And knowing what you know now, would you do it again?

26 comments

  2. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life at 18, and the Marine Corps sounded cooler than working at Denny’s for an equivalent amount of time.

  3. I’ve always wanted to be in the military and as cliche as it sounds I wanted to serve.

  4. When i was 12, I did a Vision Ceremony ( in my tribal traditional ways) and was told I would join the Army and go to war. So I graduated High School, cut my hair and joined. This was pre 9/11. . . . Then after 9/11 I was in the Iraq War.

  5. Honestly, I wanted to do more than be a volunteer firefighter for life while working for the local union as a machinist.

    Join the military, was injured in shitsganistan, went right back to the Middle East as a contractor. Currently working from home, in my neighboring hometown (PA) and loving life more than I ever imagined.

  7. Come from a poor/ lower middle class Mexican American family, not much prospects in Oklahoma City. I was burnt out from going to school. High school NJROTC showed me that there was a way out that didn’t involve going to college or working somewhere I didn’t want to work in Oklahoma.

  9. To pay for college. And it worked. The Army paid for college. I wish like hell I’d stayed in. I’d have been a squared away soldier.

  10. I hated school. There was no money for me for school and no direction advised me for a path to take in life. So I joined at 18. Best thing I ever did. I’m set for life now

  11. I was stuck in a dead end job and I hated college. Did a lot of growing, had a lot of good times and a lot of bad times. GI bill paid for my degrees which was nice.

  12. I thought it would get me endless amounts of pussy, I ended up seeing so many dicks I’m still haunted by it.

  13. When you’re 18, live in the middle of nowhere. And aren’t sure what else to do with your life, it’s a pretty good deal. Whether sticking around was a good idea or not is the real question.

  14. Joined at 17, had a shitty childhood moved out at 16 no one out side of fast food was willing to hire me so I joined. Recruiter loved me cause I didn’t care what I did just wanted out of the current situation fast. If I was in the same situation is do it again

  18. I (M25) grew up in an upper class family as the youngest of three boys. My brothers were varsity athletes and honors students. My parents expected me to follow in my brothers footsteps and fit the mold they set out for me. I was never into sports and I was far from an honors student. This created alot of friction in my immediate and extended family, I was always arguing and fighting with my parents and (at the time) they thought I would never succeed in life if I didn’t go to college and get into business or real estate.

    My senior year of highschool was a constant battle with my parents. We would often lose our voices from arguing with each other. All I wanted to do was get away from my family and start my own life and prove that I could be happy/successful without fitting their mold.

    After I graduated highschool i immediately moved in with a buddy of mine across the country and from there searched for something I could do to support myself and start my own life. A buddy mine was joining the Army and I asked him about it, and after some research I figured it was the most reliable way to support myself.

    I talked to a recruiter, joined the Army, and became a combat photographer/videographer (25V). Yes it was hard but it was worth it. Eventually after about 6 years my parents finally came around to accepting who I was as a person and understood and supported me.

    TLDR: to get away from my family and start my own life.

  21. I joined as my current job then was a dead end. It was kind of random decision of “hey, ok if I join military” to my wife and she said yes.

    I loved it. Great job, pay, benefits. But my wife hated as I deployed a lot. I got out after my first enlistment and regret it daily.

  22. I was raised to love my country and taught that it was worth defending. Not some kind of Ultra nationalist, jingoistic crap. Just basic patriotism. I grew up in a very diverse area of the country with lots of immigrants from all different parts of the world. I was in boy scouts all through high school and got to hear first hand accounts from men who left their home countries to make a better life for themselves and their families. This further cemented that patriotism.

    I was also taught to stand up to bullies and help those who needed help.

    I was shown by example, that to serve other people is the highest calling. That attitude of “servant leader” was reinforced by my parents time and again through their involvement in civic and church organizations.

    My Uncle was in the Navy during WWII, my father served in Air Force just after Korea finished. Nobody was career military but they all served and I saw value in that for many different reasons.

    I knew the military would teach me hard skills but also soft skills. I enjoyed the idea of a more merit based way of working and I really had no idea what I would like to do for a professional career. So I decided that since I really didn’t enjoy school, I would enlist after graduating high school. My father sat me down when I told him and my mother that this was the direction I was going to go and he told me that he was really very proud of me for that decision but that “You’re a fucking moron if you don’t go to college first and then go in as an officer.”

    I thought it over, talked to a couple of people whom had served and I respected and they all agreed that I should go to college first then the military and If I could go the officer route then definitely do that.

    Long story short, I made it through college, became an officer in the Marine Corps and served for 10 very hard years. My service shaped me more than anything else in my adult life and taught me more about leadership and how to work with a team of people to accomplish a goal than any school course on leadership or graduate program in psychology.

    I knew going in that I wanted to serve. I wanted to test myself. I wanted to be able to know and have confidence, that at the end of it all there was very little in the way of conflict or physical challenge that I could not meet. Most of all though I wanted to have a clear conscience that I did my part to help people out in a way that I knew I would be good at.

    I always tell people that want to join the Military in the US that it isn’t for everyone. They need to figure out why it is they want to join and to be honest with themselves. People who do it because they are trying to get out of a bad situation join all the time. Just be honest with yourself and give it a good go. Your first enlistment is only a few years. You can make it work for you. You don’t have to make it a career. Know that if you don’t though, your time in the military will shape you for the better and teach you skills to do whatever you want later on down the road.

    I knew lots of folks who hated being in the military, but without exception, they all will tell you they learned some valuable lessons when they were in.

    There are probably as many different reasons to join the military as there are people in the military. If you do decide to join though, be honest with yourself and up front with the recruiter. It will set the tone for your entire time in the service.

  23. Free food housing and clothes. Travel overseas on government money. ONS with variety of exotic chicks. Play with guns. Kill baddies without remorse and no questions asked. What else can a man ask for ????

  24. In my eighth grade year I saw the towers fall. In my senior year I started talking to recruiters.

    My grandfather was a Corporal Technician (?) In the US Army during WWII, and he was a great man so I felt it was the right path at that time to follow. I also very much wanted to do something with my life as I had no real direction.

    All of that, and a very unreal and naive sense of right and wrong and how the world worked. Admittedly, John Candy snd Pauley Shore plade some legitimate big roles as well. Cheesy – yeah…. But honest.

    I would not take my time in back, but I wish I could tell my younger self of the shit storm I was about to embrace.

  25. I had many reasons. But the biggest one was that I absolutely knew for sure that I didn’t want to spend my life living on a farm in Maine. There is nothing wrong with that, but I was absolutely 100% sure it wasn’t for me.

    Best decision I ever made. Would absolutely do it again. Worked my ass off, saw the world, made a little spending money, and had a blast.

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