American Soldier Jumps Over to N. Korea..

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Title edited. Original:

American Soldier Separated From US Military Jump Over to N. Korean.

This guy had number of issues. Mostly assault charges. Separated from US military and being ready to board a flight to US. Somehow he ran to N. Korea. Who was guarding the dude? I believe in getting back every US citizens, but do we have to hurry up in this case? Let him rot for awhile and experience results of his decision for a bit. He's family's saying he went to fight for US, and US should fight for him. Fact doesn't seem to agree with his family. I'm sorry for his family, but their sweet angel isn't what they thought he was. Besides, current admin has no clue about what to do about anything regarding N. Korea.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Not sure how the food actually is in the US military as I never served but I can't imagine what they serve to him in North Korea will be any better or if they even have any food to serve him!

 

[Streeper541]

I think this fella is about to learn the "grass ain't always greener" lesson the real hard way.
IBTL.

 

[Egg Shen]

I’ve never taken this tour, so I’m not really understanding this so-called line he crossed. I served there at the JSA and IIRC there is a no-man’s land of several hundred meters. And this dude somehow crossed the whole thing without taking a rifle round from one of the many watchtowers. Something isn’t adding up in this story

 

[tbradsim1]

He laughed as he crossed, let him rot!

 

[greeneyes]

I would hazard a guess he has mental issues. I.think he belongs in a hospital and not a North Korean detention center.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

It’s not like he’s a druggie women’s pro basketball player.

 

[georged]

The guy clearly shouldn't have made it past the initial selection stuff.

My guess? A storefront recruiter put his finger on the scale to help his numbers, and once the kid was in the system everyone thought he was just "playing at crazy" in order to get out (happens every day at the boot camps of all the branches).

Then, once he was assigned to regular duty, the systemic problem of low enlistment numbers have the high ranking guys trying to fix the situation from the top down: "You'll find a way to keep your dropout numbers in line or else!"

 

[brian64]

The guy clearly shouldn't have made it past the initial selection stuff.

I'm pretty sure the initial selection stuff has been reduced to fogging a mirror.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

A few years ago I was in the subway with one of those modern US army duffle bags totally full and this recruiter approached me to sign back up. I was astounded by what he was offering me to be honest... I told him I was never enlisted etc., and he was still giving me the sell until he found out I was over 40. Anyways, apparently they are having a hard time to find recruits.

 

[brian64]

Anyways, apparently they are having a hard time to recruits.

I can't imagine why.

 

[kcghost]

They get paid for getting people into the Army. Don't be too mad at them because they are the ones who built the volunteer army that no wants to mess with. As for this doofus just tell the North Koreans "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You".

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I can't imagine why.

Well... if they look at a person like me and think I might be a good fit their recruitment problems must be worse than what's being reported. The guy was a very effective "salesperson" I must say. If I were younger I might of signed up on the spot but 1/2 of that likely had to do with expecting an earful of whatever was going to be served up that day from my girlfriend once I got home.

 

[Zero]

A hungry recruiter that doesn't care to bend or break the rules will recruit in the grey or black to avoid the painful corrective training or zero roller training. When some recruiters are staring down at a goose egg, donut, or big fat zero...they can get pretty creative. Even if a person backs out of their contract and the recruiter rolls a zero for the month, they can be sent for corrective training (another word for tearing your tools apart and you). So, quality can take a hit.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

The guy clearly shouldn't have made it past the initial selection stuff.

My guess? A storefront recruiter put his finger on the scale to help his numbers, and once the kid was in the system everyone thought he was just "playing at crazy" in order to get out (happens every day at the boot camps of all the branches).

Then, once he was assigned to regular duty, the systemic problem of low enlistment numbers have the high ranking guys trying to fix the situation from the top down: "You'll find a way to keep your dropout numbers in line or else!"

This is unfortunately the current state of things. He likely had no business being in uniform in the first place. I joined in the post 9/11 rush to serve and they were very picky in those days, recruits were not hard to come by. There were no reservations about giving someone the boot for failure to conform. For every recruit that got booted there 10 waiting to take their place. Not so much these days...

 

[canucklehead]

It’s not like he’s a druggie women’s pro basketball player.

They like that in North Korea anyway.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Maybe the guy was really bad at navigation and thought he was headed to some other part of South Korea to see a k-pop band.

 

[mso489]

This young fellow has made a few of his worst decisions one after the other. One of the last young guys to be retrieved from North Korea was a tourist who stole a poster off the wall in some public place and came back on his death bed.

I'm sure the Army went to to lengths to inform their people about the dangers of going across that border, not out of their warmth of heart, but to spare the Army this kind of incident. This person just couldn't process that.

The all-volunteer military has a hard time recruiting. A series of ambiguous wars hasn't helped. So they take some marginal people, to make the numbers.

But this guy is our U.S. citizen, so we need to get him back for foreign policy reasons. Apparently North Korea kept many South Korean prisoners of war and most died doing forced labor in their coal mines. Life is cheaper than cheap there. They starve their own law-abiding citizens routinely.

As for food in the U.S. military, I'll vouch for the U.S. Navy food in the 1968 to 1972 era. I was a skinny guy who ate a truckload and never missed a meal, and I was quite satisfied. I served a four-year hitch, out two months early to start school, and never went to sick bay once. Lucky, very lucky. Combat zone and all. Never got seasick either.

Also, handling classified material night and day, it never crossed my mind to pocket a single souvenir. That was the U.S. Navy's mail, not mine. Very simple. I also brushed off inquiries about our ship from someone's agent on the pier in Taiwan. I knew nothing.

 

[Egg Shen]

Maybe the guy was really bad at navigation and thought he was headed to some other part of South Korea to see a k-pop band.

He probably was trying to find this painting - who wouldn’t want one?

 

[puff_not_snuff]

He probably was trying to find this painting - who wouldn’t want one?View attachment 235940

If you smoke a lot of something special that painting could provide hours of entertainment.