They probably prefer desensitized empaths of slightly above average intelligence who have a strong sense of patriotic duty and group loyalty and a respect for the idea of putting in time and effort to achieve rank.
I'm sure there are exceptions, but they would have to be exceptional. Most sociopaths would probably end up with a dishonorable discharge.
either way hyper, its situational...military gathers like-minded men together, teaches them to kill, takes them where people want to kill em, and lets them loose..the group team thing you speak of happens out of necessity/survival..
.i think most military members have sociopathic traits before entering...they dont learn it there but instead learn to harness it well once inside....
I think the inherent thing is the young man's urge or need to kill....too young and inexperienced to think up a cause of his own, he begs something or someone to find him one....
I do have military experience...and most of the men beside me had very similar pasts, thoughts, traits...
That might have something to do with the nature of young men in that 18-20 age range - testosterone fueled aggression combined with wanting to become a man. I think that's something historically consistent within that demographic, but I can see how it would be viewed as 'antisocial' in a society that places value on cooperation.
If anything, I think the discipline the military instills serves to reduce sociopathic tendencies and make them productive and pro-social, rather than encourage sociopathy.
The discipline instilled shapes or aims the aggression where the military wants it...
The social team aspect is accidental or even forced due to isolation and/or the envirionment.....
Good point with the young aggression thing...however, the member seeking authority or lawful ways of killing is key..the military pulling off ways to make that killer appear professional is another story ;)
I think the original question was concerned with whether the military could teach sociopathy...
Edit: i think it is better stated that the military harnesses sociopathy very well
I can't speak for daddy here, only myself and my own experiences within the British military. I was 16 when I joined, straight out of school, and for all of my teenage years, it's what I wanted to do. At first I was the worse soldier you could possibly imagine, fighting, not following orders, doing the complete opposite to my peers, just as one would expect from a kid with conduct disorder. I was brought up on an estate were we would fight with our neighbouring estate for as earlier as I can remember, anything went, baseball bats, golf clubs, stones, catapults with iron ore in, beating people up for the fun of it, fires, smashing windows etc... So the logical thing was to join the army, get some 'discipline' and come out with a trade under my belt.
As time went on, especially since I got to my unit, I learned how to adapt and be more agreeable. I won an award for most improved soldier in basic training and went on leaps and bounds...Immaculate behavior, immaculate dress, immaculate soldier but under the surface the monster was always waiting to rear it's ugly head but on the surface, I was this happy go lucky, jokey kid who everyone loved to be around.
After a night out in a European country and after taking much shit from a corporal, I followed him and put him in a coma for a week, he had to have his face rebuilt. I had been taking shit from this particular prick for sometime and was waiting for my opportunity. Forensics came the next morning and everyone that was there that night was ordered to be interviewed. I never went and no one even noticed. There was a another incident were, again, I was taking shit, (I had been from day from this one particular Idiot) a fight erupted, he fish hooked me on the floor so I took his pinky off with my teeth. Uncooked human flesh stuck in your teeth is disgusting, especially when you've run out of dental floss. Everyone in my unit hated this particular idiot, and with him not reporting it, it went unpunished.
I was still the golden boy even though I was always in the Sergeant Majors office cleaning his floor until 10pm. We became firm buddies. The thing is, I was always violent and the army provided me with an opportunity to become more violent. They condition soldiers to hate civilians, so once I left, my violence was then taken out on any civilian who would dare to look at me sideways on the streets.
I ended up plotting my way out of the military, before I got into a lot of serious trouble. I thought finding a girlfriend and settling down on the outside would calm me down but I only ended up in jail anyway.
But I digress, I spent 6 months as an inpatient at a military psychiatric unit and 6 months as an outpatient before I finally got my leaving papers through, after serving a total of five years. I left the psychiatric unit with an anti depressant addiction.
The military could not change who I was deep down, if anything, it only made me worse and I know others like me it had failed to mold.
On the other hand, I know guys who before they joined wouldn't hurt a fly and they've gone on to have very successful careers without any trouble at all. But would these same guys make great soldiers under pressure, faced with insurgents idk.
Can the military make a soldier sociopathic? Idk but as I said, I already had conduct disorder, so maybe what I went though was going to happen anyway even without the military.
Can the military turn a neuro typical with a great upbringing into a sociopath? Maybe but until I see solid evidence, we can only speculate on forums such as this.