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Enlisting? Read this!
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Robert Sawyer
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#1 - 2015-09-12 08:34:17 UTC
So, you want to join the Armed Forces? Excellent! Whether it's for adventure, patriotic causes or the quick need of cash in your hand, congratulations on your decision! However, I kindly ask you to read this article before making a final decision by walking into the recruiter's office.

Joining the military is a serious thing, and it's not your ordinary job. You see, it's like a sort of contract that you pay with years - in these years, you will become a GI (Government Issue) AKA property of the state. If you don't like the military when you go in, there is no getting out! However, if you are really motivated to become a GI, then all the experience, bad as it can be sometimes, will actually seem a thrill later on in life.
Now, here is a list of things that you should consider before joining the military:

1) The Armed Forces are not for everybody! There are some people that are mentally unprepared for high-stress situations or there are some guys that don't like taking orders from others. If you want to join, make sure that you're neither of these two.

2) Don't believe the recruiter! All military personnel found out too late that the recruiter got the drop on them with a lot of juicy promises. It says in the contract that ALL of your benefits and bonuses can be altered by the big gov.

3) Don't go to a recruiting office if you want to become an officer. This is somewhat tied to #2 as a lot of kids go to the recruiter and tell him that they want to become a big colonel or something, and the recruiter uses this to encourage them to enlist. Remember, you can't become a high-ranking officer if you enlist, only an NCO, which is about a Sergeant -add title here.

4) Make sure that your decision to join the military is not a spur-of-the-moment one. I had a friend that joined the Army like that, and now the guy feels pretty lame.

5) Remember that the military has a lot of risks, especially infantry! You could come back home broken in body and mind, unable to live a normal life again. I highly recommend to-be GIs to visit a veteran's hospital to see the things that could happen to you.

Now, don't take it the wrong way. I'm not trying to discourage any people from joining, but I just want everybody to know the risks and to not foolishly join without knowing the risks of the job. However, the military is not all about death and injury: if you're a gourmet type of guy, you could become a chef! Fancy radios and electronics? You could become a radio operator and so forth.

But if you really want to join, then I support your choice 100%. Good luck to all those that want to enlist!

"And when, at last, the moment is yours, that agony will become your greatest triumph."
Viktor Revon
#2 - 2015-09-12 14:48:27 UTC
I approve of this message.

Too many people join the military of their respective country and have no real idea what they are getting themselves into. The American military is the one that thrives off of this problem.

Read up a bit on your respective military, it's practices, what it has to offer for you, the amount of injuries and their severity on an annual scale and so on and so forth.

"Into the dark abyss shall we venture once more." - Viktor Revon
Jenshae Chiroptera
#3 - 2015-09-13 16:48:27 UTC
"How different the world would be, if everyone refused to pick up a weapon."

CCP - Building ant hills and magnifying glasses for fat kids

Not even once

EVE is becoming shallow and puerile; it will satisfy neither the veteran nor the "WoW" type crowd in the transition.
Lieu Thiesant
University of Caille
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2015-09-13 22:30:43 UTC
Civilian conditions sometimes entail more injuries and therefore more risks of injuries than military conditions, including front lines.

2.
Weapons are not meant to be used unfairly.
It is better to fight for peace than to agree to warfare.

The additional social benefits which come from being a military personel require more legal responsibility.
In case of security needs, military work is better to protect .
Deck Cadelanne
CAStabouts
#5 - 2015-09-14 09:22:34 UTC
"But the recruiter said..." bwa ha ha ha haaaa!

[sniff]

Been there, done that. At least it worked out well for me!

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional."

- Hunter S. Thompson
Deck Cadelanne
CAStabouts
#6 - 2015-09-14 09:24:48 UTC
Robert Sawyer wrote:


3) Don't go to a recruiting office if you want to become an officer. This is somewhat tied to #2 as a lot of kids go to the recruiter and tell him that they want to become a big colonel or something, and the recruiter uses this to encourage them to enlist. Remember, you can't become a high-ranking officer if you enlist, only an NCO, which is about a Sergeant -add title here.




In the US and UK military this is not true.

There are routes to a commission as an officer from the enlisted ranks.

Several guys I served (enlisted) with are now officers. One is a colonel.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional."

- Hunter S. Thompson
stoicfaux
#7 - 2015-09-14 14:30:27 UTC
Jenshae Chiroptera wrote:
"How different the world would be, if everyone refused to pick up a weapon."

In the land of the blind unarmed, the one eyed armed man is king.

Pon Farr Memorial: once every 7 years, all the carebears in high-sec must PvP or they will be temp-banned.
stoicfaux
#8 - 2015-09-14 14:34:11 UTC
One of the positives: Networking. You'll probably have access to a huge network of contacts to help you find a civilian job.

I swear to god, you hire one retired grunt/mailman/squid/jarhead into the organization and suddenly you have a full company.

Pon Farr Memorial: once every 7 years, all the carebears in high-sec must PvP or they will be temp-banned.
Rain6637
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#9 - 2015-09-14 14:58:37 UTC
stoicfaux wrote:
One of the positives: Networking. You'll probably have access to a huge network of contacts to help you find a civilian job.

I swear to god, you hire one retired grunt/mailman/squid/jarhead into the organization and suddenly you have a full company.

Which is great if your product is walking long distances with 100 lbs on your person.

Help, I can't download EVE

President of the Commissar Kate Fanclub

PLEX: A Giffen good? (It's 1B?)
stoicfaux
#10 - 2015-09-14 15:39:32 UTC
Rain6637 wrote:
stoicfaux wrote:
One of the positives: Networking. You'll probably have access to a huge network of contacts to help you find a civilian job.

I swear to god, you hire one retired grunt/mailman/squid/jarhead into the organization and suddenly you have a full company.

Which is great if your product is walking long distances with 100 lbs on your person.

Yup, it's nice to know that someone can carry my butt out of the building if there's an emergency. Plus, retired military types tend to be organized, process oriented, understand teamwork, have training in interacting with management or in being management, and the newly retired grunts/marines (i.e. still in shape) are great to have around when someone needs to be escorted out of the building. Plus, you do get training, be it technical or otherwise that may or may not be applicable to a civilian career.

OTOH, you could come back from Afghanistan/Iraq with psych issues, which can be an impediment in civilian employment.

Oh, and things can be difficult for the spouse/kids of military families, especially if you're deployed away from them.

Finally, you won't know if you made the right choice (either way) for you, your family, and/or your country until much later.


Good luck and best wishes.



P.S. Military types tend to have interesting stories... this one time, while flying the aggressors for the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise walked into the O'Club in full dress uniform... major faux pas.

Pon Farr Memorial: once every 7 years, all the carebears in high-sec must PvP or they will be temp-banned.