Posted on Sep 10, 2021
At this point, why would anyone want to serve in the military?
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Obama surrendered Iraq in a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq in 2012. Biden, not to be outdone, has not only surrendered Afghanistan in a matter of week, but surrendered it back to the very people we were fighting for the past two decades. For each individual who enlisted/commissioned after 9/11 or those who served in theatre post 9/11, it would seem the entire exercise was for not, and the United States government has no issue throwing away the sacrifices of veterans and service members if it makes for assumed beneficial and politically expedient ends. Knowing this, why would anyone choose to serve in the military? Amazon is paying for tuition and books for hourly employees now, so the GI Bill isn't a huge selling point. The government is on the verge of cramming down public healthcare and, if we are being honest, Tricare and VA healthcare aren't the best. And seeing as how only a fraction of those who serve will ever serve the entire 20 years to receive retirement, what are the benefits of service? And before anyone goes and says, "well, patriots choose to serve their country," let's remember that the military is currently labeling all with views to the right of Noam Chomsky white supremacists, radicals, and extremists, so it isn't as if they are trying to recruit the patriotic crowd.
Commission
9/11
Recruiting
Enlisted
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 39
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Same reasons people have been serving for years.
-Guaranteed paycheck
-Regular promotions
- Free Medical
- Free Dental
- SGLI
- Free housing
- Free food
-Tuition Assistance
- GI Bill
- Free Credentialing/Certification
- Dependant Medical coverage
- Space A travel
- Overseas assignments (being paid to see the world)
I really could keep going... The military is amazing...
-Guaranteed paycheck
-Regular promotions
- Free Medical
- Free Dental
- SGLI
- Free housing
- Free food
-Tuition Assistance
- GI Bill
- Free Credentialing/Certification
- Dependant Medical coverage
- Space A travel
- Overseas assignments (being paid to see the world)
I really could keep going... The military is amazing...
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SSG Russell Busicchia
I did not enlist for the pay and benefits. I knew going in that the pay was crap. I enlisted because I did not know what I wanted to do. My father was a MSG in the NY National Guard. for 19 Years I heard him say that he regretted not going RA, so I decided to enlist. I liked what I did and stayed in for 20 years.
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1SG Thomas Roman
When i joined at $76 a month and 3 hots and a cot, i don't think pay was high on my list of reasons. There is nothing free, those who serve earn every penny and benefit.
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LCpl Jeff Moore
Regular promotion was a joke once I hit E3 by the time I became available it was either frozen or so high on the score that even a maxed score with less then 5 years didn't stand a chance. While I seen pogs pick up rank like candy.
Ta was a joke when you deployed to the field so often or deployment schedule meant you where overseas half the semester. Never got to use Space A travel.
And the housing was a joke but guess you forgot what barrack life was like.
Right now as a federal employee my military times only counts towards leave hour and retirement. If I would of join DHS instead of the military I would still have that time and made close to 400k during that 4 year period vs 80k.
Hell I get zero preference points from the feds, while my coworker that was just a dependent who's husband was med separated in bootcamp for injuries gets 10 points.
For me the only reason to serve is a duty to serve or seeking adventure. Benefit are crap
Ta was a joke when you deployed to the field so often or deployment schedule meant you where overseas half the semester. Never got to use Space A travel.
And the housing was a joke but guess you forgot what barrack life was like.
Right now as a federal employee my military times only counts towards leave hour and retirement. If I would of join DHS instead of the military I would still have that time and made close to 400k during that 4 year period vs 80k.
Hell I get zero preference points from the feds, while my coworker that was just a dependent who's husband was med separated in bootcamp for injuries gets 10 points.
For me the only reason to serve is a duty to serve or seeking adventure. Benefit are crap
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SPC Joel Quey
SGT Joseph Gunderson
- No, not all jobs provide a guaranteed paycheck. Setting aside self-employed people, some people work on commission, or depend on tips for their paycheck.
- A lot of jobs that offer coverage still require the employee to pay for it. And over 1 in 10 employed people don't have coverage through work.
