| Kevin M |
2005-11-14 02:32 AM |
Threee years Army for me. I went in through DEP in June of 1997, actually shipped off in September. I also went to Missouri for basic, then off to Ft. Knox in January for tech school. I was an M1 tank turret mechanic. Kentucky chose that particular year to set several records for temps and snow, setting a pattern that follows me to this day- I move to a new geographic location, and that location has the most extreme winter and/or summer season in recent memory. :mad: I was fooled by the promise of "electronics and computer training" along with working on hydraulic and laser systems the tank uses, which turned out to be basically using a really fancy multimeter to determine which white box with cables plugged into it to replace when it broke, no real repairs. At least I learned how to get my hands dirty and use tools, neither of which I had done before enlisting. Tech school took just over 3 months, then off to Korea in March. I absolutely hated it there. In hindsight, a better attitude would have made it more tolerable, but there's really nothing truly redeeming about a tour there unless blowing most of your pay on booze and hookers seems like a great idea. The best you can hope for is to spend your year(s) there really throwing yourself into your work and improving yourself as a soldier. If you consider making the military a career, a tour or two in Korea can end up being a real benefit to you.
So, after my year in purgatory, the Army took mercy on me and sent me to.... Texas. Yay. Of all the possible duty stations you can get in armor-related specialties (Germany, Italy, Colorado, upstate New York, Alaska, Washington, Kentucky, and Barstow, CA are the others) I got the absolute last two listed in my personnel file as my preferences. Barstow sucks ass, but it would have been really close to home at least. And Kentucky isn't so great, but the actual work and duty assignments there are cake- no combat-ready units or deployments from there, it's all training units.
Anyways, Ft. Hood. It wouldn't have been quite so bad, except that it was all the bad things you think of about Texas with almost none of the better things. A rinkydink town leeching off the largest US military installation besides the combination of the Pentagon and Walter Reed Med Center... only it was 1/2 the size it had been 6 years previously, and 1/3 of the people still stationed there were deployed to the Middle East or Bosnia, and the town was dying economically. It would be a better stationing if it were closer to Austin or San Antonio or Dallas, or better yet the coast, but all those places were well beyond the non-pass boundaries. Plus the fact that nearly half of the man-hours by the 2 remaining divisions there are spent either out on training missions or deployed overseas, and it gets old.
There was some good to go with the bad though. Getting out in the field and playing soldier can be a lot of fun, and looking back, there were plenty of chances where I could have gone out on training excercises that I wish I had taken. A big plus with a military career is that it's not difficult to be successful- you know exactly what you have to do to continue to be promoted and become a better soldier and leader, and if you do that you're guaranteed success. It's beautiful, there's very little in the way of 'office' politics or favoritism, and no ambivalence about your performance evaluation. You're in near absolute control over your own advancement, with a little luck coming into play with things like duty assignments. For example, in order to advance past E-6 you need to be a Drill Sergeant, Tech Instructor, or Recruiter. Guess which ones are better to be when it comes time for the E9 promotion board? Also, most people are suited to one more than the others, and the standards don't change if you happen to be given the assignment you aren't best suited for.
So in a nutshell, here are the major pros and cons in my opinion of an enlistment and career in the Military:
Pros: Stability/job security. Pretty good benefits, especially if you have a family. While pay isn't great, you can retire young enough to get a second career, often in a good field, and "double dip." Advancement is limited only by your own aptitude and effort- it's easy to be a good soldier if you really want to be. And there's definitely pride and satisfaction in being a soldier. Not everyone can or would do it given the chance.
Cons: Not much money to be made. Even officers aren't paid all that highly given their education, training, and skills. Lack of control over where you live, and for how long. But for me, the biggest factor for not staying in was time. the day is too long, getting up at 5:30 for PT, getting home around 6. While a standard training day is only about 9 hours of actual work, including PT in the morning, it's broken up enough that it still takes a 12 hour chunk of your day. Then there's field excercises. Sometimes a few days, occasionally over a month without coming home for so much as a shower and night in an actual bed. On top of that, there's the current deployment situation. If you are in a combat division, you have a good chance of spending 6 months or more overseas, like Chris is. Putting all that together, I just didn't like the idea of trying to build a family when I was gone so frequently. The stability and security the military provides you just isn't worth the trade-off of being absentee from home for the better part of 20 or 25 years.
All in all, I think the vast majority of able-bodied young men and women would benefit from an enlistment. For the sacrifice of some personal freedom for a few years, the memories, skills, and experiences you gain are an outstanding trade-off. I would actually love the chance to go through Basic Training again, believe it or not. The worst part about it is the incredibly rapid pace, there's no time to step back and take a different perspective on the experience and training. Knowing what to expect and not facing the unkown every day for weeks on end, I think it would be an awesome experience.
Aside from recommending an enlistment for most people, I also STRONGLY encourage those who choose to do so to take their time and get as much information and advice as possible before making the commitment. while recruiters won't actually lie, coerce, cajole, or overly pressure you, they also aren't overly concerned with the details of your enlistment, just that you did. It's like a car salesman- he doesn't really care which car you buy or how well it works out for you, just that you bought it. Enlisting is the same way- you could make a perfect deal, or you can get totally screwed.
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