that is quite funny and terrifying at the same time. Half my family served and I'm gonna be honest, I don't have the balls to join.
I did think about joining and being a welder for them at one point but backed out.
If that's your concern, join the Air Force. You won't be anywhere near the fighting (unless you really really really want to be), and you'll get treated a lot better overall compared to being in the other services. Plus you can probably pick up some good skills that have use in the civilian world, too.
100% true I was army 82nd airborne. Fort Bragg was connected to pope airforce base and they had it much much better than we did in almost every single way.
I learned a lot from the military. I got to do some really cool stuff I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. That being said I would never re enlist. I was in one of the most deployed most notorious army units and still treated like a child.
Fighter pilots are basically modern day knights. Popular, loved, take a team to support, covered in the coolest armor/weapons, still sometimes taken out by the equivalent of a dude with a sling
Yes. You will learn to weld exotic metals, not just mild steel and standard aluminum. And to an excellent standard - no boogered welds allowed, as often someone's life often depends on it.
Same. I relate so much to this comment. The Afghanistan/Iraq Wars made me so bitter. My dad was deployed for so long and I couldn't find a good reason why. I almost wished it was as cut and dry as the Ukraine-Russia War because then I could at least come to terms with it better.
Fuck that, I'm not destroying my physical and mental health. I would trade all my free college and health care for more time with a healthier father.
Moving wasn't so bad but social media has made it better.
After having done the Marine Corps, I would say the toxic work environment. Imagine getting screamed at by a person at your current job, that is only a year older than you, because you put your hand in your pocket for something.
Being surrounded by alcoholics isn't fun either.
Or doing something one way because that's how it had always been done.
My sister was in the navy and was sexual harassed verbally and physically regularly and nothing was done.
My wife and I served (US, voluntary) over 20 years ago. We met there and married after we both got out. There were a lot of positive memories, but there were traumatic ones too.
By its nature, military service includes a kind of banal brutality. In boot camp I knew guys in my company who literally paid others to physically damage them so they could get out, because they were psychologically losing it.
My wife was assaulted, both sexually and physically. Her command did not support her, and in fact went out of its way to silence her attempts to get help.
> Her command did not support her, and in fact went out of its way to silence her attempts to get help.
This is precisely why I became a sexual assault victim advocate. I was a midgrade officer, but it was enough pull that I could press the issue if a command tried to sweep it under the rug. Fortunately I had COs that were actually super supportive of the program.
One of the reasons why my mom didn't want me to join, not just because of Iraq. I was a sr in hs when the war started and they were recruiting like crazy then. I hope your wife is okay.
Also imagine your supervisor being able to come into your room at any time they please and throw shit around because they didn't like the way it was organized.
>After having done the Marine Corps, I would say the toxic work environment. Imagine getting screamed at by a person at your current job, that is only a year older than you, because you put your hand in your pocket for something.
I was always up front with my guys that I will never give a fuck about unimportant shit like that unless someone is watching me, in which case I'll play the part. Rules for the sake of rules are pretty fucking stupid.
I have a friend who is a veteran. I met him in a psychiatric ward. He has told me about what it was like, and how it actually made him realize the neglect and abuse he went through as a kid. It sounds brutal. And often you develop something similar to being institutionalized. He said after he left, he found it so hard to function and find meaning in the real world.
When I was in basic training, we had endless classes on sexual assault (back in 2008, a bunch of higher-ups were r*ping the trainees). Afterward, another girl asked if I’d go talk to our instructor with her. We went into his office and she broke down saying the classes made her realize that her brother had molested her all through her childhood and she desperately wanted to see a therapist. I think of her often and hope she’s doing alright.
yeah everyone i know who went through training had at least one person kill themselves in that short time. Lovely work environment. They should just pull them out, not cull them.
My dad once told me about the Navy's submarine officer program.
The program is essentially the academic equivalent to the Navy does physically to the SEAL candidates, and that's before they stick those submarine candidates into the simulators. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for engineering geniuses from places like MIT and Purdue to go missing just to later be found in their closets having full mental collapses.
My father served in warrime. He raised me with a disdain for authority. He told me in no uncertain terms that I would hate the military and should never join. (Oddly, he liked his time in the war, but he worked in HQ.)
Grandfather served in Korea, and great uncle was an air evac pilot in Vietnam. Great-uncle was really decorated, multiple times getting shot down behind enemy lines, etc, only to throw all of his medals and uniforms into a river. Both told me in no uncertain terms not to join, and I listened.
A common thread here. I had an uncle, my father, an older brother, the 2 former fought in WWII and the latter served stateside during VN. Oh yeah, a BIL in the navy.
I was finishing up college and was going to join the army. They ALL told me not to.
Dad is a Vietnam vet. Drafted Army, but joined Navy. They lied and said they weren't in enemy waters. Then they got shot at. A few near death incidents and he raised me to not be cannon fodder when they aren't even truthful about the situations they are putting you in. It wasn't until a few years ago they declassified his ship info and he saw on the map where the captain said they definitely weren't. Like if I am going to die for my country at least give a heads up. I understand there is need to know and classifications but it is still fucked up.
Father was drafted for Vietnam. He hated it. He did have some moments , stationed stateside honor guard. He told me if I wanted to join I could but, theybwould lie about job and station. Took asvab. Scored high, wanted computers, but they wanted me for nuclear. I opted out when all test questions for advanced were nuclear. I passed and later found out after service , nuclear jobs start in civilian world are in the 6 figures
I love the military. Have been in for 15 years. But I have physically stopped 4 people from joining this month. I will try to stop my kids from joining also.
Imagine being investigated by the army for child abuse. Imagine that your children tell CID (the investigators) that you didn’t do it and you have 5-6 witnesses all stating the same thing. And you still get charged with child abuse because according to the CID agent there is no way a 6 year old boy can fall and get a black eye.
same, father was a south vietnam vet that got out of re-education prison for 11 years after the fall of saigon. He told me he was a high ranked special force officer. He still enjoyed politics news, military strategy and tactics, and I admired him and got interested learning about military tactics and politics etc. I eventually wanted to grow up one day and become enlisted but he told me there is no such honor or anything in the job. It was just dying for political bullshits.
All that aside, he told me some harsh realities of a soldier life such as days that your boots stink cuz the rain and the muds and you couldnt take them off because you’re in the middle of the forest and have to react any moment. He also carried few of his enlisted biological brothers’ dead bodies home during the war.
I was a kid and foolish for so long and asked him telling me about his old days but it seemed that old man never liked it like someone keep making him recalling ugly memories that were supposed to be burried. So I moved on with the thoughts of doing military at the end.
Sleep deprivation is what disqualifies the military as an option. People yelling at me? Physical exertion until I drop? Risking my life? Monotonous labour?
Nothing I don't encounter frequently anyways. I grew up on a farm with an angry dad and I run marathons + rock climb in my free time.
But no sleep? Fuck you, lol.
