If there was no military in place, there would be a LOT less animosity in the world, considering America's meddling with assassinations and training of contras and supplying weapons, etc in the affairs of others. Thus making them angry towards Americans in general instead of just the policy makers. Thus making them want to kill you.

You do not need recruiters. You have one of two things. Conscription or volunteer. Conscription when you are DIRECTLY UNDER ATTACK, and volunteer for some sort of emergency force. Thats what would be ideal.

Besides, like the Japanese General said in WWII, you could never invade the US, there would be a rifle over every hill! You guys love your extensive gun collections.

First off I will say that I am an Army veteran, so don't cufuse what i'm about to say as anything more then an attempt to add information to this thread, whith that said.

Military recruiters are the best salesman on the planet, and theres a reason for that, they have to be! consider what they are "selling" and the potential "customers" that is young kids( highschool) that are really not sure where to go after.

I was lied to by my recruiter, I passed the ASVAB with flying colors GT score of 114, I was told I'd have no problem obtaining the MOS I wanted, I was also told I would get guarenteed first duty station of choice, that didn't happen either.

Probllem is that the recruters don't generally tell the potential recruit that the MEPS has all the say, not the recruiter. Their just a friendly guide initialy then once you reach the meps, most are long gone with another notch in their belts. No disrespect ment to the OP, or anyone for that matter but I caution those deciding weather or not to join any of the arrmed forces to take what the recuiters say with a grain of salt unless of course it's written in their contracts.

It should also be noted that I am not anti military, or anything close I am proud of my service time and I am thankful to those who are and served this great country.

I don't understand why some of you feel the need to bash Juston simply for stating a few basic things about recruiting that are often misunderstood. This is a person speaking from personal experience about a job he is farmiliar with. He's not telling you how great the military is, or trying to talk people into joining. He was just saying that a lot of the rumors about recruiters or enlistment standards are untrue.

Of course no matter what he says there will always be someone to jump in and say "oh yeah, well I saw this or heard that" because it's impossible for some of them to believe anything but negativity when it comes to things such as this.

It is so hard to believe that recruiters are just regular guys with regular interests, and familys? It's just a job like any other in the military. Do you think these guys sit around the office laughing about how they trick kids into signing up? If you know anything about people you should know that if they truely don't want to do something, they won't. I'm sure a large majority of people currently serving walked in asking where to sign.

For those of you who insist all recruiters lie, they will do anything to get you to join all you need is a pulse, and so on, where do you get your information? I almost joined the Navy when I graduated high school (I decided last minute to go to photgraphy school instead)and I never felt that I was dealing with the kind of people a lot of you try and make these guys out to be. My recruiter never made extravigant promises nor did he try to glorify the military. He even made it very clear that it was unlikely I would get the job I was hoping for. I was perfectly healthy, 88 asvab, no criminal history, and when I backed out explaining that I was choosing a different path of course he wanted me to reconsider, but it no way did he badger me, lie, or beg me to get me to sign up. I know plently of other people who either tried to join and were not qualified, or who are currently serving, and I have never heard any of them speak negitivly about the recruiters they worked with.

For those of you who lost family and friends I am sorry. But remember no one forced them to join, and everyone who does join knows the risks of being in the military. People like Juston should not recieve the brunt of your anger over the choices our government makes. It's his job to help and guide people who want to join to make sure they not only get what they are looking for out of the military, but to educate them as well.

I also wanted to add.. The fact that anyone believes there's a such thing as an oral asvab makes me lol. If you can't pass the asvab, you can't get in the military, end of story.

Also.. for those of you that are aware, 90% or so of recruiters do not do so for a living. It's merely something they do for a few years before going right back to the original job they joined to do. I'm sure most of them do it not because they are gung-ho about it, but so they can take a few years off from being overseas and away from their spouses and children.

[edit on 19-6-2009 by Seyana]

[edit on 19-6-2009 by Seyana]

Content edited because of misunderstanding and ignorance.

Lesson learned.

[edit on 19-6-2009 by Whine Flu]

Speaking from direct experience...

When I was 18, I joined the Navy because I wanted to go into the special forces. I quit college (and sports which I played my whole life, and had a chance at going somewhere) because of aspirations of being the best and the baddest. I trained for over roughly 6 months, and got in the best shape of my life.

I told my recruiter specifically that I wanted the SEAL Source program(which automatically puts me into BUDS directly after boot camp) under the QM rate, and nothing else .

When I went and signed up at the MEPS station I had to go to the Captains office and have 2 waiver forms signed because of a misdeamenor when I was 16 and one when I was 18. I asked the Captain specifically (while my father and the Chief recruiter were standing there) if I would need any other waivers before I could go to BUDS. He said, and I quote "As soon as I sign these forms you will be able to do anything in the Navy you want."

