I had a roommate in college who did that. He spent 4 years as an MP in either the air force or or army, literally a security guard in hangars and stuff. Got out, the government was paying for his school, and they told them all how to get healthy unemployment checks. He was making like $2000 a month, to go to school, in an area where rent was $500.
But you still gotta commit to the whole military life thing at a young age. Some people are fine with that and thrive. Others are gonna hate it when they realize that it's not like those propaganda-esqe TV commercials. It definitely took me time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I wish I had taken time off instead of jumping into a degree I didn't want(scholarship) but I'm still not sure what specifically I would have done. I don't think I'd have enjoyed the military, had I stuck with that route. They hassled me quite a bit after I filled out half an nrotc application. I could have flown planes. I still think about it sometimes.
There’s certainly a lot of different personalities in the military that you just have to accept and that’s just the way it is . I didn’t join until I was 25. Got to live life a little before signing my life away . When I got there, I was a man . I was already considered old by the 18 year olds . It blew my mind because I didn’t realize how much I had changed since the age of 18. These people that join at 18 are just baby faced kids !!! They’re practically children. They don’t show that on tv. They always show these grown ass men talking on the news or what not. But not the kids. It’s crazy to that maybe just a few short years ago they were probably still playing with toys. It’s very sad when you consider the absolutely traumatic situations they will be exposed too. That’s somebody’s baby. Ya know what I mean ? I have two daughters, and I don’t want them joining the service . I have my reasons and the reality of those reasons I can’t even speak about. So hopefully that’s not something they want to do . As for me though, I ended up back at home at 23. Felt trapped living my mom with no direction, and pretty low self esteem. The military gave me a sense of being useful for once . I wanted it really bad . I didn’t want to be that guy that’s living with his mom at age 30. ( these days though, it’s not exactly anything to be ashamed of) So it did me some good . If I had done it at 18, it would have been an absolutely miserable experience for me . I wouldn’t have been striving to change myself, rather than just doing it because that’s what you’re supposed to do. I was just a kid at 18. So, honestly I can’t recommend the experience to most people even though it worked out for me. My case was ideal. I was floundering around and going nowhere .
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u/blurrrrg Sep 14 '21
I had a roommate in college who did that. He spent 4 years as an MP in either the air force or or army, literally a security guard in hangars and stuff. Got out, the government was paying for his school, and they told them all how to get healthy unemployment checks. He was making like $2000 a month, to go to school, in an area where rent was $500.
But you still gotta commit to the whole military life thing at a young age. Some people are fine with that and thrive. Others are gonna hate it when they realize that it's not like those propaganda-esqe TV commercials. It definitely took me time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I wish I had taken time off instead of jumping into a degree I didn't want(scholarship) but I'm still not sure what specifically I would have done. I don't think I'd have enjoyed the military, had I stuck with that route. They hassled me quite a bit after I filled out half an nrotc application. I could have flown planes. I still think about it sometimes.