Joining the military only to get your education paid for

[studentcj]

I've never been a fan of people who join the military just to get their education paid for, but I understand it is common. Im currently working on my masters, and one of my classmates was talking about how he was thinking about playing to become an officer in the military (reserves) to help pay for law school which is his next educational goal. I know I shouldn't care, but it actually bothered me

[retdetsgt]

The service is the same, no matter what the motivation. I got sick of the whiners though when we invaded Iraq and people were saying they joined for the education, not to fight.... I wondered what they thought the Army did?

[retdetsgt]

Now that I think about it, I didn't join the Army for patriotic reasons. I joined because I'd just flunked out of college, my Dad was giving me these "You still here?" looks and I had no other options. At that time, the propaganda was "Join the Army and learn a trade" and I thought that was a good idea. If you passed all the tests and qualified, you could actually pick the military school you wanted to go to. In 1964, electronics was a big deal so I chose a radio repair school and fixed field radios until I was accepted for OCS.

Unfortunately, the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred while I was in basic training and that changed the whole program for everyone. They ramped up the draft and enlistees were given fewer choices.

[Trip]

The service is the same, no matter what the motivation. I got sick of the whiners though when we invaded Iraq and people were saying they joined for the education, not to fight.... I wondered what they thought the Army did?

+100 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ditto ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If someone doesn't think this country is worth fighting for, than they shouldn't join.

[NavyGuyMA3]

Officers don't get all the same education benefits because A) they make more and B) most of them already have a degree so make sure he knows the full deal when he signs up... For example officers don't get the GI Bill.

MA3

Edit: and I've seen many guys who can't hack it because they "join for the benefits" and realize they got more than they bargained for.

[TSOC357]

My take. Join because you want to join and serve your County. Don't join to pad your resume.

We are fighting (and dying) on two battle fronts. Regardless of if you join the Reserves, the Guard, or Active Duty, your chances of deploying are extremely high. Your chances of getting shot hit, hit with IEDs or having mortars dropped in on top of your camp/base/FOB are very high at times as well, depending where you end up at.

I've got several that joined that we are in the process of getting rid of because they didn't realize they would be getting shot at and/or deploy. General Discharges and from what I understand from reading on here, they probably are not going to get hired as Police Officers anytime soon. We, as a command, tried to explain that to them but they apparently know better than any of us, so they continued with their antics and are getting the heavy-ho.

Just my opinion.

[retdetsgt]

Officers don't get all the same education benefits because A) they make more and B) most of them already have a degree so make sure he knows the full deal when he signs up... For example officers don't get the GI Bill.

My take was that he was doing it as sort of a part time job. I think that's why a lot of people are in the reserves and NG, it's a nice way to serve AND make some back pocket money working one weekend a month and a couple of weeks in the summer.

I agree with TSOC357 though. Right now is not the time to join unless you're willing to be deployed.

[NavyGuyMA3]

Well apparently a lot of people didn't like my comment because my rep is super red... how did i get -50000 rep points so quick? lol

And anyone who joins any branch right now... whether it's active, guard or reserves for just the benefits is an idiot :P

[Trip]

Right now is not the time to join unless you're willing to be deployed.

Never is the time to join unless willing to be deployed. I'm serious. I don't want those folks in the "foxholes" with me.

[retdetsgt]

Never is the time to join unless willing to be deployed. I'm serious. I don't want those folks in the "foxholes" with me.

Very true, but now it's almost a slam dunk. As I said, I didn't join out of patriotic fervor, but I knew what the mission of the Army was. I remember sitting on my bunk in basic when the DI came and told us about the Gulf of Tonkin and that we would likely be fighting a war. My first thought was, "Well, at least my luck's consistent" and resigned myself to it.

There were a lot of blank stares among the troops, but none said anything to the effect of "I didn't join for this", it was everything from "Oh Boy!" to "Aw ****".

But I really don't believe my generation felt as entitled as the subsequent ones. I recall walking to my job at the service station during the Cuban missile crisis and wondering if I would be able to finish high school or would I have to go fight. There was never a thought of "how can I get out of it?"

[TSOC357]

I agree with TSOC357 though. Right now is not the time to join unless you're willing to be deployed.

And that's the thing. You will get deployed. Big Army is going through records right now looking for Soldiers that haven't deployed or have only done one ME tour and will be sending out TDY orders soon.

[studentcj]

lots of great advice and suggestions in this thread. I def. agree with everyone in regards to today is the wrong time to join the military just for the benefits, because when bullets are flying by your head, I would assume most people would think twice

[Rlong1985]

The service is the same, no matter what the motivation. I got sick of the whiners though when we invaded Iraq and people were saying they joined for the education, not to fight.... I wondered what they thought the Army did?

A lot of people in the Navy who thought they would never have to deploy with a ship or even considered the fact they may have to fight. Its surprising to see men and women who join and can’t swim or those who have never seen the ocean before reporting to their ship. Benefits are one way our country chooses to thank our services and veterans but service to our country comes first.

StudentCJ, have you ever put on a uniform? People serve for many reasons and for a few it’s to serve their country but the majority are in the service for personal reasons other than national pride. Kids to take care of, student loans, lost their job, ect.....

[capnc423]

I want to serve in the Navy as an aviation boatswains mate fueler. They're the guys on the aircraft carrier deck that refuel the jets, mix the fuel, strain water out of the fuel, and talk to the pilots. It just seems like an awesome job thats fast paced, and you become almost brothers with the people on your ship which is also pretty cool too.

[Trip]

StudentCJ, have you ever put on a uniform? People serve for many reasons and for a few it’s to serve their country but the majority are in the service for personal reasons other than national pride. Kids to take care of, student loans, lost their job, ect.....

With all due respect, Rlong, I could not disagree with you more. I've spent a lot of time in the Middle East since 9/11 and our military personnel make me swell with pride every time I see them. In Iraq people were re-upping left and right because they believed so much in what we were doing over there. Do you think people re-up at such high rates just for benefits, when they're watching tons of people die or get injured around them? There's no money in the world that can compensate for that. Our military - no, more accurately, all Americans that were there - all dripped with patriotism throughout every part of Iraq I traveled to. I'm so puzzled as to why you'd say, "and for a few it's to serve their country but the majority are for other than national pride." That's a breathtaking statement. In fact, I will hold back what I really think of it and assume you just mispoke. Perhaps you want to take another shot at saying what you really meant to say.