Ask A Veteran: What Can I Tell A Young Person Who Wants To Enlist?

I may be mistaken but there seems to be a small disconnect in this article. The respondent appears to assume that the teacher wants to talk his kids out of enlisting. I didn't get that sense from the teacher's question. However, his advice to be cautious of the recruiter's intentions is spot on. They are going to be driven by their own agenda more than the applicant's. Still, recruiters would be foolish to entirely ignore the prospect's needs. They are, after all, negotiating a contract and if they do not arrive at a meeting of the minds, the new recruits may perform badly enough, complain enough, and even have the contract abrogated, thus reflecting poorly on the recruiter's performance ratings. Thus, in answer to the teacher's question, I suggest inviting veterans and active service personnel to talk to the whole class and answer their questions about their service. The true intent of the meeting can be hidden so that the guests don't feel compelled to hide their true responses for fear of interfering in the recruiting process. Lastly, for anyone concerned with getting rich, that's easy to answer. We don't/didn't serve to get rich, not in money, that's for sure...

I would ask why they want to join and what is it they want to accomplish in the military and life. I would be honest about pitfalls and my own career.

I would tell them to look at the big picture when selecting occupations. An example would be: 88M. People read “Motor Transport Operator” and think ‘oh, I’ll be a truck driver and that’s it? I can’t bring that to the civilian world.’ You’re not going to write ‘I was a truck driver’ your resumé, are you? 88Ms are logisticians, they are managers, trainers, leaders- not to mention exposure to Microsoft Office; they are lots more than ‘truck drivers’ and do a lot more than driving. That’s the uphill climb recruiters face when talking to civilians about jobs because civilians read what the job is and they have that narrow picture in their head of what that job does- like an 88M driving a truck. One has to think of the skills these jobs bring to the table.