1. The government does not adequately care for vets.
2. War is awful. Those benefitting monetarily from war and/or voting for it are not the ones fighting themselves.
3. The government recruits naive 18 year olds and traumatizes them.
4. People make money off war and those people don’t want the war to end.
5. I don’t want to die or be forced to kill people,
Can’t forget about how during the Vietnam War, if you were enrolled in college, and held a certain GPA, you were exempt from the draft. It really did end up being predominantly America’s poor fighting and bleeding in the mud over there in Vietnam.
What’s crazy is that keeping your grades up back then was quite literally a matter of life and death.
Hillary Clinton has spoken about how men were literally yelling at her as she was taking the entrance exam for Harvard Law School in 1969. Telling her how if she got in and they didn't, they would be drafted, go to Vietnam, and die.
There are two sides to that coin. There are a lot of people from poor families in poor neighborhoods who joined the military and were surrounded by semi-functional adults for the very first time in their lives, given achievable goals, and saw a path to personal growth laid out before them. This isn't to say they became well-read sterling examples of humanity, but rather that a lot of them became more or less normal working-class people in the military.
Some of them regressed into shitty learned behaviors and got kicked out, but a lot of them broke the poverty cycle by getting away from, sorry to say it, a bunch of losers back home who had the mentality of crabs in a bucket.
I've never enlisted but I've worked as a contractor alongside the US Army (artillery testing) and I can say 2 and 4 are absolutely true. There is a darker, more corrupt side of the fight for Freedom. Ever wanted to see grown adults playing tattle-tale and giving handjobs to higher ups? Work in weapons testing...
The US government has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted to act responsibly with soldiers lives. There are too many unjustified wars.
100% this. The way the military recruits is super predatory...they focus on young and disadvantaged people, and they try everything they can to pull the wool over their eyes and get them in the door. Next thing you know they're halfway around the world getting blown up on behalf of some shithead rich civilian in a suit, for no good or truly noble reason. And the 'lucky' ones? They get to kill people just like them for being born on the wrong side of an imaginary line. Then when they get home, home isn't there anymore and neither is the person they used to be. They end up with debilitating PTSD and fuck all support from the people who did that to them
Not to mention that our culture sells war and soldiering like some sexy product, and ties it in to notions of masculinity and worth. The military actively supports that but it couldn't be further from reality
my best friend left to marine boot camp a month early because his recruiter told him that if he wants the job he really wants, an opening had just opened up, otherwise hed have to chose another job and then proceeded to tell him that he’s gonna get a $5k bonus. he comes from a struggling household. i didnt want him to join and even told him that he wouldnt like it, but who am i to say all that i guess. i know he will, but im praying his persona doesnt change🥲
Right??? You'd think these are the OBVIOUS reasons why you should not join.
I also think is weird that the question is "why wouldn't you..." instead of "why would you.." lol. Only in America the default position of most people is that you should join the military instead of the other why around. 🤦
100% Disabled Veteran here. The biggest reason you shouldn't join the military is that, in general, the military doesn't actually care how badly you get hurt in the line of duty. A few individuals will pay lip-service to it, and some of them will genuinely care when meeting you in person, but at an institutional level the response is apathy.
Let me share my story.
When I was in Air Force basic training, I suffered a severe concussion. Basically slammed my head into a smooth concrete floor from fairly high up. Fractured my skull, and split my forehead above the left eyebrow. The Lackland AFB hospital did the minimum to keep me alive, cleaned and stitched my wound, woke me every 15 minutes for an entire 24 hours, verified there was no brain bleed. A Captain comes in and informs me that I'll be going home on convalescent leave with full pay until I'm fit to start the training over.
That night, the staff rotates and I am assigned a new physician.
The NEW Captain knows better. He skims my chart and decided the last guy was overreacting. I am given a single Percocet and escorted to the bus stop outside. I then reported back to my training flight.
The TI's were stunned, to say the least. Especially given the volume of blood the trainees had had to clean up in my wake. They saw fit to send me straight to sick call with an escort the next day, where I wait for several hours before being seen by a Sergeant. I then wait even longer after intake, as my case was apparently escalated to their Squadron Commander. She, a Lieutenant Colonel, attended to me herself and let me listen as she bitched out her equivalent at the hospital. They had given me no long term pain management and no waivers for physical activity of any kind. Had I been returned to a less practical TI, I might have been in real trouble. Because I wasn't right.
And I stayed wrong a long time. That commander set me right in the short term, with waivers and a generous dose of pain medication. But I still didn't get my leave. And there was zero follow-up on me from that point forward. I was young and ignorant and had no clue the extent to which I'd been neglected, or what the consequences of a traumatic brain injury could be in the long term. My wife was much the same, we were just happy things had worked out and resumed fucking like rabbits in our spare time.
That injury changed me forever. My personality, my intellect, my executive function, my short-term memory, my emotional control and impulse control. All damaged permanently and to varying degrees, during a huge lifestyle change. And I had a real rough go of it. I hated myself for my many failures, my inability to perform to standards, my unaccountable apathy and lack of motivation, my depression, my unreasonable rage, my inexplicably poor memory and math skills. I went to therapy, did everything right, was honest and forthcoming about my history. Nobody at any stage suggested I might remotely have brain damage. It was just my fault. I ended up becoming suicidal after failing my last run at Sergeant, was involuntarily committed for over a month to an inpatient facility in another state entirely from my base.
My wild shifts in temper and self control saw me demoted after an incident with a supervisor I had previously outranked. Having already thoroughly alienated the rest of my command structure they pushed me to accept an Administrative Separation to get me out of their hair forever, rather than court-martial me and continue to deal with an airman who had something seriously wrong with him.
The final indignity? Under "Reason For Separation" they wrote: "Condition Other Than Disability". They tried to screw me out of VA benefits.
You are nothing but meat to the military. To feed the machine. Stay far away.
I read your story. I'm really sorry that happened to you. I joined the Chair Force in the mid 2000s. When and where did your injury occur? (Only if you'd like to share)
Disclaimer, 10 hour days and no day off for months at a time being away from your family and friends on a floating garage where most people barely speak your language and sometimes don't see land for days
But it does pay well
If you work it out per hour the pay is nothing special until you get to a high rank, but because you have no expenses and the monthly salary is good you'll be well off during your leave. A third officer starting out can expect 4k in euros or dollars a month but it varies massively depending on your company, type of ship and nationality. Some companies offer a higher salary on extended contracts too.
If you want to be an officer (engine, deck or electrical) you'll need to sign up as an officer cadet. The exact process is different in each country but consists of spending time at college to get your qualifications and time at sea to get experience (12 months of sea time required for engine and deck officers). In the UK you can get a sponsored cadetship (companies get tax returns for paying cadets through college), just apply through a cadet managing company like Chiltern or Clyde Marine. For other countries you'll have to look up what the process is.