- Unless you're a Guard/Reservist, military provides housing
- College tuition as a benefit is pretty rare. It's starting to become more common though
- Overseas assignments are also rare in the private sector
- No, not all jobs provide a guaranteed paycheck. Setting aside self-employed people, some people work on commission, or depend on tips for their paycheck.
- A lot of jobs that offer coverage still require the employee to pay for it. And over 1 in 10 employed people don't have coverage through work.
- Unless you're a Guard/Reservist, military provides housing
- College tuition as a benefit is pretty rare. It's starting to become more common though
- Overseas assignments are also rare in the private sector
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The Trump administration actually negotiated the withdrawal from Afghanistan. All the presidential candidates in 2008 promised to leave Iraq within a few months of each other. The Army has successfully recruited and thrived for 225+ years prior to 9/11, this conflict is just one more conflict among two centuries of conflicts and there will be more ahead. When I joined in the 90s there was no major war and people still joined.
Tricare is still the best free health insurance out there. Even if the US eventually goes to a public health insurance system it will be years. It took forever to get the current health insurance in place, and that is paid for by individuals. It will be years before the US either gets a single payer health insurance program and longer till it gets a government paid system like Medicare for all.
Only a fraction do stay till retirement, but that fraction is 1 of 8. With the new Blended Retirement System people can still retire at 20 years or separate with their DOD matching their TSP. It's a very competitive retirement package compared to civilian employers.
Then there are the other benefits. You get 100% Tuition Assistance to a bachelor with assistance through a Masters plus credentialing assistance. Pretty decent pay once you put some time in, the ability to transfer your GI Bill, disability rating for basically just doing your job and getting older, veterans preferance for government jobs, travel to foreign places, chances to live in exotic locations (some less exotic), and all that with 30 days of paid vacation leave a year.
The 30 days of leave are what sold me when I joined in 1997, before any war, before the 9/11 GI Bill, before 100% Tuition Assistance, and back when E6s and below were living on food stamps. I think it's only gotten better since then
Tricare is still the best free health insurance out there. Even if the US eventually goes to a public health insurance system it will be years. It took forever to get the current health insurance in place, and that is paid for by individuals. It will be years before the US either gets a single payer health insurance program and longer till it gets a government paid system like Medicare for all.
Only a fraction do stay till retirement, but that fraction is 1 of 8. With the new Blended Retirement System people can still retire at 20 years or separate with their DOD matching their TSP. It's a very competitive retirement package compared to civilian employers.
Then there are the other benefits. You get 100% Tuition Assistance to a bachelor with assistance through a Masters plus credentialing assistance. Pretty decent pay once you put some time in, the ability to transfer your GI Bill, disability rating for basically just doing your job and getting older, veterans preferance for government jobs, travel to foreign places, chances to live in exotic locations (some less exotic), and all that with 30 days of paid vacation leave a year.
The 30 days of leave are what sold me when I joined in 1997, before any war, before the 9/11 GI Bill, before 100% Tuition Assistance, and back when E6s and below were living on food stamps. I think it's only gotten better since then
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Apparently being the Wolds Police is your idea of our military's purpose. I tend to go with Defending the US. Neither Iraq or Afghanistan are on our border
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SPC John Tacetta
SFC Bernard Walko - I really don't see Nigerian irregulars running across my back yard, and I don't think that's because SOCOM is on the ball. Perhaps you mean we need to protect corrupt governments ignoring the needs of their people so we can assure ourselves access to strategic resources.
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SFC Eric Harmon
SPC John Tacetta - I agree that most wars have been due to aggression against our allies, yet if we are treaty bound to respond it seems we would have to live up to that commitment. I would disagree that we started Afghanistan as the aggressor, it was a response to a specific act. Eliminating the training camps should have been enough though. If we were being completely honest we would also have gone after Saudi Arabia, but the geopolitical reality was against that. At heart I am an isolationist. Being policemen for the world is distasteful at best. At the same time we have to be realists. We will always remain engaged in the world and we will always have leaders that screw things up. I wish I had a better answer.
