What do you think your military enlistment proved?

20 years proved that the Military as a whole went soft. When did catering to Soldiers needs become mandatory? The recruiters now just bring in individuals to make there quota. Basic training is laughable, AIT is subpar. The quality of Soldiers now is lacking the mental and leadership qualities which the military needs so much of. I am glad I retired when I did.

I cant live anyone’s else’s story. All are valid.

But this is mine—
I would have to say is this-
Since it was a 8 year reserve obligation, benefits and compensation package from the get.

How little( below poverty limits annually) you could pay someone, how limited the benefits(no health care insurance), compared the things you could expect them to deal with assigning them after bootcamp to an active duty guided missile frigate for years, which would be 100% operational qualification deployment readiness 24/7 PQS for all watch stations, exposures to the same exact things, just not as long, so you could not actually adjust completely before you were sent home, side by side the full time guys who were undermanned on the ship...then fortitude to pull it all together and fight for even a humanitarian HUDVASH Voucher, at VA Oakland who was denying you every benefit known to man, while they were being investigated by Congress in 2015 for negligence, as referenced in all the news stories.

If it proved anything, and I'm not sure it did, it's that the decade/society/family I grew up in managed to instill in me the concept of responsibility to my country. I like to believe that. My father was a WWII and Korea vet, a lifetime soldier. I grew up in the 50s and early 60s and joined up in 1967.
So responsibility and a desire to serve my country sounds like a reasonable, even honorable action until you remember the draft was grabbing us up as soon as we graduated high school. Whether I signed up on my own or got drafted, I was going into the military and, you bet, Vietnam.
Maybe all my enlistment proved was I saw the future and decided to grab it with both hands instead of delaying or running away.

I enlisted not to prove anything. I wanted the money 449.00 a month lol and the Army made me buy 150.00 worth of stuff to put in a draw for inspection lol. I wanted to help my mother and I wanted to travel. So I got what I wanted I was in the new Army when they put men and women to train together I did pretty good. When I look back I could have made 449 at the job I had at the store, but I would have missed out on the sisterhood and brother hood that I felt in Graph or kitzegen or w reed. Like the author said at least in my case after 10 years it was time to go..I made a choice to be as dedicated to my two small then sons as I was to the Army. I chose before being made to choose. When I look at them 30 some years latter I did right. I guess over 30 years latter being able to reciet the oath that I took on July 5, 1980 @ 9 pm verbatim and still mean it proves my memory is not as bad as I thought. I thought anout that oath Jan 6. 2021 while watch people that called themselves patriot storm the capital and make a noose on the national mall to hang the vp..I thought about defending against foreign and domestic enemies smh. I work on CH and the sight was sad..that some vets would attack our government and forget their oat smh

Proved?
i guess it proved that i love my country and love it so much, I am more than willing to give my life for it, not the corporate lobby monopoly capitalism oligarchy that uses the race sovereignty fraud to exploit us but the union of the people whose government is the people for the sake of the people, all the people, not any caste class or ethnic identity but the union of all the others like myself that choose to live that one inalienable indivisible humanity that has joined us together for the welfare and success of all god's living creatures.

SCOTUS McCulloch v Maryland 1819, and its ruling that the Union is not a union of states nor any other abstract set of things but the living conscious union of the living breathing humanity we are, indivisible, inalienable humanity which was and still is the legal basis for the sacrifice of 400 thousand US Americans giving their lives between 1860-1865 and the uncounted thousand residents of the rebellious states who also fought aganst the rebellion and sacrificed everything to save the union for their children and their childrens children.

as that union of the people we amended our basic law to make the US responsible for defending and preserving for all the equality guranteed in the constitution with its 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, adding the 19th amendment so that everyone irrespective of difference is fully united.

IMHO our enlistements prove ". It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

and right now that existential threat of Dred Scott v Sanford and the Confederate fraud it gave birth to in 1858-1860 remains our prime existential threat today giving us science denial and fraudulent ideologies of class warfare and cultural hegemony and ethnic hatred whose purpose is sovereignty of those zombie undead corporate monopolies used by the oligarchy wannabees instead of our sacred , god given union of the people.

that is the threat we face - much as general eisenhower warned

Thanks to my enlistment in the Army from 1987 to 2008, I was able to stand on my own two feet, provide for my family, get a college education, and succeed in life.

I graduated High School early and started collage at St Bonavenure, a local school. Just prior to Christmas break, my counselor wanted to know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life so that she could construct and educational program for me. Well Christmas break was over and I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was in the NY National Guard my last year of High School so I elected to go regular Army for three years. Well after a tour in Germany I was reassigned to St Boaventure to go to school part time and teach ROTC. I completed my first two years of school at government expense and was reassigned to Cryptology School for a year, then to the Army's Electronic Research Laboratory. I was really enjoying my schooling and military assignments so I reenlisted several times along with completing three masters degrees and a Doctoral Candidate, all at government expense. I was offered a Direct Commission but turned it down as I enjoyed the work I was doing. I was offered a position with DOD if I would retire. I retired after almost 21 years and spent another 15 years with DOD as a Program Manager. My enlistment proved that a Young man or women can make a Military Career a life long journey mostly enjoyable. No, I did not enjoy deployment to Korea or Vietnam but overall, I have no regrets, maybe one, not accepting the Direct Commission early in my military career.

Two time vietnam vet,26 years in the army ,US citizen since 1967 just proves what I knew all the time.. I Love the united States of America

It proved I was willing to serve my country in order to learn a new skill, pay off my college loans and make a few extra bucks!

It proved that, in 1968, I "beat the draft"! ("If you can't 'beat them', join them"!)