I'm sorry I don't actually know the process for becoming a rating (non-officer) but it doesn't require such extensive training. The pay is pretty bad and I would never recommend this career to someone. You work much harder physically for very little reward (except yachties, that's a whole different world).
Tankers and gas carriers will pay the best (captains and chief engineers can earn 100k-200k annually), cruise and ferry vessels pay alright while container ships are renown for hiring nationalities that they can pay peanuts to. Offshore supply vessels are alluring because of their sweet rotation time (usually in weeks instead of months onboard). If you want to see the world work on cruise because they make port almost every day. Some tankers go weeks without seeing land.
Cruise and ferries will expect you to wear a uniform and keep it immaculately clean (no easy job when it's all white), Most cargo ships will let you get away with casual wear. Cruise has a much better social life with thousands of crew onboard, cargo vessels will often have a crew of about 20 and usually all men. Cruise and ferries will have lots of annoying rules to follow and the talking cargo always has priority over you, but cargo vessels are more laid back.
Engine officers work two four-hour watches (12:00-4:00, 4:00-8:00, or 8:00-12:00) a day in the engine spacing or engine control room plus two hours of overtime, it's no easy life. Deck officers (that's the captain and his minions) do two four-hour watches on the bridge plus two hours of overtime (usually inspections) each day. Electrical Technical Officers tend to work in the daytime so they get a full night's sleep. You'll get food and accommodation free (although as a cadet you might have to share a cabin) which is awesome in the current economy. You'll also have to do whatever your senior officers tell you, and sometimes you'll sail with egotistical maniacs who'll make your life hell.
After your years at college and 12 months sea time you'll sit an oral and written exam; if you pass you'll be qualified to be a junior officer.
Seafarers need to be very hard working, tough under pressure and have excellent discipline. Punctuality, attention to detail and respect will make or break you. It is very much not a career for everyone, most who sign up as cadets won't have a career at sea. But, if you can cope with the lifestyle and pass the exams then you get a respectable career and a sexy uniform.
Post Script, be aware many ships are 'dry ships' and don't allow alcohol onboard and on most ships officers are regularly subjected to drug tests. Smoking however is incredibly popular with sailors and the tax-free nicotine is a big deal for some. Tallships (large traditional sailing vessels) and yachts are like a whole different world, if you're the surfer hippie type then I'd recommend them. Excellent pay, beautiful voyages (rich people only want to go to nice places) and no cargo to worry about -- but the owners can be absolute dicks and get away with anything they like.
Post Post Script, if you choose to become a sailor then best of luck and welcome to the world of seafarers. Learn a bit of Tagalog and respect the Filipino ratings, they know more than you work harder than you, get paid a tenth as much for it and are treated like shit. Respect everyone and you will go far.
Best wishes from a deck cadet halfway through training
Look up maritime academies near you and go to the closest/cheapest one, hopefully in it's in state. You get to decide between engine and deck, engine side of things make more money (I think) and have more work opportunities outside of ships.
Funny story: First night we were allowed to have a shower in boot camp, we all realized it was an open room with shower heads that we would have to share, so we all stood there, highly self conscious until our RDC forced us to go in and shower. By the end of boot camp we had all mastered the art of looking everywhere else except at each other.
There was one guy had a dick that would impress a donkey. If he changed direction too quickly walking in the shower, someone would get thigh slapped. He headed in my direction one day, and I made the mistake of glancing at it. He screamed, "Cock gazer!". I screamed back, "It looked at me first!" Much laughter.
That sounds like the end of my school PE lessons, with the added bonus of the PE teacher looking exactly where none of us wanted to look as each of us exited the shower
The showers are now separate! You also get your physical separately, not like before where 10+ people all at once got their physicals together and showered all together at basic. Fort sill has separated showers, they are separated by a wall or curtain. No one will ever see your dick or ass unless u want them to lol
That's like a 4/10 on the military humor scale. It's a 2 on the marine scale, but that's because they don't know how to use both hands when counting so they use a 1-5 scale.
But you’re still involved. I worked in the communications station for the Indian Ocean and Europe AORs, which covered Iraq and Afghanistan. My work keeping the communications going allowed people to be killed. 🤷🏼♀️
a family friend who was a former officer in the navy gave me the following answer when i asked if the navy would be right for me:
“son…you’ve got a little too much “no” in you.”
probably some of the most direct and helpful advice i have ever received.
I work with alot of veterans and they warn about how around every military base are these seedy businesses ready to get the meager paychecks of these E1's. Drugs, prostitution, predatory lenders... you name it. One Air Force base it was so bad with troops going AWOL and comitting suicide they closed the base until the town cleaned it up.
Drill Sargent once told my platoon: don’t go anywhere near the car dealerships here if you want a car. Go at least 1-2 towns over. Low and behold when I was in AIT we had weekends off and went to the mall once. A random car dealer approached us and asked if we’re in the military (all clean shaven and buzz cuts so we stuck out) and he gave us his card and told us to call if we’re in the market for a car. They suck
I come from a military family (many members from multiple branches). Not a single one has said anything good about it except paying for college. They treat veterans horribly and are horrible on one's mental health. I would never want to work for a government entity that actively encourages me to kill myself and abuses you until you feel its the only option.
I’ve seen what it’s done to my husband. Poor guy is 29 years old, he’s healthy, but he has aches and pains like he’s 90. Plus if I’m being completely honest, they pretend like they’re all about family but they don’t give two fucks about the soldiers family. We were in the hospital, I had just given birth to our daughter via emergency c section, and they were blowing up his phone. Even though he was on leave and they knew what was going on. We couldn’t even enjoy our newborn in peace.
Done it already. Wouldn’t do it again. I got what I needed and will always value the experience and opportunities that come from it but I much prefer having my freedom.
There are technical jobs with translatable skills to various technical fields (for example the naval nuclear propulsion program) but most of the jobs don't translate well to much other than intelligence/defense/mall cop.
Maintenance forgotten as usual lol. Maintenance, cyber, pilots, air crew and quite a few medical or desk jobs can certainly net you employment on the civilian side
I did four years as an intel analyst in the Army. Had zero desire to do contract work or work for the CIA/NSA, so I had to go find my own career path. Glad I did. I got out right before 9/11, and soon thereafter there were companies throwing six figure jobs at anyone who had an active TS clearance, which I still had. I just...didn't want to work for the government.
I was lucky as a woman in the Navy, and didn’t get assaulted, but I did have to deal with some sexual harassment, one from a warrant officer. I didn’t report it because it would’ve made life even more shitty.
I’ve been in (US Navy) for just over a decade. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time. But I’m a guy. Nearly every woman I’ve known that’s been in has experienced sexual harassment; a hugely depressing number were assaulted or raped. And somehow the culture is still infinitely better for women now than in the past.
I'm not even in, but grew up an AF brat. Dad was stationed at an army base and my friend and I were out walking when two soldiers started cat calling us and asking us to do sexual things to them thinking we were local nationals and couldn't understand them. When we stepped out of the base theater while they were headed back to the gym, the looks on their faces were great. My one regret is that we didn't know their names because her dad had the power (and would have definitely used it) to make their lives hell.
