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1) The United States Military is one of the world's largest providers of international aid and disaster relief.I enjoy this fact because so little is it remembered. Not only is the US military usually involved with most global conflicts, but they are also present in the time of need for almost every international natural disaster in which aid can be rendered. I love advertising this fact because so often I hear about all the evils of the United States, but not once have I ever heard the phrase, "Hey America. Thanks a bunch for the assist. Tsunamis really suck."As well as this, the military also makes regular deployments to disenfranchised and impoverished developing nations to provide immediate health and medical support during times of non-violence or disaster. These services are free to the people of those nations and supported entirely by United States taxpayer dollars.Case in point, the USNS Mercy.This is the USNS Mercy. She is a massive hospital ship and, along with her sister ship the USNS Comfort, has the proud and distinguished mission to sail around the world to places in desperate need of medical aid and support. Officially, their primary mission is to:provide rapid, flexible, and mobile acute medical and surgical services to support Marine Corps Air/Ground Task Forces deployed ashore; Army and Air Force units deployed ashore; and naval amphibious task forces and battle forces afloat.Secondarily, they provide “mobile surgical hospital service for use by appropriate US Government agencies in disaster/humanitarian relief or limited humanitarian care incidents to these missions or peacetime military operations.”Looking at the record, you'll find that the Mercy and Comfort have been quite busy with "secondary" missions. Here is a list of some of the Mercy and Comfort's "secondary" missions:1987 - (USNS Mercy) Over 62,000 outpatients and almost 1,000 inpatients were treated at seven Philippine and South Pacific ports during training in 1984 through 1987.1990* - (USNS Mercy) Admitted 690 patients and performed almost 300 surgeries. (USNS Comfort) More than 8,000 outpatients were seen, and 700 inpatients. 337 surgical procedures were performed. Other notable benchmarks include: more than 2,100 safe helicopter evolutions; 7,000 prescriptions filled; 17,000 laboratory tests completed; 1,600 eyeglasses made; 800,000 meals served and 1,340 radiographic studies, including 141 CT scans.2001 - 9/11 - (USNS Comfort) The ship's clinic saw 561 guests for cuts, respiratory ailments, fractures and other minor injuries, and Comfort's team of Navy psychology personnel provided 500 mental health consultations to relief workers.[5] Comfort also hosted a group of volunteer New York area massage therapists who gave 1,359 therapeutic medical massages to ship guests.2003 * - (USNS Comfort) 590 surgical procedures, transfused more than 600 units of blood, developed more than 8,000 radiographic images and treated nearly 700 patients including almost 200 Iraqi civilians and enemy prisoners of war.2005 - Indian Ocean Tsunami - (USNS Mercy) Combined, provided 108,000 patient services, rendered by members of the Department of Defense, Project Hope, and the United States Public Health Service.2005 - (USNS Comfort) Comfort deployed on September 2, 2005, after only a two-day preparation, to assist in Gulf Coast recovery efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Starting in Pascagoula, Mississippi and then sailing to New Orleans, Comfort personnel saw 1,956 patients total.2007 - (USNS Comfort) Central and South America. In all, the civilian and military medical team treated more than 98,000 patients, provided 386,000 patient encounters and performed 1,100 surgeries. Dentists and staff treated 25,000 patients, extracting 300 teeth, and performing 4,000 fillings, 7,000 sealings, and 20,000 fluoride applications. In addition to treating patients, bio-medical professionals fixed about a thousand pieces of medical equipment at local health facilities. The ship's crew also delivered nearly $200,000 dollars worth of donated humanitarian aid.2008 - (USNS Mercy) Over the course of one deployment, Mercy would treat 91,000 patients, including performing 1,369 surgeries.2010 - (USNS Mercy) Treated 109,754 patients and performed 1,580 surgeries in Southeast Asia.2010 - (USNS Comfort) Haiti Earthquake disaster. Between January 19 and February 28, 2010, the ship's staff treated 1,000 Haitian patients and performed 850 surgeries. Also, the mission saw the ship's first on-board delivery, of a 4-pound, 5-ounce premature baby named Esther.2011 - (USNS Comfort) - The ship deployed for five months providing medical services to locations in the Caribbean and Latin America.It is important to remember that all this is done, by only two ships. Beyond these two ships, the United States Navy takes part in many humanitarian service missions each year. Several ships are deployed with missions other than warfare to provide free aid and medical support.There are also ongoing operations such as the Pacific Partnership. The Pacific Partnership is an annual deployment of forces from the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy (USN), in cooperation with regional governments and military forces, along with humanitarian and non-government organizations.The deployment was conceived following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. The goal was to improve the interoperability of the region's military forces, governments, and humanitarian organisations during disaster relief operations. Specifically, it focused on providing humanitarian, medical, dental, and engineering assistance to nations of the Pacific, and strengthening relationships and security ties between the nations. Between 2006 and 2010, Pacific Partnership has visited 13 countries, treated more than 300,000 patients, and built over 130 engineering projects.The MEU to the RescueWithin the United States Marines, there exists elements that specialize in being the first into a war zone. Most of the offensive parts of the Marine Corps are built around this idea, but particularly there is one capability that is most crucial to this mission.The Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU for short) is capable of deploying troops anywhere within reach of a the water within 48 hours. They are prepared for potential long-term hostile engagements, which means they have supplies and armaments to survive and thrive a long a long military campaign even without the support of the United States vast logistics network. As they say, “First to the Fight”. They are specialized to patrol every ocean in the world for signs of danger and disorder, and to do something about it.The Marine Expeditionary Units were built for an unforeseen sudden conflict, but their specialties make them particularly useful for rendering aid when less nefarious forms of disaster strike. They are adept to address and adapt to the needs of millions of people throughout the world in need of immediate emergency assistance. They are able to move so quickly that they outpace more formal relief organizations, like the Red Cross or the United Nations, by days or weeks. This is why these lethal warfighters are often given the mission to be the vanguard of western nations helping less fortunate nations in times of dire need.Marines supply civilians after the 2005 tsunami.Medical staff giving aid to displaced villager.3rd FSSG Marines assist with the distribution of humanitarian aid at Palonia Air Field, Medan, Indonesia, as part of Operation Unified Assistance.And Yes, There’s MoreMore recently, after the devastation from the 2010 Haiti Earthquake disaster, soldiers from the United States Army were deployed to assist in delivering badly needed supplies, such as food, water and other necessities to the region.Soldiers prepare food and water for Haitian victims of the Earthquake.I'm going to lay it out straight. I am willing to bet almost no one knew about the scale of the United States' disaster relief history before reading this answer. You probably had no idea of the depth of support that the United States military contributes to the world each time a major disaster strikes somewhere on the planet Earth. You know that help was sent, but did your ever really ask who it was or what form it took? You may have seen many headlines about the brave 150 doctors that went as part of the Doctors Without Borders program, but were you aware of the tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors, and Marines that were there before even the news journalists were present?And no, this isn’t just easy photo ops for the cameras. What the military does for those in need are things no one else would even attempt for people no one else seems to care about. In May of 2015, a UH-1Y with the III Marine Expeditionary Force, crashed while delivering aid to the remote mountain village of Charikot in Nepal following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. The six Marines on that flight lost their lives, but you probably never heard about their great sacrifice, I’m sure.It’s easy to rattle off statistics and popular viewpoints about what monsters the American warfighters are. Cynics will moan about all the people that the harm and suffering wrought by the US military worldwide, but no one in the history of the world