Thinking about enlisting? PM me for some things you need to know...

[Supersapper]

Hi,

I hope this day finds you well and healthy. To begin, I have served for over 18 years and am proud of my service. I'm getting older, but in many ways I enjoy watching new Soldiers do great and wonderful things for our country. I am glad that we live in a time where our Soldiers are appreciated, valued and whose committment is respected. Also, this is important to note: I am NOT a recruiter.

Forever gone, I hope, are the days where we get off planes and are cursed or booed because of service. I have friends who remember those days.

In the spirit of that, I still serve and have seen many Soldiers who were lost in bewilderment over things they were or were not told prior to signing on the dotted line for service. Things that made them feel as though they were not appreciated, but now are stuck in the committment or that they would not have signed up if they knew beforehand.

If you are prior service, the Guard and Reserves are NOT like active duty...there are many things you may be used to on AD that you won't have in the Guard.

If you have never served before, the military is a different sort of animal than a regular job, with a different set of requirements.

In either event, please feel free to PM me if you are considering signing up. You will no doubt be given the good things you can do for the country...let me just give you the other side of the coin: the things that may make you think carefully when you sign up. Transparency is what they used to call it.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I served one full enlistment in the Army Reserve and I never regretted signing up. We got to travel OCONUS a lot for AT and I did a full deployment in GTMO that was quite an experience. I didn’t join for benefits per se, but later on my GI Bill paid for most of my degree.

I always tell people to go for it.

[Supersapper]

I wasn't saying not to do it...there are many benefits. I just want to make sure that when someone signs up, there are as few surprises as possible. Ironically, it would help retention, since people wouldn't say they weren't warned.

[Skip_Dog]

The military is becoming more "woke" every day. Please pass that along to those that pm you.

Yes I have served.

[johnthomas]

I served 6 years in the RA and 8 in the NG as a Retention NCO. Retention is a tough gig. Several factors are in play. Economy, command support, family and job satisfaction are a few. Almost every veteran I know has good and bad things to say about the military but would not trade what they learned for anything. Much of what I am today is because of the military.

[denpython]

My nephew just graduated from coast guard boot camp. My other one is an officer in the Marine Reserve.
No problemos. Thanks

[Snoopy47]

I observed that the reserves is not for the young looking to get a footing in life.

1) You don't vest any education benefits until you are put on deployments and active duty.
2) Yes, there is $4500 a year in tuition assistance, but you can get that working at McDonald's and Starbucks too.
3) There will be conflicts that can derail younger soldiers with work and school. These conflicts come at the last minute and many times at the end of it a soldier will get spun up for a deployment, put off school, quit a seasonal job and then have the deployment canceled.

Active duty is the way to go. Even at worst, if it sucks, and is nothing you wanted your initial enlistment is not a huge time investment in your life. Then you walk away with the ability to basically get through a bachelor program.

Reserves, well, you are on the hook for 8 years, which is 1/3 of an entire career. By time you figure out the conflicts you still have 6 years left.

I'm not saying you can't have a 1 weekend a month 2 weeks a year experience in the Reserves. I'm saying it's not guaranteed, and if that's what you need and your life doesn't fit in a high OPTEMPO reserve unit you can be in a world of hurt.

But, if you just do 3 ish years Active you come out with the GI Bill, and a better ability to assess what the military has to offer you longer term.

You can spend all 8 years in the reserves and still not have vested any GI Bill or VA Benefits, and all you come out of it in the end is an 8 year part time job that constantly derailed your attempts to attend college, and now your nearly 30.

[Supersapper]

Thanks everyone for the input. This is also being used for the posterity of it and for info purposes for any who would sign up.

Good or bad, by all means mention it, but I'm going on the idea that we want to have all of the things that recruiting isn't telling folks.

But good experiences are good for the positive side too.

[middleofnowhere]

Is this like a grindr thing? Looking for a good time, PM op for details?

Seriously, I’m sure your heart is in the right place, but c’mon man...

[Endless]

Hi,

I hope this day finds you well and healthy. To begin, I have served for over 18 years and am proud of my service. I'm getting older, but in many ways I enjoy watching new Soldiers do great and wonderful things for our country. I am glad that we live in a time where our Soldiers are appreciated, valued and whose committment is respected. Also, this is important to note: I am NOT a recruiter.

Forever gone, I hope, are the days where we get off planes and are cursed or booed because of service. I have friends who remember those days.

In the spirit of that, I still serve and have seen many Soldiers who were lost in bewilderment over things they were or were not told prior to signing on the dotted line for service. Things that made them feel as though they were not appreciated, but now are stuck in the committment or that they would not have signed up if they knew beforehand.

If you are prior service, the Guard and Reserves are NOT like active duty...there are many things you may be used to on AD that you won't have in the Guard.

If you have never served before, the military is a different sort of animal than a regular job, with a different set of requirements.

In either event, please feel free to PM me if you are considering signing up. You will no doubt be given the good things you can do for the country...let me just give you the other side of the coin: the things that may make you think carefully when you sign up. Transparency is what they used to call it.

18 years? Why didnt you do 20-40 years full active duty and get that earned retirement benefit at 20 like a lot of us have?

At 10 years I told all folks under me it’s **** or get off the pot time and absolutely do not take the 15 year REDUX.

And folks full active duty is the way to go. I don’t like the new retirement system in place now. That’s a major con for me. I would still do it again in a heartbeat though. If you’re young and single then travel the world on Uncle Sams dime.

If you have a bad command your tour will be crap. If you have an awesome command your tour is typically great and you will want an extension. You see this in every service. Just an FYI.

[Milsurp1]

[Endless]

[VictorFranko]

Is this like a grindr thing?

Ugh, the grinder, in boot camp, I left a lot of sweat on that expanse of asphalt.

[Snoopy47]

Ugh, the grinder, in boot camp, I left a lot of sweat on that expanse of asphalt.

I think he was referring to someone else leaving their sweat on your asphalt.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I forgot to mention one thing that was bewildering during Basic Training.

“Exodus.”

After arriving, spending a couple weeks in purgatory aka reception, and getting somewhat acclimated to “Red Phase” BCT, they told us we were going home for the Holidays!!

Huh?

Having to arrange travel in the middle of BCT when we are getting constantly yelled at and smoked really sucked. Traveling across country in a completely unadorned Class A uniform, being allowed to revert to lazy civilian eating and sleeping habits for 2 weeks, and then returning to BCT to finish the training cycle was misery such as I had never known.

Of course it is great to spend the Holidays with family, but all I got from everyone was “WTH are you doing here? We thought you joined the Army! Did you get kicked out?”

Our return to our BCT company was marked by newfound fury from the Cadre to torment us. It was like starting all over again, except everyone was dumber and fatter than when we left.

Some recruits were allowed to stay behind. They were supervised by non-cadre junior enlisted soldiers and did mindless details for the entire two weeks.

Being Private Nobody, I was never privy to the Army’s grand strategy with Exodus, but none of it made sense to me.