Up's and Downs of military

[basket of soft kittens]

I am serously thinking of joining the United States MARINES, yet recently i have found out things that i have not known before. things that disturb my preception of the military. I have been caught up too much in the gung ho, pride, hono,r commitment.etc of the military and have not really considered the down side. I would like to ask all who served or anyone with VALID opinions , to give me a no B.S. pros and cons list, or just tell me basically your opnion of serving, or better yet both, this will help me more than you know

thanks. p-)

[James]

I am 30 now, but was active duty USMC from 19-23. There were things I didn't like abut it, but I imagine that applies to everything. I had a lot of good times when I was in, met some of the finest people I'll ever know, and had an experience I'll never forget.

Pride and commitment are a big part of it. It is a way of life, even if you only do it for a few years.

The rewards for me were intangible. It was one of the best things I've ever done.

[basket of soft kittens]

thanks alot

also it dosent just apply to the marines everybody ;)

[Germaine]

You're always going to have good and bad times no matter what job u have. But with the military u have a better chance of seeing the world and getting actual life experience

[Marsuitor]

Movies don't portray sitting a two week OP mid autumn, cold as hell through sleet and rain just to see one tractor, a trabi and five VW Golfs in the duration. If you're into doing service in the infantry/SF/whoever else has ground fighting on the main agenda and the above seems totally unthinkable for you, then don't join.

[Flagg]

FUN:

Learning how to fire various weapons systems

Then realising you're getting paid to do the above

NOT SO FUN:

Spending about 10 hours on NOT SO FUN activities for every hour of fun stuff

Being told to do A by one person of greater rank than yourself(which is everybody), then being told to do B by someone else of greater rank(again, everybody).....no matter what, you lose...but you do get to learn how to maintain your composure in a "no win" situation.

The two best bits of advice a member of the DS gave me while in basic:

1.) "Sort your Sh!T out!" <----comes in handy quite frequently

2.) "If you look cool, you are cool!" <---it keeps you prepared for the occasional MilPhotos.net photo opportunity

[martinexsquaddie]

if you do decide to join odds on you will get to visit either the litter tray (iraq) or the stan.
so better figure out how you feel about going in to combat .
or you could always join the airforce rofl

[mustamato]

NOT SO FUN:

Spending about 10 hours on NOT SO FUN activities for every hour of fun stuff

Being told to do A by one person of greater rank than yourself(which is everybody), then being told to do B by someone else of greater rank(again, everybody).....no matter what, you lose...but you do get to learn how to maintain your composure in a "no win" situation.

The two best bits of advice a member of the DS gave me while in basic:

1.) "Sort your Sh!T out!" <----comes in handy quite frequently

2.) "If you look cool, you are cool!" <---it keeps you prepared for the occasional MilPhotos.net photo opportunity

rofl Couldn´t agree more. Especially on the 1 hour fun (in example live fire
combat exercise), and then 10 hours of boring ****, (guard duty, waiting, cleaning,
doing meaningsless stuff you are not supposed to do but have to do because
someone with a higher rank has ordered you to do etc etc etc). But afterwards
you only remember the fun stuff of course, so afterwards it feels like it was 10
hours of fun stuff and 1 hour of boring stuff :)

[Dominique]

OK, I'll be I'm not going to suger coat anything and tell you that the military is all peaches and cream. It's hard work plain and simple. If you have a problem with authority or think its a good place to go earn some quick money for school, then you need to go look for a job at the local burger joint.



The military is not a joke, a game, or a place you come to play. It's DEADLY serious. If you are willing to make a commitment , take on some responsibility,(remember that in this job you could very easily get your self KILLED or be forced to seriously harm or kill another human being), and ant to be part of something a little more gratifiying than making money hand over fist, then the military may be for you.

Don't do it becuase its what all your friends or doing or you think that you will get to do all of the HSLD sh*t you see in the movies, most of your time will be spent doing boring mundane routine tasks, training, or waiting.

Think long and hard about what you are getting your self into before you sign a contract and raise your right hand.