can declare that they have made such great strides in providing aid and relief like the Americans.This should ring especially significant, since we have absolutely no real obligation to do so if previous major world powers are to be our example.You could compare us to the Raubwirtschaft (plunder economies) of Germany, Japan and Russia during their time in power. You could also look at "aid" the European people provided the African colonies during their time as superpowers. Even better... look at what they are doing for the world right now. Where is their great big white boat with doctors and dentists? Where are their Marines after an earthquake or hurricane? At home, on their porches, sipping on a cup of self-righteousness as they lecture the world about the virtues of pacifism and the horrors of the American military. It's hypocritical and it's ignorant.While many find that the superstructure that is the US military is a bloated and imperialistic beast, it's still the largest and most efficient source in the world to get help where help is needed. That help happens whether that be in calming a diplomatic hot spot, giving food to a devastated rural village or fixing cleft pallets for children in a part of a country that has never seen a dentist or surgeon. Would I like to see other, more pacifist organizations do the job? Sure I would, but so far the world is more content to complain than attempt to do what we do.The US military doesn't suffer from that handicap.Say what you want about us, but without that aid provided by hundreds of thousands of American service people and a few hundred million taxpayers, millions upon millions of people who have been fed, vaccinated, operated on, given shelter, given homes, bathed, birthed, and listened to would not have the quality of life they now have. Let’s not forget how many of them, would also now be dead without us.Sure it's easy to gauge the military on violent metrics, (which is also appropriate) but how do you measure the value of those we have helped? That's a philosopher's discussion; not one for the Marines. Yeah, the Americans and their military have an ugly job, but if you're one of the veterans, you ought to be pretty proud right now. [2]That is such a pretty medal isn't it? About that...2) The uniforms are not provided by tax payer dollars. They are paid for by the troops themselves.Neat how I segued from the Humanitarian Service Medal to my point on how much uniforms cost, huh?See this beautiful example of a human being above? People who can read his rack (the medals on his chest) know this man is truly a boss. I'll list a few of the really cool ones. He's stellar: Two Navy Commendation Medals, Three Navy Achievement medals and a few Good Cookies. He's also a bona fide war hero: Two National Defense Medals (two different periods of war), several combat action ribbons, two devices known throughout the Corps as the “Recon Combo”, and the crème de la crème, the Enemy Accuracy Medal, better known as the Purple Heart. Plus, this flower looking thing I can only assume means he's awesome (or Canadian?) not to mention at least 13 different pieces of insignia I don't care to mention.Do you know how John D. Taxpayer thanks the honorable Gunnery Sergeant Awesomesauce? By making him pay for each and every freaking thing you see... even down to the buttons on his stinking coat. Did I mention those medals are gold plated?These are the Uniforms of the USMC. [3] I will make the caveat that it is true that military personnel are provided with one piece of every item they need when they first enter boot camp. What most don't know is that these also come out of their paycheck. It is sort of a hidden cost since we are more involved in boot camp than watching our finances. We all know it happens, but just have to get it done. It is assumed that this uniform item is supposed to last throughout their enlistment which could last 30 years. And those medals you earn? You're given one when earn it. It's like the Humanitarian Service Medal above. It isn't the gold plated version and basically, you have no uniform you are allowed to wear it in. For all the medals you actually wear, you have to pay between $13 and $60 for the pretty gold plated one. Interesting huh?This is made easier by a stipend military folks receive that is around $200 every year for replacement of uniform items. Let's look closer at that, though.I am going to go over an estimated cost of what is shown by the Gunnery Sergeant in this picture.Section A: CoverAnodized Cap Button Set: $3.95Black Chin Strap for Service Frame (All Ranks) $5.00Cap Ornament for Dress Frame Enlisted $6.95Enlisted Frame Only Bernard $33.50White Cover ONLY for Bernard Officer Frame $34.00Total Cost of "Cool Hat": $83.40Section B: MedalsAnodized Finish Full Sized Medals range from $13 - $80Purple Heart - $54Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal - $13Estimated cost of the other 10 medals at an average of $20 each: $200Combatant Diver Badge Regulation: $8.95Parachutist Wings Regulation, Anodized: $9.951/8" Single Star - $1.49 x 7 (visible): $10.43Total cost of "Bling" - $296.33Section C: Other DevicesRibbons: $1.15 x 8: $9.201/8" Single Star - $1.49 x 8: $11.92Other devices: $9.00Extra Doo-Dads - $30.12Section D: The Blues CoatButton Set for Enlisted Male Dress Blue Coat: $52.95Collar Ornament for Blue Dress Enlisted: $6.95Marine Corps Dress Blue Coat: $349.95Gunnery Sergeant Rank Insignia: $13.95Total for the Coat: $423.80Total for everything visible:$833.65[4]I'll remind readers that this is just what is visible in that image. I am only showing you the parts visible in the picture. Not shown, but simply must be there, are $83 pants, $99 shoes, a $50 belt buckle, service stripes, blood stripes and at least four other trinkets I can think of off the top of my head.Let's not forget that that guy doesn't look like a seamstress, so add in tailoring. And not to be topped, this is all still just one uniform of the six regulation uniforms that Marines are required to upkeep at all times, not to mention multiple sets of pristine camouflage utilities.You might not realize this from the outside, but military troops' uniforms come at a very high cost, so to speak.Not only is there the cost of earning the right to wear it, but the sacrifice of time and money to upkeep it. As I have said, we receive the few items we are issued (bought) at boot camp. We are issued one cheap version of the medals we earn, but aren't really allowed to wear them (because it's the cheap version). We also receive a regular pittance to upkeep it. I hope I have shown that that is hopelessly insufficient for all the gear and uniform items we are expected to maintain.I could go on about how many pairs of combat utilities I went through on my two Iraq deployments and my many training missions and how the two they gave me just didn't make it. I could go on about how if one of those gold medals got scratched... it was worthless and you had to get a new one. Did you know that gold is one of the most malleable metals on Earth? You will once you replace a $22 medal because Corporal saw a scratch on it. I could go on about the countless inspections to ensure that our uniforms were perfect... perfect. But I won't bore you with the detail on those. What I will say is that they are important to us. We work exceptionally hard to make sure that they are pristine and represent all the greatest qualities we can put into them. They are trying to convey an image and ideal of respectable men and women that instill courage and a sense of pride and security in the people they serve.Of course this is also why we write answers like this Nick Layon's answer to What is the fashion trend you dislike the most, and why? or go ballistic when we see celebrities do this:It’s also why comments such as this don’t usually have the intended result of shaming us back into our place:So what you don't like is when the citizens you protect wear the uniform you wear while preserving our freedom? And for this you raise your voice at them? Are you aware sir, that the taxes those people pay on the clothes you don't like them wearing are what pays your salary?Yes. In case you didn't know. Military personnel can easily spend more than a third of their after tax disposable income a year on uniform items. They do this out a sense of pride. They do this out of a sense of honor and respect to the uniform and what it represents. They do this so that when you see them, you can gain a sense of pride and feel safe knowing that when all hell breaks loose, a professional is ready to meet it. They do this to not be yelled at during inspections. They do this because it proves that they are special.What I hope you take away from this, if nothing else, is that your tax dollars are a drop in the bucket for what military personnel pay every year for their uniforms.Also, don't be surprised to receive a knife hand to the temple if you expect praise, gratitude, fealty, or admiration because you were so generous to pay your obligatory taxes this year. Military people don't owe you anything just because you pay taxes and you didn't put those medals on our chests. We look good because we paid for the right to, in more ways than one. [5]3) Our Navy Were Basically Pirates.Ok, I know I just made the biggest deal about how the United States military has relatively unheard-of