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I have had this discussion with many of my Army buddies and gotten a variety of interesting responses. For a small number it was their chosen career from the first time they raised their right hand. For others, like me, it was gradual; the Army kept offering something too good to pass up, so you kept signing on the dotted line until you were suddenly a career Soldier and couldn't imagine doing anything else. I have met a few that made the leap after 9/11 and have been in ever since. So what is your story? When did you realize you were in it for the long haul?
Military Career
Retirement
Esprit de Corps
Time in Service
Service
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 23
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For me it was right after I had PCS to Fort Lewis, made the SFC list and my wife had announced she was pregnant all in the span of a couple months. Once my sequence number hit, and my daughter was born in the same month (ironic), I went to my career counselor to reup indef. The C zone bonus I received was just icing on the cake
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SGT (Join to see)
As sad as it sounds, I have never made this much money on the outside, nor had so many opportunities. I also have one of the coolest jobs in the Army also, that helps a lot!
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SFC Kevin Carpenter
I heard that, especially when you factor in BAH!! Best decision i ever made as well! Make it even better check out WHCA.
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CPT (Join to see)
What are these 'bonuses' you speak of? LOL
I watched the soldiers around me cash in on the bonuses being offered over the past decade but never managed to hit the window for myself.
I am not complaining, though. I've had some outstanding assignments over that period and wouldn't trade them for any of amount of bonus money (well, maybe that one they were offering SF). :)
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I enlisted not knowing fully what to expect or where I planned on going after basic. I learned in Basic that I loved the Army and how it was changing me. Somewhere towards the end of basic or the beginning of AIT I realized that I would be a "lifer". I always just tell everyone I drank the Army Kool-Aid in reception and by the end of basic I was hooked on that Kool-Aid.
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They must have fed me the weak Kool-Aid in basic, took 11 years for me to get addicted. =D
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Two years in. I realized I was thinking, talking, and rationalizing in the little doctrine my shamshield heart had absorbed. All my self-development was going toward what Uncle Sam said he wanted me to be. I then realized that I will only get out via death, disability, or longevity.
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Congratulations on figuring it out early, SSG Beutler. Most of us take longer. LOL
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<p>Sir,</p><p><br></p><p>Once I passed the 10 year mark I knew I was staying for a full ride or more, my mentality was the same as what I told many of my Soldiers when I was a retention NCO, if you look at the fact you have 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 years in and you say you are getting out, you are saying I just wasted all those years because you don't get any compensation form the military for it, once you are over that halfway hump you would be foolish to depart, because in reality you wasted all those years and have nothing really to show for it but some experience in a certain field, and you can get that working at 7-11 to be blunt.</p><p><br></p><p>And the other thing I used to hit them with, what job do you have lined up that will provide the same medical/dental/sick leave, etc. that you have with the military, if you don't look at those aspects as well especially in today's economy you are a fool.</p><p><br></p><p>I originally came in for the college money and was going to get out after my three year tour, fell in love with my job, kept re-enlisting every 2-3 years until I was at 11 years took a 4 year enlistment, came up as indef for my next one and signed it with no hesitation and stayed for 27 years before retiring.</p>
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You nailed it with your question to the people getting out. It is tough to find a comparable position on the outside with the same level of benifits unless you have gone all out with college and are in an MOS that translates to a civilian field.
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LTC(P) (Join to see)
SFC Cook,
The situation that you presented is one that has many options, all of which you must honestly weigh against each other based on what has the most value to you. I have seen a great SFC who is making the transition right now to Warrant and is extremely happy (message me if you want his info, he is just finishing WOC and was a 12yr SFC), and I have met folks who have stayed in for the wrong reasons and were miserable. The bottom line is that there is an obvious loss for the time that you have already committed to the Army if you leave. However, you have to personally balance that against the opportunity loss of not being around your family in the near future. If you stay it should be because your job still gets you excited, and you are happy with being in the Army. There are tons of rich people out there that hate their jobs and we spend too much time at work to be miserable. In the end it has to be a personal choice and yours is a balance of personal satisfaction, job satisfaction, and monetary loss (or gain depending on your next job). I would be interested as it has bearing on the next job if you get out, do you already have your Bachelors?
