The Black Knight
Pelican
Stick to the history dude. You have no idea what you're talking about.
Joining the U.S. Military in 2020?
- Thread starter Aizen
- Start date
Stick to the history dude. You have no idea what you're talking about.
So you think the Space Force is pozzed? I'd be interesting in to hearing why. Never being in, it seems so from the outside.
Commissioned active duty in the Marines in 2012 and got out in 2019 as a Captain.
My two cents and a general background for context:
Grew up in a very rural area in Texas. Think wooded forests where people still ride horse to school...
Parents were middle class restaurant owners, very intelligent, very hard working, and I had fantastic upbringing with a great mother and father who made me work from 8 years old until leaving for school. College was a must based off of their expectation. I went to a major public university and was in ROTC there. I entered the Marine Corps training pipeline at the tail end of the Surge in Iraq with the expectation that I would deploy and get to shoot people in the face. As misguided as that is regarding a Christian way of thinking, at the time I wanted to blow stuff up and kill people...After graduation and commissioning and the first year of training/education as an Officer and training in my specific Military Occupational Specialty, I spent my first tour doing everything from shooting large cannons, to riding around in a tank, to calling for artillery and air support, and deploying aboard a ship. We were involved in the clean up of Post- Qaddafi Libya, (thanks Obama/Hildog) where we destroyed a ISIS strong hold in the town of Sirte (or Surte depending on the map/spelling)... after that I spent the next couple years in a Joint Army Base with the Marine Detachment teaching newly commissioned officers how to employ fire support and plan for artillery/close air support. It was a very PC environment, and while excellent for my career, my personal lack of ability to kiss ass coupled with a failed marriage and children made me realize God had other plans for my life. I am glad I got to impart experiences and mistakes on the younger generation of Marines/Soldiers, and still keep in contact with several whom I got to teach as well as many of the enlisted Marines who made me a great leader when I was their superior officer.
I loved every second of it. I had some crazy experiences, in many ways I lived 10x the life most normal people experience running the civilian rat race. I met some of the best people in the world from all races/creeds, who were all united in a "greater good" of protecting each other, and whatever mission we were all assigned to, regardless of the politics behind it all. I had experiences where I confronted my own mortality, and realized that I did not want to die, but I signed up for all of it, and trusted that God had a plan for me, even if it involved death in some shit-hole 3rd world country. I also had to take part in things that I find to be antithetical to what I now understand as a Christian way of interacting with your fellow man, and those things bother me still daily.
Regarding the "pozzed/based" reality of the military:
I saw the Obama effects on the military take place. Most officers I dealt with that were above me were reeling with the political repercussions of a pro-globo homo agenda. Most of my peers were too caught up in the reality that the money was great and that this job gave you everything you asked for, was always exciting and gave you plenty of time to drink with the boys and build camaraderie(which I still miss for the record). I was deployed when Trump was elected and the elation many expressed (myself included) was so palpable you could have canned it and sold it to starving kids in Africa ... who would have immediately shat American flags and cured the continent of AIDS as well as the thankfulness not to have that Satanic Witch Hillary as our CIC. None the less, many folks I looked up to were getting out, especially the die hard religious ones. I began to understand why as I left the operating forces for a secondary billet that was supposed to foster professional growth training newly commissioned officers. For me the last straw was when the Obama era Transgender policies were being placed into effect. The fact that I was supposed to sign a paper that recognized that I had been breifed that there is a policy was so repugnant, I felt like Pontious Pilot having to rectify what one knows to be true vs the truth that is espoused by your commanding authorities. General Peter Pace said to me over a beer when I was in training "You have to look at the values of the institution, and when your values and theirs dont align, you either go or compromise your own values.... which no man should do." That message was early on in my career but I carried it daily in every interaction I had where I questioned if this was the right institution for me. Some can blindly follow, but for me, the ever present skeptic always brought that up when faced with questionable moral circumstances.
I say all that because the reality is that the military is just the physical enforcement of a country's political will. We use the military to ensure that our trade/dollar/empire stays at the top. You can make altruistic assumptions (as I did when I was a 20 year old) that the military serves as a good vs evil tool to ensure moral rectitude in the world, and that you'll get to be part of something that is bigger than yourself... and a force for good and all that propaganda and in many ways it is still true, but remember as Smedley Butler said, "All war is a racket."
