In this article, I would like to share about our team. Our platoon is housed in two tents. I will talk more about our tent.
Also, I want to warn you and say right away that the conclusions I will write are based on the people I communicated with and lived with here in the training camp. So please don’t write comments like “you wrote it wrong, there are many different kinds of people in the army” and so on.
The first thing I noticed was that the army was a mix of people from different professions and different economic backgrounds. Among my comrades were people who earned almost 10 times more than me in civilian life. There were those who earned 5 times more. There were those who earned a similar salary.
And I can say with confidence that, at least during training, the size of the salary did not matter at all. We all ate the same food, wore the same clothes, and had the same rights and responsibilities. It just didn’t matter. What mattered was whether a person had any military experience in the past. It also mattered what kind of person they were. Only some people had military experience. Therefore, the main parameter remained what kind of person they were.
There were people who tried to show off. At first, it had some effect. They told someone something, someone listened to something. But by the end of the training, everything gradually fell into place. It became clear who was what kind of specialist and who was what kind of person.
This process of putting everyone in their place happens in literally one or two days. That’s why the commanders strongly advised us to be ourselves and not try to show off. As the company commander said, it’s like a bathhouse, you can immediately see what kind of person someone is.
As I said, we have people from different professions and different backgrounds. In other words, the army is now a cross-section of society.
But there is one trait that distinguishes all the electricians, builders, advertising agents, IT specialists, etc. here from the electricians, builders, advertising agents, and IT specialists in civilian life.
I thought long and hard about what word to use to describe it, but it’s hard to find the right one. Perhaps it’s awareness. Or there’s another good word — a sense of responsibility.
To better understand, I’ll give you an example. I have a close friend who said to me about my decision, “Where are you going? Your country doesn’t care about you. Who do you want to fight for? What has this country given you?“ And when I asked him what to do if the orcs took over the whole of Ukraine, he calmly replied, ”Get the hell out of there” (actually, both words were swear words :).
When you talk to people here, they calmly say that there is simply no other way out. That this is our land and we must protect our families, our children. “Someone has to do it,” they say.
Moreover, it may surprise you, but the military themselves say that they are not fighting for the state or the president. They are fighting to protect their families.
And these are not just two ideas. These are two types of views. Two types of values. Two types of worldview and character. Some say, “If things get bad, I’ll just run away. I don’t owe anyone anything. What’s more, they treated me badly, they owe me.” Others say, “If there is a threat, I must protect.”
If we go even deeper, it is a profound understanding that if you live in a certain society, you first and foremost have a number of responsibilities. And there are two types of people. I would describe the first type with a simple word: parasites. They live in society and take everything they need from it. But when a problem arises and something needs to be done, they say, “Why me? What does this have to do with me? I don’t owe anyone anything. They owe me for treating me badly.” And there is a second type, which I would call homo-responsibilius, or responsible people. These are people who understand that they have duties and responsibilities.
Of course, I have divided these two types of people quite categorically, and in real life, they rarely occur in their pure form. But in general, this division exists.
It is this trait, I believe, that makes the military more worthy. It does not necessarily have to be the military, but it is people with this trait of responsibility who should govern our state.
Half of the people in our tent are from Mykolaiv. They are simple and good people. It is easiest for me to communicate with them. Nothing superfluous, they tell you what they think. We often laugh at each other, and it’s fun.
It doesn’t matter what your profession is or how much you earn. It doesn’t even matter how well you perform. The main thing is how normal and adequate you are as a person.
Be a normal person, don’t make others suffer for you, be adequate, and that’s it. And people will treat you well.
All this creates a good and healthy atmosphere.
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