The United States Army

I think I need advice from my fellow ats members... I am 20 years old and I have been thinking about talking to a recruiter and maybe joining the U.S. Army. I have always been interested in anything military and I've thought about being a soldier from a young age. My father, grandfather and great grandfather all served in the Army. So I grew up hearing many stories from my dad and grandpa about their experiences. My great grandfather and father were in the Army infantry and If I joined I would like to be in an infantry unit. Like I said I've always thought about it but not seriously until a few days ago I received a letter in the mail from the army. It was a selective service letter or something. But it had a tear out part you could fill out with selections of the army, marine corps and a couple more. I marked the army.. It had another box that said yes I would like a recruiter to contact me. I checked that box also. So I guess I'm waiting for a visit or a call to see what i want to do...I shared this with you guys to get your opinion. Has anybody here served? Anybody else thought about joining any branch of the military?

What do you imagine you'll be doing while in the army?

reply to post by WhiteNite


Join in Texas you will get more state benefits than anywhere else. Join an MOS (Job) that will be useful for you. Stay away from combat MOS. Do your four years and get out and go to college. Coast guard has some great benefits as well. If I could do it all over I would join the coast guard. They save peoples lives and do a job you dont mind waking up and doing every day.

Originally posted by VoidHawk
What do you imagine you'll be doing while in the army?

Defending my country and our freedom if the need be. Opening more doors in life and making a living for me and my daughter.

reply to post by WhiteNite

I want to commend you for the integrity to want to follow in the great footsteps of many American heroes. I would, however, be untrue to myself if I did not offer you encouragement to always stand for what is right. There are probably thousands of posts and threads here through the years that point to the possibility of a US military run out of control in some fashion. I want to believe as you do that America still stands for the highest standards and the highest achievable in man's quest for world peace and prosperity for all.

So I will wish you luck, I believe you will make solid choices, and if ever confronted with a choice to follow your moral compass or the directive of a misdirected command perhaps you can be the one who brings sense to the matter. We may never know, but your calling could be to set an example of leadership and become a turning point whereby those who went before can be rightfully honored and not held in contempt for where the nation could otherwise be headed today.

As for me and my house, you will instantly become covered with prayer the first moment you enter service.

Originally posted by VoidHawk
What do you imagine you'll be doing while in the army?

The military could be a great start for success in my future..

I would say go for it if you are going to use the Army and not be used by the Army. As the other two have brought up what do you think you would get out of infantry. I can give you a hint; horrible memories, PTSD, sleepless nights (even after the mission is done), you will lose friends, and much more. If I had it to do over I would have joined up as a linguist or intel. You have to think about what you will do when you have served your time, do you want a skill set that is useless in the real-world or help provide a base for your future career. I would also look into something like ROTC or Bootstrap (Air Force term), get your stripes then start service.

I would think about what you want to do when you get out. Getting in with an MOS that gives you skills to apply to a career after the Army, or whatever service, would help your future. I was in the Army MP, but before I joined the Navy offered me the Nuclear Program. That would have given me a career for the rest of my life. If you do well enough in school, you are offered remaining as a professor. or teacher at the Nuclear School in Orlando Fl. I passed because I didn't like the idea of being on a sub, or in the belly of an aircraft carrier. You should talk to people that have been in on the mos you want to pursue and get their feedback. Recruiters will just about tell you anything, trust me, to get you to sign. A little research will help you make a much more informed decision.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck. It is a good opportunity and will give you many tools personally and mentally to use for the rest of your life. I loved the weapons, but I don't think I would want to be in a combat related MOS unless I was flying something! Getting pilot training in a helicopter, of in the Air Force with any number of aircraft would give you a career in civilian life after you get out that pays well and is a lot of fun.

reply to post by samstone11


I thank all of you for your advice. I was taught from a young age not to take anything for granted. Especially our rights and the freedom that many Americans gave their lives to protect. My great grandfather died protecting the freedom that I live with. I want to join in my fathers footsteps and teach my daughter all the things I was taught. Thanks for your support.

Go take the ASVAB, your scores will determine what MOS's are available to you. I am prior US Army MP K9. There is nothing wrong with combat MOS's After taking the ASVAB test talk to recruiters from all branches of the military and then once you know all your options, THEN decide what you want to do. Don't make up your mind before knowing everything you can do.

reply to post by ParanoidAmerican

horrible memories, PTSD, sleepless nights

I know what you mean..My father told me my grandpa used to wake up screaming..and he would never talk about the combat he experienced..

reply to post by ParanoidAmerican


Did you serve in the infantry?

reply to post by WhiteNite


I have thought about it alot. I am nearly at the cut off age and I was fully set to join as soon as I moved back to the US. Unfortunately my father is pretty old and has too many problems for me to turn my back on him now. He REALLY needs me now. Also my wife and child are still in another country waiting for my wifes immigration papers to go through so she and my child can join me here in the US.

So needless to say I didnt walk off the plane once moving back home and into the recruiters office as I planned.

I did spend allot of time researching the subject and thinking about it. Talking about it, ect.

My conclusion is this.

Dont join unless you are FULLY aware of what it entails. Dont join if you arent comfortable with changing who you are now. Dont join for the "glory" adolescents sometimes associate with military service. It can suck and allot.

that said, if you are of the type of man that like countless ones before you has a genuine calling to serve and live the life of the profession of arms...then do so.