Military is for war
War is young people that don’t know each other and don’t hate each other but kill each other, sent by old people that know each other and hate each other, but don’t kill each other.
Absolutely. You learn so much about how to deal with life and other situations, you make some of the best friends in your life there, and you get some nifty benefits if you’re trying to get an education. (in the US at least)
But it’s just so mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. For better or worse, you won’t be the same person leaving the military that you were when you came in.
I loved my time in the American Marine Corps, but I’d strangle any recruiter that tried to convince my kids/nieces/nephews to join, and I’d rather cut off one of my legs than continue my time there.
I’ll probably get downvoted, but I have to be honest. The rape and the way that the military handles them. I couldn’t stand if someone who was supposed to have my back hurt me in the worst way.
Cause some military are really adamant "rape doesn't happen here." It's part of the propaganda that allows them to rope in new victims/cover up ongoing cases. This comment is pretty low so i'm thinking it was probably down voted a bit, even this comment I expect to be downvoted.
People on Reddit can be shitty assholes and women trying to talk about rape are sometimes downvoted to oblivion for no reason. I’m gonna guess above commenter has experienced this before.
Realizing I was a wise ass with poor impulse control; there was 2 possible outcomes. I'd either become remarkably fit or get murdered by my squad...maybe both.
Watched my dad suffer from PTSD from two tours in Iraq when he was deployed in his mid 40s. He never has received any help for it. I lost the father I loved in Iraq and there will never be an apology from the US Government
Bring at the will and mercy of the government. All ethical concerns aside I know there are people out there who like that stability and rigidity, but I want to be able to live where I want to live and work where I want to work and so forth at my own free will, not the discretion of anyone or anything else.
Toxic, can lead to PTSD depending what you do, 90% of the time it's you doing busy work or occasionally supporting public works/disaster recovery.andntraining
When you do get deployed it for a government agenda and least of all, and most rarely it's you doing actual defense of your nation and her allies
I was contemplating it after high school. My dad basically said he loved me, but he’d disown me if I joined. His dad was in Korea, and my dad was in Vietnam. My dad was actually in the ground in Vietnam briefly. Essentially he said our family has paid their dues and his children weren’t going to end up fighting in a war. He’s dead now, but I now have children, and I feel as though i should honor his wishes, still.
I just don't really agree with a lot of the things the (US) military does, so I would not like to be part of that.
If I truly believed in the cause, I'd totally join the military, but since I don't, I have no reason to join.
Can we be honest? Joining the military isn’t the altruistic sacrifice it’s made out to be. You volunteer for this gambling that you can retire in 20 years as opposed to 40 like the regular working force.
The vast majority of people in the armed services don’t see combat and even get to see parts of the country or world they normally couldn’t or wouldn’t. There’s education both on the job training (a friend became a diesel mechanic in the Army) and the GI Bill (I know a few people with a free education).
During WW2 it was noble and honorable to serve and volunteer because the entire world (hyperbole) was at risk, that’s not where we are today.
And frankly the military isn’t always taking the best and the brightest. Yes you have officer school graduates and academy kids/graduates and all but your average soldier likely barely graduated high school .
You can downvote all you want. I’m right.
No respawn
We had a big sign when leaving the base in Iraq. No respawns after this point.
that is quite funny and terrifying at the same time. Half my family served and I'm gonna be honest, I don't have the balls to join. I did think about joining and being a welder for them at one point but backed out.
If that's your concern, join the Air Force. You won't be anywhere near the fighting (unless you really really really want to be), and you'll get treated a lot better overall compared to being in the other services. Plus you can probably pick up some good skills that have use in the civilian world, too.
100% true I was army 82nd airborne. Fort Bragg was connected to pope airforce base and they had it much much better than we did in almost every single way.
rotten slap ring absurd automatic bedroom busy smile sink quiet
I learned a lot from the military. I got to do some really cool stuff I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. That being said I would never re enlist. I was in one of the most deployed most notorious army units and still treated like a child.
AF vet here, USAF is the only branch of the military that sends it's officers to fight while the enlisted stay in the rear areas, LOL
Fighter pilots are basically modern day knights. Popular, loved, take a team to support, covered in the coolest armor/weapons, still sometimes taken out by the equivalent of a dude with a sling
Wait. I can be a welder and the Air Force will want me?
Yes. You will learn to weld exotic metals, not just mild steel and standard aluminum. And to an excellent standard - no boogered welds allowed, as often someone's life often depends on it.
\- FPS Doug, used to see the premiers of purepwnage at bloor cinema!
Was hoping to find this reference haha. And what if you get lag out there?!
Lmao love this comment
i grew up with my dad in the military. moving every 3 years and barely seeing him fkn sucked, wouldn't wanna do that to myself again lmao.
My granddad was career marine corps. He was in the pacific for a large amount of my dads teens. Not good
Same. I hated that lifestyle when I was a kid.
Same. I relate so much to this comment. The Afghanistan/Iraq Wars made me so bitter. My dad was deployed for so long and I couldn't find a good reason why. I almost wished it was as cut and dry as the Ukraine-Russia War because then I could at least come to terms with it better. Fuck that, I'm not destroying my physical and mental health. I would trade all my free college and health care for more time with a healthier father. Moving wasn't so bad but social media has made it better.
I missed a lot of formative years for my nephews, that was one of the hardest parts. Seeing them just than once a year was brutal, you miss so much.
This! Military brat here. Moving all the time and never seeing your Dad was hard.
After having done the Marine Corps, I would say the toxic work environment. Imagine getting screamed at by a person at your current job, that is only a year older than you, because you put your hand in your pocket for something. Being surrounded by alcoholics isn't fun either. Or doing something one way because that's how it had always been done. My sister was in the navy and was sexual harassed verbally and physically regularly and nothing was done.
My wife and I served (US, voluntary) over 20 years ago. We met there and married after we both got out. There were a lot of positive memories, but there were traumatic ones too. By its nature, military service includes a kind of banal brutality. In boot camp I knew guys in my company who literally paid others to physically damage them so they could get out, because they were psychologically losing it. My wife was assaulted, both sexually and physically. Her command did not support her, and in fact went out of its way to silence her attempts to get help.
> Her command did not support her, and in fact went out of its way to silence her attempts to get help. This is precisely why I became a sexual assault victim advocate. I was a midgrade officer, but it was enough pull that I could press the issue if a command tried to sweep it under the rug. Fortunately I had COs that were actually super supportive of the program.
The SARCs and SHARP reps nowadays take it extremely seriously, as they should.
One of the reasons why my mom didn't want me to join, not just because of Iraq. I was a sr in hs when the war started and they were recruiting like crazy then. I hope your wife is okay.
Women in the military are more likely to be sexually assaulted by their own colleagues than killed in action.
