Was choosing your branch of service everything you thought it would be? Did you expect more or less?

I was not sure whether to join the Army or the Navy. I grew up in Germany and was awed watching paratroopers jump, and terrified as well as a 7 year old. But I also loved being on the ocean.
My dilemma was solved when I reached the recruiting offices, and the Navy office was closed.
I loved being in the Army and was proud of my unit and what we accomplished. But Viet Nam ended, and the new mentality instilled in newer officers was horrendous - we were losers and did not not know to fight, etc. Morale was horrendous and there serious riffs going on that eroded morale even further. The high command fostered these misguided policies, so the younger officers had no choice but to follow the mandates of their superiors.
Getting out of the Army was worse. Gone were my buddies-but many of them were gone by then anyway. No support and the VA was disinterested except by default. My doctor on 7th Avenue in NY was a perennially drunk German castoff from World War 2, probably from the Operation Paperclip generation brought over to keep the Russians from getting them. When they closed that clinic, the VA threw out all of our records, which was documented by the local tv news crew. Now because the VA threw them out, they can not refer to them which causes me additional problems.
So, while the Army was great, the incredibly obtuse and criminally negligent policies formulated by our alleged brethren in the puzzle palaces at the time destroyed hundreds of thousands of us as we tried to cope with our experiences, and when Agent Orange was finally recognized, we learned of so many of those we served with died prematurely, their families were devastated, and it was not uncommon for our children to be born with defects. The abject and criminal wanton indifference to human suffering of us veterans and our families helped lead to the extensive number of suicides on a daily basis, which the VA has estimated by culling such information from only selected states - others estimate the suicide number as double the official VA estimate. Surprise, surprise. So while there a great many dedicated and equally frustrated VA employees, there are others who continue to champion outmoded thinking, wildly inaccurate economic models, and deadly medical interpretations leading to continuous and devastating denials of benefits.
Vets-Help was formed to tackle these massive challenges. Being a good grunt with a bad ear I do not know when to quit, and fortunately I have learned to use my bad ear as a BS deflector. Some days it gets a real workout.
Good luck to all - keep track of all your records as you go through your journey, and remember the old guard is working hard to help safeguard you and yours. I found my responsibility to my troops as an NCO has only gotten stronger over the years.

I was quite satisfied with my decision to join the United States Army. I didn't get all the crap most people do. I guess that goes along with having a brother who is a recruiter. Lol

My cousin was a Major in the Army and told me he'd kick my ass if I joined the Army. Dad was a Navy man...ended up in the USAF because they got me out of there the quickest

In 1990 I originally planned to join the Navy as my Mother was AD Navy at the time and I wanted to follow in her foot/boot steps. However, for some reason the recruiter told me not to really go out for anything a man would go for because it would limit me and anyone else who wanted that particular job. I found this offensive to my 21 year old brain and promptly went and requested my Mother meet me for lunch. At the time she was a MA instructor at Fort McClellan in AL. My Mother and the Chief went toe to toe and Mom told me if I still wanted to go Navy, the Chief would take my packet. I didn't, and joined the AF in 1991 instead. I stayed with the AF for almost 12 years and loved many aspects of it. In 2008, I joined the Navy reserves, and in 2013 I earned my commission. Like several others have mentioned, you make your way in the service and your experiences are what you make out of it. I love both branches of service and admire anyone who stays.

I wanted to be a Soldier from the time I was 5 years old, more or less in tribute/footsteps of my grandfather who served in WWII and the Korean War. When I was a senior in HS, I applied for and received a nomination to West Point but due to a very large number of applicants and nominations that year ('83-'84), I was not selected. So I went to a community college for my freshman year and then applied for and was awarded a 3-yr ROTC scholarship to the University of Florida, but after my sophomore year I got burned out on school, gave up the scholarship and went home to figure things out. While home after work one day the Army recruiter called the house to speak to my younger brother who had just graduated the previous year and as he was not home, she and I talked about the Army, and I know she was salivating as she had a HS grad with an interest in the Army and I agreed to meet with her. We talked, I took the ASVAB, they really wanted me at this point as I was a Grad-"A" with high scores lol. Went and took the physical, initially no tanks so I settled on MP with first duty assignment guaranteed to be Italy, but ROTC Command got wind and wanted their scholarship money back, so had to pay that back first and then do a contract "ReNo". This time there were tanks along with a cash bonus, so I snapped it up, was in the DEP for 4 1/2 months and only thing I ever regretted was not "seeing" everything I was qualified for before choosing, although my heart was set on being a Tanker and never regretted that decision for one minute, 26-years later I retired and couldn't have been more honored and proud of my service to this country of ours!!

I only had a brief time as an enlisted guardsman and an even shorter tour as a 2Lt in the active duty Army Nurse Corps, but I still feel you get out what you put in. The branch mission differences are the only real variable. As an older sedentary recruit of 29, Army basic about killed me. As a 34 year old 01, my physical contribution was simply not enough. But serving with great officers and enlisted personnel made the five and a half years worthwhile.

I believe most people with an open mind will not regret their choice. I'm in a joint command now and have all services in my unit. While we have different terms for the same things, we have the same mentality; get the job done, do it right, and move on to the next task. Each service has their good and bad, but we all sacrifice the same.

However, I do have a funny story from when I was recruiter. I had a young lady who Signed up for the Army but decided against shipping off. A couple of weeks later she showed up in the Navy office. She ended up joining the navy, but for several months before she shipped off, she would harass us in the recruiting station with Army/Navy jokes. She actually got the point where I told her to leave and if I she continued we have words with her recruiter and bar her from the station. Anyways, about 3-4 months later she came back in her full white uniform, infornt of all the new DEP's in the Navy station and walked into the Army office and pronounced "Screw the Navy!" Intrigued, I sat her down and asked her to explain the change of heart. She told me that they made her Join with an open Contract for 4 years. She also explained how they made her a BM (Boatswain's mate) and would send her to Bahrain. She then wanted me to get her out of the Navy. I laughed and told her to have a good day/4 years.

Being in my 20's when I joined, my choice was eyes wide open. I figured that was I was getting into was going to be tough either way. I chose the Army, and then later it chose me. I never had any regrets as far as what branch.

I enlisted in the Navy, because of the Nuclear Power program. I was a scientist and had been working in Nuclear Power research in college, so this was a perfect fit for me.

In hindsight, there are a lot of amazing things that all the services and all the branches of each service do, but for what I knew at the time, it was totally the right move...

More, like all civilians I thought I would be limited more to what my job description said. Army is big green but that means plenty of different stuff to do. After numerous deployments, one of my former medics finally got to do his cush time in a hospital and then went CA.

If I could change one thing more living in wild and less tied to bases. I want to chase the enemy for days and get resupllied by helicopter. I didn't get enough. I find the chase to be enough of a motivator to overcome the suck.