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Need other opinions (military related, long)
ReusableGore
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
"Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier." - Samuel Johnson
To put the above quote in context I need to tell you a little about myself. I will do my best to just hit the bare essentials. Growing up I idolized the military. All I ever did was play war and look at books full of pictures of military equipment and soldiers. I knew in the very core of my being that I wanted to be a soldier. My parents figured it was just a kid phase that I would grow out of. They were, and still are, of the opinion that the military is a waste of my abilities and no place for a Christian.
I never did grow out of it. At age seventeen shortly before turning eighteen I contacted an Army recruiter. I was young, stupid, and clueless. Going in starstruck I was helpless in the hands of the recruiter (he was on pace to recruit the most in the state!). I was locked in to be a Cav scout regular Army and was really looking forward to it.
Then my family reacted. Once they realized I was serious my Dad stonewalled and refused to talk to me about anything pertaining to my future. My Mom turned on the waterworks and I was finally persuaded to call the recruiter and tell him I was not going to join. But with his quota to fill he was not about to let me get off the hook, he offered a compromise of the Reserves and a job that my tests scores recommended (Engineer). In full blown bullshit mode he was able to get me to agree to join the Reserves and while not happy, my parents tolerated the compromise. But to this day I loathe myself for backing down.
What I encountered in BCT disgusted me. I was in a platoon full of societies rejects that were in the Army because they had no other choice. We skipped training days because of rain. We had "team spirit" idiocy going on. It felt more like Boy Scouts for grown men than the BCT I had envisioned. These people were not going to be soldiers, they were going to be clerks.
So I got out. It was not very hard, I said I wanted out, and they let me go. I'm not sure what type of discharge it was but I think it was like I was never there. The government has record of it, but as far as everyone else is concerned I have never served in the armed forces. I have had to deal with a lot of flack for "quitting" or being a "pussy" but I know why I quit, it was not what I wanted.
I wanted to be a soldier, and I still do. I'm 24, studying Accounting at a 4 year university (started college at 21) and feel un-challenged, un-fulfilled, and apathetic. I have learned a lot since I was eighteen, I know now that the military is not the romanticized fantasy of patriotic fervor that I pictured growing up. But the desire to be a soldier is as strong as ever. People tell me I'm too smart to be a soldier, that it is a waste of talent. But that does not change the fact that I feel like I'm ignoring what I was born to be. It has nothing to do with patriotism, or a thirst for adventure or action, I just have always felt that I'm supposed to be a soldier.
But now I'm no longer as confident as I was when I was seventeen. My experience left me confused about what I thought was an easy decision. I think that maybe I'm fooling myself and that everyone else is right. But man, I don't see this drive ever going away.
I'm not seeking answers here, just other opinions. These feelings have been building for years and I need to resolve this for my own hearts sake. My well being depends on it.
To put the above quote in context I need to tell you a little about myself. I will do my best to just hit the bare essentials. Growing up I idolized the military. All I ever did was play war and look at books full of pictures of military equipment and soldiers. I knew in the very core of my being that I wanted to be a soldier. My parents figured it was just a kid phase that I would grow out of. They were, and still are, of the opinion that the military is a waste of my abilities and no place for a Christian.
I never did grow out of it. At age seventeen shortly before turning eighteen I contacted an Army recruiter. I was young, stupid, and clueless. Going in starstruck I was helpless in the hands of the recruiter (he was on pace to recruit the most in the state!). I was locked in to be a Cav scout regular Army and was really looking forward to it.
Then my family reacted. Once they realized I was serious my Dad stonewalled and refused to talk to me about anything pertaining to my future. My Mom turned on the waterworks and I was finally persuaded to call the recruiter and tell him I was not going to join. But with his quota to fill he was not about to let me get off the hook, he offered a compromise of the Reserves and a job that my tests scores recommended (Engineer). In full blown bullshit mode he was able to get me to agree to join the Reserves and while not happy, my parents tolerated the compromise. But to this day I loathe myself for backing down.
What I encountered in BCT disgusted me. I was in a platoon full of societies rejects that were in the Army because they had no other choice. We skipped training days because of rain. We had "team spirit" idiocy going on. It felt more like Boy Scouts for grown men than the BCT I had envisioned. These people were not going to be soldiers, they were going to be clerks.
So I got out. It was not very hard, I said I wanted out, and they let me go. I'm not sure what type of discharge it was but I think it was like I was never there. The government has record of it, but as far as everyone else is concerned I have never served in the armed forces. I have had to deal with a lot of flack for "quitting" or being a "pussy" but I know why I quit, it was not what I wanted.
