#it does not make sense my knowledge of the real life military and the cod lore do not add up and it grinds my gears

[itsagrimm]

Something tells me that König did not have a usual childhood not just because of anxiety.

He entered military service with 17, which requires parental permission. Many kids in the german speaking countries still go to school when 17. König's parents being okay with their kid not pursuing education, which is highly socially expected of young people in all german-speaking countries, but instead actively allowing him to join the army, is extremely unusual.

Also, the military does not have the same social standing in Austria or Germany as let's say in the USA. It is not a very common thing people do here - especially minors.

Like, did his parents want him gone? Or did they actually felt like that was the best choice for their son because of circumstances unknown to us? Or did 17-year-old-König convince his parents AND the enlist officer to allow him to join the army somehow, giving an anxiety plagued teen a gun? And what kind of environment would allow that?

[venomous-ragno]

Writing advice...

... About military things by a soldier :)

You wanna write a story with a militaristic setting, like CoD or R6S? You wanna create  XXXXX, but you don't know where to start?

Well, lucky for you or not I know what that feels like and I've also got the combat / real life experience to help ya out!

Feel free to hop in my askbox or dm's and ask questions. I'll gladly elaborate and do my best to answer in full and plenty.

Disclaimer: My experiences and knowledge are mostly based on the German military, the Bundeswehr. They may differ from those of other countries.

Happy writing y'all :)

Pt. 10 / ?: PMC's and PMSC's

What's a mercenary / PMC / PMSC?

PMC = Private Military Contractor

PMSC = Private Military Security Company

A mercenary, sometimes also referred to as a "soldier of fortune" or a "hired gun", is a party joining a militaristic conflict for personal gains. They're not affiliated with any official military force and are an outsider to the conflict.

Mercenaries are defined as follows:

• A mercenary is “specially recruited”

• A mercenary is to “take direct part in hostilities”

• A mercenary is “motivated by private gain”

• A mercenary is not “a national of a party to the conflict”

• A mercenary is not “a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict”

• A mercenary is not “sent on official duty by a non-party state” 

Now, militaries nowadays don't just go and hire mercenaries as in people to help them fight or even conduct attacks. The term mercenary isn't even used in its traditional sense, and that's where the so called PMC's / PMSC's come in - the private military contractors. One could argue that a PMC is nothing other than a mercenary with a fancy name, however, they don't meet the definition of a mercenary in the Geneva convention. (Hence why governments get away with hiring them, among many other reasons.)

PMC's specialise in providing combat and protection forces, their work ranging from small scale training missions to providing highly trained and professionally equipped combat units. The UN has officially banned the use of mercenaries in 2001, considering the services provided by PMC's to be mercenary activity. The United States, China, and Russia however reject the notion of PMC's being mercenaries and continue to employ them.

Legality and why PMC's get off the hook so easily

PMC's are murky at best and downright evil at worst. They've been a staple in the Afghan and Iraq wars, as well as Africa, making headlines with nothing less than gruesome war crimes. There is an abundance of journalism covering the West’s reliance on PMCs, especially their heavy use by the American government to lower troop counts in non-lucrative wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. There is also an abundance of reports on the various war crimes and human rights abuses committed by PMCs, like the contractors who gunned down and tortured civilians during aforementioned conflicts. (Operation Blackwater in case you wish to go down the rabbit hole of war crimes.)

By hiring contractors, governments can lower troop counts and official death tolls. All the while, the imperialist ambitions of nations can advance through the use of these forces, while keeping their own name clean. Someone else does the work for them, and if things go south, everyone acts surprised and denounces affiliations with any mercenaries. In other words: PMC's provide an opportunity for deniability.

What makes these PMC's so unique is their status as private entities: They're not registered businesses that investors can buy into. It's a network carefully woven and upkept by the highest ranking, most influential people, like an open secret.

What services to PMC's / PMSC's provide?

