Hi all!

I am a reasonably fit (and getting fitter...) female, soon-to-be college graduate with degrees in engineering and international relations. I speak a few languages, including Mandarin, and have some experience working in defense industries. Needless to say, government service of some type is in my future, and I'm trying to get a feel for where I fit in best.

I've spent a lot of time reading through the material on this and other sites about joining the military. I understand the pros and cons and benefits etc etc, but (and I'm having a little trouble explaining this...) I just can't understand if military service is RIGHT for me. I don't have a family history of military service, and the community I grew up in didn't place a lot of value on military service, so there aren't a lot of people I can ask. To be honest, the idea of shooting a gun and being shot at makes me a little queasy, but on the other hand, I firmly believe that you should be willing to fight for your country if you value what it provides for you.

The people I HAVE talked to always talk about military service as their dream since childhood, or their only option at the time, and neither is the case for me. So I guess what I'm asking is how people know/knew that military service was the right path for them - can you have doubts about the lifestyle and still become a good soldier down the road? How do you know if you'll be successful at military service, or if you should save everyone some time and stick to a different kind of service?

Thank you so much for your insights!
-Kim

I'm assuming with your degrees you will be applying for an officer program. Probably your best bet would be to talk with an officer recruiter.

quote:

How do you know if you'll be successful at military service

If you weigh things out, do your research, feel as if it's a good career plan for you, and make a commitment to hang in there no matter what, then the answer is probably yes. You may not want to make a career of it, but if you successfully complete your term, I would consider that to be a success.

Hey - thanks for the response! I certainly will talk to a recruiter later this year, and you're probably right that an officer program will be closer to the type of work I'd most enjoy doing, particularly if down the road I DO want to look at a potential career.

I guess the question I'm trying to ask, and I think it holds true for either direct enlist or officer programs - as a recruiter you've helped hundreds of people join military service, so do you think you have to have a certain kind of personality to enjoy a military lifestyle, or does boot camp and training and working with your team teach you those qualities that we associate with military personnel? Is a desire to serve and a commitment to start what I finish enough to get me to that point, or are there people who are just perpetually unhappy with the choice?

I'm sorry if this seems really unclear - it's very difficult for me to articulate this particular concern, but this is moreso my hesitation about looking into the military than whether the career or benefits are a good fit. It's just that when I mention to my friends and family that I'm interested in a military career, the response is usually "You? I really can't see you in the military..." And it just makes me wonder if I'm missing some essential quality that makes a good soldier, and if so, what that would be. And since this is such a vague question, I was afraid to ask it of a recruiter in person, so I would really appreciate any thoughts you can offer.

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by kturley:
I'm interested in a military career, the response is usually "You? I really can't see you in the military..." And it just makes me wonder if I'm missing some essential quality that makes a good soldier, and if so, what that would be. And since this is such a vague question, I was afraid to ask it of a recruiter in person, so I would really appreciate any thoughts you can offer.

Thanks!

I heard the same thing before I enlisted. I heard the same thing after I accepted my first Salaried job after college.

Here is a tip for you, do your research until you feel confident that you'll do OK. You will never be 100% confident until you pass BCT or OSUT. Never, never listen to what other people tell you what you can and cannot do. Your life is yours, you need to take charge of it.

If your unsure if it's right for you, best advice I can give is what I did. Visit a local National Guard or Army Reserve unit while it is drilling and talk to the Soldiers there, ask them questions, try on the equipment, spend the whole day seeing what they do. They will treat you with respect for the most part and you will leave with a better feeling of if you can do the job.

I still remember what I thought after that experience: "God that helmut is heavy, I can't believe anyone would wear that all day." Your neck adapts, mine did as I wore it for 5 years.

Good Luck!

Your situation is a bit different than someone who's graduated from high school or college and is looking for direction. I'm guessing you want to use your engineering degree in the Armed Forces. Most folks who join are looking for some kind of job training.

