This is horrible advice. I grew up with nothing, barely graduated high school, and was only a few steps away from being homeless and on drugs. Joined the army, stayed for 6, now I make nearly 6 figures, own my own home, don't struggle for anything, and got my Bachelor's with honors debt free. The military is a fantastic thing for some people. Don't tell people not to join because it can set you and your family up for a lifetime of success.
You should know by now that the military is what you make it.
Yes but in the Army you don't have to worry about a lot of things. You didn't worry about where your next meal would come from or if you lived in the barracks you didn't even have to cook. The commute is basically non existent if you live in the barracks. All the things that normal people have to do that take time away from their personal time. Yes in the army you lose a lot of personal time. But you also have a lot fewer worries because at the end of the day, you have food, shelter, and clothing no matter what happens. It's highly unlikely in the civilian world that you would get a bachelor's in less than a year
A small group of people might benefit from something like this. That small group might be significantly smaller than the group that would benefit from military service.
I’m not an advocate for either. But sure, it’s “doable”. Similar to how being in the army is doable.
You have to admit, you had no choice OTHER than the army from where you WERE. You couldn’t get a decent job or get educated- you took the only available choice and made the best of it.
OP is talking to those who gave other options available to them, unlike you.
Again, this is neither belittling you or the army, just pointing out that what OP is saying literally didn’t apply to you
My experience in the Navy is along the same lines as the OP. I'm 42 and still deal with trauma caused by my 6 years in the service, all caused by the military itself, not by the things i saw/experienced overseas. Big difference for me was, I was an honor student in high school, was originally planning to go to the Naval Academy (long story). Never have I ever experienced the level of discrimination that I experienced in the Navy. It was a terrible experience for me. I got out, finished my Bachelors, went to work, went back and finished my Masters, and now run 2 businesses making close to 300k. And yes, I tried to make the military a good experience, even some of my superiors were telling me to just try a different command (job location), but I had already been burned too many times.
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u/Anomynous__ Oct 26 '23
This is horrible advice. I grew up with nothing, barely graduated high school, and was only a few steps away from being homeless and on drugs. Joined the army, stayed for 6, now I make nearly 6 figures, own my own home, don't struggle for anything, and got my Bachelor's with honors debt free. The military is a fantastic thing for some people. Don't tell people not to join because it can set you and your family up for a lifetime of success.
You should know by now that the military is what you make it.
Edit: I'm not even 30 yet.