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I'd have to say sir that it was after my 2 and half/3 year mark when I got pinned on SGT in recruiting. My CSM came to me and told me that at the rate I am going, I could make E-8 within 10 years of that and be a E-8 at 32/33. I took that as a challenge and set my goals to do just that. The way ahead has slowed down, but I am still fighting for it.
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Keep striving SGT Roney. But remember, its not how quickly you get promoted but how well you perform at each new level.
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I would like to say that it was the moment that I signed on the dotted line, but that is far from the truth. It was two enlistments later, just prior to re-enlisting INDEF, when it became very evident that I was in it for the long haul. I was doing something that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was making a difference; not only in my life and the life of my family, but in the lives of my Soldiers and my Unit. I figured that as long as making a difference in those things rang true, this was going to be my profession. 23 years and still going...
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Well I decided that I was a soldier for life after my first duty station in fort wainwright Alaska. I was a young E-3 new to the army and about to deploy in the upcoming months and my NCO was very abusive verbally calling me all kinds of names to bring down my spirits and hope of make this a career but then I deployed didn't know my job and me as a person just the thought that being a commo guy and having fellow soldiers lives in my hands every time we left the wire killed me so I spent hours days months trying to prove my self to my company and battalion that I was a hard worker and valuable asset. but after my NCO left after I redeployed I decided in my head that I need to be a NCO of the newer generation to train and mentor them showing that they are our army future and that they can make a change by stepping up to the plate of Non Commissioned Officers and getting the army back to what the ones before us built it to be but after training my soldiers and seeing them adapt to any situation by thinking outside the box that was beneficial for others the feeling of my training that I past on to them was so great that having rank didn't even matter just the fact that I was changing peoples lifestyle and the army in such big way that all I care about till this day
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Great story, SGT Jackson. We need more young NCOs that see it the same way you do.
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I enlisted with every intention of moving on after completing 4 years.
I reenlisted the first time after realizing that both my wife and I were set to ETS just a month apart and had no real job prospects lined up. It was supposed to be an interim measure to pay the bills while she got established in a civilian career.
About 5 years in, we were getting divorced. Leaving the military had been 'our' plan, but I never actually had a plan for just me. Since I enjoyed it enough, and the math worked in my favor, the decision at that point was easy.
I reenlisted the first time after realizing that both my wife and I were set to ETS just a month apart and had no real job prospects lined up. It was supposed to be an interim measure to pay the bills while she got established in a civilian career.
About 5 years in, we were getting divorced. Leaving the military had been 'our' plan, but I never actually had a plan for just me. Since I enjoyed it enough, and the math worked in my favor, the decision at that point was easy.
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You are not the first person that has said they had a 'couples' plan that turned out to be all the other persons plan when the relationship went away. Glad it worked out for you!
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I actually got out for close to a year and I HATED it out there =) I realized I was a lifer when it dawned on me that I just plain didn't like life outside the military... I just didn't have that camaraderie, that sense of accomplishment that I needed. It's hard to find that out there..
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I had a break also . . . eight years. I was in the National Guard for the entire period and enjoyed it immensely. What drove me back to active duty was the lack of integrity in 'corporate America'. I quit two good paying, executive level jobs in a row because the owners were acting illegally and immorally. The last straw was when I turned one of them in for serious EPA violations and the authorities refused to investigate because it "wasn't worth their time and I was just a disgruntled former employee." Took me longer but I finally realized I didn't fit out there anymore either.
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SSG (ret) William Martin
CSM, I think NCOs should get a wooden rudius when they retire with 20 or more years to symbolize their separation from the military and their faithful service.
The Roman legionnaires and gladiators used wooden swords in order to practice.
One Roman term that it is known by is the Rudius.
This was a wood sword that was given to a gladiator to symbolize his freedom from the arena.
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I'm with you CSM Poll! I am at 27 total and will hit 20 active next December. Everyone keeps asking me when I'm going to hang it up and my reply is always "When I stop having fun."
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