Posted by Michael A. Dorosh from Canada on January 21, 2021 at 21:03:39:
In Reply to: Forbidden Places: Rounds 2 and 3 posted by Dickey on January 21, 2021 at 19:49:38:
One concern (a minor one at that) to consider is that society in general has gotten so used to cuss words in general (thanks mostly to TV and movies) that most of the words don't carry the same shock value they used to. The F word in particular is so widely used in the military that if one wants to make a strong point, use of that word has no effect for that purpose (unless one knows that the user of the word does not use it that often). Granatstein relates in The Generals the old joke that if Fuck and Frontal were removed from our vocabulary, the Canadian Army would be left both speechless and unable to attack. In the case of some NCOs I have known, certainly at least half of that statement was correct. We may have laughed at the people who use the F word every third word, but it didn't affect our respect for their leadership ability - I don't think it affected us at all.
I suppose it is part of the army personality some like to wrap themselves in. I don't see the harm in it while in the field - but for those who are unable to divide their Army persona from their civil persona, it can cause some real problems. It depends on how important you think it is to present a cleancut image to Joe Public about the Army (personally, I think it is very important). But the main consideration I suppose is how it effects troops when they are doing their jobs. If swearing helps you get the point across to those under you, and it causes no morale concerns (ie you are not swearing AT the troops in an abusive manner) then I think it is something that can be easily overlooked. Now, if that same Captain goes out for dinner in his uniform and tells the hostess "I'm been fuckin' waiting ten fucking minutes for a table, so fucking seat us right now you c**t", well, I would say there was a problem that needed to be addressed - though hopefully the good captain would have known beforehand what "citizenship" means.