I'm actually looking for your HONEST opinions with this one.

Will Bozarth said:
Well, thanks for all of your responses. You went from "pile of shit" to "pretty cool dude with helpful information" practically overnight.

First beer's on me if we cross paths.
Click to expand...

:lol:

Uhh...thanks...I guess. :lol:

I think you'll find out that who I really am is not even close to the shit I rant about and the persona I have on this forum.
 
Well, you've certainly distinguished yourself from the opinion I had of you. Going into the military was the last thing I would have expected to hear from you, hehe. I was thinking more along the lines of working offshore on an oil rig or something, but I knew you wouldn't be able to take this shit for much longer.

Which, by the way, have you considered something to that effect? They make great money even though it's hard work.
 
Will Bozarth said:
"Can I attend college while on active duty?



Definitely. Going to school is encouraged. The Navy will pay 100% tuition for all accredited classes. In addition to gaining knowledge, a degree can help you when it comes time for a promotion."

so basically... If I get "enlisted" in the navy, they'd pay 100% of my tuition. I could try that out since I wouldn't be wasting my money. If I get a 4-year degree while in there, I could attempt to become an officer after that. Well, fuck. That seems like a good idea!
Click to expand...

I know you have doubts about college, as anyone forced to endure the torture of an American 'education' would be expected to. You can do it and you can do it without 'book learning'. If you have any idea what you could do and enjoy, find people in the field and just pick their brains for a while - go to a university and ask a department who would be able to talk to you about whatever you're interested and there will be people more than happy to help you out.

I'm in a similar position - I don't get much out of just reading books, but give me problems to solved and I'll burn through anything. I HATED the education system and the rote memorization that it relied on, and actually I was strongly tempted to just not go to college at all. If you're going through what I think you're going through with the college concerns I know the feeling all too well, and it almost kept me from even finishing high school when I was dealing with it.

All it took for me, though, was to find something I loved and was good at. It was mathematics and physics that dragged me back into the whole mess - I can't stop thinking about math, looking for patterns, trying to connect completely unrelated things, trying to remake old knowledge in completely different concepts, and when I realized how much there was out there for me I dove right in and haven't regretted it yet. I don't know what makes you tick, but I know you can find something - hell, there's a school in New York with a B.S. in Toy Design. Toy Design, for fuck's sake.

You may change your mind about what you want to do, or go through phases where you just don't know what to do next, but nothing will ruin you until you let it make you think you can't do something. One of the best things about college is that the only thing holding you back is you, and once you realize you have the freedom to do anything just because you want to - not because the parents/friends/significant others want you to do it, or because it'll help you work or fit what society expects or any of that other irrelevant bullshit that just gets in the way of actually being a person - everything stupid will just fall away and you'll be the final judge of what deserves time and energy and what doesn't.

You might leave after the degree, you might get a Ph.D. in Sardochemistry, you might join the armed services... no idea. If you decide to go for higher education, throw concerns and fears away and just do what you think is right. If you do go for the services you'll be starting as a badass, and if you don't you'll have that much more power to do whatever the fucking fuck you want to do and not have to deal with idiots who don't deserve your time.

Jeff
 
To get ahead in life one must put imself in a position where one has the options to further oneself in growth and personal fullfillment. Working at TardMart and dwelling on a dead end life situation is not a healthy status. Sometimes it may require a great leap of faith. Joining the military is a fine idea, the benefits that come along with it are nice. If one applies themselves the options are abundant. Look at the past four years of your life, then your current position, and then look ahead.
 
When I was 24 years old I joined the United States Army. I joined the Army for two reasons; I was a fuckup, and 911 happened and I took it personally having lived on the east coast for a number of years. Mostly because I was a fuckup though.

If you feel that you have promise within you that is going unfulfilled, you may find in the military. It is really up to you to decide, and the military won't help you at all. You serve the military, and you have to play by their rules. And a lot of it sucks. When I signed up I thought I would be going to Afganistan. Instead, I spent two and a half years in Iraq. I very, very firmly opposed the entire idea of the Iraq war before it started. It still didn't stop me from being on a convoy going to Baghdad two weeks after 3ID turned the country into glass and being put on the street the next day.