• Armed guarding & protection of weapons systems and persons

• Prisoner detention

• Advice & training of local forces & security personnel

• Military consultancy

• Generate and regenerate combat power

• Other criminal warfare activities

[jalisanwhitley]

Welcome Home: My First Trip to Africa

I’m so excited I finally got a chance to visit the continent of Africa. I have a goal to visit every continent by the time I’m 30, but I’ve been most excited about visiting Africa and helping to dispel some of the myths that the West perpetuates about what the continent and its various countries are like. 

I was told by a lot of people that South Africa would be a perfect first visit, because in a lot of ways its westernized and easy to navigate, affordable and beautiful. As soon as I landed I felt comfortable and the whole trip it almost didn’t feel like I was in a foreign country - this could have been because we started the trip staying with friends so we were able to hang out with locals or because the people I went with were so easygoing. But I had an amazing time and would encourage everyone to go ASAP. 

Where We Stayed:

In Johannesburg we were able to stay with my friend Akilah’s friend from when she studied abroad in South Africa in undergrad. This was a great first jumping off point and he was nice enough to drive us around for most of the trip so we saved a lot of money.

In Cape Town we stayed in a dope Airbnb a few blocks from Kloof street. I would highly recommend it because of the location and how beautiful designed the space is. 

It was $300 for the five days we were there, so it ended it being really affordable when we split the cost between four people. If you haven’t used Airbnb yet, you can get $40 off your first reservation using my referral code. 

Johannesburg Highlights

Neighbourgoods Market

The first stop off the plane for us was the Neighbourgoods Market on Saturday. It has lots of food vendors, clothing and craft makers and live music. It was packed and had a day party vibe.  The food and drink were so affordable with the rand to USD conversion!

Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill is a former prison and military fort that bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past and, today, is home to the country’s Constitutional Court, which endorses the rights of all citizens. Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and other prominent political prisoners spent time here. 

The videos that told the story of Constitution Hill from past prisoners were powerful and also jarring as they go into explicit detail of the physical and sexual abuse that happened there. 

While we were at Constitution Hill we grabbed lunch at the Hill Cafe which is right onsite. We went in the early afternoon on a Monday so there weren’t any other people there so the bartender made us specialty cocktails. My friends got the lamb burger and said it was amazing. 

Apartheid Museum

After visiting Constitution Hill we went to the Apartheid Museum. You could easily spend a week here with the pure breadth of information they have. I’m happy we did Constitution Hill first because it gave a lot of context for the museum visit and our later Robben Island visit. 

The visit starts with you getting a card with your race where you go through two separate entrances and begin to get a sense of how big a role race played in South Africa. It also showed how fluid racial categories were as people began to be categorized for political reasons. 

I would HIGHLY recommend a visit to the Apartheid museum to get a historical view for apartheid from the lead up and foundation of how apartheid came to be through to the the truth and reconciliation work of Nelson Mandela. The most powerful part of the museum was the last video about the truth and reconciliation process and how painful and complicated that was, but how it also opened a space for the beginning of healing. 

It was a really heavy day with the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill so we had to break things up with a bit of fun...

The Turn Up: Cubana

We went out to Cubana on a Saturday night - I was a little bit skeptical because its a Cuban club but that night they played hip-hop and South African music. It’s one big lounge so there’s lots of tables and couches (bless up for all the girls wearing heels, this lounge has you in mind). We had such a good time (it definitely helped that the bottles were overflowing). The music and the people in our section were lit.

I won’t post pictures of our night to protect the innocent (and not so innocent).  

Honestly, truly the highlight of the night was, Andiccio, the pizza place we stopped at on the way home. The pizza was so delicious and it had a club atmosphere. Two minutes after we walked in a big group came in and turned the place out dancing. The music was almost louder and more amp than the lounge we came from.

Safari

We did a whole-day (which turned into a half day safari because the turn up got top real the night before) safari with Moreba tours. The tour was in Pilanesburg and we got to see a bunch of animals including giraffes, zebras and elephants. Our tour guide arrived promptly at our place and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. The tour is broken into two game drives. In between they take you to lunch at a hotel about 25 minutes away from Pilanesburg. There was a buffet with a complimentary welcome drink. 

