How do aspies do in the armed forces?

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That's one of my favorite movies!

Tim

I don't think I would do well in the Armed Forces, unless it was some sort of civilian job.

Tim

Actually, every branch of service is different. In the USAF, it's comprised of techies and engineers. If you are a loner with respect to not being lonely or depressed, that could be a strength rather than a weakness. Of course, career advancement in most anything nowadays has an increased emphasis on Social Networking. If only to alleviate the stress of relationships, and the health hardships that has been discovered among those who can't work well together, in extreme circumstances.

Can only speak of my experience in the Britsih Army and that was as an Officer.

Sandhurst and training was no problem as it was a case of mearly relearning exactly what I already knew(military matters being a special interest)

Due to my role I was often on my own without peers or senior Officers as an Officer Commanding a detachment. Being aloof and not mixing was not a problem in my case.

I loved my life in the Army and have regretted leaving ever since.

I left for the wrong reasons ( to try to keep my wife happy), nothing to do with the military life.

I was Enlisted personnel 1979-1983, serving 4 years active, and 2 years IRR (Inactive Ready Reserve). I left after the Honorable completion of my Enlistment, soon after being given the rank of Buck Sgt. One reason being that I met my husband of almost 25 years, come January (I out-ranked him by a year or so). He was on mobility and we wanted children, which didn't mix well with that kind of lifestyle back then. The structure and routine, with regulations spelled out in black and white, makes alot of things quite clear, most of the time.

Last edited by LadyBug on 12 Nov 2007, 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think that I would horribly in the military. That's just me, though.

Sid :O)

'What's your major malfunction?'

'Asperger's.'

Unless you're "borderline" or "mild", I doubt it. No way will they accept you if you're diagnosed; those who're diagnosed usually are such due to it affecting their ability to function, i.e., professional help needed to study, work and socialize.

You won't be able to take breaks when you're overwhelmed.

Haha! That's funny! Yeah, there are no breaks as a rule for many jobs and circumstances of the mission coming first. And sleep deprivation is no excuse for the inability to perform. I learned about the 10-minute power nap, before it became known. Thankfully, my mother instilled the importance of sleep cycles, before it became known for importance. Her saying that I was born her night child, that she rapidly put on a day schedule when I allowed, in order to save her sanity.

I suspect that many of the great military leaders in history may have had Aspergers,

Attention to detail, ability to focus on achieving a specific target and the ability to committ troops to battle knowing that they may die but not let it stop them.

Montgomery is a case in point. Reknowned for his preplanning of an operation, well defined personal regimes( bed by 2130 no matter what), slightly offbeat dress sense, supposedly very few social skills.

I suspect you could be correct, inspite of the diversity needed for overall success, in that kind of leadership calling.

Did you mean this kind of supposed social skills?

US Air Force Academy prank.

DANCE WHITE BOY DANCE!! !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6KWjdWaTnE

I served in the Singapore military for 2 1/2 years. It was a bad experience but that might have something to do with how dysfunctional Singapore's military is. One trouble I had was with sleep deprivation. If you went through Sandhurst, then I am certain you managed to function despite the lack of sleep. To give you an example: we were out on a training mission as a cadet and at 2 am the trainers decided to use flash grenades to simulate an attack. Non of us reacted right but the episode left me sleepless for the rest of the night. The next morning when we were making a slow march back to the jetty, I started to sweat so profusely that before the 3 km march was over, I was down with heat exhuastion. Being shocked into waking up while I was in deep slumber by loud explosions had a tremendous impact on me. I am not exactly a fitness freak, but I have done numerous solo hikes over hundreds of kilometers.

Whether or not the military is suitable for an Aspie will depend on the role he/she plays and the level of severity of their autism. Generally, it is hard to see how a clear cut case of Asperger's Syndrome would remain functional in active combat. While not disputing that there probably have been a number of Aspie military leaders, I think that it is likely that Aspie officers are far more likely to fail under fire. I am not suggesting that Aspies are cowards, but loud, sudden sounds do have a significant impact on us and that is something that any combat zone will have.

