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Joining the military, not being a wuss, etc.
CangoFett
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For about as far back as I can remember, I've wanted to join the military. I could never, and still can't, imagine myself doing anything different. There were always a few issues though, such as horrible eyesight, a GED, and other minor medical things. It always seemed a bit of my reach. I called an AirForce recruiter, and they shut me out over the phone when I said GED. I went to an Army recruiter, and felt like I was getting flimflammed. I took the ASVAB there, scored in the 90s, but eventually drifted away, having my doubts.
I talked to my doctor, talked to some friends in the military, took a step back, and looked at all the medical issues. It seemed that it could be a waiverable issue. So, I just called a Marine recruiter to set up an appointment about talking about enlisting. He said they werent taking GEDs right now without college credits. I replied, "What if I have a 90 on the ASVAB." His tone immediatly changed, "You got a 90? When did you take it?" I told him earlier this year, and that the score was a 93 or 96. His next question was, "Can you come down to the recruiting station now?"
Thats when my tone changed. It changed from ambition and exictement, laced with a bit of anxiety, to full stop nervousness, confusion, and self doubt. Essentialy, me being a total wuss. Im not sure why though. This is something I want to do, but for some reason I keep trying to evade it at the last moment. As I type this, I'm not even sure what I'm asking for help/advice for specifically, short of some magic phrase that will remove all doubt and confusion. Im not sure if its normal nervousness of making a big step like this, my gut telling me not to do this, or if Im just a wuss, need to suck it up, and talk to a recruiter about a trip to MEPS.
I talked to my doctor, talked to some friends in the military, took a step back, and looked at all the medical issues. It seemed that it could be a waiverable issue. So, I just called a Marine recruiter to set up an appointment about talking about enlisting. He said they werent taking GEDs right now without college credits. I replied, "What if I have a 90 on the ASVAB." His tone immediatly changed, "You got a 90? When did you take it?" I told him earlier this year, and that the score was a 93 or 96. His next question was, "Can you come down to the recruiting station now?"
Thats when my tone changed. It changed from ambition and exictement, laced with a bit of anxiety, to full stop nervousness, confusion, and self doubt. Essentialy, me being a total wuss. Im not sure why though. This is something I want to do, but for some reason I keep trying to evade it at the last moment. As I type this, I'm not even sure what I'm asking for help/advice for specifically, short of some magic phrase that will remove all doubt and confusion. Im not sure if its normal nervousness of making a big step like this, my gut telling me not to do this, or if Im just a wuss, need to suck it up, and talk to a recruiter about a trip to MEPS.
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MEPS will suck (it's a lot of waiting with nothing to do, and they wont let you fall asleep).
Just take it easy, MEPS wont throw you into the service without your input, even if it seems like you're on a conveyor belt with 2903857 other people at times.
I'd say your nervousness is probably normal, too. I do IT contracting and get similar feelings whenever I have to go work for a company I haven't worked for before or take on a contract with more responsibility than I've had in the past or more difficult work even if the work is stuff I do at home for fun anyway. I still get worried that maybe I'm not as good at it as I thought and I'll suck once I start working there and so maybe I should just stick with what I've been doing and am comfortable with for work.
My parents arent exactly excited about the idea of me joining the military, especially since Im the type of guy that wants to get the most BAMF-esque job possible. They are repeatedly saying, "Just join the reserves while you go to college" and im all, "I dont get to drive a tank in college!"
Assuming I didnt make this fact up, Henry David Thoreau, on the topic of why he did his whole Walden journey was, "So that in death, I do not come to learn I never truly lived."
Im 19, live at home, my only job was a summer gig at a daycare, and I copped out of high school and grabbed a GED. Thus far, my life has been made of 50% epic, and 50% fail. I already regret past decisions, I dont want to be 80, look back, and say, "Man, I could've done so much better, and done things much more awesome."
Keep us in the loop and don't sign anything until you've tossed the idea around. Sleep on it and talk to your family.
do you really get to do all that crazy shit they show you in the commercials?
or is it mostly routine, boring, everyday stuff like literature says?
alriiiighhht: GO!
It depends on whether or not you deploy and what your job is. It's mostly endless tedium punctuated by madness incarnate. I miss it.
I sit in an office and work an eight to five with an occasional watch. HARDCOREZ!!!!
One of my friends works with every piece of construction equipment you could imagine.
And he says it's a lot of fun. He more or less gets paid 800 dollars for 16 hours of work one weekend every month and I think one day they ended up doing figure eights with a tomcat.
But yeah, it has its ups and downs just like any other job...but he has done some interesting things (he hasn't been deployed yet...he's airforce).
no resets or save games = not fun
edit: then again, closest I've been to combat is that paintball match, sparring in Aikido class, annnnd that one fight I got into in middle school.
