Of course, the military is not the perfect job choice for everyone. Nevertheless it serves as an important vocational school for those eager to learn a trade. It does provide a satisfactory career for countless individuals who lack the self-discipline that is necessary to succeed in civilian life but who happily adjust to military discipline. The camaraderie of belonging to, working, and living with a group of men and women who share common interests and goals is rewarding to many in the Armed Services. No longer is it a refuge for maladjusted or lazy people who once saw it as nothing more than a free meal ticket. Today each individual who joins and contributes his or her worth and potential can find a very satisfying and rewarding lifetime experience.
It is significant that thousands of enlisted personnel and officers, who could leave the Armed Forces after fulfilling their obligations, elect of their own free will to remain, carve out a good career, and eventually retire with a lifetime pension.
Now with those observations in mind, consider the advantages and disadvantages of a military career.
ADVANTAGES OF A MILITARY CAREER
There are many opportunities for women except for those career fields that are "combat related." The higher military grades are generally considered as combat related, and women are usually not eligible for promotion to these positions.
You will have job security regardless of how sour the nation's economy may be. Furthermore, as long as your work and behavior are satisfactory, you will not have to worry about being fired to make room for the nephew of the boss or because someone higher up does not like you.
You can count on job advancement if you do your best and show initiative, ability, and desire to get ahead, provided that there are openings into which you can progress.
You will have good living conditions with three adequate meals a day and all your needs provided.
Medical and dental care is available at no cost to you whether you are working on the post or become ill while home on leave.
High on the list of advantages is the financial aid available for qualified men and women who are eager to obtain further education or a college degree before or during their service. Other educational opportunities await enlistees who wish to study during their spare time. They will find that the government will probably pay 75 to 90 percent of their tuition costs. Another educational plus awaits those who have families and live on military posts.
Their children may attend elementary or high schools without payment of school taxes or tuition fees.
Members of the air force, for example, may attend the Community College of the Air Force and work toward an associate in applied science degree. The Veterans Educational Assistance Programs allow enlisted members of all services and officers to contribute $25 to $100 a month (up to $2,700), and when the individual is discharged, the government will provide two for one matching funds ($5,400 maximum) for tuition in an approved educational institution. There is also the Extension Course Institute that offers hundreds of courses to students at no cost and is open to enlistees and officers.
You should receive good on-the-job training to prepare you for a skill which will be not only valuable to the service but possibly useful if you decide to return to civilian life.
Pay is good and fringe benefits generous, including your pension. Should you wish to leave the military after twenty years, you may retire at 50 percent of your base pay earned just prior to retirement. If you stay in the service, for every year beyond the 20 you will receive an extra 2V2 percent of your base pay. You cannot do this in industry. The retirement plan costs you nothing and is the greatest pension bargain you will find anywhere. Just think, should you elect to retire after twenty years, you will still be comparatively young and can embark on a second career.
Before you start comparing pay scales (see Chapter 8) with those paid by private industry, remember that you will also receive your board and keep, clothing, and generous fringe benefits already mentioned.
As a member of the service you are entitled to thirty days of leave annually. When you resign or retire, you will be paid for all the vacation time you have accumulated up to sixty days.
Inexpensive life insurance is available. In the event of your death during your service, the government will pay your beneficiaries a death payment. Your dependents will receive monthly checks in amounts depending on your rank.
In many positions you may request assignments overseas. Since these positions are filled for the most part by volunteers such as yourself, the chances are good that you will have opportunity to travel overseas.
If you are interested in sports, you will find a wide range of athletic and recreational activities in which you may participate.
You may shop at the commissary (also called the PX or post exchange) and save money on almost all items sold there. These post exchanges are operated on a nonprofit basis and admit only service personnel.
DISADVANTAGES OF A MILITARY CAREER
Nothing is perfect. Although the military is far from faultless, the advantages far outweigh the relatively few drawbacks.
You may find it difficult to adjust to military life, which is disciplined and regimented. Young people who have been permitted to do pretty much as they wish at home and in the classroom will go from a world of permissiveness to a society of rules and regulations. If this is true for you, the transition may not prove easy.
Some service assignments can be monotonous and boring, whether in the states or abroad. You may be stationed at a post on the desert, where it is extremely hot, and find that there is nothing to do. You might be sent to the "land of the midnight sun" in an isolated Arctic outpost. This is a chance you must take. Fortunately there are not too many of these assignments.
Your personal life is subordinated to the military regimen, which comes first. You will probably work an eight-hour day, five days a week. Some assignments must be worked split shifts around the clock with perhaps extra hours from time to time.
Good grooming is required in all the services, something you may not be used to doing. Your uniform and personal appearance must pass inspection at any time and your behavior must conform with military regulations. You also have to remember the rules about saluting as well as other special instructions.
Military service can be dangerous even in peacetime. Although all precautions are taken to ensure the safety of every soldier and officer, accidents do happen. For example, at a demonstration for trainees at a fort in Texas, an antitank weapon exploded and a number of servicemen were hurt, some seriously. Occupational hazards are also found in many businesses. Construction cranes collapse. Coal mines experience explosions, fires, and floods. Truck and bus drivers have fatal accidents. Even office workers perish in fires that rage through buildings that are supposedly fireproof. Some service assignments are dangerous, but they pay extra compensation.
Finally, homesickness is not uncommon among newly enlisted personnel. It is nothing to be ashamed of. However, if the thought of being away from home for at least three years is upsetting, perhaps you might delay enlisting until you are older and certain that you will not be homesick. Most men and women who experience homesickness soon adjust to their new life and find their military experience a happy one.