aspects that include noble and virtuous service to disaster-stricken regions and that our uniforms mark us as some of the proudest and most professional military personnel on the planet.So why on Earth would I say that we started off as pirates? Because someone who reads the facts and has a vague understanding of military practices has some hard truths to deal with when looking at American military history. There are some colorful factoids hidden in sunken chests down under the sea that paint a picture few have ever really seen. There was some downright swashbuckling going on back then. I've taken a pretty liberal historical licence, but there is, as is the case with everything else, much more to the story than what made it to our history books. Let's take a look.Take a look at this flag. What do you see? Anything familiar?You guessed right! It's the flag of the British East India Company! How smart you are! Doesn't look at all like anything else after all...Notice again some of the elements of the flag. The first thing we need to know is that this was a Naval flag and all the elements have important naval meanings. It was colonial practice to place the mother nation's standard at the top corner against the mast. Here we see the Union Jack, the national flag of the United Kingdom, present, as it appeared during the time of the American Revolution. What is also important was the red field.In those days, such a flag would denote the ensign of the trade navy; ships not meant specifically for war, but to support the economic empires of the sea. Such a flag as the one below would indicate that it was an official trade ship flying under the protection of the crown of England. The red color also meant that it was a civilian ship and that its only mission should be one of trade.So alright, well still the stripes are a big deal though. It's hard not to see those stripes, right?Yes. It is hard. That's why many of the major shipping companies of that era made special marks on their flags by simply sewing white stripes across the field. Don't think of it as red and white stripes, but as a red field with white stripes on it. In fact there was one such company that made a remarkable effort to emulate the Colonial Flag, nearly 70 years before we ever flew it. They were the East India Trading Company, and had been waving a flag virtually identical to the Grand Union Flag, the first flag of the United States, for the better part of a century before the Revolutionary War.Now it's just me, but if I were a British ship just looking over and see a flag that looked like that, I probably wouldn't think of some navy that no one has heard of yet coming to buckle my swashes.With that said, I’m willing to bet that was the intention of the Continental Colors as it was used by the ragtag fleet of the American navy. Some might call that a case of mistaken identity, or clever use of unconventional warfare, while others might go as far as to say that it is downright piracy. Still some might just say it is one big convenient coincidence.I don’t believe in such coincidences.On MarinesHere are a few things that you should know about my beloved Marine Corps. One of the first facts that every good Marine knows, myself being among that noble tradition, is where the Marine Corps was born. Do you know? It was Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvanian.Yep, at a bar.The proudest and most lethal fighting men in the planet are the ancestors of a bunch of rowdy drunks. Well, for better or worse, little has changed.Our first recorded battle was the Battle of Nassau, led by Captain Samuel Nicholas, which consisted of 250 Marines and sailors who landed in New Providence and marched to Nassau Town. There, they wreaked much damage and seized naval stores of shot, shells, and cannon, but failed to capture most of the desperately needed gun powder. The forts at Nassau and Fort Montagu were raided and stripped of their armaments, while Marines occupied the town of Nassau for a lengthy stay. While in Nassau the Marines "relieved" them of some of their unwanted burdens, as well. Governor Browne complained that the rebel officers consumed most of his liquor stores during the occupation, and also wrote that he was taken in chains like a "felon to the gallows" when he was arrested and taken to the Alfred.Since then, for the most part, we have cleaned up our act — a bit. For those early days, however, it is my belief that the Continental Marines' use of "unconventional warfare" to complete their missions might warrant a closer look at our views of their history, or at least just reveal them as the colorfully exuberant fellows of cheer and good character that they were.The Father of the American NavySwitching back to the Navy, meet John Paul "Jones" and the Continental Navy. After combing the web for information on John Paul, on his best day, he was a jerk. Let's begin. This man is often cited as one of the founding fathers of the U.S. Navy. His sarcophagus even, rests to this day, in the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Pretty cool, but let's check his resumé.Began work on a slave-trade ship.Next, worked on a brig (prison ship) where his first mate and captain conveniently died of disease, leaving him the de facto captain of the ship.He later captained his own ship where he savagely flogged two of his sailors for disciplinary actions, one to death.After this, he killed one of his sailors for mutiny by stabbing him in the chest. Following that incident he fled the Royal Navy and went to Virginia and added the surname "Jones" in an effort to avoid his pursuers for what amounted to murder. By his account, it was an act of self-defense, but no one I know runs to a non-extradition country and changes their name for self-defense. Just saying, I don't think he was all-in-all a stand-up guy.Following this John Paul Jones was recruited to the Continental Navy, because hey, beggars can’t be choosers. His successful exploits with the Royal Navy made him a prime candidate for a new navy starving for officers, even legit psychos. He then captained one of the vessels bound for Nassau in the Bahamas. The small fleet of ships captured the city, several ships and supplies, the whole time waving what was believed to be the Grand Union Flag that looked suspiciously like the 70 year old flag of a very, very famous trade company.From this point on, John Paul Jones led many other raids on naval shipping and port towns. He was successful enough that he was given the go-ahead to become a curse on English shipping.After touching base in France he actually sailed up to the coast of England and Ireland and started attacking British merchant shipping. In his career he captured many ships and a vast amount of supplies for the Colonial cause. All this while routinely facing problems from his crew who, as his journal accounts "'Their object,' they said, 'was gain not honor.' Among other actions his men were famed for raiding villages and conducting arson attacks on the English towns. In another report, Jones stated that at one point he wanted to leave, but his crew wished to "pillage, burn, and plunder all they could".Now this is just me talking, but I am surprised that a man who once beat his sailors to death would be having such discipline problems. Just sayin'.Now, I know that not everyone is a fan of 18th century naval warfare, but his tactics were conducive to a rather different form of naval warfare than his famed Bon Homme Richard, where he is famed for his saying, "I have not yet begun to fight!" No, this was a different form of naval practice. If you haven't pieced it together yet...John Paul Jones and much of the Colonial Navy were as close as it gets to pirates. [6]4) The United States Military is one the Most Educated Industries in the World.The United States military boasts some of the most educated warfighters in the world, not to mention in the history of warfare. All US service members must have at the time of their enlistment a high school diploma or the general equivalency diploma. To be more clear, more than 99% of those enlisted have a high school education comparable to about 60% that you will find in the general population. Also, compared to the population of the United States, more service members have also attended some college compared to their typical 18- to 24-year-old counterparts. They have all also passed a standardized test on English proficiency, mathematics, science and government. This test also serves as a placement exam for military jobs. [7]To top this, most Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) schools boast world-class educational training. First, you have to place high enough on the test to get into the school you want, which can have very high scores requirements to place. No, we don't have the greatest recreational facilities and the dorms suck; it isn't the Ivy League, but the education level is beyond par. While stationed in 29 Palms California, a hole in the middle of the California desert, I received two years worth of the most rigorous training in Computer Science, Data Network Administration, and Information Systems Maintenance. I say two years worth, except that I only had six months to do it. The training is taken very seriously. While typically, civilians are allowed to pass with virtually any grade so long as they beg enough, every test in a