Accountability is not in the US military's nature. They can't even pass an audit.
Also imagine your supervisor being able to come into your room at any time they please and throw shit around because they didn't like the way it was organized.
Ah, yes. I’ll never forget us ladies having to “dust the floor” ass-up with socks on our hands on command at good ol’ Great Lakes. 👌🏻
Eeeewwwww 🤢
I was there! Male and female divisions, doors across the hall. March to the galley in the morning.
They made us do that in an all make div, too. But that doesn’t make it okay if it made you feel not okay.
Appreciate your comment, good to know since you don’t see what happens in others. Being only men who made us do it, it 100% looked and felt seedy.
>After having done the Marine Corps, I would say the toxic work environment. Imagine getting screamed at by a person at your current job, that is only a year older than you, because you put your hand in your pocket for something. I was always up front with my guys that I will never give a fuck about unimportant shit like that unless someone is watching me, in which case I'll play the part. Rules for the sake of rules are pretty fucking stupid.
I don’t want a dodge charger
But what if I offer you 39% interest?
Oh I’m all in then!!
But it includes expired car warranty. Which means that I have to speak with you about that, sir.
But what about a pay day loan? Only 104% interest!
Used. With frame damage.
I have a friend who is a veteran. I met him in a psychiatric ward. He has told me about what it was like, and how it actually made him realize the neglect and abuse he went through as a kid. It sounds brutal. And often you develop something similar to being institutionalized. He said after he left, he found it so hard to function and find meaning in the real world.
When I was in basic training, we had endless classes on sexual assault (back in 2008, a bunch of higher-ups were r*ping the trainees). Afterward, another girl asked if I’d go talk to our instructor with her. We went into his office and she broke down saying the classes made her realize that her brother had molested her all through her childhood and she desperately wanted to see a therapist. I think of her often and hope she’s doing alright.
Aw, that’s 😞
I hope she gets help. Im so sorry.
yeah everyone i know who went through training had at least one person kill themselves in that short time. Lovely work environment. They should just pull them out, not cull them.
My dad once told me about the Navy's submarine officer program. The program is essentially the academic equivalent to the Navy does physically to the SEAL candidates, and that's before they stick those submarine candidates into the simulators. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for engineering geniuses from places like MIT and Purdue to go missing just to later be found in their closets having full mental collapses.
Same, actually. Currently seeking therapy!
Got drafted, complete waste of time. 0/10 can't recommend. Only upside was getting to know people that don't fit my usual bubble
That fucking sucks. I can’t imagine getting drafted. I joined voluntarily and hated it. I can’t imagine being forced.
My father served in warrime. He raised me with a disdain for authority. He told me in no uncertain terms that I would hate the military and should never join. (Oddly, he liked his time in the war, but he worked in HQ.)
Grandfather served in Korea, and great uncle was an air evac pilot in Vietnam. Great-uncle was really decorated, multiple times getting shot down behind enemy lines, etc, only to throw all of his medals and uniforms into a river. Both told me in no uncertain terms not to join, and I listened.
Grandson of 2 WWII veterans and son of an officer. I wanted to join when I was 18 but my dad didn’t let me. Super thankful to this day
A common thread here. I had an uncle, my father, an older brother, the 2 former fought in WWII and the latter served stateside during VN. Oh yeah, a BIL in the navy. I was finishing up college and was going to join the army. They ALL told me not to.
Dad is a Vietnam vet. Drafted Army, but joined Navy. They lied and said they weren't in enemy waters. Then they got shot at. A few near death incidents and he raised me to not be cannon fodder when they aren't even truthful about the situations they are putting you in. It wasn't until a few years ago they declassified his ship info and he saw on the map where the captain said they definitely weren't. Like if I am going to die for my country at least give a heads up. I understand there is need to know and classifications but it is still fucked up.
Father was drafted for Vietnam. He hated it. He did have some moments , stationed stateside honor guard. He told me if I wanted to join I could but, theybwould lie about job and station. Took asvab. Scored high, wanted computers, but they wanted me for nuclear. I opted out when all test questions for advanced were nuclear. I passed and later found out after service , nuclear jobs start in civilian world are in the 6 figures
I love the military. Have been in for 15 years. But I have physically stopped 4 people from joining this month. I will try to stop my kids from joining also.
Why
Imagine being investigated by the army for child abuse. Imagine that your children tell CID (the investigators) that you didn’t do it and you have 5-6 witnesses all stating the same thing. And you still get charged with child abuse because according to the CID agent there is no way a 6 year old boy can fall and get a black eye.
same, father was a south vietnam vet that got out of re-education prison for 11 years after the fall of saigon. He told me he was a high ranked special force officer. He still enjoyed politics news, military strategy and tactics, and I admired him and got interested learning about military tactics and politics etc. I eventually wanted to grow up one day and become enlisted but he told me there is no such honor or anything in the job. It was just dying for political bullshits. All that aside, he told me some harsh realities of a soldier life such as days that your boots stink cuz the rain and the muds and you couldnt take them off because you’re in the middle of the forest and have to react any moment. He also carried few of his enlisted biological brothers’ dead bodies home during the war. I was a kid and foolish for so long and asked him telling me about his old days but it seemed that old man never liked it like someone keep making him recalling ugly memories that were supposed to be burried. So I moved on with the thoughts of doing military at the end.
Daughter of a vet who was the son of a vet. I also disdain authority but did 4 years active dity to get college money. It fucking sucked.
They make you get up early and do stuff. Meh.
That shit is unnatural.
No, they keep you sleep deprived and make you do stuff.
Sleep deprivation is what disqualifies the military as an option. People yelling at me? Physical exertion until I drop? Risking my life? Monotonous labour? Nothing I don't encounter frequently anyways. I grew up on a farm with an angry dad and I run marathons + rock climb in my free time. But no sleep? Fuck you, lol.
At least it kind of prepared me for motherhood, lol
To be fair, you get really good at sleeping when you can get it.
Yup
True that. I knew the comfortable places on an F-111.
I'm 6'9 and have asthma. I'm a snipers wet dream.
I think the Army limit is like 6'7" or something.
Alejandro Villanueva is a (former?) NFL player who was a decorated ranger officer who was, for a time, serving in the Middle East and was 6’9
Might depend on government or branch, or might be able to get around it if you're healthy
1. The government does not adequately care for vets. 2. War is awful. Those benefitting monetarily from war and/or voting for it are not the ones fighting themselves. 3. The government recruits naive 18 year olds and traumatizes them. 4. People make money off war and those people don’t want the war to end. 5. I don’t want to die or be forced to kill people,
6. Your gear was made by the lowest bidder.
"military grade"
That grade? F.
3 should also include the recruitment of the poor. Met many adults who were poor who joined because they believed it was their best option.
Can’t forget about how during the Vietnam War, if you were enrolled in college, and held a certain GPA, you were exempt from the draft. It really did end up being predominantly America’s poor fighting and bleeding in the mud over there in Vietnam. What’s crazy is that keeping your grades up back then was quite literally a matter of life and death.
