And there are a great many reasons for that.

As you have heard myself and others state in here, the military has changed radically in just a few short decades. In many ways, it is so "touchy-feelie" that it is disgusting. Situations where before you would have been told to "suck it up", you now are sent to counseling, and group sessions, and people designed to help you through a problem.

Now I am not saying these are not always nessicary, but they are a huge change in a shor amount of time. When I came back in, I it made me think of the differences between Star Trek, and The Next Generation.

As everybody knows, Kirk often charged into a situation, phasers blasting and kicking butt. But in NG, Picard had Counsellor Troi, who would tell him people's feelings. How they felt, if they were mad or scared, and helped him find a gentler approach.

To me, this is often how it feels today. Oh we had our annual "Suicide Prevention" and "Sexual Harassment" and "Raceism". But today they are more like quarterly seminars, being held for longer periods of time on even more and more subjects.

I even had to attend a class on budgeting and how to be responsible for my finances, a class designed for 18 year olds. And more interesting was the mandatory "Pre-Marriage Counseling" I had to attend when I reconciled with my wife last year.

And since I am returning stateside next year, that will be an entire new series of classes by counsellors I am going to have to go through. "Reintegration" they call it. 3 months of dull classes I call it. Covering everything from readjusting to stateside life, motorcycle safety, and possible effects both mental and physical of this deployment.

And of course the mandatory drug, drinking, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, cultural diversity, race relations, and suicide prevention classes.