It's a struggle to learn to trust the people next to you with your life. It's definitely a struggle to keep your mouth shut when an NCO who has been in the Army for 20 years and is a complete douchebag starts shitting down your throat for no other reason than he or she can and enjoys and you pretty much have to take it. That will happen.

While you can go to school while you are in the military, it is difficult to do. Most likely, you will have a job that requires you to go on a field problem for weeks at a time. You may have to go to extra training for a month or two. Your classes will have to wait. If you are persistant, however, you can get yourself educated. The military doesn't make it easy, though. It is an asset to have enlisted soldiers without college education. Enlisted soldiers without college education are more likely to reup upon the expiration of their contract because of concerns about reintegrating into the civilian work force. Especially if you have done a few tours in a forward-deployed environment. If you're approaching 30 on the way out, you may not want to go to college for four years after you get out.

When I got out of the military, I did not become employed for one year. I took 2 years worth of college in three semesters to graduate. Then suddenly I was employable. (If you work in Military Intelligence, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, or an IT job you can find employment without college if you live in the right part of the country and do very well).

I still find my reintegration into normal society difficult. I have been out for about two years now. I see the world very differently because of my time in the military, and not in a good way. I'm wary in public places, I wary in traffic jams, I now feel it prudent to own a firearm (before I was in the military I was very anti-hand gun. I sit at resteraunts where I can look at the door and I find the alternate exits as soon as I enter the room.

All that said, I would not change any of the things that happened during my time in the military. I have been shot at, I've rockets explode with 500 feet of me, I've seen a man become paralyzed and another man take a stomach full of shrapnel. I've seen people with their heads blown off. I've seen homes destroyed, families ruined, and been in the center of riot. And I hated every minute of it. I once almost lit up a van with an old man and two children inside because the old guy didn't know what the fuck he was doing and broke our security perimiter while we were lost in the middle of Al-Sadr city when vehicle born ID attacks against convoys were common. I am thankful every day that I don't have the deaths of those probably innocent people on my conscience. But if that driver had been any closer to our vehicle before I was able to determine that the vehicle and its occupants were not a threat I probably would have put 100 bullets in that vehicle and killed everyone inside. And I would have done it because I would have had to. It would have been irresponsible otherwise, to let the people that I serve with next to me become endangered because I failed to terminate a legitmate rules of engagement threat. I have to think about the old guy, scared shitless, try at the same time to steer his vehicle and stop it from running into us and at the same time put his hands in the air in surrender while his grandchildren are obviously screaming through the window at the guy aiming a large machine gun at their van. That kind of shit eats at you. I can only imagine how it would eat you if you didn't have the choice and you lit up the van and then you found out later it some old guy taking his grand kids to the mosque or the market or wherever they were going.

I wouldn't have changed it because in its own twisted way, combat (or the closest I came to it) was as exhilerating as it was frightening. Being shot at while driving 40 miles an hour the wrong direction in traffic, narrowling dodging vehicles, and jumping medians was honestly the most scary fun thing that has happened to me in my life. I feel stronger now, not only because I'm in shape from spending four years exercising every day, but because I made a commitment to myself that I was going to become a better person. I was able to finish college because I'd worked so hard to get it. I saved my money and was able to buy a condo. I'm in a position to fulfill some lifelong dreams because I know I can do it.

If you accept it, if you can accept the change for yourself, and you commit to the military, the military will allow you to succeed. As a PFC, I ran my own foreign claims team because I proved to my superiors that I was capable and responsible. I constantly had positions of authority and leeway to work as I saw fit, because I had my shit together. Because I had to, because not having it together could really get me killed.

And the military can be a blast. I was stationed in Germany. When I wasn't nearly getting killed in Iraq, I had the time of my life in Germany. The barracks sucked because I had to share a room the size of two closets with another guy, but, the sense of community and bonding that goes along with that sort of thing is incredible. I still talk with some of the people that I served with. For a year, they were closer than family to me. The friendships that you can make can be powerful. I always thought training was fun too. I went to Wacken, Summerbreeze, and the Earthshaker festivals with Army friends and got hammered with German bikers. I partied every weekend. I'll never have that much fun again in my life.

