Would serving the army for 4 years be a good life experience?

on.my.own wrote:

Feel like signing up as riflemen just for the experience and discipline, but its a long commitment which i cant get out of if i dont like it...

Don't do it. There send you in a weird country and you come back without a leg.

Not worth it. There are other ways to learn discipline. Running for example.

It's your call but anyone thinking of joining the military might want to consider that right now on an average day twenty former or active military personnel commit suicide.

Everyone I have known who joint the military to find "direction" or "discipline" pretty much came out the same as they went in, except for those who saw real combat. They all came out very badly damaged both physically and mentally. But all of them pretty much landed out of the military with nothing to do and nowhere to go. They all had to start from scratch and go to school or learn a trade. Nothin you do in the Army will translate to the real world. That is just recruiting fluff. Once you get out in the job market, some employers will give you a bump up in line towards getting a job. But you will have a much bigger advantage if you had 4 years of school or job experience instead of 4 years of being in the Army.

on.my.own wrote:

Feel like signing up as riflemen just for the experience and discipline, but its a long commitment which i cant get out of if i dont like it...

A good life experience would be to go help the poor people that the US military bombs, there are so many to choose from.

Opinions of an active duty Staff Sergeant....

In general.....you don't find discipline. You either are disciplined or you are not. You either develop it or you don't. The Army gives you your left and right limits as far as a code of conduct, rules, accountability, etc. I think maybe what you want is someone to be accountable to.

90% of the Army is all about accountability.....right time, right place, right uniform

If you want a federal job then yes do some active duty time as Vets have preference. Basically anything on USAJobs.

Join if you have some sort of calling, want to pay off student loans, want to pay for a degree, or eventually want decent money with great benefits.

Don't join if you can't deal with stupid.

Alan

Precious Roy wrote:

Everyone I have known who joint the military to find "direction" or "discipline" pretty much came out the same as they went in, except for those who saw real combat. They all came out very badly damaged both physically and mentally. But all of them pretty much landed out of the military with nothing to do and nowhere to go. They all had to start from scratch and go to school or learn a trade. Nothin you do in the Army will translate to the real world. That is just recruiting fluff. Once you get out in the job market, some employers will give you a bump up in line towards getting a job. But you will have a much bigger advantage if you had 4 years of school or job experience instead of 4 years of being in the Army.

Most of the post-military successes I've seen are from those who didn't stray too far away.....VA, Gov contractor, etc.

There are a few jobs that transfer over nicely to the civilian side like air traffic controller but those are hard to get and a career path you didn't need the Army for anyway.

Alan

If you want to kill and possibly die for the Oligarchs and their agenda then it's a good idea.

There's thousands of First Response, Emergency, Security Guard, Medical, Ranger, sorts of jobs where you learn responsibility and life skills. Both for private companies, and governments. Have a good time. You'll enjoy it I'm sure of.

I am a Navy Vietnam vet who spent 2yr 4mos in a combat billet out of 4+ years of active duty. I came back, went to law school and spent the next 40yrs practicing law with a good private firm and, subsequently, my own firm. I've been married to a wonderful woman for 49 years now, and have two successful children. The leadership skills, ability to perform under high stress levels and other elements of my Navy experience all contributed to my professional and personal success. Besides that, I learned that every day that no one is actively trying to kill you is a pretty darned good day.

There's better ways to find direction and develop healthy, consistent habits. Depending on your age, I think it may be hard to truly understand what you'd really be signing yourself up for. If you're an enlisted man, boot camp is designed to strip you of your individuality and mold to the expected norm, which I realize is out of necessity. But if you're an eccentric outsider such as myself, you'd be setting yourself up for a truly miserable stretch of time and you'd be lucky to escape without injury, addictions, mental/emotional problems, and even your life.