military school is a fail if scored under 80%, and if you fail you can be booted from the program.The Marine Corps InstituteThe United States Marine Corps even has an amazing secret that few on the outside know anything about. We have a correspondence college, which is a universal part of nearly every Marine's military experience. It is called the Marine Corps Institute (MCI for short).The MCI began when Major General Lejeune issued a Post Order establishing three new schools: Automobile Mechanics, Music, Typewriting and Shorthand with Special Order No. 299 on January 5, 1920.Of course, we have courses you won't find at Stanford, Harvard, or UCLA, or any state school, for that matter. There doesn't seem to be a need for 0321B - The M240G Machine Gunner, 0090A Pistol Marksmanship, or 0365 Antiarmor Operations there, but what you might be surprised by are the other courses one wouldn't expect to see by the barbarian warmongers that are the United States Marine Corps: 0119H Punctuation, 0120 Basic Grammar and Composition, and 1334 Math for Marines. Perhaps that's where Marines figure out what it takes to re-calculate the trajectory of an object traveling at 3,110 ft/s for a three-inch change in elevation at 5 times the length of a standard football field (American football, obviously) when factoring in for wind speed and direction, as well as differences in elevation?Commandant’s Reading ListOne more shocker regarding the nerdiness of the US Military? How about this, the Marines have a book club. This isn't Oprah's Book Club. It's the Commandant's Reading List [9]. On this list are books and documents intended to both encourage the martial spirit in the minds of young warriors and inspire the intellectual capabilities of scholarly warfighters. What follows are some of the more impressive works that appear. This is by no means a complete list.You will obviously find on the list titles such Marine Corps classics as:MARINE! THE LIFE OF LT. GEN. LEWIS B. (CHESTY) PULLER, USMC (RET.) - Burke Davis,AMERICAN SPARTANS: A COMBAT HISTORY FROM IWO JIMA TO IRAQ - James Warren,FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS - James Bradley.Also listed are many other works on warfare such as:THE ART OF WAR - Sun-TzuATTACKS - Erwin RommelBooks on Moral Codes and Ethics:ON KILLING: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COST OF LEARNING TO KILL IN WAR AND SOCIETY - Dave Grossman,JUST AND UNJUST WARS: A MORAL ARGUMENT WITH HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS - Michael WalzerBooks on Leadership, Management Philosophy and Administration:TEAM OF RIVALS: THE POLITICAL GENIUS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Doris Kearns GoodwinBLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING - Malcolm GladwellSOURCES OF POWER: HOW PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS - Gary KleinOUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS - Malcolm GladwellWorks on military history:BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM: THE CIVIL WAR ERA - James M. McPhersonTHE VIRTUES OF WAR - Steven PressfieldAs well as important world studies for the military minded:DIPLOMACY - Henry KissingerTHE LANDSCAPE OF HISTORY: HOW HISTORIANS MAP THE PAST - John Lewis GaddisTHE LITTLE BOOK OF ECONOMICS: HOW THE ECONOMY WORKS IN THE REAL WORLD - Greg IpTHE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY: WHAT THE MAP TELLS AS ABOUT COMING CONFLICTS AND THE BATTLE AGAINST FATE - Robert D. KaplanThere is even one on environmentalism!HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED: WHY WE NEED A GREEN REVOLUTION AND HOW IT CAN RENEW AMERICA - Thomas L.Even books that show the importance of a civilian leadership and the consequences when they don't do a good job.SUPREME COMMAND: SOLDIERS, STATESMEN, AND LEADERSHIP IN WARTIME - Eliot A. CohenDERELICTION OF DUTY: LYNDON JOHNSON, ROBERT MCNAMARA, THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, AND THE LIES THAT LED TO VIETNAM - H. R. McMasterAnd there is even a nerd section. You know that new movie Ender's Game? You know it was first a book written by Orson Scott? You know that it has been on the reading list for decades?ENDER'S GAME - Orson Scott CardMost importantly, there are two other works which are required reading. These are works that cement what it is that every military person stands for and what they fight for. They are the clear definition of the values of their nation. When you see what else is on this list... you'll wonder why no one else is required to read them as well besides members of the US military.U.S. CONSTITUTION - United States of AmericaTHE FEDERALIST PAPERS - Alexander Hamilton; James Madison; John Jay; Garry Wills (Introduction by, Editor)5) The military has a plan for everythingI was just watching a video on realism in medical shows and was reminded of a very disturbing fact.The US Army created a guideline for surgically removing unexploded ordnance (bombs) from a living person. Really. You can read it right here.Even stranger, the Department of Defense also created… wait for it… a zombie preparedness strategy, too. Here that is.Now, a big part of me is like, now why are we spending money on this?But the reason that plans like this exist are to test creativity and come up with innovative solutions to problems we never faced before. Flexibility is a skill. I believe for the zombie plan, it was play around with figuring out out to combat a mass panic mixed with a pandemic level viral plague.More feasibly, the military also uses these skills when they aren’t goofing off to create plans for every foreseeable military incursion imaginable. Iran? I guarantee you they have a mountain of digital documents into the many approaches to taking out the nation and then just as many on what to do with after we’re done. North Korea? Everything people were predicting would happen a few years ago under Trump probably fits into about 6% of the possible scenarios these boys have cooked up.The tradition dates back at least as far as the 1920’s where the US military created War Plan Red, a hypothetical plan to defend the Atlantic coast in the event of war with United Kingdom. I’ll be honest, it’s mostly about finally correcting history by annexing Canada. Yes, those crazy plans even include our allies… and still do.There’s actually an office that oversees all this planning. It’s called the J7 under the Joint Chiefs. J7’s mission, as their website states:The J-7 is responsible for the six functions of joint force development: Doctrine, Education, Concept Development & Experimentation, Training, Exercises and Lessons Learned.Yes, in case you’re curious, what that looks like in practice are the nerdiest nerds of the military (who are still terrifyingly dangerous) masterfully compile the best practices and learned experiences of the US military into doctrines that they apply to situations that most of us in civilian world can’t possibly imagine. Then to let those scenarios sit on a shelf for a number of years, until someone starts getting uppity. Then they are dusted off, revisited, revised, and used as reference for war planners. For that reason, when a new war pops up, we are without a doubt more prepared to end a regime than anyone could possibly imagine.6) You’ll be fine in it.Many assume that the only people who would want to join the military are those who want to die from some car bomb in Iraq. Just as many assume that the majority of us have seen more than we actually have. There is also this myth that we are all just "the lucky few" who survived four years in the middle of some never-ending artillery barrage. The truth is, while there are plenty of risks, which are widely known, you are far safer in the United States military than most would believe possible.For example, what if I told you that there is less than a one in a thousand chance that you might actually be killed if you even go to war when you go with the Americans? Granted that risk goes up drastically if you fight against the Americans, but that’s an article for another day.We have currently about 2,518,542 people in the United States military. Since 9/11, estimates would safely place the number of people who have served in some branch to be about 6 to 7 million people, probably more. As of the time of this writing, the total people who died as a result of action in either Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11 is about 6,660. That means that fewer than about 0.088% of the people who have enlisted have been killed as a result of that decision. If you consider wounded, then the number increases to about 0.738% percent. For those not blessed with the ability to conceptualize such things, here's a tasty pie.To better answer this question I also wanted to address these statistics reflected when considering only those who actually participated in a combat deployment. I asked the question How many US troops have been deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001? to gain a better picture of just that question. From that, Daniel Kearns produced this document (Page on Senate) which is a brief and simple, but important piece of information on the Iraq War. From that, we have a best estimate of 1.5 million warfighters deployed to Iraq during the war. Taking this with earlier data, we see total killed accounted for .29% of those deployed while wounded accounted for 