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SPC John Tacetta
SFC Eric Harmon - The Taliban had established themselves as the government of Afghanistan after a protracted civil war subsequent to the withdrawal of the Soviet Union. We chose to invade Afghanistan because its government refused to extradite Usama bin Laden who was being given refuge in the country at the time.
Hey, I was all for the initial invasion and only avoided reenlisting because of some prescient thoughts about how things could go sideways. The fact remains, they didn't want us there and we should have left as soon as Usama bin Laden exited the AO. Kick some ass, take some names and leave.
I often wonder how many trees we could have been grown here with all the water we poured onto those unquenchable sands.
Hey, I was all for the initial invasion and only avoided reenlisting because of some prescient thoughts about how things could go sideways. The fact remains, they didn't want us there and we should have left as soon as Usama bin Laden exited the AO. Kick some ass, take some names and leave.
I often wonder how many trees we could have been grown here with all the water we poured onto those unquenchable sands.
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SFC Eric Harmon
SPC John Tacetta - Again, I don't disagree. "Mission creep" is utter nonsense. There should have been clear goals.
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Service to the Nation is not about Politics, nor our leaders. It is about the ideal of Freedom and equality for all. Its not perfect yet and probably will never be, but you have to stand for something.
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SGM Bill Frazer
SGT Joseph Gunderson - Sorry I didn't look at your profile, but then if you are in anymore there is no bind on ethics for you is there.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
SGM Bill Frazer no. But my question wasn't intended to address my misgivings, per se. It was a general thought.
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People will continue to serve no matter the political/social climate. People served during Vietnam. Yes, many were drafted but many also volunteered. People served after Vietnam during the Ford and Carter Administrations. People continued serving during the Reagan Administration after the Khobar bombings. People served during George H.W. Bush Administration. People served during the Clinton Administration after the Somalia intervention in 1992-1993. As for benefits, thanks to VEAP (Veterans Education Assistance Program), I left college debt free. Thanks to a VA loan I was able to purchase a house with no/very small down payment. (This was before the housing boom and easy credit in the 1990s). The world isn't going to stop. Learn from your mistakes. If you're watching, you can make some fairly accurate predictions of what will happen next.
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Once again, how I Pray a Most Fervent Prayer; for all of the victims of 911. SGT Joseph Gunderson
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Service before self.
Some decided to serve after having very cushy lucrative careers. Look at most of AMEDD especially in the guard and reserves. Many lose money by going to drill and yearly required trainings. Deployments and mobilizations often are a financial loss. Why do it? Service before self. If not me then who?
In the end it’s about giving something back because you live in a country that gives so much without asking anything in return.
I personally have met some of the most amazing people and friends in the military and have a bond with them that I’ll never have with people in civilian life. You just can’t match it. It’s really about the person next to you.
Some decided to serve after having very cushy lucrative careers. Look at most of AMEDD especially in the guard and reserves. Many lose money by going to drill and yearly required trainings. Deployments and mobilizations often are a financial loss. Why do it? Service before self. If not me then who?
In the end it’s about giving something back because you live in a country that gives so much without asking anything in return.
I personally have met some of the most amazing people and friends in the military and have a bond with them that I’ll never have with people in civilian life. You just can’t match it. It’s really about the person next to you.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
I can agree that the comradery is something rarely found outside the military, and it's one of the few things I still carry with me after my service. But is friendship enough?
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MAJ (Join to see)
I know personally I wouldn’t have applied for the job I had now if I had not been in the military. I actually knew my current supervisor from serving with them and decided to take a transfer and haven’t regretted a second of it. If you know how to network you can achieve some great things by being in the military. SGT Joseph Gunderson
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Retired with just under 30 yrs in 2005. Just got off 2nd 179 day active duty TDY tour as retired recalled to help w/ covid crisis. Not the military it used to be.
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Somebody tell this fan of alternate right wing history that the Great W. did the Peace plan. Sure reminds we of what Nixon did in Nam and the orange wanna be dictator did in Afghanistan.
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Thank you brother Joseph, why is a good question and getting harder to see a reason with the WOKE indoctrination and all you have already mentioned brother.
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