I know to be a Direct Commission Engineer in the Coast Guard, you must have a degree and a few years of experience. So if you were looking at the Coast Guard, you would be applying for Officer Candidate School. I don't know if you would be eligible for DCE in another branch. If you were, you would attend an orientation course for direct commission officer (knife and fork school, they call it). Officer Candidate School is different from enlisted boot camp, it's somewhat of a boot camp type atmosphere, but you are being trained to assume a different role.

quote:

It's just that when I mention to my friends and family that I'm interested in a military career, the response is usually "You? I really can't see you in the military..."

Yeah, but can YOU see yourself in the military? I heard the same thing before I joined. "I can't imagine you in boot camp." Later on, I even heard "I can't see you as a recruiter", yet I did that longer than anything else in my career.

The main thing now is to talk to an officer recruiter and take it from there. Find out how you can use that engineering degree in the military and later decide if you want to stay around for a career.

Retired,
Slight correction. No experience necassary for DCE in the Coast Guard. They just need an Engineering Degree. Here is a cut-and-paste job from the Recruiting website:

Eligibility Requirements For Reserve Commission
All applicants not eligible for a temporary commission may be able to apply for a reserve commission
Those applying for a reserve commission must hold a Baccalaureate Degree or higher from a college or university with an accredited engineering and/or information technology program in one of the academic degree fields listed below
Be between the ages of 21 and 40 (applicants must have reached their 21st birthday but not their 41st birthday as of 30 September of the fiscal year in which the panel convenes)
Selected applicants terms of service for reserve commissions will receive a three-year extended active duty contract
Have a minimum GPA of 2.5
Pass a Coast Guard pre-commissioning physical
Be a U.S. citizen
Be able to perform unrestricted service on a 24-hour, 7-day-per-week basis

Thanks, D'outlaw your input is always welcome and appreciated.

I was shooting from the hip. I remember for DCE, you used to have to have some experience to apply for the program.

kturley -

I don't think there is such a thing as a "military type personality," but there are people who can adapt to military requirements and a military lifestyle better than others.

First, you must be flexible and adaptable. Change must be viewed as a challenge and opportunity, not as an obstacle. While the military does have such a thing as "status quo," it usually doesn't last too long, and the next-oldest approach to something becomes the default status quo. (Did that make sense?)

Second, you must accept the challenges of leadership (if commissioned as an officer) or the challenges of following and execution of orders (if enlisted). Both approaches are essential to the military, but you must choose a path (grasshopper ).

Third, you must commit yourself to this 100% (at least) for the time you agree to serve, whether enlisted or officer. If you want to stay longer, terrific - but give it your all, even if it turns out to be not quite your cup of tea for the long run.

You're asking intelligent questions. Do the research, including the excellent suggestion to spend a day in the boots of a servicemember.

Good luck.

Good advice Cider.

One other thing to consider. Think of all the people who were drafted throughout the years, especially those drafted during WWII. I'm using that as an example because that was the biggest draft in the last century. Many of those folks weren't the "military type" but they became that way in a hurry.

I talked to a former Coast Guard Officer, WWII veteran. He'd been a yatch captain in Long Island, NY before the war. WWII started. Poof! The next day, he was an Ensign in the U. S. Coast Guard. He served aboard the Coast Guard Cutter HAMILTON which was torpedoed in the North Atlantic by a German U-Boat.

He probably didn't consider himself the "military type."

My dad was a bank examiner and an officer in the Army Reserve. He suddenly went from the "part time" military type to the "full time" military type after WWII started.

quote:

Originally posted by kturley:
To be honest, the idea of shooting a gun and being shot at makes me a little queasy, but on the other hand, I firmly believe that you should be willing to fight for your country if you value what it provides for you.

If you can't properly operate and qualify with your service rifle, you are recycled. If you still can't adapt, then you'll get discharged for "Failure to meet education prerequisites." That's when you will know the military isn't for you.

Just look at weapons handling is a preemptive tool that will protect the person to your left and right. Your survival instincts kick into gear when someone tries to harm those people you live and work with...




However, they aren't just people... they are "family". Nobody harms your family while you're armed and around.

