Why did you/why didn't you join the military?

[IkeaGnome]

24 minutes ago, Imbadatnames said:

Infantry or logistics? 

Marines.

No hate, all love.

[Imbadatnames]

1 hour ago, IkeaGnome said:

Marines.

No hate, all love.

Infantry entrusted with crayons, at least they trust you with writing implements. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I'm like 5 foot 5 so... yea. Probably won't be much use on the frontlines.

[12345678]

it never came cross to my mind

mostly because I hate being ordered around, and I don't want to end up as a tool for whales wars

 

besides here, weirdly enough you need to pay to be on the military, meanwhile in the us in my understanding they give you free stuff untill your training is off.

[ApolloX75]

I went in the Reserves, Electronic Warfare, when I was around 18.

 

I am not soldier material. I don't take orders that I don't like very well, and if it doesn't make sense I'll question it. They don't like that.

 

Also blew up my knee in training and this was before the CAF was more humanized, so they just found a way to drum me out instead of trying to do anything.

 

Fun times. I was one of the best marksmen in my platoon though.

[FireofDestruction]

I knew in 7th grade I wanted to join when I got to highschool I went to the rotc program and was in it all four years of highschool. 

Ended up going into the Airforce as a 3P0X1 aka security forces which is the airforce fancy term for police.

Never went overseas, but a base of mostly civilian contractors and a small percentage of military there was lots of stuff that occurred that I wish I'd never seen.

I've been out since 2020 just before the pandemic hit went to a trade school to be an electrician. Been good from there.

[sub68]

Well I want too due to how much US military does to help countries (I am adopted from Korea and I hear stories from people on how the US still helps south korea), I personally think I can't do it/join due to my autism.

 

I can say about my dad and grandpa.

My dad was doing ROTC but also wanted to join because how the US keeps the peace (he came from Taiwan in the 60's ) he served from 96-00.

My grandpa joined during Vietnam and continued to do his job as a intelligence officer until the 90's.

[Tan3l6]

Mandatory conscription where I live. 

I was in service for 8.5 months in 2001.

Actually liked it, but not as much as returning to civilian life though.

[wasab]

I would go do army only if i wish to make it a career. if you are joining just to pick up some skills and then leave for the civilian sectors, i dont think the military path is the most effective means to do this. 

 

If you want to make it a career tho, United States military is pretty sweet. they pay for your housing, either having you living on base or giving you BAH allowance which is tax free.

 

Military also hands out pensions at mere 20 years of service. This means if you go in at 18, you can claim pension at age 38 and retire which is insane. Some people may say it is not enough to live off of which is true if you never move up in ranks which is kinda impossible when you have 20 years in the army. 

 

for example, you can go ROTC, have the army pay for your college education and commisioned into the army as a O-1 Liuetenent. If you stayed in the army for 20 years, you WILL either reach the rank of Colonel or you will be booted and kicked out. it is a do or dont, so either you make it or you will be dropped. At the rank of colonel, your pension is basically 50% of your highest salalry which at todays money, it is roughly 60k per year. 

 

To match that passive income, if you follow the 4% rule, you will need a whopping 1.5 million dollars saved up in your 401k by the age 38 to match that military pension. this is like 3k per month in 401k contributions until you are age 38. insane right?

 

Furthermore, if you max out your military TSP(military version of 401K) then by age 59, you would have your 60k military pension + whatever your TSP is + your social security. that is easily 200K+ passive income per year in todays money plus a nestegg in the millions at age 59.

 

In terms of housing, I live in NYC. rent here is riddiculus. If you are stationed here as a O-3 Captain, which usually requires 4 years in the army as an officer to reach this rank, your cost of living BAH allowances(all tax free) + salalry easily translates into $130k in total compensation per year

 https://militarypay.defense.gov/calculators/rmc-calculator/

 

so if you joined the army at 18, do your 4 years of college, graduate and be commission as an officer at 22 and become captain at 26 AND stationed in high cost of living area like NYC, your total income is $130k per year with 55k of that being tax advantage. This means you are literally earning equivilent of 150k+ civilian job that does not have any tax advantage whatsoever. Add the pension on top of it, this is just insane amount of money. 

[igormp]

While here in Brazil we do have conscription, there's more people interested in joining the military than they are able to handle, so it's pretty much voluntary.

 

I never had any interest, the pay is low and I was already in uni (which is free here btw), during the enlisting process (and here it has many steps) people kept bugging me to join, speaking how I would get a higher rank since I was already in uni and whatnot. Simply went through all of the process to finally be able to say "no" in the end when they ask who really wants to join.

 

However, for those less fortunate to be able to join a university or who have a hard time getting a job, the army is a good option here, it just wasn't for me.

[Sauron]

I don't even know where to begin with the list of reasons I didn't join or even consider joining the military... in general it just seems like a complete waste of my time, before we even get into moral considerations. My country's military is only ever involved in the occasional NATO mission so I would most likely end up doing nothing of importance in whichever post I was given. I'd have to spend most of my time away from my family and friends and in uncomfortable quarters... for no real reason. I also wouldn't ever want to kill someone, which I understand is a bit of a deal breaker also I'd rather not risk death as part of my job.

