Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I spent 8 years in the Navy and I agree that the military isn't for everyone. I knew I wasn't cut out for the Army or Marines so i didn't join. Thanks to my dad and uncle, both of whom served in the Navy, I knew what I was getting myself into. Knew many sailors who started their college education while at sea. With the many veterans and active duty personel online it's harder for recruiters to lie to potential recruits. They can go online and verify if the recruiter lied to them. My recruiter was honest. Not all recruiters are honest. There are so many jobs in the military that recruiters can't know about all those jobs so sometimes they're simply misinformed. My recruiter didn't know about nuclear school and he admitted it. He was a sonar tech.
I spent 8 years in the Navy and I agree that the military isn't for everyone. I knew I wasn't cut out for the Army or Marines so i didn't join. Thanks to my dad and uncle, both of whom served in the Navy, I knew what I was getting myself into. Knew many sailors who started their college education while at sea. With the many veterans and active duty personel online it's harder for recruiters to lie to potential recruits. They can go online and verify if the recruiter lied to them. My recruiter was honest. Not all recruiters are honest. There are so many jobs in the military that recruiters can't know about all those jobs so sometimes they're simply misinformed. My recruiter didn't know about nuclear school and he admitted it. He was a sonar tech.
First, thank you for your service.
Enlisting used to be what a lot of young men chose going out of high school. Fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers all enlisted. It was the honorable thing to do. Parents were proud of their sons and daughters enlisting to serve.
Now days kids are so babied that parents, especially mothers, do what they can to keep their children out of the armed services.
Also, the idea of protecting our country and the people in it is adverse to too many, and they would prefer someone else do the protecting.
If recruiters stay as invisible as possible, kids won't think about enlisting. If recruiters stay as invisible as possible, PARENTS won't have to see their kids off to serve their country.
It isn't the kids who object to recruiters, it's the parents. It's the over protection parents feel kids need. It's the micro-managing parents feel THEY need to keep their kids under their thumb.
Make kids incapable of being on their own, and parents can keep them longer and kids will be more dependent on good old mom and dad much longer.
If a kid wishes to join the military, even if they're legal adults the parents should be involved. The parents may know things about their kid that the kid isn't willing to tell the recruiter. Things that may get them disqualified for service. That would be a good thing. Helps if there's a relative in the family that served in some branch of the military. However, what my dad and uncle went through in bootcamp was not exactly what I went through in bootcamp. Today's Navy bootcamp is different from when I went through in 1990. The training they have today makes them better prepared for real emergencies that can happen on the ship. Lots of it is hands on experience training in bootcamp that I had to learn after I arrived onboard the ship. Knew several guys who said they'd be either in jail or dead if they'd not joined the military. One guy had a rich father. His dad paid his way through college only to discover his kid was partying all night and sleeping all day instead of attending his classes. Daddy got tired of this and told him he was financially cut out of the family and cut out of the will unless he joined the military as an enlistedman. Poor little rich boy was now reduced to sweating in the engine room with the rest of us poor slobs. We always knew when he was doing laundry in the engineroom (something we all did) because of his high dollar silk boxers he hung out to dry.
Enlisting used to be what a lot of young men chose going out of high school. Fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers all enlisted. It was the honorable thing to do. Parents were proud of their sons and daughters enlisting to serve.
Now days kids are so babied that parents, especially mothers, do what they can to keep their children out of the armed services.
Also, the idea of protecting our country and the people in it is adverse to too many, and they would prefer someone else do the protecting.
If recruiters stay as invisible as possible, kids won't think about enlisting. If recruiters stay as invisible as possible, PARENTS won't have to see their kids off to serve their country.
It isn't the kids who object to recruiters, it's the parents. It's the over protection parents feel kids need. It's the micro-managing parents feel THEY need to keep their kids under their thumb.
Make kids incapable of being on their own, and parents can keep them longer and kids will be more dependent on good old mom and dad much longer.
If you screw up a decision about college, you're not on the hook for (up to) six years. Nor can Emory or Clemson or Iowa State refuse to let you go (stop loss) or call you back after you've left (IRR). A decision to join the military is a fine one, but it should be made by an adult.
And in the interest of full disclosure, my daughter's former USAF (her husband is still in). Joined while in college: signed her papers in mid-September, 2001. I was scared to death, but proud of her-- and confident she knew what she was doing. If she'd been seventeen instead of twenty, I don't know that I could say the same.
My father went into the Navy when he was 17. My cousin enlisted when he was 16 (lied) and made a career of it. Retired after 30 years with the highest rank an enlistee can attain. My brother enlisted in the Army at 17 and left for boot camp at 18 when he got out of high school. All of my uncles served in the Army.
Then it was fathers who had a say in a child (especially a son) enlisting, not it's the mother. THAT'S the difference.