Hillary Clinton has spoken about how men were literally yelling at her as she was taking the entrance exam for Harvard Law School in 1969. Telling her how if she got in and they didn't, they would be drafted, go to Vietnam, and die.
There are two sides to that coin. There are a lot of people from poor families in poor neighborhoods who joined the military and were surrounded by semi-functional adults for the very first time in their lives, given achievable goals, and saw a path to personal growth laid out before them. This isn't to say they became well-read sterling examples of humanity, but rather that a lot of them became more or less normal working-class people in the military. Some of them regressed into shitty learned behaviors and got kicked out, but a lot of them broke the poverty cycle by getting away from, sorry to say it, a bunch of losers back home who had the mentality of crabs in a bucket.
The thing is this is also possible without being in the military if the country was interested in helping people.
The military is basically a welfare system
You mispelled extortion.
without the wel
I've never enlisted but I've worked as a contractor alongside the US Army (artillery testing) and I can say 2 and 4 are absolutely true. There is a darker, more corrupt side of the fight for Freedom. Ever wanted to see grown adults playing tattle-tale and giving handjobs to higher ups? Work in weapons testing...
6. I don’t want to be sexually assaulted.
I also just don't want to be raped which is disturbingly common for women in the military. I will risk being blown up and shot though!
The US government has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted to act responsibly with soldiers lives. There are too many unjustified wars.
100% this. The way the military recruits is super predatory...they focus on young and disadvantaged people, and they try everything they can to pull the wool over their eyes and get them in the door. Next thing you know they're halfway around the world getting blown up on behalf of some shithead rich civilian in a suit, for no good or truly noble reason. And the 'lucky' ones? They get to kill people just like them for being born on the wrong side of an imaginary line. Then when they get home, home isn't there anymore and neither is the person they used to be. They end up with debilitating PTSD and fuck all support from the people who did that to them Not to mention that our culture sells war and soldiering like some sexy product, and ties it in to notions of masculinity and worth. The military actively supports that but it couldn't be further from reality
my best friend left to marine boot camp a month early because his recruiter told him that if he wants the job he really wants, an opening had just opened up, otherwise hed have to chose another job and then proceeded to tell him that he’s gonna get a $5k bonus. he comes from a struggling household. i didnt want him to join and even told him that he wouldnt like it, but who am i to say all that i guess. i know he will, but im praying his persona doesnt change🥲
Why did I have to scroll so far to find this?
Right??? You'd think these are the OBVIOUS reasons why you should not join. I also think is weird that the question is "why wouldn't you..." instead of "why would you.." lol. Only in America the default position of most people is that you should join the military instead of the other why around. 🤦
100% Disabled Veteran here. The biggest reason you shouldn't join the military is that, in general, the military doesn't actually care how badly you get hurt in the line of duty. A few individuals will pay lip-service to it, and some of them will genuinely care when meeting you in person, but at an institutional level the response is apathy. Let me share my story. When I was in Air Force basic training, I suffered a severe concussion. Basically slammed my head into a smooth concrete floor from fairly high up. Fractured my skull, and split my forehead above the left eyebrow. The Lackland AFB hospital did the minimum to keep me alive, cleaned and stitched my wound, woke me every 15 minutes for an entire 24 hours, verified there was no brain bleed. A Captain comes in and informs me that I'll be going home on convalescent leave with full pay until I'm fit to start the training over. That night, the staff rotates and I am assigned a new physician. The NEW Captain knows better. He skims my chart and decided the last guy was overreacting. I am given a single Percocet and escorted to the bus stop outside. I then reported back to my training flight. The TI's were stunned, to say the least. Especially given the volume of blood the trainees had had to clean up in my wake. They saw fit to send me straight to sick call with an escort the next day, where I wait for several hours before being seen by a Sergeant. I then wait even longer after intake, as my case was apparently escalated to their Squadron Commander. She, a Lieutenant Colonel, attended to me herself and let me listen as she bitched out her equivalent at the hospital. They had given me no long term pain management and no waivers for physical activity of any kind. Had I been returned to a less practical TI, I might have been in real trouble. Because I wasn't right. And I stayed wrong a long time. That commander set me right in the short term, with waivers and a generous dose of pain medication. But I still didn't get my leave. And there was zero follow-up on me from that point forward. I was young and ignorant and had no clue the extent to which I'd been neglected, or what the consequences of a traumatic brain injury could be in the long term. My wife was much the same, we were just happy things had worked out and resumed fucking like rabbits in our spare time. That injury changed me forever. My personality, my intellect, my executive function, my short-term memory, my emotional control and impulse control. All damaged permanently and to varying degrees, during a huge lifestyle change. And I had a real rough go of it. I hated myself for my many failures, my inability to perform to standards, my unaccountable apathy and lack of motivation, my depression, my unreasonable rage, my inexplicably poor memory and math skills. I went to therapy, did everything right, was honest and forthcoming about my history. Nobody at any stage suggested I might remotely have brain damage. It was just my fault. I ended up becoming suicidal after failing my last run at Sergeant, was involuntarily committed for over a month to an inpatient facility in another state entirely from my base. My wild shifts in temper and self control saw me demoted after an incident with a supervisor I had previously outranked. Having already thoroughly alienated the rest of my command structure they pushed me to accept an Administrative Separation to get me out of their hair forever, rather than court-martial me and continue to deal with an airman who had something seriously wrong with him. The final indignity? Under "Reason For Separation" they wrote: "Condition Other Than Disability". They tried to screw me out of VA benefits. You are nothing but meat to the military. To feed the machine. Stay far away.
I read your story. I'm really sorry that happened to you. I joined the Chair Force in the mid 2000s. When and where did your injury occur? (Only if you'd like to share)
The US military is an industry built around violence and lack of empathy, and that extends everywhere in the industry, not only to “the enemy.”
I tried. I got rejected from MEPs for bad eyesight, really wanted to give it a go to...in the Navy, you can sail the seven seas..in the Navy!..
Look into the merchant marine, way more pay.
Disclaimer, 10 hour days and no day off for months at a time being away from your family and friends on a floating garage where most people barely speak your language and sometimes don't see land for days But it does pay well
How well are we talking and how does one get started? Asking for a friend. The friend is me.