The military is like anything else, you get out what you put into it. In many ways, it's the best and worse thing that every happened to me in my life. But there's not a day that goes by that I don't dream of going back in. If I wasn't engaged to the love of my life, I'd probably already be back in, to be honest with you. Civilian life is tough. You have to worry about bills, getting laid off, going to the grocery store, get stuck in rush hour traffic, and another thousand bullshit daily rituals that are required to exist. In the military, you are provisioned a place to sleep, you are given food, and the money you get really can allow you to lead a comfortable life style. Next year will be the first year post-Army where I have more disposable income per month than I did in my first year in the Army. As an E5, I had 2,000 dollars per month that I did not have to put towards bills, rent, food, or medical insurance. It will probably take me another 4 years at my current job to equal that kind of disposable income. The military isn't just a job, it's a culture. It's a lifestyle. It's impossible to fully comprehend before and forget after.

So, that's the opinion of one anonymous internet person who lurks on the ultimate metal boards and whose been where you are thinking about going. Either way, good luck with your decision. If you sign up, try to get stationed in Europe. It's outstanding. Korea can be ok. Just get out of the states. If you're going to do it, do it right and see the world.
 
Phonzadellika said:
When I was 24 years old I joined the United States Army. I joined the Army for two reasons; I was a fuckup, and 911 happened and I took it personally having lived on the east coast for a number of years. Mostly because I was a fuckup though.

If you feel that you have promise within you that is going unfulfilled, you may find in the military. It is really up to you to decide, and the military won't help you at all. You serve the military, and you have to play by their rules. And a lot of it sucks. When I signed up I thought I would be going to Afganistan. Instead, I spent two and a half years in Iraq. I very, very firmly opposed the entire idea of the Iraq war before it started. It still didn't stop me from being on a convoy going to Baghdad two weeks after 3ID turned the country into glass and being put on the street the next day.

It's a struggle to learn to trust the people next to you with your life. It's definitely a struggle to keep your mouth shut when an NCO who has been in the Army for 20 years and is a complete douchebag starts shitting down your throat for no other reason than he or she can and enjoys and you pretty much have to take it. That will happen.

While you can go to school while you are in the military, it is difficult to do. Most likely, you will have a job that requires you to go on a field problem for weeks at a time. You may have to go to extra training for a month or two. Your classes will have to wait. If you are persistant, however, you can get yourself educated. The military doesn't make it easy, though. It is an asset to have enlisted soldiers without college education. Enlisted soldiers without college education are more likely to reup upon the expiration of their contract because of concerns about reintegrating into the civilian work force. Especially if you have done a few tours in a forward-deployed environment. If you're approaching 30 on the way out, you may not want to go to college for four years after you get out.

When I got out of the military, I did not become employed for one year. I took 2 years worth of college in three semesters to graduate. Then suddenly I was employable. (If you work in Military Intelligence, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, or an IT job you can find employment without college if you live in the right part of the country and do very well).

I still find my reintegration into normal society difficult. I have been out for about two years now. I see the world very differently because of my time in the military, and not in a good way. I'm wary in public places, I wary in traffic jams, I now feel it prudent to own a firearm (before I was in the military I was very anti-hand gun. I sit at resteraunts where I can look at the door and I find the alternate exits as soon as I enter the room.

