Training:
I have been an Army Infantryman for going on eight years. No, I'm not a Ranger or anything other than a straight leg Air Assault 11B squad leader. That said, my Initial Entry Training was about as "tough" as they come. Marine Boot Camp gets more press, but 17 weeks on Sand Hill at Fort Benning was far from a vacation. On the other hand, it is what you make it. Nineteen people dropped out of training out of 54 or so that started. Most of those were either injured or were not emotionally stable. We also had about three that did not come back from Christmas leave. I just spent a couple months at Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic training installation. Every weekend the PX and Burger King were filled with fresh-faced kids sporting canteens and new ACUs on pass for the day. We would spend our Saturdays training and Sundays doing barracks maintenance. That said, once you are done with training, you are a member of your respective service. Your job will vary depending on your unit, your mission and your supervisor. You will get chances to attend other training for your specific job, as well as "badge schools" such as Airborne or Air Assault and NCOES schools for professional development. Each of these will have its own curriculum but basic is the only time most service members will be considered raw recruits. It is also not as challenging as many think. You learn to work as a team and you get through it as a team. If losing some portion of individualism is abhorrent to you then you may not like it. I was a loner prior to joining and I am a loner now. That said, I can work with my peers and subordinates to accomplish what I could never do alone.

Pay and Benefits:
Your pay amount depends on how you look at things. When I first joined I received roughly $300 every two weeks. Now I make over $4700 a month, at least $1600 of which is not taxed. I work on average from 0800-1900 from Monday-Friday but tend to get off earlier on Wednesday and Friday and work from about 0900-1400 two Saturdays a month. So you could say I get paid around $19 an hour. Factor in the 20% tax advantage for the untaxed pay and it raises. Factor in the fact that I pay nothing for my wife and four children to see a doctor and pay only $3 per prescription and the hourly compensation rises even higher. I paid $43 a week for myself and two children to be covered by health insurance as a civilian. This was 2001 and I had great benefits for the time. I cannot imagine what insurance might cost now.

Did I mention I am currently in a high stress job widely known for having long hours? I can't see what is so high stress about it, though, I am my own boss much of the week, drive around in a government car and do no physical labor. Working eleven hours a day is nothing really, having made much less in the past while working three jobs. My last tour was spent in DC. I spent four and a half years there looking good for the Army and was at work on average from 0600-1600 Monday-Friday. Again, there was little physical labor, lots of downtime (we had a couple sponsored video game players who honed their skills at "work") and I got to do things no one else here will ever do, including playing with former president Bush's dogs on the presidential putting green.

My first tour at Fort Campbell had me doing my actual job as an Infantryman. I'd be at work at 0600. Do physical training from 0630-0730 (later 0800), eat breakfast and have personal time from 0730-0900 (later 0800-0930), work from after breakfast until lunch. From 1130-1300 was lunch, then back to work until I got off around 1600. I never counted PT as work, so my average day consisted of 5-5 1/2 hours of productive activities a day. Did I mention that as an Infantryman my sole task was to train and increase my knowledge during the duty day? No boss jumping my ass about effectiveness, quality of work or quantity of jobs.

As for bonuses they are guaranteed. If you are told you will get one, ensure it is in writing on your DD4/1 Enlistment/Reenlistment contract. I did not get a bonus to enlist. I was not told I would get one. I have received about $30,000 in reenlistment bonuses. I was told I would get them, ensured they were documented, and received my money between 1-4 weeks after my reenlistment.


The military is not for everyone. In this day and age, however, it is one of the last few guaranteed sources of pay and benefits. The biggest benefit during the recession is job stability. Unless you are a screw-up you have job security. Your first four years you will receive an annual pay increase for longevity. From six years forward you will receive a pay raise every two years. You will receive a cost of living raise every January and your housing and sustenance allowances will also usually go up. In the Army, you will start at the paygrade of E-1-E-4. If you start at E-1 like I did you will make $1399 a month base pay. Within six months you will get advanced to E-2, at one year you will become and E-3 and at two years you will become an E-4. It is possible to get advanced even quicker. Depending on your job you might become an E-5 Sergeant in a little as two years and an E-6 Staff Sergeant within four years. Some jobs take longer to get promoted, and other services generally do not promote as fast. I became a Sergeant at 40 months and a Staff Sergeant at 64 months. Had I cared more I would have been promoted much sooner.

