WHAT
IS MILITARY
The military is an arm of government authorized to use lethal
force, and weapons, to support the interests of the state and some
or all of its citizens. The task of the military is usually defined as defenses
of the state and its citizens, and the prosecution of war against another
state. The military may also have additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned
functions within a society, including, the promotion of a political
agenda, protecting corporate economic interests, internal population
control, construction, emergency services, social ceremonies, and guarding
important areas. The military can also function as a discrete sub-culture
within a larger civil society, through the development of separate
infrastructures, which may include housing, schools, utilities, food production
and banking.
The military are groups of people that are given power to
defend mostly a country. They are armed, and called the armed forces.
The military protects its country by defending it from the armed forces
of enemies,
in case of any war.
The military takes instruction from the government of the country to attack
another country that wants to fight them. "Military" as a word comes
from Latin miles, meaning warrior.
Military has many jobs of which some jobs are for fighting and some are for
other work to support the military activities. The things they do in the
military are use weapons, drive vehicles,
and repair weapons. Some other people in the military learn how to fly aircraft,
pilot ships,
or repair engines.
The military usually wear clothes called
a uniform.
In some places, especially where there may be combat, a uniform often comes in
a camouflage pattern
which is designed to make the person hard to see in the forest or desert.
In many countries, people join the military
because they want to. In other countries, there are laws that some people
have to be in the military, even if they do not want to be. The United States
call it military training while in
Nigeria it is given to those who serve their fatherland National Youth Service
Corp (NYSC).. It usually depends on age and physical fitness. People who have been in the
military but have left or retired are called “veterans”.
People who have been in military and now work in civilian life, but are ready
be called back to service, are called reservists.
The military of a country is usually divided into different branches organizations that
do different kinds of work. These branches usually are:
·
Army (land)
– A military force of soldiers mainly on land or driving in land vehicles.
They also use helicopters.
·
Navy (sea)
– A military force that uses ships and boats.
They also sometimes have planes. People in a navy are called sailors unless
they are officers or pilots.
Military is a special field that has
more branches that do more specialized work. For example, in the United States
and United Kingdom there military are engaged in this specialized duty:
·
Marines – Military groups that serve on
ships, they are trained to fight on land when needed. Their main job is to
attack by landing on enemy beaches. They work closely with a navy, but are not
sailors. They may also have their own boats, planes, and helicopters that
facilitate their movement.
Some big countries even have small units which perform special actions
which are very difficult. They are called Special Forces.
There are also mercenaries, soldiers who fight just for pay and have little
loyalty to whomever might hire them, and Private Military Contractors (PMC),
which are under the command of a company (civilian company). The Medieval
Italian condottieri were a historical example of PMCs. A warlord may
have a private army, which are often no more trustworthy than common gangsters
or criminals.
Joining up and Training
In most countries of the world, young men and (in a few countries) women
between 17 and 18 and of good health may be forced by the government of their
country to join the military and have military training. This is called "conscription". The countries
that do not have
conscription include Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malta, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain,
and the United Kingdom. In some countries, such
as Argentina and United States,
conscription is legal, but is not used, at the present time.
When a person wants to join the military as a volunteer, they "enlist". (This
means simply that they put their name on a list.) They have to be above a
certain age, 17 or 18 in most countries. They have to pass physical fitness tests to show that they
are well enough to do the jobs that they will have to do. They must also have
good enough hearing, to hear orders, and good enough sight to use a rifle
or gun.
New people in the military are often called “recruits”. They have training at
a special camp, sometimes called “boot
camp" or "basic training". The training keeps the recruits
busy and usually have very little free time for themselves. They learn to
understand the "orders" or
"commands" that are given
by the officers to the "troops".
The military people in a group are known as the troops. They are thought the
right ways to obey the orders. Lots of exercises are introduced to them to
improve their physical fitness and strength. They learn how to use weapons, first aid,
and their uniforms and "kit". Their equipment is known as their kit. Recruits
also learn how to March, which is the way to walk together keeping “in step”. March
learning is sometimes called “drill”.
When the soldiers finish from "boot
camp", they should know enough to be a helpful person in their group.
The camp usually finishes with a parade in
which the newly trained recruits show off their marching and other skills they
have learnt in front of important visitors. Once the recruits are fully
trained, they are ready to defend (protect) their country from attack, or to go
to war,
if necessary/need be.
The
Traditional Role of the Military
From time immemorial the military has
been known for protection of the citizenry, mostly in terms of war or any other
external aggression or violence. They are not also left behind in terms of
internal crisis. The Police Force are mainly the section created for peace and
order in the country, but where it gets out of hand the military are invited to
help in peace keeping order wise there will be a chaos in the country. It is
the duty of the Police Force to maintain peace, order and harmony in the
country and to see the life and property of the citizen is secured. In the case
of Nigerian security especially now that the security system is porous both the
Police and the Army work hand in hand to see that peace reigns.
The traditional role of the military is
written in sections 217 of the 1999 and section 215 of the 1989 constitution of
the federal government of Nigeria has three roles or duties as follows:
i.
Defending Nigeria from external
aggression
ii.
Maintaining its territorial
integrity and securing its boarders from violation on land , sea or air
iii.
Suppressing insurrection and acting
in and of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the
president but subject such conditions as may be prescribed by the national
assembly.
Since
these are stipulated duties of the military it is quite unfortunate that they
have failed to abide by what they were trained for. They also abandoned their
duties and joined politics as military in politics which is the course code of
this discus.
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