Some prudes at the Department of National Defence need to get a grip.
Apparently, they are concerned because a recent study showed that the mostly male, young soldiers returning from Afghanistan are spending their bonus pay getting laid and going on the beer during a five day “decompression” stint on Cyprus after their operational tour is over.
According to the Toronto Star:
The problem reached such a state when the last contingent of Canadians stopped off in Cyprus this spring that military officials have recommended slapping a two-drink limit on soldiers for the first night of their decompression to "facilitate learning" in a Day 2 course on transitioning from life at war to life at home.
Soldiers are apparently also spending their cash renting dune buggies or fast jet skis they they then use to race about at high speed.
It’s hard to know which is more ludicrous: the fact that someone at National Defence headquarters paid good money to study this or that the Toronto Star is reporting it as if it was shocking and somehow worthy of corrective action.
DND is apparently considering adding some lectures to the post-deployment curriculum to address the “problem”.
Now the Star is not known for the high standards of its reporting, especially when it comes to matters military.
But still.
A bunch of young men want to release some tension after six months of hard work - need we remind the dorks at the Star life threatening at that – and so they blow some cash getting drunk and enjoying the company of other willing young people. those that break the law get arrested and dealt with in the courts.
Where exactly is the problem in all this?
Well, where other than among or with the crowd who write this crap for the Star’s readers?
-srbp-