For me, Basic was nothing. I mean it was physically tough, but it was nothing. Everyone was in the same boat....the lowest of the low. And I was able to take some of the abuse better than the NTs, having had more experience with abuse.

I was in Vietnam. Our guys were great, (I mean there were some reall Ass Holes, but that's anywhere), and I had a lot of friends, but it was a war, and most of those friends have their names on that long black terrible wall in DC.

I didn't much like being a professional killer, even though I was apparently a very good one. My medication, by the way, made it easier for me to stay calm and focused when everyone around me was scared out of there minds (and I probably should have been), but I came home, and most of em didn't, so it says something, I guess.

Don't go into today's military unless you are prepared to do what is asked of you, and from what I can see, some of it is against basic human decency. You'll be in a situation where you have to protect your own gals and guys....and you might not like what you have to do in order to do it. But you have to do it. They'll do the same for you. So think about it really carefully. Once you're there, there's people depending on you to watch their backs, and you can't let them down. 'cause most of em will watch yours. And, as I said, that might mean doing some things you'll hate yourself for doing for the rest of your life. I do. But I was stupid. I didn't have to go, and I volunteered.

btdt

I was in the US Army and personally HATED it and did not take it seriously at all. I laughed in my Drill SSGS face constantly and very obliviously had a problem w/ authority. I got told practically every day about how my "Smart Mouth was getting my smart ass in trouble." and did more mountain climbers, and pushups than you can imagine. (Still owed them over 700 push-ups when I graduated Basic, there were not enough hours in the day to do them all.)
Refused to eat their crappy food and lived off of milks for over a week while they tried to wait me out, which wasn't gonna happen (I obliviously have some control issues I think) I told them I would eat yogurt so they finally broke down and got it. Have always been a super-picky eater, but did't know why at the time.
I was constantly in trouble for asking questions, "You aren't paid to think Private!" For telling the other girls to quit crying and being afraid of their Drill SSgs , I mean really what are they gonna do, you do some extra PT, a little more sleep deprivation, incur their ire, loose a little money in the small monthly check? WAAAAA. Big Whoop, quit being little babies and suck it up. I was the "bad apple" in the bunch.
My Drill SSG told me about 2 weeks before graduation that they knew within an hour I was gonna be who they were gonna have to make an example of and break. I never broke BTW, We had a grudging respect for each other after that. She'd tell me "There's no "I" in "Team", and I'd say "But there's a "Me" Drill SSG." Top used to tell me how I was the "true Individualist," and dont belong in this mans army, I'd agree and ask to opt out, which they declined repeatedly.(I scored really high on the ASVAB so they were willing to put up w/ my slight eccentricities to some extant he told me on one occasion, but I was really pushing the limits.)
I finally got out Honorably 11 mos and 4 days after I joined. Could go on and on.
Watched a show last night where a girl joined and 42 days after AIT she was in Iraq and lost both her legs. Seems sorta Production Line like now. Just keep em coming.
BTW all my family is Military, Grandfather at Edwards AFB, Uncle post Commander of Ft. Huachuca at one time, Uncle at NASA, Father was at Groom Lake for awhile. But I personally would not recommend it to someone with AS unless you can join the "sheeple" and like it. OCD people who don't mind taking orders will do great, but at this point in time you'll simple be used as fodder for the war. (Only MY opinion.)

The military is an extremely narcissistic and psychopathic institution.

I understand the associations for sociopathy in a combat related function. But the narcissistic point of view would not be relative to there being no "I" in Team. Can you further explain that opinion?

More than one source has speculated that Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson most likely had Aspergers Syndrome. This is based on what he'd written and what had been written about him which is quite a lot. To me that’s close enough to say that he did have AS.
Jackson was a very gifted tactician who, before his death in early 1863, rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee. Further, it has been speculated that if he had lived that the outcome of the War Between the States may have had a different outcome. We'll never know.
The tactics he employed in battle are studied to this day and held in awe.
That says a lot about the capabilities of an “aspie” in the military.