Those in the military

[Crash]

I am thinking about joining either the marine reserves, or the army reserves. Is any one that is in the military, in because of wanting to be in the reserves? Are you happy with your decision, and what advice could you give me?

My reasons for concideration are:

money for school
money to repay student loans
full medical/dental
free training basically


I dont give a damn about my chances to go to iraq. If i go, i go... it's the least I can do for the US

what are your thoughts

[Bond]

Expect one nasty and long message from gekko.

[Jonbo298]

Expect one nasty and long message from gekko.

*hides the women and children* :p

[Happydude]

Expect one nasty and long message from gekko.
i was about to say that :p

[DarrenMcLeod]

If you need money, maybe drugs is a safer bet.

Just kidding!

[Happydude]

If you need money, maybe drugs is a safer bet.

Just kidding!
no you're not :p

[gekko]

I am thinking about joining either the marine reserves, or the army reserves. Is any one that is in the military, in because of wanting to be in the reserves? Are you happy with your decision, and what advice could you give me?

My reasons for concideration are:

money for school
money to repay student loans
full medical/dental
free training basically


I dont give a damn about my chances to go to iraq. If i go, i go... it's the least I can do for the US

what are your thoughts

*flexes fingers*

Did I join because of the reserves? No
Am I happy with my decision? Worst mistake of my life.

Now that I answered all your questions... *ahem*...

There is only one reason to join the military, and that is to serve your country. Anything less than wanting 4 years of service (read: work) for your country for the sole purpose of helping out your country (and wanting nothing in return), you're making a mistake.

Joining the military gets rid of all the freedoms you once had, and puts you in an organization completely backwards from the principles this country was founded on. You will work for 4 years and get nothing in return but aging 4 years. Does that sound fun to you? If so, join.

As for the reserves, life will be a little more relaxed for you, but the pay is ****ty, and the benefits... ahem... who said there were benefits? Money for school... heh. Let me tell you about money for school. You get 100% tuition assistance while you're active (not sure about reserves), but your command will not let you attend college classes, so you never actually use it. Something like 4% of the Marine Corps actually uses their tuition assistance, and I'm sure they're not on their first enlistment. You get the GI Bill, yes, you get something like $28,000 for giving $1200. Sound good? Yes, but it must be an accredited school and you don't get it all at once, you get it in payments, so don't expect to attend college for a semester and bank all that cash.

The Marine Corps College Fund is an additional $50,000, but I got screwed out of it, just like anyone who expressed interest in the Marine Corps does. Funny how you want to serve your country and you get screwed more. They save the few they have for people who need to be bribed into joining, and I also doubt you would get it by joining the reserves. Even so, I'm sure there's a catch if you did get it. But the only people I know who were promised it didn't have the proper paperwork to get it, ie. their recruiter screwed them.

I don't know where you would get money to repay student loans. They don't just hand you cash when you join. They might pay for more college, but I really doubt you'll get much in paying back your old loans. and on your couple hundred a month paycheck, you won't be making much to pay back either.

Yes, you get full medical and dental coverage, and it's by far the worst medical and dental care I could ever ask for. Medical care is done by Navy Corpsman (or Army Medics) who don't have much training past how to keep someone alive in combat long enough to get medivaced to someone who knows what they're doing. I've had an ingrown toenail pulled on the same toe 6 times, and 2 times on a different toe, and never once has the infection gone away, or has it not grown back in regrown. I've been in 3 times now for a new medication, because the one they gave me for the infection has not worked, ever, in the 8 times I had it. What do they do? Give me more.

Dental has not done anything for me. Have work that needs to be done, they tell me to come back later because they're too busy (later being a couple months). Then they're always in a rush for getting deploying troops worked on, and when you are a deploying troop, you get screwed because now they don't have time to do it before you deploy, or your training schedule is too busy. I doubt anything will get done before I'm out.

Free training, I really wonder what your doing. Unless you plan on working in some related field, I would recommend against it. If you want to work with helos, then maybe. But what other training are you going to get? We're using equipment that doesn't work, that's so much older I doubt you'll ever see it in the civilian world.

As for deploying to Iraq, you say that now, but when you join the reserves you do it because you want a life outside of the military. What you'll get is being active more often than not. Between the training, and the multiple deployments, you might as well just go active duty.

The military might seem great, but it's not. The benefits you get really aren't. While you may think you're bill free and get to keep all your money, think again. You'll spend hundreds on food (because the chowhall is nasty), uniforms, gear, stuff to take care of your room, etc. The only time anyone really saves money is when they are deployed and can't spend it. Aside from that, the very freedoms you are fighting for you don't have. You do what your told, no matter what it is. If you don't smoke, plan on picking up at least 5,000 cigarette butts in your first year. Picking up trash, cleaning the areas for the staff NCOs and officers because they can't do it themselves, moving heavy objects, etc. Anything that doesn't pertain to your job, you'll do.

Then it's setup so you have no power if you're at the bottom, and you can't do anything to the guys at the top. Funny, wasn't this country founded on the principles that the people have a voice? Not in the military. Change does not exist.

And of course then you get to combat and you don't have the gear you are supposed to, half of the stuff you have is broken, you're undermanned, and the command is more worried about shaving and clean uniforms than winning a war.

Just a short list of gripes.

[Crash]

are you in the marines gekko? my dad told me the marines get all the hand me down crappy equipment.

[gekko]

Yes, unfortunately. It's not really hand-me-downs, but it is horrible equipment, and we don't get the parts to fix it, and it doesn't last very long, and it requires a ton of maintenance, yada yada yada.

Thing is, Marines are famous for winning battles while undermanned and with broken gear, and then they say how great we did, and the officers get promoted and given medals. In reality, it's a logistical failure and a failure by the command, but the enlisted men that get no respect were able to defy all odds. Problem is they think they did so great, when in reality, it never should've got to that position in the first place.