US Military

[Fillmore]

If the US Dollar collapses, what do you think will happen to our military? How would they be paid? Will they work for free? Who would guard the Nukes? Anybody know how many Nuclear silos the US still has?

 

[csaws]

I don't know the answers to your questions, however I am seriously considering asking my fire chief to start paying me in gold and silver.

 

[Plague421]

If that happens they will at least have a place to live, for free. Well that's how I figure it.

 

[rambone]

If the US Dollar loses its value - i.e. super inflation thanks to Obama - then all your goods and services are going to cost a lot more dollars. You are still going to get paid in USD though. So will the military. Their wallets will suffer with the rest of us. However, like someone else said, they get free room & board while they are serving. Serving during an economic depression may be one of the better times to serve in the military. Assuming we have peaceful times ahead, which I do not.

I think the better question is, "What happens to the military when the government collapses?"

 

[CulpeperMM]

well, the one example that comes to mind is the USSR. the soldiers sold everything that wasn't bolted down. my mistake, they sold that too. missiles, tanks, female NCOs. all sold to highest bidder.

 

[Justus]

well, the one example that comes to mind is the USSR. the soldiers sold everything that wasn't bolted down. my mistake, they sold that too. missiles, tanks, female NCOs. all sold to highest bidder.

If you like to read, I recommend the book "One Soldier's War".
It shows how Russian military life degraded after the Soviet Union collapsed.
You are right, black market was the source for income.
Even when they could leave, most re-enlisted because it was better than
going home to nothing.

 

[Dr Falken]

In the advent of a collapse I suspect the the military would turn to their "professionalism" to impose order. An example that I would use would be the School of the America's training of officers for South and Central America who often stepped in to create order in times of chaos. Often times they stayed in power. Of course our paradigm is different, they might act to create stability until such a time as things can be brought back to normal. Who knows?

 

[hunter]

The rich will have lots of toilet paper.

 

[Lucas156]

CHAOS!!!ANARCHY!!!

 

[Richard]

IMHO there really is no way to accurately predict how various units or individuals within the military will respond to an economic collapse, I am sure the responses will be as individually varied as there are individuals in uniform.

I would advise excersizing the same extreme caution when dealing with uniformed personnel as you would when dealing with non-uniformed personnel

 

[Rlee]

CHAOS!!!ANARCHY!!!

This is the only answer to begin with.

 

[Octomonkey]

The rich will have lots of toilet paper.

When we can't afford to wipe our ass, we'll know where to go.

 

[jeremy]

This is a scary thought to those of us who remember after the fall of the USSR. When everything was for sale. Some of their better units set them selves up like kings, by aligning their units with key states/cities in a mutual parasitic relationship. Some of the worst just seized power in the good old Stalin fashion.

What will our military do? One can only speculate until it happens. It will be terrifying times indeed when that finally occurs though that you can be sure of.

 

[ABN82]

I can tell you from experience that anytime we have a democRAT President that the Military suffers. They "ALWAYS" slash at the Military to get money for their agendas. Addind to that, the dems have control of the house and senate, IMO it is not a good scenario. Only time will tell. Hopefully this will be a one term POTUS and don't forget, there are senate elections in 2010. GET OUT AND VOTE!

 

[Chefcook]

Trust no one. Plan to kill everyone you meet...

 

[Raoc]

Their wallets will suffer with the rest of us. However, like someone else said, they get free room & board while they are serving.

Generally, only the single Soldiers live in barracks. Soldiers with families either live in on-post housing(a very limited resource) or live off-post and receive a monthly housing allowance based on the local cost of living. Generally, Soldiers are smart and resourceful, and will do whatever they find necessary to survive or provide for/take care of their families (much like many on this board would). There are alot of variables that could lead to different outcomes, however, such as whether or not there is armed domestic conflict occuring, armed foreign conflict, natural disasters, etc. In other words,