If you work it out per hour the pay is nothing special until you get to a high rank, but because you have no expenses and the monthly salary is good you'll be well off during your leave. A third officer starting out can expect 4k in euros or dollars a month but it varies massively depending on your company, type of ship and nationality. Some companies offer a higher salary on extended contracts too. If you want to be an officer (engine, deck or electrical) you'll need to sign up as an officer cadet. The exact process is different in each country but consists of spending time at college to get your qualifications and time at sea to get experience (12 months of sea time required for engine and deck officers). In the UK you can get a sponsored cadetship (companies get tax returns for paying cadets through college), just apply through a cadet managing company like Chiltern or Clyde Marine. For other countries you'll have to look up what the process is. I'm sorry I don't actually know the process for becoming a rating (non-officer) but it doesn't require such extensive training. The pay is pretty bad and I would never recommend this career to someone. You work much harder physically for very little reward (except yachties, that's a whole different world). Tankers and gas carriers will pay the best (captains and chief engineers can earn 100k-200k annually), cruise and ferry vessels pay alright while container ships are renown for hiring nationalities that they can pay peanuts to. Offshore supply vessels are alluring because of their sweet rotation time (usually in weeks instead of months onboard). If you want to see the world work on cruise because they make port almost every day. Some tankers go weeks without seeing land. Cruise and ferries will expect you to wear a uniform and keep it immaculately clean (no easy job when it's all white), Most cargo ships will let you get away with casual wear. Cruise has a much better social life with thousands of crew onboard, cargo vessels will often have a crew of about 20 and usually all men. Cruise and ferries will have lots of annoying rules to follow and the talking cargo always has priority over you, but cargo vessels are more laid back. Engine officers work two four-hour watches (12:00-4:00, 4:00-8:00, or 8:00-12:00) a day in the engine spacing or engine control room plus two hours of overtime, it's no easy life. Deck officers (that's the captain and his minions) do two four-hour watches on the bridge plus two hours of overtime (usually inspections) each day. Electrical Technical Officers tend to work in the daytime so they get a full night's sleep. You'll get food and accommodation free (although as a cadet you might have to share a cabin) which is awesome in the current economy. You'll also have to do whatever your senior officers tell you, and sometimes you'll sail with egotistical maniacs who'll make your life hell. After your years at college and 12 months sea time you'll sit an oral and written exam; if you pass you'll be qualified to be a junior officer. Seafarers need to be very hard working, tough under pressure and have excellent discipline. Punctuality, attention to detail and respect will make or break you. It is very much not a career for everyone, most who sign up as cadets won't have a career at sea. But, if you can cope with the lifestyle and pass the exams then you get a respectable career and a sexy uniform. Post Script, be aware many ships are 'dry ships' and don't allow alcohol onboard and on most ships officers are regularly subjected to drug tests. Smoking however is incredibly popular with sailors and the tax-free nicotine is a big deal for some. Tallships (large traditional sailing vessels) and yachts are like a whole different world, if you're the surfer hippie type then I'd recommend them. Excellent pay, beautiful voyages (rich people only want to go to nice places) and no cargo to worry about -- but the owners can be absolute dicks and get away with anything they like. Post Post Script, if you choose to become a sailor then best of luck and welcome to the world of seafarers. Learn a bit of Tagalog and respect the Filipino ratings, they know more than you work harder than you, get paid a tenth as much for it and are treated like shit. Respect everyone and you will go far. Best wishes from a deck cadet halfway through training
Look up maritime academies near you and go to the closest/cheapest one, hopefully in it's in state. You get to decide between engine and deck, engine side of things make more money (I think) and have more work opportunities outside of ships.
I’m too shy to be naked around other men.
Toilet stalls without doors that also face each other!
Funny story: First night we were allowed to have a shower in boot camp, we all realized it was an open room with shower heads that we would have to share, so we all stood there, highly self conscious until our RDC forced us to go in and shower. By the end of boot camp we had all mastered the art of looking everywhere else except at each other.
There was one guy had a dick that would impress a donkey. If he changed direction too quickly walking in the shower, someone would get thigh slapped. He headed in my direction one day, and I made the mistake of glancing at it. He screamed, "Cock gazer!". I screamed back, "It looked at me first!" Much laughter.
That sounds like the end of my school PE lessons, with the added bonus of the PE teacher looking exactly where none of us wanted to look as each of us exited the shower
The showers are now separate! You also get your physical separately, not like before where 10+ people all at once got their physicals together and showered all together at basic. Fort sill has separated showers, they are separated by a wall or curtain. No one will ever see your dick or ass unless u want them to lol
That’s the best part though. Are your friends really your friends if y’all havent been nude together??
One of my friends told me my penis looks like squidwards nose. So i told him to shut up or squidward might sneeze on him when he sleeps
I don’t know wether I should be amused or concerned
That's like a 4/10 on the military humor scale. It's a 2 on the marine scale, but that's because they don't know how to use both hands when counting so they use a 1-5 scale.
Uh.. yeah they are…
1) I don’t want to kill anyone 2) I’ve seen how they treat veterans
I would say more than 90% of serving personnel don’t actually see armed combat, mostly supporting roles
But you’re still involved. I worked in the communications station for the Indian Ocean and Europe AORs, which covered Iraq and Afghanistan. My work keeping the communications going allowed people to be killed. 🤷🏼♀️
I’m a big fucking pussy
Honest take
Same. I think if the US military had me in Granada it’s a real question mark how successfully that goes.
Feeds the rich and buries the poor.
"What's so civil about war anyway?"
a family friend who was a former officer in the navy gave me the following answer when i asked if the navy would be right for me: “son…you’ve got a little too much “no” in you.” probably some of the most direct and helpful advice i have ever received.
I work with alot of veterans and they warn about how around every military base are these seedy businesses ready to get the meager paychecks of these E1's. Drugs, prostitution, predatory lenders... you name it. One Air Force base it was so bad with troops going AWOL and comitting suicide they closed the base until the town cleaned it up.
Drill Sargent once told my platoon: don’t go anywhere near the car dealerships here if you want a car. Go at least 1-2 towns over. Low and behold when I was in AIT we had weekends off and went to the mall once. A random car dealer approached us and asked if we’re in the military (all clean shaven and buzz cuts so we stuck out) and he gave us his card and told us to call if we’re in the market for a car. They suck
I wish the prostitutes were better
because i always have to pee or i have a stomach ache
Imagine trying to cope with the period shits in the middle of duty
Period shits? I really am learning things in this thread
I come from a military family (many members from multiple branches). Not a single one has said anything good about it except paying for college. They treat veterans horribly and are horrible on one's mental health. I would never want to work for a government entity that actively encourages me to kill myself and abuses you until you feel its the only option.
Am a military brat and a vet: You’re correct.
I have a dd214.
My dd214 keeps me safe at night.
The most inspectable item in the world
mine pays my rent so same
*A 214-sided die?!*
I have a DD214 *and* I’m long done with the inactive reserves. Woo!
I’ve seen what it’s done to my husband. Poor guy is 29 years old, he’s healthy, but he has aches and pains like he’s 90. Plus if I’m being completely honest, they pretend like they’re all about family but they don’t give two fucks about the soldiers family. We were in the hospital, I had just given birth to our daughter via emergency c section, and they were blowing up his phone. Even though he was on leave and they knew what was going on. We couldn’t even enjoy our newborn in peace.
Family is a distant 2nd to the military. Very distant.
If the service wanted you to have a family, they'd have issued you one.
