Although not as decorated as most, I do have 6 years of Army experience.
What I Did
One thing that I can’t stress enough is that if you know you like to do something, sign up for it. Don’t be like me and let the recruiters and MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Center) guidance counselors tell you or mislead you to your decision! I signed up as an Infantryman (because I was told there was nothing else available) and ended up as a Recruiter for a couple years as well. Click on the links below to find out a lot more detail about my experience.
Also, make sure to check out my page on Joining the military if you’re giving the military some thought.
Overall Positive Takeaways
- Pay.
- Vacation time.
- Health care.
- Housing and food.
- Almost guaranteed job security.
- Various benefits after you ETS (get out of the military) like VA Small Business Loan, Home Loan, and Post 9/11 GI Bill.
- If you find some people you get along with, the camaraderie is top notch.
- See new places you probably would’ve never thought about going (this is what they call “Travel”).
Overall Negative Takeaways
- You are risking your life and possibly kill for those who are not willing to risk their lives or kill for you.
- You are stuck in the military once you ship for basic training.
- Every military contract has an MSO (Military Service Obligation) of 8 years. You do “x” amount in either the Active, Guard, or Reserve, and the rest of the time is spent in the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve). The IRR just means that if they want more people, they can call anyone out of the IRR back into the military.
- No rules set in number of deployments.
- You don’t get to choose where you go (you can put in suggestions and it’s not too hard to get less-desirable duty stations like Korea).
- Fraternization can often be a real problem.
- Everything is taken care of for you in the military. The only bills you have are ones that you implement on your own, i.e. car payments, cell phone, subscriptions, etc. This causes a shock to a lot of soldiers when they go back into the civilian world.
Final Words on My Army Experience
The military definitely isn’t for everybody. I would never stop someone from joining (mostly because I don’t think anyone could’ve stopped me when I did), but the big mistake I made was not looking at the whole picture. All I was worried about was serving my country, and there are so many ways to do that without the government. If you are thinking about joining the military, check out my page on that before you do!
If you don’t know what a Chicken Hawk is, then perhaps you can learn on my page for The Hawk Bawk. I’m hoping for it to be a great resource for people who don’t believe in war.
I got out of the Army in 2009, so if anything here is out of date, please let me know.
I hope my Army experience teaches you some things and leads you to making the best decision for yourself.
Questions? Comments? Email me or Tweet me!
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