All that said, I would not change any of the things that happened during my time in the military. I have been shot at, I've rockets explode with 500 feet of me, I've seen a man become paralyzed and another man take a stomach full of shrapnel. I've seen people with their heads blown off. I've seen homes destroyed, families ruined, and been in the center of riot. And I hated every minute of it. I once almost lit up a van with an old man and two children inside because the old guy didn't know what the fuck he was doing and broke our security perimiter while we were lost in the middle of Al-Sadr city when vehicle born ID attacks against convoys were common. I am thankful every day that I don't have the deaths of those probably innocent people on my conscience. But if that driver had been any closer to our vehicle before I was able to determine that the vehicle and its occupants were not a threat I probably would have put 100 bullets in that vehicle and killed everyone inside. And I would have done it because I would have had to. It would have been irresponsible otherwise, to let the people that I serve with next to me become endangered because I failed to terminate a legitmate rules of engagement threat. I have to think about the old guy, scared shitless, try at the same time to steer his vehicle and stop it from running into us and at the same time put his hands in the air in surrender while his grandchildren are obviously screaming through the window at the guy aiming a large machine gun at their van. That kind of shit eats at you. I can only imagine how it would eat you if you didn't have the choice and you lit up the van and then you found out later it some old guy taking his grand kids to the mosque or the market or wherever they were going.

I wouldn't have changed it because in its own twisted way, combat (or the closest I came to it) was as exhilerating as it was frightening. Being shot at while driving 40 miles an hour the wrong direction in traffic, narrowling dodging vehicles, and jumping medians was honestly the most scary fun thing that has happened to me in my life. I feel stronger now, not only because I'm in shape from spending four years exercising every day, but because I made a commitment to myself that I was going to become a better person. I was able to finish college because I'd worked so hard to get it. I saved my money and was able to buy a condo. I'm in a position to fulfill some lifelong dreams because I know I can do it.

If you accept it, if you can accept the change for yourself, and you commit to the military, the military will allow you to succeed. As a PFC, I ran my own foreign claims team because I proved to my superiors that I was capable and responsible. I constantly had positions of authority and leeway to work as I saw fit, because I had my shit together. Because I had to, because not having it together could really get me killed.

And the military can be a blast. I was stationed in Germany. When I wasn't nearly getting killed in Iraq, I had the time of my life in Germany. The barracks sucked because I had to share a room the size of two closets with another guy, but, the sense of community and bonding that goes along with that sort of thing is incredible. I still talk with some of the people that I served with. For a year, they were closer than family to me. The friendships that you can make can be powerful. I always thought training was fun too. I went to Wacken, Summerbreeze, and the Earthshaker festivals with Army friends and got hammered with German bikers. I partied every weekend. I'll never have that much fun again in my life.

The military is like anything else, you get out what you put into it. In many ways, it's the best and worse thing that every happened to me in my life. But there's not a day that goes by that I don't dream of going back in. If I wasn't engaged to the love of my life, I'd probably already be back in, to be honest with you. Civilian life is tough. You have to worry about bills, getting laid off, going to the grocery store, get stuck in rush hour traffic, and another thousand bullshit daily rituals that are required to exist. In the military, you are provisioned a place to sleep, you are given food, and the money you get really can allow you to lead a comfortable life style. Next year will be the first year post-Army where I have more disposable income per month than I did in my first year in the Army. As an E5, I had 2,000 dollars per month that I did not have to put towards bills, rent, food, or medical insurance. It will probably take me another 4 years at my current job to equal that kind of disposable income. The military isn't just a job, it's a culture. It's a lifestyle. It's impossible to fully comprehend before and forget after.

So, that's the opinion of one anonymous internet person who lurks on the ultimate metal boards and whose been where you are thinking about going. Either way, good luck with your decision. If you sign up, try to get stationed in Europe. It's outstanding. Korea can be ok. Just get out of the states. If you're going to do it, do it right and see the world.
Click to expand...

I never want to hear another comment about the length of my posts from any of you.

On a serious note, Will, didn't I tell you to stay away from the Army and Marines?
 
Dead Winter said:
I never want to hear another comment about the length of my posts from any of you.

On a serious note, Will, didn't I tell you to stay away from the Army and Marines?
Click to expand...
Slight difference... this is the ONLY time I've ever noticed him doing it. You on the other hand... ;)
 
You shouldn't make ANY decision in life because you think you're not good enough for something else...
Really, it's bad to choose joining the forces, because you think you can't do anything else.
If you really want to work for it and make a change I'm sure you'll manage anything you want.
If you're out of shape you can always start working out. You need discipline.. and I'm not so sure if it's the best way to force it on yourself by joining the forces.
 
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