Medical and dental are free for you. Family medical is free and family dental is covered by an insurance plan which is pretty good. the Post Exchange (PX) offers tax-free shopping and has competitive prices with Wal-Mart and similar stores. They also offer the Military Star credit card which may be used at Exchange activities and recently coupled with Mastercard to offer a card which may be used off-post. The Military Star card is generally easy to get, enabling a young person to establish credit and begin working on a good credit score. When I first joined, no one would offer me credit. Between steadily advancing pay and using the Star card to begin establishing credit I have purchased three vehicles and a house in less than seven years, paying off one of the vehicles and two personal loans in the process. I often joke about never being in debt prior to joining, but then again I did not have much at all back then. The PX also sells name brand clothes such as Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Nautica and other brands for well under retail price. The manufacturers will have their MSRP (say: $50) on the label, then the Exchange price may be $35. Catch a clearance (everything at Army/Air Force Exchanges is marked down at 25%-75%, with occasional additional discounts) and you can get a great deal. I've gotten a brand new DVD recorder that sold for $250 for under $60.

Most installations also have a bowling alley, one or more clubs/bars which will feature live entertainment some nights and karaoke other nights, a golf course, auto skills shop where you can work on your vehicle, craft shop, and much more. Morale, Welfare and Recreation will have movie nights at the local recreation center and will also get sharply discounted or even free tickets to local concerts and sporting events. They will also sponsor concerts on post. These tend to be country acts with some rock groups coming as well. George Jones, Martina McBride, Charlie Daniels, Bruce Willis, and Michael Peterson are just a few I have seen.

Local amusement parks and other recreational places will also sponsor military appreciation days. Busch Gardens has offered free admission for active military and three family members for any day of the regular season for the past four or five years. Six Flags over Georgia had a military appreciation day while I was at Fort Benning in 2007. I went by myself, crammed in five roller coasters before the crowds got bad, then watched Aaron Tippen play later that evening.

I've gotten too many discounts to think of. Hotels, car rentals, flights, etc give me 10% or more off, sometimes in addition to my AAA discount. Around here, I've gotten free coffee, found a Subway that gives me a 50% discount when I'm in uniform and even had people randomly pay for something I was buying, including even a case of beer one night. Trying to politely say no was like stabbing them in the stomach, judging from how insistent they were.

Relationships:
If you join the military and you have a girlfriend/boyfriend you can keep in touch. If you are from California and get stationed in Georgia, prepare for a long distance relationship. If you decide to tie the knot, your chain of command will very likely grant you leave to get married. Every military unit I know of has a Family Readiness Group (FRG) comprised of spouses willing to help each other settle into a new post or while a unit is deployed. Speaking of which, if you are married and you deploy, your spouse will remain in on-post housing if you live there already. If you live off-post you will continue drawing housing allowance. If your spouse decides to move closer to family while you are gone you may even stand to profit from your housing allowance. For example, if you are stationed in Northern Virginia getting $2300 a month tax-free for housing and your wife moves back to Kansas where it might only cost $600 a month for an apartment, you will be pocketing $1700. You continue to get housing allowance based on where you are stationed while you are deployed.

It takes a special sort to become a military spouse. Coping with year-long deployments, the possibility of never seeing you again, sudden alerts causing you to have to be at work at midnight (for us Infantry and other quick reaction types), the chance of you not being there for childbirth or illness, etc. This is why FRGs are around, and why many spouses partake in unit activities. If you are not there, your buddies are, if they are not there their spouses are.

Education:
I've never been very big on formal education and getting pieces of paper saying I know something. I can tell you that the GI Bill is getting much better this August. Serve for three or more years on active duty and you will get 100% tuition, housing allowance for a E-5 with dependents in the area of your school and a yearly stipend of up to $1000 for books and supplies. Get a few roommates, find a cheap apartment and you can live off of the housing allowance. For example, if you go to LSU you would get $1140 a month for a place to live. Get three roommates and you might pocket around $800 a month. May still have to get a part-time job, but you are not racking up student loans and are getting a lot more money than your part-time peers.

