Discrimination among the ranks!

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You wanna know something shocking? I actually looked into joining the canadian army.
Here's the part that disturbed me the most.
Just because I temporarily need either a cane or a leg brace to walk, I was told I can't serve.
I don't want to go fight in Iraq, but I wouldn't mind learning what it is that drives people to become a soldier.
I also wouldn't mind helping out a country who's army is often laughed at by third world countries smaller then some U.S. states.
So I feel that this kind of country shouldn't be that damn picky.

[ObsidianPrime]

Actually, I understand your point of veiw at least to some extent, I think. You see, I wasn't allowed to join the American armed forces for about three months because I was over their arbitrary weight standards.

I can't swear for the Canadian armed forces, but at least in my expereince here in America, the kinds of things that you would have to do in Basic Training, or whatever it's called for your Service, would prohibit people with injured legs. In my unit right now, we average 6-10 miles of forced marching, with complete kit (weapon, armor, equipment) and a pack on our backs besides (about sixty to seventy pounds of extra weight), as well as 10-15 miles of running per week. I wouldn't let being turned away for this discourage me if I were you; instead use the time while your body heals to research the various things you could do for your country during the time you might spend in its uniformed services, pick a job to do that you would really enjoy, and look at the different opportunities that would be presented to you. Also you could use that time to work out other muscle groups that you'll be using (again I can't swear for Canada but if it's similar to American Basic, you're going to be doing very, very many push-ups, so biceps, triceps, and your chest are very important to you). Weight training is good to prepare you for that.

I guess I just want to say that you shouldn't let yourself be discouraged. If it was something retarded like being two pounds overweight, or missing the required score for your chosen job on an aptitude test by five points, that would be one thing, but if your leg is injured to that point, you would only be hurting yourself to attempt to do this sort of thing.

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