The part that sucked was having to maintenance on that bitch. Salt water corrodes everything it touches in nothing flat.
That being said, it seems to be something you've always wanted to do, so then just do it and get it over with.
Actually, I suggest finishing college first, then go to Iraq.
Man, I've been shooting since I was 12, was on this juniour .22 rifle team when I was in high school, wish I had gotten into it sooner, and shoot IDPA matches when I get the chance. I'm decent with math, better with a gun, and seek a job that involves explosives and/or shooting stuff. Jumping out of a plane is always a plus, but not required. I was considering enlisting into the Army for EOD, but found out if you fail the EOD school they give you an ammo/munitions storage MOS. I know a guy with this MOS. I do not want that MOS.
With Marines, the likelihood that they will be doing the stuff you see in the commercials is much higher than, say, the Navy, with SEALS and fighter jets and shit. I do think that the new Air Force commercials are pretty cool in that they actually show a guy doing his real job and talking about it.
Me? I worked a few stories down in buildings without windows. I fucking hated my job. I'd go a month or two without sunlight in the winter. The closest I got to combat was listening to their voice control nets. You won't see that on the Navy commercials.
90 ASVAB will get you almost any jorb in the Marines. GED hurts you a little but they will make exceptions. Please do not join if you need $$$, or are bored, or hate your mom cause she wont let you go out, or want to get in shape.
The creamcorn will fark you until you are withering little piece of flaccid bubblegum stuck on the underside of some Gunnys boot. Know this: you will get fucked, you will love it. This is why you join.
People seem to think that the majority of people that join the military are go-nowheres right out of high school that are lost with no ideas and get gee-whiz-bang-schlepped by bloodthirsty recruiters. I think that the majority of those that join the military right now are people that are not lost (in a certain sense) and have 1 idea set in stone in their psyche; the idea that the United States is in need of help from within. Being there and doing your part to the best of your ability may be the difference between someone dying or living another day, between resources being lost or adding to the efficiency of the system, between lots of things.
I agree with the reservist comment, leave that for college bound and part time officers/firefighters/etc...
MEPS can be cut down to about 3-4 visits total if your recruiter does a lot of the work with you. While in MEPS you can cancel out anytime until you raise your hand to swear the day or two before you leave for boot camp. Once you start boot camp you can actually plead with them to stop, and you will get let go. Make sure you can run if you join the Marines; that means no bad knees/ankles/shins/hips. You will just get more baroque.
There are just as many job opportunites in the Marines as the Army, just not as many spots to fill.
haha made you look
I would suggest ROTC if you want to go to College. Enlisted can get shit on pretty hard sometimes. As an officer there you have quite a few priviledges, and you've gotten your education already and don't have to go to school around your work schedule. The military has definately been good to me, but it's not for everyone. I wouldn't worry to much about the jitters though I think everyone has them when they get to the MEPS. If you really want to do it, then go right ahead.
-Terry Pratchett
I don't want to pass judgement... but are you going into this for the right reasons? I mean, I can understand honor, duty, patriotism... but if just want to blow shit up, get a job in construction or something. Honestly, if you want something to worry about, it might be having to take a personality test... because the way you talk makes me kind of nervous.
Its both. When I say I want to do something awesome, its not just in the action movie sense, but also in the making a difference, doing something I can be proud of.
Also, tube. Man, what?
Something to think about...
http://www.fredoneverything.net/GoingToWar.shtml
And just to add a little of my own experience, by proxy. My father was in the military, 67-69. Sixty-eight to sixty nine he spent in Vietnam. He got to come home a little early because he got shot in the head during an ambush. It entered just below and behind his left ear and exited out the front of his face around the area of his right upper lip. He just about died that night, but he's one of the lucky ones. He can still walk, he can still see, his dick still works.
However, he still wakes up with nightmares 37 years later. He still goes to counciling every week. He still goes to the VA hospital to have them do surgery on his face. He reluctantly takes head drugs, Paxil I think.
If you join combat arms, you're probably going to be in real live combat with real live people trying to kill you. Right now I think the odds favor you not getting injured, but you might very well come away with PTSD, even severe PTSD. It's not pleasant. It might just make you kill yourself. AFAIK, right now there's no way to predict if you'll develop this syndrome if you're exposed to the stress of combat. The military might very well hang you out to dry if you do get injured, physically or mentally. It's a gigantic bureaucracy, and it's really really really easy for people to just not give a fuck whether or not you get what you need.