All services also offer $4500 a year tuition assistance. I used this last year, reenlisted to go to school and ended up staying at home doing online courses, drinking beer all day, and earning two medals on the first Casual Discourse from all the posting I was doing. Many units will work around your college education, within reason. Most education centers will offer night classes and online courses are always encouraged. I've known Sergeants Major who have served for thirty years but started off with no education. By the time they retired they had two Masters degrees and never paid for anything other than books. Oh, did I mention they were also under fifty, with years of experience managing a large company of up to 20,000 people. Do the math, forty-seven years old, two Masters degrees, thirty years experience in the largest organization in the United States with steadily increasing levels of responsibility. And this is just an enlisted Soldier who started off with nothing. There is a reason why many officers go on to become successful businessmen and politicians.

Myths
Being "involuntarily extended":
Every person who joins the United States military incurs an eight-year obligation. You can join the Navy for two years or the National Guard for six, but you still have eight years from the date you enlist. Your non-active/active reserve time is considered Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). I've known some who have been called back into service because they got out after five years and still had two on IRR. If you are in a unit that is set to deploy and you are set to get out, you may get a stop-loss. I am in no way a subject matter expert, but I have known very few who have been extended past their initial period of service against their will. The ones who do might serve for a few extra months. IIRC, the military now must pay extra for those unfortunate enough to be extended. Honestly, many Soldiers are smart enough to know the system and will reenlist for a short period, get a bonus or other incentive and never have to cry about being a stop loss.

Once you sign, you are US Government Issue:
The average active duty service member enlists into the Delayed Entry Program (DEP). They take their oath and then continue to go about their daily lives until they ship for training. They might be in the DEP for up to a year. If they get injured, get into trouble or even just change their minds it is not too big a deal for them, as in they will not be looking at going to jail. MPR is right about sticking to his commitment. The ones who enlist into the DEP and then drop out are the ones who would not make it through training anyway. When it is time for you to ship out you will go back to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), sit down with a counselor who will go over your paperwork again and ensure you are getting what you were told, then sign another contract and take the oath again. Even then, you are not "government property". Many people just can't make it through training. They are not branded traitors, thrown in jail or slapped with dishonorable discharges. Whether they lied to enlist, lost heart in basic, broke a leg on the rappel tower and did not want to wait to recover, or just couldn't handle being told what you do, they are usually given an Entry Leave of Service (ELS). At most, it will be an Under Honorable Conditions discharge with a reenlistment eligibility code of 3, meaning they can come back in later with a waiver if they so desire. Speaking of which, if you are involuntarily discharged you will not be called back up under IRR. Your period of service ends the second you get ELS'ed.

Living conditions are horrible:
Barracks in the Army have been upgraded since the 1990s. Most installations have new barracks, and each Soldier is given private quarters with a common area he or she shares with another Soldier. In effect, you have your room, your roommate has his or her own room and you share a toilet and kitchenette. Each barracks has a recreational room usually with a pool table or two and a large TV at the least. They also have at least fully equipped kitchen with oven and ice machine. Barracks rooms are expected to be maintained and kept clean, but unless you are a screw-up you will be able to arrange your furniture how you like and keep just about any personal items you want. Your key only fits your room and the common area door and no one else in the barracks can access your room without your consent. Many barracks will have a Sergeant and lower enlisted Soldier on Charge of Quarters around the clock. They are responsible to keep order in the barracks and report safety issues or unruly personnel. If you have a broken chair, it will be replaced, if your mattress sags, you will get a new one, if the refrigerator quits, it too is replaced. All at no cost to you. Living conditions are only as horrible as you make them.

Every service hates the next:
There will always be shit-talking and interservice rivalry. That said, a person in uniform is a person in uniform. My thought is this: If I am in a bar and another Soldier in the platoon picks a fight with one of my Soldiers, I have my Soldier's back. If that guy then gets into a fight with someone else in the company I have his back. All the way up to if a Soldier wearing a 101st patch is in a fight with an 82nd guy, I have the Screamin' Eagle's back. Same if a Navy guy picks a fight with an Army guy, I've got my fellow Soldier's back, yet if a civilian is starting a fight with that Sailor the Sailor has backup if he needs it. I am Infantry, I talk shit about non-Combat Arms Soldiers. They give it right back. Can I do my job without people getting me ammo, food and water? No. Could I have made it through Baghdad without Air Force A-10s providing Close Air Support? Possibly not. If I am somewhere and a veteran of any service needs help I will do what I can. It doesn't matter if he is a Jarhead, a Squid or Chair Force. After all, I am just a dumb grunt who chose a job that provides few non-military skills and opportunities.




This is enough typing for me for the time being. Fell free to ask about anything I did not cover or did not elaborate on. Hope it helps.