I believe that people who stay in the military are people who have well developed senses of honor, sacrifice for others and brotherhood. I think them to be warriors in the deepest sense of the word. Not because they are armed and charged with the defence of their people. No, a monkey can be trained to hold and fire a gun.

They are so because they dedicate their lives to the service of their people. They are people who arent without flaws, as no man is without, but they are people that hold themselves to a higher standard. They must.

You will meet all sorts of people if you join. Some will genuinely be pricks. Others, most, will be idealistic and motivated people.

If your reason for joining is out of tradition....stop. THINK about it. Tradition will not be enough for the hard times, and there will be hard times. Why you join and stay will be because YOU choose it.

The same way that a boy doesnt become a man unless he finds his reason for doing so, a soldier doesnt become a warrior unless he finds his own reason for doing so.

The warrior ethos is a powerful one, but also one that requires dedication and consistency. Being dedicated to "your war" which you take upon yourself and commit to because you CHOOSE to sacrifice for your nation or your sovereign (assuming he is a worthy leader and not a snake) It is a hard task and also one of the most noble endeavors a single man can undertake. It is also a way of life.

You must learn to live it. You must be that already and wish to only do what is natural to your personality, character and really the core of your being.

If the profession of arms, one of the most ancient, is what you feel you can do well, and you choose to do such for your people....then do it and dont look back.

I understand you are testing the waters so to speak and are looking for advice as to what you should do...but in the end only you can know what it is your heart tells you.

Know your heart bro. Everything else is BS words people will say to you either going for or against your query.
Those words will ALL be what others want you to do for what ever reasons that best suit those giving the advice.

Recruiters recruit and opposers oppose. Dont listen to either, they would all lie to you for their own reasons.

Empty words.

Look at it, study it, learn it, and then become it. Live it. If it feels wrong then discard it and move on to the next.

That is the best way to know for sure.

I suggest you spend a couple months REALLY looking into it all. Prepare your mind and body just incase you do want to join since that is never a bad thing. Inside though, ask the hard question of "are you a soldier for your country already" If you are then join other like minded people and take your place at their side.

If not, no loss, but you still have to find your calling.

Good luck guy. I wish you the best.

Hold it down.

reply to post by WhiteNite


No I was medically DQ just before Iraq II, I have over a dozen friends that have been deployed and like you have deep family roots in military service. I have seen the changes firsthand non of my friends will ever be the men or boys they were ever again, some for the better most....well I am sure you can guess.

Originally posted by WhiteNite

Originally posted by VoidHawk
What do you imagine you'll be doing while in the army?

Defending my country and our freedom if the need be. Opening more doors in life and making a living for me and my daughter.

I asked you that question because I thought you would give the answer that you did.

I take my hat off to all those who stand to defend
However!
I think those who will lead you are corrupt. You will not be defending, you'll most likely be attacking.
Think carefully, especially as you have a child who will want to know its father.

I believe it is a great opportunity with benefits that are wonderful. I will support your decision either way.

reply to post by WhiteNite


Here's what you do:
1.Call a recruiter
2. Go in for an interview
3. Take the Asvab, score good
4. Pick your job in intelligence "its a booming industry", pretty much guaranteed a job when you get out.
5. Sign your papers, for enlistment
6. Get through boot camp and schools.
7. Work the full 20 years, its the pretty much only guaranteed job in the United States. And, you'll have a retirement at the end.
8. Get married, use your benefits finish school and work for an Agency or Department.

With all these indicated steps, you'll be pretty successful.

reply to post by WhiteNite


I have never served in the UK armed forces. My father worked for the MoD, and both my Grandfathers fought against the Nazis in the second world war, and I have massive respect for my grandfathers both, for thier contribution to the fact that I grew up speaking English, and not german, that I grew up free to believe in whatever religion I chose, and in a country which values its long association with other nations and thier people (which most of us still do, despite the protestations of the EDL and BNP).

However, although I considered when I was a very young fellow indeed, joining up for military service, by the time I became old enough to be really thinking about the future, I realised that I did not trust my government one iota, to use its troops in a manner with which I would be comfortable, morally speaking. I was aware that the chances were that our nation probably wouldnt ever get into a fight for the right reasons, ever again. I have, in my veiw, been proved right. Fact is, I am not willing to sublimate my free will, to be replaced with the will of someone who hasnt got the best interests of my nations people at heart. The government do not, and the military leadership of most western nations, my own included, are about as corrupt as you could hope to be, far from paladins and wardens of not just the land, but the spirit of the nation. They are in bed with the companies which over charge for kit and armor, causing some of our lads to go abroad with improper kit for the first little while of the recent wars.

If I lived in a nation which was run by people whose morals were more in line with my own, I would have given it more thought, and probably gone ahead, because then I would never be expected to fight wars for oil, or go to war based on a lie, or go to war with a terrorist group, which should never have been dealt with by an army, but should have been taken out by intelligence operatives, operating under a deep veil of secrecy, if they needed taking out at all. There are so many reasons that I am glad I never signed up, because although I respect our armed forces themselves, thier leadership can go hang, and so can my government, and to hand my freedom to them in such a total way as required by the armed forces, would in my opinion, be wrong of me, knowing what I do of thier villany.

reply to post by WhiteNite


America doesn't need any more soldiers. Find something productive to do instead. Making war is not an honorable career.

reply to post by VoidHawk


This about sums it up.

When our shores are invaded, I am there to defend my country. BUt when we are invading others shores, I cannot support that.