2.15%. So, to be clear, of those deployed to the hottest combat zone in recent American military history, the highest chance of death was .29% for deployed troops and risk of violent injury was still only 2.15%. [6]This trait, however, isn't anything new. The US military, at least since the dawn of the 20th century and perhaps because of the carnage of our own civil war, have adapted a mentality and strategy that ensures our military does not easily sacrifice its own. We simply have values that don't allow us to experience heavy troop losses and a wealth that affords the ability to win without them. In truth, we live today in a time-period where we have proven that experience matters more than assets and that a troop's life is almost always more valuable than the patch of Earth they are fighting for. But we still need that patch of earth.That's why modern warfare doesn't allow for high losses. Take a look at the figures for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, pulled straight from Wikipedia. This doesn't include the insurgency years that followed, but showcased the last time we fought a full-on war with an advanced national military.That last statistic is significant.The Coalition's troop strength before the battle was 265,000 troops, mostly from the United States and the UK. The Iraqis' troop level was 1,119,000, more than 4 times that fielded by the Coalition. The end result, however, was that through great strategic, technological, and logistical superiority, the American led Coalition was able to inflict as many as 261 times as many casualties as the Iraqi were capable of delivering in return. That's more than 250 Iraqi killed for every Coalition death. A more lopsided battle has never been fought.Perhaps it is just that we don't fight that much or stay safely behind our big walls. We just send out the evil drones and high powered missiles, snipers, and other cowardly means of fighting a war. Well, given the option... wouldn't you? I know these guys certainly would if given a second chance.A grim look through history will show that American military doctrine has focused on a few key tenets throughout at least the last century. We focus on augmenting our troops through overwhelming technology, training, and tactics, rather than creating a culture that loves war.The facts are that average Americans deeply hate conflict. We will do whatever we can to avoid it on an interpersonal level, regardless of whatever you think about our foreign policy. This is reflected in our demographics. Today, after 13 years of war, and with a sizeable portion of our Vietnam-era veterans still alive, US veterans still only number 22 million individuals and account for less than 7% of the total population. Note, that is veterans, not active service members. The Department of Veterans Affairs projects that that number is set to decrease, not only in percentages, but in real value. They project that by 2043 we will only have 14 million veterans alive for a total percentage of the population at only 3.5%. The decreasing number of veterans means a country culturally disconnected from the realities of its wars because of the peacefulness of the daily lives of its citizens.And that's how we want it.The alternatives are thus: during the Second World War, you saw very different social military philosophies come head to head. Among these were the Americans and the Japanese. The Japanese were fantastic engineers and created marvelous machines. One such was the Zero fighter. It had a turning capability and climb that was far superior to other fighters. It was more agile and a deadly threat.The trade-offs? It's aluminum coating was brittle and the plane offered no armor for the pilot, engine, or other critical points of the aircraft. Its light construction also made it prone to catching fire and exploding during combat. Add this to the practice of Japanese fighters on the ground routinely combating US Marines with suicidal "Banzai" charges, the human-wave attack and we see a culture which adopted an ancient form of warfare: the military death cult. Death and the warrior were at that time so intertwined through a perversion of the Samurai Bushido culture that the leadership of Japan could order hundreds of thousands of Japanese to their deaths without the Japanese people resisting at all. This culminated in the ultimate corruption of bravery and honor; the creation of the Kamikaze pilot and the "Baka" Bomb.The Kamikaze (Divine Wind) is named for the legendary holy force which protects the Japanese from invasion by outsiders, namely because of a storm which swallowed up tens of thousands of Mongol invaders hundreds of years ago before they ever set foot on Japanese soil. The Kamikaze myth was resurrected for the creation of a force of airmen who volunteered and trained for a mission in which they would surely die, once again, like a storm from Heaven protecting Japan from foreign invaders. So committed were these soldiers and those who commanded them to this idea of a glorious death for their nation and their emperor, they even attended a ceremony before their mission which could only be described as their funeral.The ultimate expression of this “Kamikaze” culture was the Japanese Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka ("cherry blossom"), a rocket-powered parasite aircraft used towards the end of the war. The U.S. called them Baka Bombs (baka means "idiot” in Japanese). They called it this, because the only intended purpose of the aircraft was to be guided to impact directly with an enemy ship by a pilot who had reserved himself to die in the effort.In contrast, the American philosophy emphasized an entirely different approach. We preferred to keep our warriors alive, if for no other moral reason than to pass on their experience and be useful on a better day. We engineered fighter aircraft with more power that could give us the strength and survivability to keep fighting.Add to this the individual support given to the individual troop. While the base soldier thrown away during a Japanese suicide charge was said to be worth less than $10 by their own admiralty, the United States Marine, the most underfunded of the military branches, would deploy with supplies of everything from ammunition, food, water, and bandages, to paper and pencils, and eve glass eyes of every imaginable size and color... just in case. This excerpt from Flags of Our Fathers displays in the days and weeks leading up to the Battle of Iwo Jima the American philosophy, strategy, and implementation of sending every man with all the gear to have a dominating edge, and the greatest chance possible of coming home.... the movement of over 100,000 men, Marines, Navy support personnel, Coast Guard units across 4,000 miles of ocean for three weeks is a triumph of American industry galvanizing itself in a time of great national peril. At the outset of the war, Japan's naval strength was more than double that of America's, but across the American continent, the idling factories steamed and sparked to life. Most of the vessels came splashing off the industrial assembly lines in the six months before this assault...... And it has not just been a matter of hardware. The civilians of America have mobilized behind these fighting boys. Behind each man on board the ships are hundreds of workers. In the factories, in the cities and towns, on the heartland farms; Rosie the Riveter, boy scouts collecting paper and metal, the young girl who would become Marilyn Monroe, sweating away in a defense plant.Here is some of what those mobilized civilians have generated for this tremendous force: For each of the seventy thousand assault troop Marines 1,322 lbs of supplies and equipment. Some of it sounds weirdly domestic: dog food, garbage cans, light bulbs, house paint. Some of it suggests an island business office: duplicating machines, carbon paper, movie projectors. Some sounds like kids' camping gear: toilet paper, socks, shoelaces, paper and pencils, flashlights, blankets. Some begin to suggest a sterner mission: flares, plasma, bandages, crucifixes, holy water, canisters of disinfectant to spray on corpses. And some of it gets exactly to the point: artillery, machine guns, automatic rifles, grenades and ammunition. The transport ships carry six thousand five-gallon cans of water, enough food to feed the population of Atlanta for a month or the assaulting Marines for two months. The Marines brought along one hundred million cigarettes.This isn't to say our strategy made us invulnerable. We endured great losses to be sure; 19,000 at the Battle of the Bulge, 16,293 at Normandy, 12,513 in Okinawa, and countless other battles throughout the war, totaling around 405,000 dead Americans. While that number is appalling, it pales compared with others. Soviet Union - up to 13,000,000 military dead, Germany - up to 5,500,000, Japan - 2,120,000. These figures do not include civilian dead, of which the United States had virtually none.That said, we dominated the Japanese in World War II once we steadied ourselves from the attack on Pearl Harbor. We suffered 1/24th their total losses in a war they began. The same can be seen in Iraq or Afghanistan and can be seen, as well, in any major conflict we have been a part of in the last one hundred years. This is because our philosophy wins wars in this modern age. War isn't won by weapons; it is won by warriors. Make the warrior a weapon and give him the tools to succeed and come home, and no other force on Earth can defeat him.Liked this? You might also like my YouTube Channel. You can also connect with The War Elephant on Facebook. If you want to help me make more content like this, please visit my Patreon Page to find out more.