The tour is 1350 rand per person (about $107) for a 9 hour tour with lunch included. I definitely think we got our money’s worth on this tour since they pick you up at your doorstep and drive 2.5 hours each ways, include lunch and two game drives. 

Cape Town Highlights

Robben Island

Buy your tickets in advance. Robben Island tickets sell out far in advance so be prepared. You take a 25-minute boat ride from the V&A Waterfront to Robben Island where you do a bus tour and then a short walking tour led by a former prisoner at Robben Island. It was so powerful to hear about life at Robben Island from someone who experienced it firsthand. This is definitely a must visit. 

(Nelson Mandela’s cell)

Lion’s Head and Table Mountain

We hiked Lion’s head so that we could go paragliding. That hike challenged every bit of my out of shape soul but the view was worth it. To make the situation worse the wind was too high when we tried to go so we had to be re-scheduled. Definitely plan paragliding early in your trip if you plan to go because winds can derail your plans. 

Table Mountain stole the show though - it’s as amazing as you would imagine. Best part - THEY HAVE MARGARITAS FOR MAD CHEAP! The top has a lot of places you can get 360 degree views, a restaurant and wifi lounge. 

Wine Tour:

We had a really great wine tour with Granwell aka “Big G” of Cape Trio tours. He was recommended in Nomadness Travel Tribe and he didn’t disappoint. He does custom tours so you can tell him what you want to do and see. It’s not limited to wine tours, so I would definitely recommend him if you have a creative tour you want to do. 

During our half-day wine tour we were able to visit Seven Sisters Winery - one of only two black owned wineries in Cape Town and Ernie Els Winery. They were very different but both great.

Seven Sisters had a family feel to it. The space had a wall of family photos and looked like a house in Martha’s Vineyard or Cape Cod. We had the place all to ourselves (they only take private reservations) and one of the owners led our tasting. It was amazing to hear how much the sisters had to overcome and still battle with being one of very few black owned wineries in the region. There are over 600+ wineries, yet only two black-owned wineries remain due to the high upfront cost and other challenges. I would HIGHLY recommend visiting the space. 

Ernie Els gave more of a country club feel. The views were breath-taking and they have a menu in case you want to eat while you’re there. The owner is a former professional golfer and you can see there’s a lot of money that went into the space. 

The Cape Town Turn Up (and VIP with Nelson Mandela’s Grandson)

We went to Jade nightclub and had a really good time. We got a VIP table and one of the girls in the group knew the owner so we had bottles and shots all night. The spot is 90% VIP section space which makes for an awkward strip of dance floor in between but they played great music (mostly mid-to-late 2000s hip hop which felt like a college throw-back...so of course we acted accordingly). 

While in the club we met Nelson Mandela’s grandson and hung out with him in VIP. He’s a bit obsessed with himself (he refers to himself as the Prince of Africa) but my celeb spotting while abroad game is still on point. He loved my friend’s husband Rion because he's from NY (people are OBSESSED with New Yorkers here) so he hung out with us for most of the night. 

For those who want to get photo shoot fresh. Visit Bo-Kaap. 

This is a rapidly gentrifying part of Cape Town that is full of colorful houses and a more multicultural community. This is a great place to try Cape Malay food (it’s similar to Indian food). We ate lunch at Biesmiellah Restaurant which had really good and super affordable food and is a block away from the colorful houses in Bo-Kaap . 

We initially tried (unsuccessfully because it was booked for a tour) to eat at Bo-Kaap Kombuis which has great views, so if you’re able to visit it has really good reviews.

For beach time go to Camp’s Bay

The houses in this areas are out of this world and the views are crazy. Swimming though? Not so much. The water is ice cold, so you go here to stunt more than anything.

Random note: if you’re on Long Street in Cape Town get some really cheap and amazing fish at Revelas fisheries across the street from Mama Africa. 

Final Pro Tip:

If you have a long layover in Johannesburg airport - get a two-hour pass for 290 rand ($22) to the Shongololo lounge. Free wifi, food and open bar. Best money spent. Especially because the food on Virgin Atlantic was tragic. 

Overall South Africa is within my Top 5 best trips ever. It’s definitely a country I would come back to.