 

I guess early retirement is appealing but it's not worth wasting decades of my life. Also I suppose some people feel like they have no choice due to financial circumstances... I'm lucky that wasn't my case.

[Montana One-Six]

I joined cuz I wanted to to learn things you cannot learn outside the military and also be ready to defend and stand up for my country in case I have to.

<removed>

Edited December 28, 2022 by SansVarnic
Removed content.

[SansVarnic]

-= Topic Cleaned =-

Please be respectful when commenting as well as keeping comments on topic. You know the rules please follow them.

[airborne spoon]

On 12/27/2022 at 12:43 PM, wasab said:

I would go do army only if i wish to make it a career. if you are joining just to pick up some skills and then leave for the civilian sectors, i dont think the military path is the most effective means to do this. 

 

If you want to make it a career tho, United States military is pretty sweet. they pay for your housing, either having you living on base or giving you BAH allowance which is tax free.

 

Military also hands out pensions at mere 20 years of service. This means if you go in at 18, you can claim pension at age 38 and retire which is insane. Some people may say it is not enough to live off of which is true if you never move up in ranks which is kinda impossible when you have 20 years in the army. 

 

for example, you can go ROTC, have the army pay for your college education and commisioned into the army as a O-1 Liuetenent. If you stayed in the army for 20 years, you WILL either reach the rank of Colonel or you will be booted and kicked out. it is a do or dont, so either you make it or you will be dropped. At the rank of colonel, your pension is basically 50% of your highest salalry which at todays money, it is roughly 60k per year. 

 

To match that passive income, if you follow the 4% rule, you will need a whopping 1.5 million dollars saved up in your 401k by the age 38 to match that military pension. this is like 3k per month in 401k contributions until you are age 38. insane right?

 

Furthermore, if you max out your military TSP(military version of 401K) then by age 59, you would have your 60k military pension + whatever your TSP is + your social security. that is easily 200K+ passive income per year in todays money plus a nestegg in the millions at age 59.

 

In terms of housing, I live in NYC. rent here is riddiculus. If you are stationed here as a O-3 Captain, which usually requires 4 years in the army as an officer to reach this rank, your cost of living BAH allowances(all tax free) + salalry easily translates into $130k in total compensation per year

 https://militarypay.defense.gov/calculators/rmc-calculator/

 

so if you joined the army at 18, do your 4 years of college, graduate and be commission as an officer at 22 and become captain at 26 AND stationed in high cost of living area like NYC, your total income is $130k per year with 55k of that being tax advantage. This means you are literally earning equivilent of 150k+ civilian job that does not have any tax advantage whatsoever. Add the pension on top of it, this is just insane amount of money. 

As a single E7 I'll be making enough to live off of when i retire here in a few months. I already live on basically 1/2 months pay just because i don't buy much stuff. But most enlisted have at least 1 ex wife (striper they married to get out of the barracks) and a few kids they have to pay for which means after retirement they still need to get another job because their dependapotamus wife is always a MLM jobless bum 

In 2024 I'm gonna go to school with the GI bill in San Francisco, so I'll be collecting the highest BAH in the country and I'll be crashing at my cousins house for next to nothing and that BAH is all tax free so it will be quite a nice addition to my investment accounts.

[wasab]

6 hours ago, airborne spoon said:

Snip

Smart

[Isuck Assimov]

<removed because political content in a thread about military, my bad>

[Montana One-Six]

8 hours ago, Assimov said:

I didn't join the military because of the high number of literal nazis in german military.

Right wing extremism is a serious problem in the military that i'm sure is not exclusive to germany.

Every year we have news reports about right wing soldiers stealing weapons and ammunition and horribly racist and antisemitic 'jokes' being shared within units.

https://www.economist.com/1843/2022/10/21/how-right-wing-extremists-infiltrated-germanys-armed-forces

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/11/1142141125/the-rise-of-extremism-in-germanys-military

(On top of the rampant misogyny, machismo and general abuse)

This is probably gonna be deleted again, anyway this as a whole could be summarized as tell me you haven't been in the military without telling me you haven't been in the military.

 

So just because some are bad the whole service is and also full of it? I know and worked with a lot of German soldiers and they aren't even close to what you claim. It is true that generally military services are more right leaning but not to the degree you are claiming. The thing is that it often is more an issue of the absence of left leaning people because of their general stance on the military and wars. I went to College/University before joining the military and that's what I noticed and quiet a few people I know from College and University were like what you are joining the military I would never. About the stealing I don't know but again a handful of people are doing something bad and now the whole service is like that?