That's good that you put a face on things Hollywood.

The men and women of the U. S. Armed Forces, all five branches, all come from different parts of the country, and come from all different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. They are a mirror of America society, playing a different role that the average civilian.

I just wanted to thank all of you so much for your positive input - I think I've known in the back of my mind for a long time that this is the direction I wanted to go, and I just knew that if the first feedback I got was negative, it might permanently kill my confidence on that score. I finally talked to my family and some of my friends, and they were surprisingly positive about the idea - I was truly shocked when my mother told me she thought it made perfect sense for me! And they were even able to give me a few navy contacts in the area where I'm living.

I've started a PT regime so I can be extremely comfortable with the PFA exercises by next summer, and I'm looking carefully at all the branches - leaning towards Navy INTEL or IW. When I get a little more confidence, I'll contact a recruiter as well.

You guys have given me a lot of really great ideas (I will DEFINITELY see if I can spend a day at a base, Erich. I'm living near Annapolis, so it shouldn't be terribly difficult to find one - I never knew that they'd be willing to put up with a curious college student!), and confidence that I'll learn to adapt to the lifestyle (thanks for the pictures and the thoughts, HollywoodMarine - that's exactly what I was hoping was the case!).

Best to all of you - you really helped with my decision!
-Kim

quote:

Originally posted by kturley:
I just wanted to thank all of you so much for your positive input - I think I've known in the back of my mind for a long time that this is the direction I wanted to go, and I just knew that if the first feedback I got was negative, it might permanently kill my confidence on that score. I finally talked to my family and some of my friends, and they were surprisingly positive about the idea - I was truly shocked when my mother told me she thought it made perfect sense for me! And they were even able to give me a few navy contacts in the area where I'm living.

I've started a PT regime so I can be extremely comfortable with the PFA exercises by next summer, and I'm looking carefully at all the branches - leaning towards Navy INTEL or IW. When I get a little more confidence, I'll contact a recruiter as well.

You guys have given me a lot of really great ideas (I will DEFINITELY see if I can spend a day at a base, Erich. I'm living near Annapolis, so it shouldn't be terribly difficult to find one - I never knew that they'd be willing to put up with a curious college student!), and confidence that I'll learn to adapt to the lifestyle (thanks for the pictures and the thoughts, HollywoodMarine - that's exactly what I was hoping was the case!).

Best to all of you - you really helped with my decision!
-Kim

They will if it is a Reserve or NG unit for recruiting purposes. Active units will NOT. Just wanted to clarify.

Active Duty doesn't want to see you on a base or post unless they have a public function running.

There's a very busy Coast Guard Station in Annapolis, Maryland. You wouldn't see any engineers, but I'm sure the crew would be glad to talk to you and give you a tour.

I'm sure you would run into some engineers if you went to the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland.

And you could always call the U. S. Naval Academy and tell them of your interests and career plans. I'm sure they give tours also, and you could find out when they give them.

quote:

Originally posted by Retired_CG_Recruiter:
And you could always call the U. S. Naval Academy and tell them of your interests and career plans. I'm sure they give tours also, and you could find out when they give them.

Plebes probably aren't the best example for someone still not 100% set on the military But then again, it makes one thankful for making the choice to NOT attend an academy.

I wasn't thinking about plebes or midshipmen at all. I was thinking about officers on the teaching staff, the administrative staff, or the permanent party.

kturley-

I was on google just to find some information about the Army when I came across this discussion. When I started reading it I could not believe how much alike we are when it came to joining the military! The only difference I can see is that you are almost/done with college and I just got out of high school so the whole college thing is really weighing on my mind right now. Do I go to college then the Army? Do I enlist then go to college? I want to be an officer really badly, so I am going to have to go to college at one point or another. But I understand what you were/are going through 100%. Everything everyone has said in this discussion has really helped me out. So I would like to thank you for saying something. I am not going to listen to anyone else when they say they cannot see me in the military or anything like that. I am going to finish my research and probably going to

enlist! God Bless AMERICA!

This is a 2 and a half year old topic.