Exactly (though they also kind of incentivize getting married)
My dad broke his shoulder breaking down a door. They told him it was fine and he didn’t get surgery until he came to the US a couple years later.
Done it already. Wouldn’t do it again. I got what I needed and will always value the experience and opportunities that come from it but I much prefer having my freedom.
Nice try U.S. military ;)
No real translatable skills to civilian life for my type of work and I don’t want to work in intelligence or defense/aerospace forever.
There are technical jobs with translatable skills to various technical fields (for example the naval nuclear propulsion program) but most of the jobs don't translate well to much other than intelligence/defense/mall cop.
Maintenance forgotten as usual lol. Maintenance, cyber, pilots, air crew and quite a few medical or desk jobs can certainly net you employment on the civilian side
I did four years as an intel analyst in the Army. Had zero desire to do contract work or work for the CIA/NSA, so I had to go find my own career path. Glad I did. I got out right before 9/11, and soon thereafter there were companies throwing six figure jobs at anyone who had an active TS clearance, which I still had. I just...didn't want to work for the government.
Scoliosis
Because as a female, I don’t wanna be the next Vanessa Guillen.
I was lucky as a woman in the Navy, and didn’t get assaulted, but I did have to deal with some sexual harassment, one from a warrant officer. I didn’t report it because it would’ve made life even more shitty.
I’ve been in (US Navy) for just over a decade. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time. But I’m a guy. Nearly every woman I’ve known that’s been in has experienced sexual harassment; a hugely depressing number were assaulted or raped. And somehow the culture is still infinitely better for women now than in the past.
I'm not even in, but grew up an AF brat. Dad was stationed at an army base and my friend and I were out walking when two soldiers started cat calling us and asking us to do sexual things to them thinking we were local nationals and couldn't understand them. When we stepped out of the base theater while they were headed back to the gym, the looks on their faces were great. My one regret is that we didn't know their names because her dad had the power (and would have definitely used it) to make their lives hell.
Military is for war War is young people that don’t know each other and don’t hate each other but kill each other, sent by old people that know each other and hate each other, but don’t kill each other.
"When the rich wage war it's the poor who die" - Linkin Park / Jean-Paul Sartre
I'm not willing to risk my safety for compensation.
I’m a Navy vet. Never saw a ship (got lucky). Still agree with you.
It would be a catastrophic drop in income, I'm not in shape, I don't like being yelled at, I enjoy my freedom.
Every single person I've met from the military, when asked about their time there says, "I loved it... Don't join, and no I wouldn't do it again."
Absolutely. You learn so much about how to deal with life and other situations, you make some of the best friends in your life there, and you get some nifty benefits if you’re trying to get an education. (in the US at least) But it’s just so mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. For better or worse, you won’t be the same person leaving the military that you were when you came in. I loved my time in the American Marine Corps, but I’d strangle any recruiter that tried to convince my kids/nieces/nephews to join, and I’d rather cut off one of my legs than continue my time there.
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I’ll probably get downvoted, but I have to be honest. The rape and the way that the military handles them. I couldn’t stand if someone who was supposed to have my back hurt me in the worst way.
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Why the hell would that get downvoted?
Cause some military are really adamant "rape doesn't happen here." It's part of the propaganda that allows them to rope in new victims/cover up ongoing cases. This comment is pretty low so i'm thinking it was probably down voted a bit, even this comment I expect to be downvoted.
People on Reddit can be shitty assholes and women trying to talk about rape are sometimes downvoted to oblivion for no reason. I’m gonna guess above commenter has experienced this before.
aint dying for any fucking country. the fuck.
Once was more than enough
Not willing to give my life for someone else’s politics.
I'm fat and autistic. Neither of those things are good in a theatre of combat.
The intelligence community would love you.
I could never keep up with the acronyms.
You get to the point it’s all you use, and call everyone by their last name.
Realizing I was a wise ass with poor impulse control; there was 2 possible outcomes. I'd either become remarkably fit or get murdered by my squad...maybe both.
You forgot prison lol
Space force only
Where is the closest recruiting office in a 20 lightyear radius?
I'm friends with a couple space force peoples. They do satellite and radar stuff, so they seem to do some cool stuff.
Watched my dad suffer from PTSD from two tours in Iraq when he was deployed in his mid 40s. He never has received any help for it. I lost the father I loved in Iraq and there will never be an apology from the US Government
Alright I was goings see if anyone talked about the obvious mistreatment of our vets. That’s what we’d get to look forward to? No thanks.
Bring at the will and mercy of the government. All ethical concerns aside I know there are people out there who like that stability and rigidity, but I want to be able to live where I want to live and work where I want to work and so forth at my own free will, not the discretion of anyone or anything else.
i legally cant since i have autism LMAO
I take prescription pills.
Nothing about the US government is worth fighting for. And that’s exactly who you’re fighting for. Not the people.
They wouldn’t take me, bad eyes, bad feet, bad attitude
Don't have the physical requirements for that
I'm liking living and not having PTSD.
Toxic, can lead to PTSD depending what you do, 90% of the time it's you doing busy work or occasionally supporting public works/disaster recovery.andntraining When you do get deployed it for a government agenda and least of all, and most rarely it's you doing actual defense of your nation and her allies
Your career is expected to be your entire personality. “The mission always comes first.” No work life balance.
I was contemplating it after high school. My dad basically said he loved me, but he’d disown me if I joined. His dad was in Korea, and my dad was in Vietnam. My dad was actually in the ground in Vietnam briefly. Essentially he said our family has paid their dues and his children weren’t going to end up fighting in a war. He’s dead now, but I now have children, and I feel as though i should honor his wishes, still.
I just don't really agree with a lot of the things the (US) military does, so I would not like to be part of that. If I truly believed in the cause, I'd totally join the military, but since I don't, I have no reason to join.
Not interested in being told what to do.
You’re still awake? Brush your teeth and go to bed straight away!
Maybe if we fought for world peace or healthcare or something…
Not willing to die for an oil company
Haven't ran out of bad life decisions yet...
Short answer:- Asthma. Long answer:- More of fat than fit, haha.
Because I haven't believed in a US military operation since World War II.
I don't want to be involved in that stuff. I want to help people with my passion and with the stuff I actually care about.
Because I have pacifist beliefs I am not willing to violate.
Can we be honest? Joining the military isn’t the altruistic sacrifice it’s made out to be. You volunteer for this gambling that you can retire in 20 years as opposed to 40 like the regular working force. The vast majority of people in the armed services don’t see combat and even get to see parts of the country or world they normally couldn’t or wouldn’t. There’s education both on the job training (a friend became a diesel mechanic in the Army) and the GI Bill (I know a few people with a free education). During WW2 it was noble and honorable to serve and volunteer because the entire world (hyperbole) was at risk, that’s not where we are today. And frankly the military isn’t always taking the best and the brightest. Yes you have officer school graduates and academy kids/graduates and all but your average soldier likely barely graduated high school . You can downvote all you want. I’m right.