My father went into the Navy when he was 17. My cousin enlisted when he was 16 (lied) and made a career of it. Retired after 30 years with the highest rank an enlistee can attain. My brother enlisted in the Army at 17 and left for boot camp at 18 when he got out of high school. All of my uncles served in the Army.
Then it was fathers who had a say in a child (especially a son) enlisting, not it's the mother. THAT'S the difference.
Back in the day girls also routinely got married right out of high school-- another adult decision I don't want children making.
I'm not thrilled with the cigarette and credit card companies who target teens, either.
If that's overprotective, I'll happily cop to the descriptor.
The average enlistment is 4 years active duty. There are 2 year and 6 year enlistments depending on the program or rating. I had to take the 6 year because I was in the Nuclear program. If you want out of the military you can get out if you really want out. There will be a punishment of some type but you can get out. If in bootcamp there's less of a punishment if you want out. One guy in my company stayed in his rack and didn't move. If anyone touched him he'd yell assault. They called an ambulance and they took him away on a stretcher. We never saw him again. From a Navy standpoint; bootcamp seems hard while you're going through it but once it's over you realize it wasn't that bad. Life at sea can be hard especially being away from home for 6 months straight. Some people couldn't handle it but most could. Think of it this way, by the time you finish bootcamp and your training school almost 6 months have passed (depending on rating) before you get to your first ship. It takes a month or two to get into the swing of things on the ship and then you have 3 years and a few months to go before getting out. I stayed in 8 years and spent time on two ships. What's amazing is some of the people that complain the loudest in the Navy are the ones who raise their right hand to re-enlist again and then go back to complaining all over again. Some people like the travel. Some want to get away from their hometown or home state. Everyone has their own reason for joining. The students should be informed of the opportunities available to them for the military. They shouldn't be shielded from the students by overzealous teachers who hate the military. But I do agree that parents should be included in the discussion if the kid is interested in the military. Who knows? They might just get the chance to see the pyramids and sphinx in Giza, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Jerusalem, Bethleham, Barcelona, Athens, Rhodes, Istanbul, Monte Carlo, Florence, The Rock of Gibralter, and Casablanca (all places I've seen). Been to Spain, Gibralter, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Baharain, Dubai, and Gitmo cuba. There were places I wish I hadn't seen but I learned from those places just as much as from the places I enjoyed.
The average enlistment is 4 years active duty. There are 2 year and 6 year enlistments depending on the program or rating. I had to take the 6 year because I was in the Nuclear program. If you want out of the military you can get out if you really want out. There will be a punishment of some type but you can get out. If in bootcamp there's less of a punishment if you want out. One guy in my company stayed in his rack and didn't move. If anyone touched him he'd yell assault. They called an ambulance and they took him away on a stretcher. We never saw him again. From a Navy standpoint; bootcamp seems hard while you're going through it but once it's over you realize it wasn't that bad. Life at sea can be hard especially being away from home for 6 months straight. Some people couldn't handle it but most could. Think of it this way, by the time you finish bootcamp and your training school almost 6 months have passed (depending on rating) before you get to your first ship. It takes a month or two to get into the swing of things on the ship and then you have 3 years and a few months to go before getting out. I stayed in 8 years and spent time on two ships. What's amazing is some of the people that complain the loudest in the Navy are the ones who raise their right hand to re-enlist again and then go back to complaining all over again. Some people like the travel. Some want to get away from their hometown or home state. Everyone has their own reason for joining. The students should be informed of the opportunities available to them for the military. They shouldn't be shielded from the students by overzealous teachers who hate the military. But I do agree that parents should be included in the discussion if the kid is interested in the military. Who knows? They might just get the chance to see the pyramids and sphinx in Giza, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Jerusalem, Bethleham, Barcelona, Athens, Rhodes, Istanbul, Monte Carlo, Florence, The Rock of Gibralter, and Casablanca (all places I've seen). Been to Spain, Gibralter, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Baharain, Dubai, and Gitmo cuba. There were places I wish I hadn't seen but I learned from those places just as much as from the places I enjoyed.
Dave, I have no problem with brochures in the rack outside the counselor's office, along with the brochures for the junior college, Ivy League Night, or Bob's School of Auto Mechanics.
I just don't think the military recruiters need to be on campus, talking to the kids without an adult present who has a vested interest in that child's well-being.
And to equate them with college recruiters isn't entirely accurate-- not only because of the scope of the commitment, but because the guys from Florida State or Harvard aren't under the same pressure to come up with warm bodies (note the thread which says 29,000 applied to Harvard this year).
Although frankly, if my seventeen year old is talking to a college recruiter, I'd like to be there for that, too-- since I'm undoubtedly the one who will be financing a good chunk of it.
(My daughter and SIL had six year commitments because of their programs, as well.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
