Latest / Forged in Fire: The Soldier | The Civilian | The Truth / What Age Is the Right Age to Enlist?

Transcript

What Age Is the Right Age to Enlist? · Forged in Fire: The Soldier | The Civilian | The Truth

• 0:01
  Hi listeners, we want to let you know that the
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  mental health of our soldiers, veterans,
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  their families, and all victims of war are our priority.
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  Please note that the following episodes contain sensitive material.
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  Know that you are valued and you don't have to walk through trauma alone.
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  Your stories, your lives, have purpose.
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  Richlea Productions presents Forged in Fire, the Soldier, the Civilian, the Truth.
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  Starring Leah Vasquez and Richard Quesnel.
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  Created, written by AC Leo.
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  How are you? Yeah, I could you. I'm excited to get started.
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  I reserved the back room so we can go talk to him.
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  Well, I have to say this is definitely different. Yeah, it is.
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  You ready? Ready.
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  Okay. First
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  question for today.
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  During the rapid fire questions, you stated that you enlisted at the age of 18.
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  So looking back now, do you think 18 is a good age to enlist? Yes, I still agree.
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  Why?
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  Well, as a soldier, you're listening to my question to your superiors.
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  And the ultimate order would be to risk your life.
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  We need to go to war.
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  So because you're still very impressionable at 18,
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  you should at least have the ability to also vote.
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  So being able to vote on who you want as a leader of the country is important.
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  Yeah, it's very important because when you're out there on deployments...
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  especially when they're very hostile.
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  It's comforting to know that you had a say on the Grander scale.
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  like who is the coming shots.
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  For example, when there's a time when I have
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  voted and the candidate I wanted to be elected
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  was not. And so it affected my morale.
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  It even affected the other soldiers more.
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  In that moment I realized just how important it
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  was for those in the military to have a voice.
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  Well, I would never have imagined it would or
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  even could be that important for a soldier
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  to vote.
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  So I'm starting to say I didn't think it would
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  matter as much because, as you said, you have
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  to follow orders no matter who's leading the country.
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  You gotta understand it, life and death.
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  us not get any more real than when you were in the battle.
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  And you want
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  to be doing it for a leader that you're not
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  going to believe in, but that you can trust.
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  And that's what voting is important.
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  Okay, I can see now how having a voice and choosing your leader carries real
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  weights when you're the one executing those decisions.
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  So earlier you used the word impressionable and that really stood out to me.
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  Could you tell me more about what you meant by that and
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  is being impressionally important when joining the army?
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  It's absolutely important.
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  when joining the military and it's actually also necessary
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  to recruit at a young age for the survival of the military.
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  You see a lot of soldiers that remained in
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  the military like 30 plus years started at
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  a young age because they really believed in what the military stood for.
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  It's hard to convince someone in their 30s
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  to go to a dangerous place around the world
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  and risk their lives in battle.
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  They haven't been indoctrinated earlier on.
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  So,
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  You don't want to be brainwashed to the point
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  of being like the Gestapo, but you have to
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  believe in what you're doing. And you cannot.
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  Forget the term a hard-headed hippie.
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  Think you are going to save the world by peace and love.
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  Because the reality is that we live in a violent one.
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  Okay, I understand what you're saying about
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  belief in commitments, and I agree that soldiers
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  have to believe in the mission. But...
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  Okay, but when you say it's hard to convince someone in their
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  theories to risk their life unless they've been indoctrinated from an early age,
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  that just...
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  seems wrong.
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  So, shouldn't maturity make someone more capable of choosing that path freely?
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  Like a 30 year old has lived more questions,
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  more understands consequences more fully than
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  an 18 year old.
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  If the cause is just, doesn't it stand up to
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  the scrutiny of someone who's lived more and
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  you're not just relying on 18 year olds that are impressionable?
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  A 30-year-old absolutely has more life experience and
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  may better grasp the long-term consequences of war.
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  That's precisely part of the problem. At 18, you're still forming your identity.
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  you're physically at your peak and adaptable and more open to adopting a color.
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  Well, I think 18 is far too young.
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  Teenagers are still developing emotionally and psychologically,
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  and assuming they survive sending teenagers to war
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  risks permanent psychological damage.
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  War, no matter the age, will traumatize you
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  and change you forever.
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  Yeah, I agree that war changes anyone regardless of age.
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  I mean, trauma doesn't discriminate.
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  But age still matters in how you process it.
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  An 18-year-old is legally an admiral, but they're still developing.
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  Their sense of identity, morality, and long-term perspective is still forming.
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  So if war is guaranteed to leave scars,
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  shouldn't be what the person facing it to have a more solid foundation first,
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  but I don't have a stronger sense of self.
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  It's one thing to be adaptable and it's another thing to being unfinished.
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  So I'm not arguing that young people aren't capable.
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  I know many of them are incredibly brave,
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  but bravery and readiness are not the same thing.
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  Maybe the issue isn't whether you make a better soldier,
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  maybe it's whether they're more mature
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  and it helps them become a more resilient human as they move through.
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  Okay, what if there's a middle ground?
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  Not 18, because they're just stepping into adulthood,
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  not 30, because their life is already fully rooted somewhere else.
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  How about somewhere in between, like 25? Because,
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  By 25, most people have had time to live independently,
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  form convictions, and understand consequences more clearly.
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  So they're still physically capable, but their cycle out to be more grounded.
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  There's something to be said for someone choosing
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  this life after having experienced more of
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  the world first.
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  Let's look at it from a practical standpoint.
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  If we waited until 25, our military would look very different.
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  You would lose those formative years where training,
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  identity, and long-term careers are built.
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  We need that foundation when we re-
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  Hmm. Well,
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  maybe there isn't a perfect age only trade-offs.
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  So what matters most is making sure whoever serves is actually supported.
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  They're not.
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  especially if you're coming back from war.
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  But that's a conversation...
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  maybe for another chapter.
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  Sure.