Have any of you folks served in the modern Australian Defence...

Have any of you folks served in the modern Australian Defence Force (post say 1998)? Before you start throwing around the National Service thing, lets see if you know what it is that you are going on about.
Ever made it into being an NCO?

I guess you are aware of Kapooka, and the regime run there?

The main motivator at Kapooka was at any time you could be washed out. Or you could choose to walk out. That's right. Put up your hand and opt out, you would be out of that barracks so fast your head would spin.

Then, you would be sitting in a holding platoon. If you genuinely no longer wanted to be in the Army, they would check you over, file the paperwork, and some brief time later, you would be shipped home.

We got really good results from our soldiers because they were intrinsically motivated to be there, in the face of the shouting, frightening exercises and harsh training methodology. The opportunity to get into the military is still there for every one who meets the strict requirements. We figure about 1 in 100 would meet those, and about 1 in ten of THOSE would stick it out.

We didn't WANT you there if you weren't dedicated to it. NCOs don't have the time to fart arse about with a non-willing unmotivated prisoner.

Sigh. Are you going to keep recycling these old ideas?