 

Abuse is not tolerated at all but people often seem to confuse how soldiers are disciplined in the military with abuse which are totally different things. Anything that is happening in the military form top to bottom is within regulation and any soldier that has the feeling he is abused has the right to report that. Talking about NATO militaries. Misogyny is also punished pretty bad if it is reported and true. Some dudes from basic were catcalling on a female soldier and the DI punished the whole class for it. I also wouldn't call it machismo but sure soldiers are taught and trained to be strong, confident, dominant,... because those are traits that are needed to win battles (which is the general purpose of soldiers).

 

Sure the military isn't for anyone but talking down on it (without actually knowing) because it is different to your believes and stating that as fact isn't the way.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Montana One-Six said:

This is probably gonna be deleted again, anyway this as a whole could be summarized as tell me you haven't been in the military without telling me you haven't been in the military.

 

So just because some are bad the whole service is and also full of it? I know and worked with a lot of German soldiers and they aren't even close to what you claim. It is true that generally military services are more right leaning but not to the degree you are claiming. The thing is that it often is more an issue of the absence of left leaning people because of their general stance on the military and wars. I went to College/University before joining the military and that's what I noticed and quiet a few people I know from College and University were like what you are joining the military I would never. About the stealing I don't know but again a handful of people are doing some bad shit and now the whole service is like that?

 

Abuse is not tolerated at all but people often seem to confuse how soldiers are disciplined in the military with abuse which are totally different things. Anything that is happening in the military form top to bottom is within regulation and any soldier that has the feeling he is abused has the right to report that. Talking about NATO militaries. Misogyny is also punished pretty bad if it is reported and true. Some dudes from basic were catcalling on a female soldier and the DI punished the whole class for it. I also wouldn't call it machismo but sure soldiers are taught and trained to be strong, confident, dominant,... because those are traits that are needed to win battles (which is the general purpose of soldiers).

 

Sure the military isn't for anyone but talking down on it (without actually knowing) because it is different to your believes and stating that as fact isn't the way.

I want to know why people did or didn't join the military. 

 

If that user believes there are Nazis in the military for his country and that is something the reason he didn't join that military then that is his reason. 

 

If people perceive the military to be one way and its reality is another, that's okay. 

Is the military full of Nazis that eat babies? Idk but if that's the perception of someone and that's the reason they decided to not join then that's the reason they decided to not join. 

 

 

[Isuck Assimov]

< removed by moderation >

[Stahlmann]

A friend of mine joined the Bundeswehr and he absolutely loves it there. He gets an insane payday even though he's not even an officer yet and gets to travel around the world (so far he luckily hasn't been sent to any war zones)

 

I personally can't imagine joining up. I don't like travel, i'm not athletic and i hate blindly following orders or "military discipline" in general. Plus i'm pretty happy with my current normie job. Since Germany put conscription on hold a few years before i was of age, i didn't have to do that or find a way around it.

 

Still, i respect those who want to do it. And like my friend has proven to me; it has a lot of benefits like early retirement, good pay, etc. But it also comes with risks, so it's perfectly understandable why one wouldn't want to do it.

[BetteBalterZen]

I joined the Danish military, what we call Værnepligten. Værnepligten is a 4 months period with military, first aid, and NBC training. I think it's called conscription in English.

I joined up because I needed a kick in the ass, as we say it in Danish. I did not have a job, I was lazy, things like that, so I joined up to kick start myself into real adult hood life, and I'm so glad I did. Right after the military, I started on my IT supporter education and today I'm done and have been a full time IT supporter at KPMG for 1.5 years. 

Life is now good, and the military really started this

I can and I will recommend the military for all!

[Stahlmann]

15 minutes ago, BetteBalterZen said:

I joined the Danish military, what we call Værnepligten. Værnepligten is a 4 months period with military, first aid, and NBC training. I think it's called conscription in English.

I joined up because I needed a kick in the ass, as we say it in Danish. I did not have a job, I was lazy, things like that, so I joined up to kick start myself into real adult hood life, and I'm so glad I did. Right after the military, I started on my IT supporter education and today I'm done and have been a full time IT supporter at KPMG for 1.5 years. 

Life is now good, and the military really started this

I can and I will recommend the military for all!

There are a lot of people who don't know what to do after school. I can see how a few months or a year of military service can help people start out their life as an adult.

[BetteBalterZen]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

There are a lot of people who don't know what to do after school. I can see how a few months or a year of military service can help people start out their life as an adult.

Yup exactly mate

[DeerDK]

Danish here. I got out of doing my conscription time by having asthma. It was fine. I was planning to do a volunteer year in Germany, so not having to be stuck in a trench for 4 months was very befitting for my plans. It made me able to sit in a hole in Germany instead (I was doing archeological work) 

[VirusDumb]

I applied for the cadets training in 2020 (around jan-feb before covid made it in India) but wasn't physically fit enough at the time to make it, I come from a lineage starting with my great grandfather, my grandpa, my dad and some of my uncles and 2nd cousins are/were either in the army or work/ed for the government.

 

Now physically I'm worse, and I don't want to work for the government, if you've been to any office of the Indian government, you'd know why, I want to learn how to code for games and probably move out of the country and work as programmer or a game dev.