What did you think the military would be like before enlisting, and how has it changed after?

Welcome to the new Army Private! Grab your stress card, line up for your monthly feel good counseling, and never feel the wrath of a good smoke session! Oh sorry, I forgot to call you Private First Class. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings. If I did, well there goes my career! (Being sarcastic of course. LOLZ)

All I knew of the military came from reading Beetle Bailey comics. Thus every day brought surprises

I agree. When I first joined the Air Force I bled blue... but after countless irrelevant training classes, too much desk jockey paperwork, lack of a sense of teamwork, leadership who doesn't seem to care about anything with the mission as long as they get ahead... its turned more into a civilian job. It is hard to say but almost makes me miss the structure, and discipline of basic training. But that doesn't change how I do what is expected of me or how I view what I'm doing. I couldn't agree more!

I went through Basic/AIT at Ft Leonard Wood in 1990; several of the SSGs and SFCs were Vietnam era NCOs, the 1SGs and SGMs were definitely Vietnam vets- it was exactly what I expected. I remember my Drill Sgt on pick-up day yelling, "If you joined my Army for college money you need to get the f*** out now or I will kill you before these next eight weeks are over" I cant imagine that being said today in any service.

The biggest change I've seen is how much more technically savvy the combat arms branches, especially the Infantry & Combat Engineers, have gotten; the physical hardness will always be the same but the amount of knowledge needed by these guys to survive on the modern battlefield is much higher than it was 25 years ago.

I agree with your assessment. While I was in, I watched basic training change. There were these things called stress cards. If a person can't handle the stress of training, why are they there? Nothing can fully prepare you for combat, but a simulation to that environment helps. There is nothing wrong with wanting to better ones self. Just don't forget what we are here for, in the first place. Those there for a paycheck are in for a rude awakening, if and when they are deployed.

I was looking for something different, a greater purpose. I actually found what I was looking for. By the time Basic training ended I asked the 1SG if I could sign up for 20! So, for me, I knew that is where I wanted to be. Thank you for your service.

Pretty Much what I expected before, during and after 21 years in the Navy. Plenty of Different Motivations but I came in past Zumwalt and he saw the early trend and continued and emphasized it as did those that followed. A Technical Navy full of Technicians, Engineers and Scientists with which I served with the Finest. Literal Rocket Scientist, Satellite/Computer/Telecommunications Engineers, Nuclear Engineers, Aerospace Engineers and my Shipmates lower down in the Ranks some of the Finest and Most Skilled Technicians Ever.

I moved in with my Dad a few months prior to him retiring from the Marines. Sure I saw Military movies but nothing first hand. He was a retiring (E-7) Crew Chief in an empty hanger in Millington, TN. Maybe 10 guys "working" in a building the size of a football field. Went to his official retirement party and there was probably 20-25 people there. It was a low key thing. Couple days later went to his unofficial retirement party with his friends. 80 drunk ass people, mostly Marines. That was it. My entire exposure to Military life.

He was pissed when I went Army and joined the Paratroopers. I had absolutely no fucking idea what I was getting myself into when I joined. I just knew I needed to do something with my life and I wanted a challenge. 24+ years later, I too retired but as an E-8.

It was incredible how much the Army changed while I was in. I remember going to Basic Training in Fort Leonard Wood, and getting smoked several times a day, getting screamed at all the time, and having to keep my nose in my smart-book after finishing chow. A few years later I went back to Leonard Wood for Sapper School, and everything was different. The Drill Sergeants weren't yelling, I didn't seen entire Company's getting smoked, and there were TV's inside the chow hall... and Privates were watching them.
It was like stepping into The Twilight Zone or something.

I thought it would be like some of the show I watched as a kid, I was close, but no cigar. It was totally different.