I plan on enlisting in the future. I am 95% sure that I will go Air Force but am still open to other options. I was thinking about becoming a pararescueman but I have some dietary concerns.

I would like to know if it would be possible to maintain a vegetarian diet through the required training. I highly value life which is why I'm vegan(I know that's impossible to maintain through training or while on active duty) and it's also one of the reasons why I am considering this job.

Please no bashing vegetarians/vegans. I'm incredibly fit for my age(14) and the whole "vegetarians are weak" thing is a load of crap. The strongest person I know is a dietary vegan(non-ethical reasons as far as I'm aware).

The topic that I may have to kill has already been brought up here

b5200

I wouldn't expect the military to go too far out of its way to ensure your dietary requirements are met.

I have no doubt that at age 14 you are incredibly fit and full of energy, most of us were at that age regardless of our diet. As you age, so will your energy levels.

You want a taste of military food? Go and purchase MRE case and go through each package to see what is there for vegan's. Its there, but a steady diet of that stuff and you'll be ready for some fresh roadkill in no time.

Good luck and let us know how this all goes for you.

I'm not asking if I could make it physically, I just want to know if I would be required to eat meat at any point in the training. I have received mixed answers at other places and I'm not sure.

I'm particularly curious about the survival school, one person told me it was like the Marine survival school and you have to kill and eat a rabbit. But another source that was highly detailed made no mention of a rabbit.

Ok, they can't make you eat anything. You have choices to make during the training. The bit about eating a rabbit? Likely that was the only available food trotting by during the survival course. I suppose you could eat termites or grubs and survive just as well. Bugs don't count as meat in your book do they? The object is to survive with only the tools provided in a very remote location for a set period of time. Usually that would be a knife.

You get into starvation mode and you'll eat anything that moves, crawls, wiggles or spits.

As you no doubt know, you get energy via protein and in extreme locations such as desert, jungle, artic training scenerios, available protein is seriously lacking in quantites that will allow one to make it though without losing too much body mass and tissue.

Do you eat fish?

Well I know some military survival school has you kill a rabbit, I saw a show on the military channel which followed a group going through a survival school.

You do realise that those folks you watched on TV, knew they were being filmed and that it is entirely possible they may have used that as an excuse to put on a performance for the cameras?

I have attempted to answer your questions openly and honestly and am treating your concerns seriously. If you aren't serious, then don't pursue this path. Please note that I haven't tried to talk you out of being a vegan or anything of that sort.

Military survival courses are challanging and dangerous enough without tossing vegitarian requirements into the mix. You could die.

The one thing that might bother you is if they put a snake in the box with you and nail it up I doubt if you will be very hungry.