Runningart2004's post is pretty accurate. I'm a West Point grad who served for 6 years but got out right before the first Gulf War. These days the pace of operational deployments is significantly greater despite the Army being smaller so, particularly for an infantryman, over the course of a 4 year commitment you have a pretty good chance of spending 6 months to a year somewhere like Afghanistan or Iraq. As a rule of thumb our conflicts do not seem to take place in the garden spots of the world. The educational benefits can be very good but many who enlist thinking they will go to college either don't do so or end up going to a for profit or lower ranked school that panders to service members. I came from a lower middle class background and a rural area with no jobs other than lumber mills or marijuana so for me the social mobility and career boost was huge

I think it would be an interesting life experience.

Usually it is great to get out and see the world. One of my clients was a jet pilot then his aircraft carrier sailed back to the US and he was station in California as a ground soldier for a year. he said he trained in the desert, high snowy mountains, swan under moving freighters at deep sea, jumped out of big planes, etc. Then officers fought each other and he was brain injured. By his own officers which is tragic. He was discharged with full benefits. I took care of him for a long time. He got better after a while and worked in our town.

post-military success wrote: I am a Navy Vietnam vet who spent 2yr 4mos in a combat billet out of 4+ years of active duty. I came back, went to law school and spent the next 40yrs practicing law with a good private firm and, subsequently, my own firm. I've been married to a wonderful woman for 49 years now, and have two successful children. The leadership skills, ability to perform under high stress levels and other elements of my Navy experience all contributed to my professional and personal success. Besides that, I learned that every day that no one is actively trying to kill you is a pretty darned good day.

My Uncle is a West Point Grad and self made multi-millionaire. His quote "The Army made the rest of my life easy."

on.my.own wrote:

Feel like signing up as riflemen just for the experience and discipline, but its a long commitment which i cant get out of if i dont like it...

If you're like most...going enlisted, no degree (therefore no "easy" path to commission), then I say it is not worth it.

I was in '93 to '97. There are so many variables, from MOS to duty station that can change your experience, and I was in missile electronics (27 series) and I was stationed in non-combat areas, yet it felt like a total waste of time. I was seriously disillusioned when I left and 25 years later, I'm still disillusioned.

For most part, military made up of poor people that had no choice, and their time in Army doesn't really change their lot in life either, except that you can get a VA loan. You have those that are looking to get out as soon as possible, and those looking for their 20. You'll find you look down on civilians and think you're alpha, but at end of the day, YOU are the sucker.

I do think going through one of the academies is a good deal if you can get in...I was not aware of how important it was until many years after I was out. In the real world, no one really cares if you were an E4 or even an E7.,..,but if you were a Major or something, it carries some heft in the business world.

These days the military is solidly middle class.

My kid wanted to join the Army after high school, and I gave him parental approval since he was just shy of 18. He had the brains and grades for college, but not the motivation. Now after a couple years in the Army, he's weighing his options for when he gets out, if he doesn't re-enlist. I'd much rather have him in the Army right now than wasting money on college before he's ready for it, or staying at home, angry and alienated, between working retail or fast food. He doesn't love the Army, but he's doing pretty well for himself.

Army is a way of life not just a job. You have to commit, believe and put up the work. If it’s for you, you’ll know right away. If not, you’ll suffer the way through.

most of these posts are really sad. to me they illustrate that the us is no longer a country worth fighting for and therefore takes no pride and sees no point in its military. this is wrong and the new generations need to take a long hard look at themselves

i know many us military vets and they are fantastic people who supported their country and who, in turn, have been supported by it. this is how it should be. the us military is, and provides, a fantastic opportunity for people who know how to use it.

I joined cuz I lost my job. Didn't know I would make it a career till I learned I was "good" at it....if "good" is defined as increasing rank and getting rewarded for random Army stuff thus getting more rank....it's a circle that feeds itself. You tend to enjoy what you are successful in or what you've received praise for. I've just been lucky enough to been in the right place and right time to take advantages of the opportunities in front of me.

I enjoy what I'm doing. If you don't enjoy what you're doing then stop what you're doing and find something else. The military is a lifestyle that isn't for everyone. It's not a job. It is a lifestyle. It doesn't stop at 5'o'clock!

10+ years in, non-combat MOS, never deployed, currently in South Korea. Never a dull day, never exactly the same, every new assignment is a new 2-4 yr "job".

Alan