Postby Haibane Shadsie » Mon Oct 13, 2003 4:29 pm
My advice:
Make sure that this is something you really want. Is this a lifestyle you truly want? You have got to desire it more than anything else - otherwise, you probably will not make it.
Make sure you are also in excellent, and I do mean excellent, physical health. The military processing folks will not take you if you have any health deficiency. Also, the better your eyes/ears/more weight you can lift - it opens up more job opportunities for you. Excellent physical health is a must for getting through boot camp.
You see... a couple of years ago, I did not know what I really wanted to do with my life. (Hey, I still don't). Well, actually, I did and do... I wanted to be a graphic designer (which I am now, but I don't have much work). Anyway, the college I wanted to go to - I did not have enough money for it, and the military had been good for friends of mine - so I decided I'd go into the miltary for a short hitch and get the college benifits to go with it. I also liked the idea of the possibilty of world travel, the chance to get away from my family, and, well, I am a patriot.
I joined the United States Air Force. I consider it one of the worst mistakes of my life, now... it turns out... I was NOT military material. I'm much too emotionally sensitive. I'm NOT tough. I went into boot camp, made it through Zero Week, and through much of First Week. Then, the stress got to me. I became suicidal. I went to the base hospital for several days, then was put into a discharge processing squadron for about three weeks...
I went in thinking I could take the mental abuse and mind games the Training Instructors (or in the case of the army, they would be Drill Sergeants) gave us. I was espeically singled out for abuse in my Flight. They were not allowed to physically touch us, but they can find ways to make life unbearable. I also had trouble getting along with other members of my Flight... I decided that I didn't want the military life badly enough to put up with the garbage of boot camp any longer. They do anything and everything to keep you in a perpetual state of stress. If you don't do things right, they make you feel like a failure. I decided that I was dragging down my flight. I also feared for my life (i.e. afraid of where the stress was driving me. I was seriously afraid I'd committ suicide if I stayed in. It is the closest to actually doing it I have ever come).
So, I washed out. I'm glad with my decision (especially since a couple of actual wars have come up since my discharge), and that sense of failure has followed me to this day. One good thing that has come out of it, though... I found out that I do, in fact, have a legitimate mental illness and have gotten help for it in the form of mild medication. I would never have gone to a psychatrist on my own in the civillian world.
Anyway... I'm just saying this in warning. Some people are military material, and some are not. I was not. You probably are. Is it something you have wanted all your life, and not just a convienent way to pay for college or "something to do"? If so, then, well, you probably are cut out for it.
All I'm saying is... just make sure you are ready and that it's something you really want. To make it, you have to hunger for it. You have to really want to be a warrior. Boot camp... I just went to Air Force boot camp, which is supposed to be wimpy compared to the Army's... will try you. Its purpose is to weed out the weak from the strong - those who really want to be in the military from those who do not. If you want it, really, truly want it, you will make it. If you don't, you won't.
Also, from all the people I met in the medical discharge squadron... you do need to be in top physical health. If you have any problems, no matter how small, mental or physical... they will be drawn out tenfold. The mental and the physical stress of training does that. If you have even a minor medical problem, they might not take you in the first place... if you are admitted, watch your health.
It's my advice, and I hope I haven't scared you too much. This was just my experience.
If you go into the Army, I wish you the best of luck and the grace of God. I have high respect for military people - for all the garbage they put up with, and for protecting our lives and freedoms.
EDIT: Oh, if you are ALREADY in the Army, I'm sorry for sounding like a dork... I am new here, and don't know anybody all too well yet - if you've already been through boot and made it, well, you rock and are a lot tougher than I am. Consider this my general warning/advice for anyone not yet in the military who is considering going in. Shadsie out.
"We will never give up and despair, for we are on a mission from God." __ Hellsing, Vol. 2.