Originally Posted by
nine castles
I was in the Air force.
If your reason for wanting to enlist is anything except wanting to sacrifice 4 years of your life (and maybe your whole life) for God and country, then you are absolutely out of your mind to even consider this.
1. Pay. This is an illusion. You will get up at 4 am and work until 6 pm, depending on your job, and if I ever did the math I'm sure I could have made a lot more money working 14 hour shifts at McDonalds. Some jobs (security forces) have even shittier hours. Keep in mind that none of the bonuses your recruiter will promise you are actually guaranteed and you can't count on anything except your base pay (which will be shitty, when you consider how much you are working). For example I paid into the GI Bill only to discover that when I was medically discharged I got no benefits, despite having paid into the program the whole time I was in. There are a lot of loopholes like that they'll use to fuck you. The upside is that your living expenses, though extremely cramped and regulated, will be paid for, so all your meager pay goes right into your pocket.
2. Adventure. There are two kinds of military jobs: Boring, and miserable. All jobs in the Air Force for enlisted personnel (aside from combat control) are boring. Everything is broken down to monotonous, brainless procedure. If you work in personnel you will have a manual that explains to you how to fill out every form. Hardly anybody in the military is actually responsible for combat, least of all in the air force. I've never been in combat (obviously) but by all accounts, it's hell, and you would have to be crazy to want to do that unless you are patriotic and want to die for god and country (in which case you are even more crazy - had to say it).
3. Relationships. If you have a boyfriend/girlfriend, you can forget about seeing him/her ever again, unless you get married. The military does not give a fuck about your romantic attachment until you are married and so the chances to see him/her will be so scarce that your relationship will drift into long distance hell and collapse. I saw it happen to a lot of guys who were in training. If you're married, you might be able to move your spouse into base housing, but if (when) you get deployed, you can kiss that goodbye too.
4. Your term of service can be involuntarily extended. Look up "Stop loss". Once you sign your enlistment forms, you are government property. Literally. I am not joking.
5. Basic training is hell. Any recruiter who sugar coats this is bullshitting you in the worst way possible. I was lucky enough to have a recruiter who warned me, but there is literally nothing that can prepare you for it, and I guarantee that you will spend your first few nights thinking you made the worst mistake of your life. The PT in the air force was lame, but that's not what gets to you. The way that your every movement is micromanaged down to the finest detail, that no matter what is going on you always have something to be rushed and freaking out about, that you can be attacked at any second (even in your sleep) breaks down your will to live. Your recruiter might tell you that instructors are not allowed to swear or touch trainees. These rules are not well enforced, especially in the dorms. I saw a first week trainee get flipped over in his bed while still asleep in it by an instructor who had discovered that he had gotten into bed with his shoes still on. You are never safe, and there is nobody who can stand up to the psychological attacks you'll get hit with. The objective of basic training is to induce a permanent state of traumatic stress disorder so that you learn to cope with unbearable stress and go on doing your duty even when the whole world is blowing up around you. It is demoralizing and degrading to your human dignity, and that is necessary that you be degraded, because war is degrading.
You need to have a clear view of the level of sacrifice you are really making here. This is not just some fun thing you do for a few years and then go back to civilian life. You have to be joining because you are willing not only to die, but to live a miserable tedious life that might end at any second in slow, gruesome death because you believe you are supporting something worthwhile. If you have any other reason for doing this, you are wrong. Period.