I wanted to be a soldier, and I still do. I'm 24, studying Accounting at a 4 year university (started college at 21) and feel un-challenged, un-fulfilled, and apathetic. I have learned a lot since I was eighteen, I know now that the military is not the romanticized fantasy of patriotic fervor that I pictured growing up. But the desire to be a soldier is as strong as ever. People tell me I'm too smart to be a soldier, that it is a waste of talent. But that does not change the fact that I feel like I'm ignoring what I was born to be. It has nothing to do with patriotism, or a thirst for adventure or action, I just have always felt that I'm supposed to be a soldier.
But now I'm no longer as confident as I was when I was seventeen. My experience left me confused about what I thought was an easy decision. I think that maybe I'm fooling myself and that everyone else is right. But man, I don't see this drive ever going away.
I'm not seeking answers here, just other opinions. These feelings have been building for years and I need to resolve this for my own hearts sake. My well being depends on it.
ReusableGore on
0
Posts
someone has to lead the grunts into battle
Not possible, cutoff age is 23
Also, to the OP: there's a lot of shitbags in the Army
You have to realize that or you'll be eternally unhappy
Also, protip: I despise people who bitch constantly about how "easy" the Army is nowadays. Not saying you're one of those people, but if you join the Army and then spend your time either being a vindictive dick out of some false sense of "compensation" for the "easiness" of the job or constantly bitch, please don't join, then
I guarantee that rain will never be an excuse not to train, you will get pushed to continue on when you feel like you want to quit, and you'll probably enjoy it. I did. Keep in mind that there are always shitags in any organization, but depending on what unit you get to, they do their best to help shift those attitudes.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010
I can't speak for how BCT is now, or even how BCT at places other than Ft Benning are, but at that time it was no joke. There where soldiers who didn't want to be there or had been forced to be there and they did not last long at all, so I can't help you much on the training side. Either way after basic there are always going to be people that you will see in the service who can just make you sick to your stomache, some of them can't even be considered good human beings let alone soldiers. Before I joined I wanted to do 20 years and retire, about 2 years in I wanted out more than anything else, now I've been in 5 years and it's not so bad - just shows you how crazy it can be,
Anyways, I've definetly grown out of my gung-ho days, but I certainly regret nothing and wouldn't think anything less of someone who doesn't join. It really is a tough decision and one you have to make on your own, it's not for everybody 98% of it really, really, REALLY, REEEAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLYY sucks and the rest will be spent with the best friends you'll ever know doing some pretty awesome stuff. Personally, if it was me in your situation and I hadn't gotten all that out of my system I would do it all over again, just be prepared to learn more about yourself then you ever wanted to know.
I'll leave you with something an old retired special forces Col told me at my going away party before basic, "I envy you, I also really pity you".
And rent, the Army is high school with guns now, you can't say the shit ain't easy nowadays.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010
I wouldn't know, I enlisted in Sep 2007, but in my experience BCT was the most difficult thing I've ever accomplished
But be aware that, if you fail, you'll probably be re-classed as 11 Bravo (Infantry).
Also, check out the Military thread. It's full of prior- and current-service guys who are very unselfish with their time and advice.
Be a fireman.
However, as you spend more time in the military you'll come to understand that there are some people that genuinely want to be there, and want to be soldiers. For what you're looking for, enlisting is most likely not going to be your cup of tea. You should look at finishing out your degree and then trying to go to OCS. Contact an officer recruiter, he'll set you on the right track.
As for West Point, that's an impossibility for you I'm afraid. As Rent said, you have to be under the age of 23 before you come here. Even here, there are a lot of things that really make me question why I'm doing this sometimes. But at the end of the day, I know I'm doing what I want to do. If all of the good men who want to serve their country leave the military because of the behaviors of some other soldiers, well then the military is going to end up being run by the people who you were annoyed with.
Also, that "team spirit" idiocy? That builds unit cohesion. Yeah you might think it's bullshit, but it grows on you. That is not something that's going to change about the military, so don't expect it to :P
Cause seriously, that's where all the shit bags are supposed to be. It's why it's BCT. One guy tried to steal my boots, the shitbag in the rack above me got an article 15 while in basic and was separated two months after when shop lifting from the NEX. A large percentage of people don't make it past their first enlistment.
Which is why you have to suck it up and get past the first few years. Yes it's hard. The military's supposed to be hard.
I am going to start, for one, and I'll try to put this as lightly as possible...you don't really know what being a soldier is about till you've been one for more than a year at least- But I will agree with you on one thing-since I've been in basic has been kind of...pussified by some higher ups not knowing what they're doing. Not training because of rain is fucking retarded for one-ever hear the phrase if it ain't raining we ain't training?
for one, you have to realize that its a fact of life that there are people that just aren't going to cut it. Thats the whole point of basic-for one, to get rid of people who just are not in the right mind set for it.
I'll quote my current team leader about enlisted personnel..and to some extent officers too.
"There are three types of people in the army-the shitbags who can't get anything right and who will fuck up constantly no matter what you do, the standard hooah suck up, and the guys who don't take everything so goddamn seriously and just do their job."