Eligibility Criteria For IAS(i) Age limits :21-32 years as on 1.7.2017. (Upper age limit relaxable for SCs/STs, OBCs and certain other categories as specified in Para 3(ii) of Notice).(ii) Educational Qualifications :Bachelor’s degree of a recognised university with at least one of the subjects namely Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physcs, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Forestry or in Enginerring or an equivalent qualification (Para 3(iii) of Notice).(more content follows the advertisement below)A D V E R T I S E M E N T(iii) No. of permissible attempts :Four (Seven attemps of OBCs and no limit for SCs/STs (Para 3 (iv) of Notice)(iv) Fee :Rs. 100/- (Rupees one hundred only)(No fee for SCs/STs/Physically disabled only)Instructions to candidates for filling up the Application Form for the Indian Forest Service Examination, 2017.Side 1 of Application FormColumn 1 : Examination for which applyingDarken the circle against "IFS", in the box pertaining to Name of examination, write IFS starting from the first box on the left. Also write 2017 in the boxes meant for year of examination.Column 2 : FeeIf you have paid the requisite fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One hundred only), darken circle 1 and write 1 in the box; orIf you have not paid the fee and are claiming fee remission as SC, ST or Physically Handicapped, darken circle 2 and write 2 in the box.N.B. : Fee is payable only in the form of Central Recruitment Fee Stamp, as per instructions against Column 12.Column 3 : (I) Whether Physically Handicapped?If you are not a physically handicapped person, darken circle 1 for No and write 1 in the box; orIf you are a physically handicapped person, darken circle 2 for yes and write 2 in the box.(II) If yes, indicate categoryFill up this Column only if your answer to Column 3(I) is yes.If you are Orthopaedically handicapped, darken circle 1 and write 1 in the box; orIf you are Blind, darken circle 2 and write 2 in the box; orIf you are Deaf-Mute, darken circle 3 and write 3 in the box.Column 4 : CommunityIf you belong to SC, darken circle 1 and write 1 in the box; orIf you belong to ST, darken circle 2 and write 2 in the box; orIf you belong to OBC, darken circle 3 and write 3 in the box; orIf you belong to General Category (Others), darken circle 4 and write 4 in the box.Note 1 : Candidates belonging to OBCs but comming in the Creamy Layer and thus not being entitled to OBC reservation should indicate their community as "General Category (Others) Code No. 4".Note 2 : Candidates belonging to neither SC, ST, nor OBC communities should write Code No. 4 (General Category) against the Column for Community and not leave it blank.Note 3 : No change in the community status indicated by a candidate in his/her application form for the Examination will ordinarily be allowed by the Commission at a subsequent stage.Column 5 : SexIf you are Male, darken circle 1 and write 1 in the box; orIf you are Female, darken circle 2 and write 2 in the box;Column 6 : NationalityIf you are an Indian national, darken circle 1 and write 1 in the box; orIf you are not an Indian national, darken circle 2 and write 2 in the box.Column 7 : Name of the candidateFor filling up this column, first write in the boxes your full name (in English) in capital letters exactly as recorded in your Matriculation/High School/Secondary or equivalent examination certificate. Write a single letter in a box. Leave a box blank between any two parts of the name. Then darken the corresponding circle below each letter. Do not darken a circle below a blank box. Do not overshoot the boxes. Abbreviate name only if necessary. Do not use any prefix such as shri, Kum., Dr. etc with your name.See sample filled up form in the brochure for guidance.Column 8 : Date of BirthDarken the appropriate circles for the day, month and year of your birth as recorded in your Matriculation/High School/Secondary or equivalent examination certificate. Then write in the boxes using numerals 01 to 31 for day; numerals 01 to 12 for month and the last two digits for the year of birth.See sample filled up form in the brochure for guidance.Column 9 : Father’s NameWrite your father’s name (in English) in capital letters. Write a single letter in each box. Leave a box blank between any two parts of the name. Do not use any prefix such as Shri, Dr. etc.Column 10 : AddressWrite your complete mailing address including your name in English capital letters or Hindi within the box provided for the purpose. Also write the PIN Code therein. Write with blue or black ball pen only. Do not write outside the box. Please note that this address will be photocopied as such in all letters to be sent to you and therefore, it should be very clearly and legibly written.If you make any mistake in writing the address, cover the whole box with an exact sized white paper slip and rewrite your address on that.Column 11 : PhotographPaste firmly in the space provided your recent photograph of 4 cm. x 5 cm. size (preferably in Black & white). Do not staple the photograph. Photograph should neither be signed by you nor it should be got attested.Column 12 : Space for CRF StampFee to be paid for the Indian Forest Service Examination is Rs. 100/- (Rupees One hundred only). SC/ST and Physically Handicapped candidates are not required to pay any fee. No fee exemption is however available to OBC candidates and they are required to pay the prescribed full fee.Fee is payable only through Central Recruitment Fee Stamp (Not postage stamps). No other mode of payment is acceptable. Obtain only one single CRF Stamp of Rs. 100/- denomination from the post office and paste it firmly within the box. After pasting the CRF Stamp on the form, get it cancelled from the post office of purchase in the space provided. Do not staple the CRF Stamp.Side 2 of Application FormColumn 13 : (I) Are you residing in a remote area or abroadIf you are residing in a remote area specified in Para 6 of the Notice of the Examination or abroad, darken circle 1 against Yes and write 1 in the box; orIf you are not residing in a specified remote area/abroad, darken circle 2 against No and write 2 in the box.N.B. : Candidates residing in a remote area specified in the Notice of the Examination or abroad are entitled to one week’s additional time for submission of application form.(II) If yes, indicate area code :Darken the appropriate circles for the area code as given below and then write the same code in the boxes.AreaCodeAreaCodeAssam01Sikkim08Meghalaya02Jammu & Kashmir09Arunachal Pradesh03Lahaul and Spiti District and Pangi Sub Division of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh10Mizoram04Manipur05Andman & NicobarIsland11Nagaland06Lakshadweep12Tripura07Abroad13Column 14 : Examination Centre CodeChoose the Examination Centre from the list given below where you wish to appear and see its code. Darken the appropriate circles and then write the same code in the boxes. Do not indicate more than one centre.List of Centres of ExaminationCentreCodeCentreCodeCentreCodeAgartala45Gangtok42Panaji (Goa)36AhmedabadHyderabad10Patna15Aizawal47Imphal44Port Blair37Allahabad02Itanagar48Raipur49Bangalore03Jaipur11Ranchi41Bareilly54Jammu34Sambalpur53Bhopal04Jorhat46Shillong16Chandigarh35Kochi24Shimla17Chennai12Kohima43Srinagar18Cuttack07Kolkata06Thiruvananthapuram19Dehradun14Lucknow26Tirupati50Delhi08Madurai40Udaipur52Dharwar39Mumbai05Vishakhapatnam51Dispur09Nagpur13Column 15 : Educational Qualification CodeCodes prescribed for educational qualification are as follows :CodeEducational qualification01If you have already passed the requisite qualifying Examination, with prescribed subject;02If you have appeared/appearing at the requisite qualifying Examination, with prescribed subject;Choose the correct code applicable in your case and darken the appropriate circles. Write the same code in the boxes.Note: For prescribed subjects see para 3 (iii) of Notice.Column 16:(I) Whether claiming age relaxationIf you are claiming age relaxation, darken circle 1 for Yes and write 1 in the box; or If you are not claiming age relaxation, darken circle 2 for No and write 2 in the box.