whether or not it's a time of war. And since they're at that age I'm pretty sure the probably that they might ignore their training in the heat of the moment is much higher.

On another note there is a documentary out there called "Speed and Angels" which covers the lives of two U.S. Navy fighter pilots as they go through flight training and make their way to flying the legendary F-14 Tomcats from aircraft carriers (the last new recruits of the F-14). It's out on DVD & Blu-ray and you can find clips of it on Youtube. I think it would be a good watch for anyone who's working on characters piloting mobile weapons or even conventional weapons on here.