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PO2 Robert Aitchison
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This one is obvious. As you say, old enough to go to war..

Interestingly, when California recently raised the age for buying Tobacco from 18 to 21 they put in an exception for members of the military.
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SFC William Farrell
SFC William Farrell
5 y
My late father, a WWII veteran would not let us drink at 17 although drinking age in NYC was 18 at the time. We came home on Christmas leave 1969 at 17, my twin brother and I and he had no problem letting us drink then. Old enough to serve, old enough to drink he felt.
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CPL Rick Lindholm
2
2
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I turned 17 on April 15 1987, did MEPS on April 24 and hit Ft Benning on May 12. Did my full 3 year contract (3 years 3 months and 5 days due to be a COHORT unit) left Active Duty on August 17th 1990 with a CIB but could not buy a beer or handgun legally. The Army trusted me enough to let me carry M16, M9 and be on a Mortar team, not to mention having a Secret Clearance and go through the several schools (Stinger Missle, RTO) but as a civilian I was not responsible enough to drink or buy a pistol.
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Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth
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YES...my father had the same mentality...if you are old enough to walk into a recruiting office without parental consent and ultimately have the ability and responsibility to point a weapon at someone else and make the judgement to use deadly force to kill or to be responsible for others or multimillion dollars worth of equipment then you are old enough to drink. However, I do believe in accountability. You break the rules you pay the price.
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