(II) If Yes, indicate category code Fill up this Column only if your response to Column 16(I) is Yes. Darken the appropriate circles for category codes given below and then write the same code in the boxes.Category - Codes for Claiming Age Relaxation(Refer Para 3(ii) (b) of Commission’s Notice published in the Employment News/Rozgar Samachar)Code No.CategoryExtent of Age Relaxation Permissible01.SC and ST5 years02OBC3 years03Blind, deaf-mute and Orthopaedically handicapped persons.10 years04Blind, deaf-mute and Orthopaedically handicapped persons + SC/ST15 years05Blind, deaf-mute and Orthopaedically handicapped persons + OBC13 years06Defence Services Personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof.3 years07Defence Services Personnel(as against Code No. 06) + SC/ST8 years08Defence Services Personnel(as against Code No. 06) + OBC 6 years09Ex-Servicemen including Commissioned offices and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st January, 2017 and have been released (i) on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st January, 2017) otherwise than by way of dismi-ssal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency;or (ii) on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service; or (iii) on invalidment.5 years10Ex-Servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs (as against Code No. 09) + SC/ST10 years11Ex-Servicemen including + OBC Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs (as against Code No. 09)8 years12ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st January,2017 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.5 years13ECOs/SSCOs (as againstCode No. 12) + SC/ST10 years14ECOs/SSCOs (as againstCode No. 12) + OBC8 years15Candidates who had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from 1st January, 1980 to 31st December, 19895 years16Candidates who had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of J & K (as against Code No. 15) + SC/ST10 years17Candidates who had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of J & K (as against Code No. 15) + OBC8 years(I) Optional subjectChoose any two optional subject from the list given below and see their codes. Darken the appropriate circles and then write the same code in the boxes.(II) No. of attempts already made?Write the number of attempts already made by you in the Indian Forest Services Examination in the boxes and darken the appropriate circles. If no attempt has been made by you earlier, darken circles 00 and write ‘00’ in the boxes.Columns 21 and 22 :Candidates appearing for the Indian Forest Services Examination 2017 are not required to fill any of these columns. They should, therefore, leave these Columns blank.Column 23 : DeclarationThe candidate must read the declaration carefully before signing. In Sub-para (i), the candidate must fill up the Examination Notice number viz. 06/2017 and date of publication of Notice in Employment News/Rozgar Samachar viz., 05.02.2017 in the spaces provided before the asterisk marks.Column 24 : Signature of candidateMake your usual signature in blue or black ball pen within the box provided. Your signature must not overflow or touch the border of the box provided. Do not merely write your name in capital letters in place of signature. Unsigned applications will be rejected.Also write the place and date of signing the form in the spaces provided for the purpose.Verify the following before mailing the application1. That you have used the application form purchased from the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices only.2. That you have filled in all the relevant columns of the application form by blackening the appropriate circles and also writing the corresponding code(s) in boxes. It may be carefully checked that there is no variation between the entries made by you by darkening the circles and those written in the accompanying boxes.3. That you have pasted your recent photograph preferably in black & white (unsigned and unattested) in column 11 of the application form.4. That in case you are required to pay fee, you have affixed a Central Recruitment Fee Stamp of Rs. 100/- denomination in column 12 of the application form and have got it cancelled from the Post Office.5. That you have signed in column 24 of the application form.6. That only one application form and one acknowledgement card is being mailed in the envelope supplied to you with the Brochure and no other enclosure is attached therewith.7. That you have written the name of examination viz., "Indian Forest Service Examination, 2017" on the envelope meant for despatch of application form and acknowledgement card. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CANDIDATESSpecial instructions to Candidates for Conventional type of papersArticles permitted inside Examination HallBattery-operated pocket calculators of “non-programmable” type only,mathematical/engineering/drawing instruments, including a flat rule divided on the edges into inches and tens of an inch and into centimeters and millimeters, a slide rule, set squares, a protractor and a pair of compasses, pencils, coloured pencils, mapping pens, eraser, T-square and drawing board for use wherever necessary. Candidates are not allowed to bring with them any “Tables or Charts” for use in the Examination Hall.Mobile phones, pagers or any other communication devices are not allowed inside the premises where the examination is being conducted. Any infringement of these instructions shall entail disciplinary action including ban from future examinations.Candidates are advised in their own interest not to bring any of the banned item including mobile phones/pagers to the venue of the examination, as arrangement for safekeeping can not be assured.Tables to be supplied by UPSCIf it is considered necessary for answering the questions set in any paper, the Commission may supply any of the following for reference purpose only:-(i) Mathematical/Physical, Chemical and Engineering Tables (including Logarithmic Tables);(ii) Steam Table (including Mollier Diagrams for Temperature up to 800 C and Pressure up to 500 Kgf/Cm);(iii) National Building Code of India 1970 or 1983 Group 2 Part VI;(iv) Any other special articles as may be necessary for the candidates to answer the questions set in the question paper.After conclusion of the examination, return the above items to the Invigilator.Answers to be written in own handWrite the answers in your own hand in ink. Pencil may be used for maps, mathematical drawings or rough work.Check Answer BookThe candidate must write his roll number (and not his name) only in the space provided for the purpose on every answer book used by him. Before writing in the answer book, please see that it is complete. In case there are any missing pages, it should be got replaced.Do not tear out any pages from the Answer Book. If you use more than one Answer Book, indicate on the cover of first Answer Book the total number of Answer Books used. Do not leave any blank, unused spaces between answers. If such spaces are left, score them out.Answers in excess of prescribed number will be ignoredThe candidate must attempt questions strictly in accordance with the directions given on each question paper. If questions are attempted in excess of the prescribed number shall be valued and the remaining answers will be ignored.Questions relating to graph/ récis should be attempted only on graph/ récis sheets to be supplied on demand by the Invigilators. All loose sheets such as récis sheet, drawing papers, graph sheets etc. whether used or not, should be placed inside the answer books and fastened along with the additional answer book(s), if any. Candidates who fail to observe this instruction will be penalized.Do not write your roll number on these sheets.Unfair means strictly prohibitedDo not copy from the papers of any other candidate nor allow your papers to be copied nor give nor attempt to give nor obtain nor attempt to obtain irregular assistance of any description. It will be responsibility to every candidate to ensure that his answers are not copied by another candidate. Failure to do so will invite penalty, as may be awarded by the Commission for adoption of unfair means.Conduct in Examination HallDo not misbehave in any manner or create disorderly scene in the examination hall or harass or bodily harm the staff deployed for the conduct of examination. You will be severely penalized if you attempt to do so.Please read carefully and abide by the instructions printed on the Question Paper and on the Answer Book supplied in the Examination Hall.Source- FREE IAS Exam Preparation

Nowadays it is possible to make certain predictions that cover a whole lifetime.Using this method I was able to predict the outcome of the UK 2015 General Election. It was very easy. You can see how I did it by leaving your email address on the "Free" page of my web site.It is important to realise that when we are born we relate more to our Moon Sign than Sun Sign, the change-over tends to occur in our 30s as we become more self reliant. Our Sun Sign shows our spiritual path and the lessons we have come to learn in this lifetime as an individual. The other planets add more detail.We need to get beyond the "cookbook" personality traits of Sun Signs. It is ridiculous to assume that the whole of humanity can be divided into 12 easy "parcels". This is a form of Prejudice born of ignorance.We can learn how to USE our Personality, rather than passively observe it. Like we use our body. A typical Birth Chart contains at least 10 planets, not just 1. All our lives have a Purpose. Yours will be different to anyone else - which makes you Unique. When we find our true path we gain a sense of inner peace and satisfaction - despite what may be happening outside our self.The Sun Sign Lessons are based on our learning to handle different FORMS OF ENERGY. Earth (Practical), Water (Emotional), Air (Mental), Fire (Spirit. Power).