Taken For Granted: What do you take for granted in the military?

Camaraderie, that esprit de corps.  Had the best friends in the Military.  True friends that had your back.  Don't get me wrong we all suffered the hurry up and wait but I miss the friendships.  I don't trust civilians like i did troops.

I agree with you SFC Merino. Serving in my opinion is very stressful but while your serving you wake up everyday already knowing what time you have to get up, where your going, what your doing, who is going to be there, your outfit is already picked for that day, and unlike civilian life you don't have to think about things of that nature. I liked always having those things decided for me to an extent. Also I love that the military always has a code of conduct and rules that stop people from looking like dirty slobs that don't care about anything and talking like they have no common sense. I guess there were some people that had no common sense lmao but they didn't talk like it at least... for the most part. ;) I have had many problems with talking to people since my service since for the most part we don't hold ourselves to the same standards. The only people that understand are usually soldiers and they were only supportive when I was first hurt. The only people that understand soldiers and veterans are often other soldiers and veteran. That's why I am pro RallyPoint! My little brother was hurt in Iraq (open head injury from an explosion and tons of shrapnel all over his body). I will be telling him to join the next time we speak for sure.

I see people doing nothing and getting pensions. No system is perfect.

I agree that without a pension may people will leave due to no real incentive for a smaller raise if they can get a better job outside the military. I do think due to the current state of the economy this helps people make their decision as well as pensions are very rare.

I think for people with 10 or more years they have nothing to feel sorry for except not to retire and get compensation for all that sacrifice.

I should have used my education benefits a lot sooner than I did, but I spent my first 8 years in service partying. I am proud to say now that by the end of the year I will complete my bachelors in accounting, and being working on my masters.

Good points, SGT Mason.

Learning how to shoot is not just for the military, after all.

Exactly MSG, there are a lot of vets opening businesses for training civilians to shoot. All these shootings have your everyday citizens wanted to be able to protect themselves and they are willing to pay for the training we in the Army get for free. Granted some MOS's train more in depth but I would say everyone in the Army has a basic understanding of how to operate a firearm.