The Chariot - Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war

In my experience not many people know of it abroad, but Finland is a country with mandatory conscription. You can choose civil service for the state or service in the military. The 'draft slips' for my age group arrived in the mail yesterday and I've been filling in my details today for a medical exam.

In my opinion, the Finnish army is a bit of a waste. Nobody realistically expects us to do much against Russia, and nobody expects anyone else to attack us. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, either. So, while it's a good 'training course' for some eventualities and all, I don't think the army's worth the cost - we could spend our tax euros on something like social spending, decreasing unemployment, shutting up idiot populists and such. However, for historical and political reasons (read: poor reasons) trying to advocate shutting down the army means committing political suicide. Therefore, it's been receiving budget cuts slowly but surely and more and more army operations have been purged without any public attention from the media.

As for my own situation, I suppose I'll be trying for the Electronic Warfare groups in Riihimäki or Tikkakoski. Those mean I'd be trained as a NCO so I'd get the maximum 12-month term. It's no big deal, really, since I'm aiming to ensure a place in the Uni before I go. They'll keep it waiting for me.

As for the NCO training, I'm not quite sure how great a leader I'll be. I mean, I'm confident that I can do command, but I'm not exactly sure about how well I'll lead. That's the big thing. Leadership differs a lot from command ability, and is quite important for a NCO. As is physical fitness, technically, so there's something I'm not interested in and certainly not good at.

Oh well. Somebody taught me today that, among all the things life is, one is finding new stuff to laugh at. And the most important one is myself. I mean, I'm completely ridiculous. Everybody should get a mirror and laugh at it every once in a while. We take all kinds of things seriously, but as long as our self isn't one of those, things'll always be fine. Except when they aren't. Like when you're getting shot at. Damn, but I hate getting shot at.

Anyway, I suppose I'll be going back to getting shot at virtually. World of Tanks is awesome. Sayonara, folks.