But they would not give me the SEAL Source program, because of those two incidents. I had already scored high enough on the asvab for most jobs that complied with the SEAL program, but they told me the only ones available were for the AM rating. I told them I did not want that, but was pressured into signing anyway. They told me as long as I passed the PT test in boot I could change ratings and go to BUDS after BOOT as a "scrub." So I reluctantly signed (against my fathers suggestions).... My father has a nice story about when he went to Vietnam and was lied to about the job they said he could have (electrician), but then gave him orders to go to school as a Heavy Equipment Operator... So without getting anything in writing and against my fathers advice I signed under the AM rating, which I had no interets in. But for whatever reason I trusted what they told me, and I knew I could pass the physical test; so I signed anyway.

While in boot camp, I thought it was the easiest thing I had ever done. I was actually quite dissapointed in the "training" process. Beyond a joke, in my opinion. Anyway, when it came time to take the test, I did. I passed, and went on to the interview process to be entered into the program. Upon the second interview, I was told they wanted to submit me and they liked me, but they had to have two waivers signed by their commanding officers. So they told me there was a chance that I could be submitted, but it was not good. So I waited patiently, hopeful, thinking luck would go my way. Week 5 (I believe) came around and was time to get orders or confirm where we would be going (I forget what I was actually there for) for our next phase of training. At that time I asked if the waivers had been signed and if I would be waiting here to be entered into a BUDS class. The answer was a very cold NO. No reason as to why. My dreams were basically shattered.

As Im sure you know everyone gets sick in boot camp. Well, up to that point, because of my excellent conditioning and doing my best to eat as healthy as I could, I didnt have one stuffed nose or anything during those first 5 weeks. That night I had the worst headache of my life and felt the queezy stomach of having the urge to throw-up...

As much as I didnt want to be there and as angry as I was, I stuck with it. Thats what I was taught as a kid, so thats what I did. I didnt want to look back at myself and consider myself a quitter. So, I went to Pennsicola and trained as an AM. There, I tore my maniscus cartilege in my left knee. I did not want to be stuck on medical hold there in Pennsicola, so I waited until I got my orders and arrived at my first duty station before I told anyone.

My first orders were sea duty, but as an airman I was stationed on land. So anyway, before my first deployment I went ahead and told the doctors what had happened in Pennsicola. They realised immediately that surgery was required. I went ahead and had it. For six months after the surgery my knee swelled up to softball size everyday. I would go to work and not complain. I tried not to show that it bothered me or anything. I did everything that had been asked of me. I even went on multiple short deployments with the wing I was attached to, never complaining. The first time I went to sea, my knee flared up big time, almost to where I couldnt walk, because of the job I had done the day before. When I got back to the base, the doctor from the boat recommended a second surgery. So they went ahead and removed most of the maniscus. They asked me if I wanted out on a medical discharge. I said no, unfortunately. I wont go into the rest that happened, but it did not end well for me.

Worst of all I never got my shot at BUDS. You may not be a liar (good for you), but there is deceit in the recruiting process. I would advise anyone and everyone when considering the military to get everything you want in writing.

WOW!!!!! (mods you can go ahead and delete this now because this is all going to caps and if you don't get why then just read through the last three pages)

THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST DISRESPECTFUL THREAD I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS!!! ALL OF YOU "HIGH AND MIGHTY" LEFT-WING FANATICS SHOULD BE ASHAMED (aren't you all supposed to be peacefull or something... you know like a hippie?) NOT ONE OF THE OP'S POSTS HAVE I SEEN ANY HINT OF RECRUiTING, TALKING UP THE ARMED FORCES, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WOULD POSSIBLY DESERVE THE BASHING HE IS RECEIVING!!! YOU ALL TALK ABOUT HAVING OPEN MINDS AND THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX BUT YOU CAN NOT HAVE A CIVIL CONVERSATION WITH A MAN ABOUT HIS JOB (seems pretty closed-minded to me). DID HE NOT SAY HE WOULD BE HONEST WITH YOU? EVERYONE IS SO EXTREMELY TOUGH BEHIND A KEYBOARD!!!!

Oh and before every basher on this thread jumps on me, here is my opinion on this topic. HE IS A RECRUITER, THAT IS HIS JOB, OF COURSE HE IS GOING TO TRY AND BE GOOD AT IT. Like the OP said there are dishonest people all over this world, I would love to hear some of your proffessions because I know I have run into crooked one, whatever it may be.

[edit on 02/04/2009 by Cool Breeze]

war and militarism
itself is based on a lie

war is a big business
industrial/military complex
would get ruined if there
is not war (so they are provoking
wars on purpose)

war is not peace
lie is not truth
ignorance is not strength