I just heard a show on NPR about soldiers coming back from Iraq and going to Ft. Carson. Some of 'em got PTSD. Some of 'em don't. When it comes time for those with PTSD to go get their super-infrequent counseling sessions, you know what their commanding officers say? "Tough shit, you got training. BTW, stop being a lying pussy, you lying pussy." After coming back home, my dad had to go to work every day with PTSD for 25 years before the government gave him one dime, and again, I think he was lucky to get that.
Another perspective: I was in the military. I did a 2 year enlistment, and requested 11-B. I had a 99 ASVAB. I should have done something else (I probably would have come away with much more useful skills that would have made me more technically competent and thus maybe on the path to earn more $$$ later in life), but I wanted to be tough and go to war like my dad. I wanted to have stories like his. Like your possibly apocryphal Walden quote, I wanted to have lived life. I didn't go to Iraq War Episode I, and right now I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to experience that. But then I think about the guys who came back with e.g. Gulf War Syndrome and maybe I'm not so disappointed. Ah, really, I don't know. It's uncertainty. And you need to be aware of it, but the recruiters aren't going to tell you that.
And this is not an impassioned plea for you to give peace a chance, go be a hippy-dippy effeminite pacifists at the drum circle cause you can't hug a kid with nuclear arms BS. But this is something that recruiters are not going to tell you. They sure as fuck never said anythign like that to me. It was my dad telling me that (and of course I didn't listen to him.) And it is something you need to consider if you want the complete picture (or at least, less incomplete).
you probably won't get to knife anyone. Sorry.
You'll meet plenty of people you want to knife though.
Mind, I ave no intention of staying in as I'd probably stab some of these retards in the face. Realize that the test you scored a 93 on other people who studied really hard and tried their best got a 45. You may end up very frustrated after standing a twelve hour watch in a small confined space with some of them. I'd follow McDermott's advice really. In my experience soldiers got to do really cool jobs along with the occasional shooting at stuff, unless all you want to do is shoot at stuff.
Im telling you from experence.....
If you scored in the 90s, GED or not, the Air Force WILL take you. If that recruiter was sidesteping you, then they met their quota for the month.
Find another AF recruiter or wait a couple weeks.
Trust me, people make fun of the AF, but the AF has BY FAR, the best quality of life, once you get outside of basic and tech school.
I havnet read all of this post, but im going to now, but wanted to post this before I got sidetracked.
Good luck with what your doing. The military no matter what branch is something to be proud of, you will understand when you graduate basic training.
Awesome job, or Awesomest job?
YOU CAN TELL THE RECUITER, MEPS, WHOEVER TO COMPLETELY FUCK OFF AT ANY POINT UNTIL YOU SIGN YOUR CONTRACT AND TAKE YOUR OATH OF ENLISTMENT
And let me reiterate the Air Force aspect. If you want to go all gung ho in the marines and army, i STILL say join the Air Force, and look into the TACP or Combat Controller fields.
I cant stress enough how much more the overall quality of life is on the Air Force side of things.
Edit: Im not raggin on any of the other branches, as I was at a allied base overseas, and got alot of friends still in the other branches. Just trying to give some advice from a former E-5's perspective.
You're right.
In order, the treatment of enlisted people, as far as quality of life, comes out like this: Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines.
The Air Force travels with the best tents and gets the newest equipment. Hell, the Air Force guys that lived on my base (Navy) actually had their pay supplemented because the base didn't meet minimum Air Force requirements for quality of life.
That said, if you join the Air Force, prepare to retire as an E-6.
I'll second that. My friend went into the airforce and I went Army/infantry, and I made fun of him for that. But when it came time to do field exercises, I was shivering my ass off in a sleeping bag at night (and feeling lucky to have that) he was usually staying in a nice, warm hotel room or some such similarly envious set up.
Man, if I was in top physical condition, I'd probably go something like CCT or TACP. However, at this point, I can just barely meet minimum PT standards.
Yup. Thats for sure. Lots of PT in all the branches
But i disagree with the retiring as a E6. If you know your shit, and your not a dumbass, and you play the kiss ass politics game you can go senior enlisted.
But you never know, I have seen even the most retarded MSgt, SMSgt, and CMSgts....
It just depends on your disposition. Do you want to remain a tech. Or do you want MSgt. You will know by the time you get to E-5/6.
Well.......
You got me there.
If I had it to do over, I'd go into the Marines or the Army. Stay the fuck away from the Navy.
Course, that's me. If you're dead set on the Navy, go for it. I just couldn't handle the BS very well, and I joined right after a rush of promotions, so I was outranked by semi-retarded bricks who insisted they knew what they were doing. If you were to join the Navy now, you'd have those bricks as your senior leadership.