===============================================YOUR FUTURE : SUN IN VIRGO - THE OVERALL PICTUREThe main principle of Virgo is "Service to Self".With Sun in Virgo you will be learning lessons of "a healthy mind and body". Virgo, an Earth Sign, concerns the fact that we have to support a physical body, which usually requires we do some sort of work - which, in turn, relates to what sort of talents or abilities we possess. By doing Work we develop those abilities further. We can achieve great pleasure from using our inbuilt talents.The basis is some form of Household Management - that can be referred to businesses as well. This could draw you towards activity in the "Health and Fitness" or dietary management areas of life.The Virgo mind tends to focus on small details that many of us would miss. This can become negative when the detail is relatively unimportant. Having an analytical mind, Virgo Sun can be very critical of small details - especially related to health. If carried too far this can lead to worry and overwork from trying to make everything "perfect". Hypochondria. So health is affected. Worry about health affects health. Perfection is an Ideal rather than a Goal.An important factor of ill health is that we are forced to pay attention to our own personal needs, rather than those of others. Everything requires Balance. In fact, this can be one of the best guides to what is our true spiritual path in life.=======================================================YOUR BIRTH CHARTI would first say that any success in life comes as a result of the efforts we are prepared to put in. Free Will can over-ride any Birth Chart content (for good or ill). There is no point in sowing "seeds" if we are not prepared to do the cultivation to achieve the "harvest".We come to this earth to learn spiritual lessons - self development. This over-rules everything else. So I am more interested in studying the spiritual life lessons of INDIVIDUALS - which is based on our Sun Sign. The more you relate your activities to your Sun Sign the easier life will become. Even though outer life might be difficult at times you will have the inner satisfaction that you are on the right path. Spiritual development tends to be a lone path.What a lot of astrologers miss is that our Moon Sign (and Moon aspects to other planets) shows what we have developed from past lives, and we tend to be born into a family situation that supports that. This agrees with traditional Astrological associations with The Moon - such as "Soul" and "Mother". In a Birth Chart the Moon position relates to our relationship with our mother.Our Sun Sign (and Sun aspects to other planets) shows what spiritual lessons we have come to learn in this lifetime, and what form of energy we are learning to use. No Zodiac Sign is more important than the others. To be creative we have to learn the lessons that all 12 signs teach. No one Sign is better than another. Our birth Sun position shows the relationship with our father.We do not usually start fully developing our Sun Sign until we become self supporting and are free of parental control. Events in our 30s usually bring an appropriate change of life direction, and our Mid Life Crisis soon afterward. We can look at this as changing from Moon Sign influence to Sun Sign influence over our lives. But it does take an act of Will. Generally the change is not necessarily a big one to begin with. It just means we take up a new activity that gives us pleasure - perhaps as a non-paying hobby that later develops into something bigger - like the development of a child.We note that at around age 30 establishing a home, and the biological function of reproducing ourselves, is done and the human body begins to deteriorate. For example, athletes become unable to compete with those younger. Women approach menopause. In the not too distant past, humans did not often live much beyond age 30 - so we can assume that the longer life expectancy nowadays (to 100 years) - and rapid rate of Change - has another purpose. Perhaps developing minds, rather than physical bodies.If we become aware of, and begin to follow our true SPIRITUAL life path, then life becomes simpler and there is more of a sense of inner fulfillment, despite any external problems. It comes at a price. To become truly Individual usually requires that we accept a lone path.We are not normally forced to do things. There are always choices based on our own Free Will. So I can only describe possibilities.===================================================PREDICTIONS FOR LIFEWe have to take note of the fact that Astrology does not control our lives. Everything depends on what we decide to do, and how much effort we put into our projects. However, if we become like Farmers and work with Nature to sow, reap, and harvest at the right times our lives are made easier.In terms of prediction we can now envision the course of a whole lifetime. To do this we look at the 12 year cycle of Jupiter and the 30 year cycle of Saturn. At the Generic level we consider the positions of planets in a Birth Chart and compare them with the positions at a later date. This is where were are all the same, and have similar life situations of birth, school, marriage, work, and death. This does not need an accurate Birth Chart because it depends on our age. There are also other Personal Cycles that planets relate to at one and the same time which look at them travelling through the Houses of a Birth Chart. This needs an accurate birth time and place.If you want a practical exercise you can try out my "Life Diary" that does not need a birth chart - it looks at Jupiter and Saturn cycles based on age. Everyone has them somewhere in their birth chart, and their cycles from there have similar effects.The Life Diary looks at the years of our lives and highlights certain times when events are likely to occur. Although the actual events are different, they tend to have a certain meaning, or be of a certain type.YOUR PERSONAL LIFE DIARY - TRY IT YOURSELFThe "Life Diary" has a line for each year of life, and shows Generic Jupiter and Saturn positions for each year. Certain "crisis" years are highlighted when changes are most likely to occur. We can also get an idea of what sort of change is involved. We are not usually forced to do anything at these times, but we can use them to further our aims.I have designed a Life Diary that shows times when events are most likely to occur using the 12 year cycle of Jupiter and 30 year cycle of Saturn. There is no need for a birth chart because it solely depends on age. Using this method I was able to correctly predict the outcome of the 2015 UK General Election by comparing Life Diaries of Prime Ministers with when they were elected, and replaced in office. I am attaching the results of my research and you will see that Tony Blair and David Cameron's profiles are the same. Justin Trudeau - the new Canadian Prime Minister - was also age 54 when elected.We can see that considerations of faster moving planets such as Moon (27 day cycle), Sun, Mercury and Venus (1 year cycle) doesn't really help because they come and go very quickly. During their cycles there are every possible easy or hard aspects - so everything balances to zero.If we divide the cycles into 12 stages, we find that "difficult" aspects occur at the 4 quarter stages. It is at these stages that major changes are likely to occur.The cycles act in the same way as the annual cycle of the sun and the changing seasons. So seeds are planted at stage 1 and they grow and fruit until Stage 10 (Peak. Harvest) after which there is a "Winter" decline in preparation for a the beginning of a new cycle. Here are the "crisis points" for Jupiter 12 year cycle and Saturn 30 year cycle. Saturn takes 2.5 years to go through a stage.THE CYCLE OF GROWTHSTAGE 1 (SEED. New Beginnings)This is when "new beginnings" are likely to occur. The first "New Beginning" is birth itself. Others are at age 0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 and so on. Saturn 0, 30, 60, 90.It is no accident that we enter secondary school at age 12, which is also the beginning of puberty.STAGE 4 (TRANSPLANTING. A step forward)Ages Jupiter 3, 15, 27, 39,50,62. Saturn 6/7, 36/37, 66/67Like a seed, now a small plant, being transferred from a greenhouse to the garden outside there is some kind of "step forward" in life based on what occurred previously. This is very personal, but it could be something like a house move or job change - or any other major event.STAGE 7 (PARTNERS. Joining forces)Ages Jupiter 7, 18, 30, 42, 53, 66. Saturn 15/16, 45/46, 75/76This is the half way stage of the cycle. Our plant needs to cross-pollinate to make seeds for new growth. Changes occur that help us take our project into a wider world and find support.STAGE 10 (PEAK. HARVEST. Social status)Age Jupiter 9, 21, 33, 45, 57, 68. Saturn 22/23, 52/53, 82/83.This is the final harvest of all our efforts since the seed was planted. If no effort has been put into the cultivation there will be no harvest. At this time everything becomes public for all to see - for good or ill. We reach the peak of our social status. It is followed by a decline in preparation for the new cycle.I have noticed that Stage 10 seems to be a common stage for women to have babies, and people getting married. It is also the peak of social stature, after which there is a decline in preparation for a new cycle beginning. We see this in the outer world when someone is continually in the news for a time, and then fades into the background. This is also a common time for people becoming disillusioned with there partner, leading to divorce at Stage 1. Age 48 is common.