If you deploy in a combat arms situation, you'll see God and the Devil in men. You'll see right and wrong, chaos, and order... but mostly you'll just see things that will make you be reminded that America is the best country in the world because we still have the freedom and stability to not have to live like animals no matter how poor or how "disenfranchised".
While I dont really know anything about the Space Force, as it was just established before i got out, if you are looking for the most "based" group, and you have some testicular fortitude, join the Marines/Army and seek out the infantry/combat arms MOS's/ even better train hard and do well and purse a special operations job. There is less PC malarkey there than in the average Air Force/Navy Unit... but you will always have a certain amount you'll deal with.
If you go in with the attitude that the military will open doors for you (and have great benefits) and provide you an avenue to better yourself and teach you life skills no other experience can offer, it is a great thing. But if you are not willing to commit whole-heartedly and die for that notion, I would caution you against it. Personally, I made it out lucky, I wasn't blown up/maimed ect... and I got experiences most men will never even be able to fathom, a set of problem solving skills that will enrich my life beyond description, the confirmation that I have the ability to overcome challenges presented and work with others under austere conditions, and most importantly the re-affirmation that God exists and has a plan for my life (which is the most fortunate message as many leave the military completely devoid of any religious beliefs).
Hope this is as helpful for you/others considering the military as it is to get it all out there for me, and viewed a lecture to dissuade or persuade one way or the other.
My two cents and a general background for context:
Grew up in a very rural area in Texas. Think wooded forests where people still ride horse to school...
Parents were middle class restaurant owners, very intelligent, very hard working, and I had fantastic upbringing with a great mother and father who made me work from 8 years old until leaving for school. College was a must based off of their expectation. I went to a major public university and was in ROTC there. I entered the Marine Corps training pipeline at the tail end of the Surge in Iraq with the expectation that I would deploy and get to shoot people in the face. As misguided as that is regarding a Christian way of thinking, at the time I wanted to blow stuff up and kill people...After graduation and commissioning and the first year of training/education as an Officer and training in my specific Military Occupational Specialty, I spent my first tour doing everything from shooting large cannons, to riding around in a tank, to calling for artillery and air support, and deploying aboard a ship. We were involved in the clean up of Post- Qaddafi Libya, (thanks Obama/Hildog) where we destroyed a ISIS strong hold in the town of Sirte (or Surte depending on the map/spelling)... after that I spent the next couple years in a Joint Army Base with the Marine Detachment teaching newly commissioned officers how to employ fire support and plan for artillery/close air support. It was a very PC environment, and while excellent for my career, my personal lack of ability to kiss ass coupled with a failed marriage and children made me realize God had other plans for my life. I am glad I got to impart experiences and mistakes on the younger generation of Marines/Soldiers, and still keep in contact with several whom I got to teach as well as many of the enlisted Marines who made me a great leader when I was their superior officer.
I loved every second of it. I had some crazy experiences, in many ways I lived 10x the life most normal people experience running the civilian rat race. I met some of the best people in the world from all races/creeds, who were all united in a "greater good" of protecting each other, and whatever mission we were all assigned to, regardless of the politics behind it all. I had experiences where I confronted my own mortality, and realized that I did not want to die, but I signed up for all of it, and trusted that God had a plan for me, even if it involved death in some shit-hole 3rd world country. I also had to take part in things that I find to be antithetical to what I now understand as a Christian way of interacting with your fellow man, and those things bother me still daily.
Regarding the "pozzed/based" reality of the military:
I saw the Obama effects on the military take place. Most officers I dealt with that were above me were reeling with the political repercussions of a pro-globo homo agenda. Most of my peers were too caught up in the reality that the money was great and that this job gave you everything you asked for, was always exciting and gave you plenty of time to drink with the boys and build camaraderie(which I still miss for the record). I was deployed when Trump was elected and the elation many expressed (myself included) was so palpable you could have canned it and sold it to starving kids in Africa ... who would have immediately shat American flags and cured the continent of AIDS as well as the thankfulness not to have that Satanic Witch Hillary as our CIC. None the less, many folks I looked up to were getting out, especially the die hard religious ones. I began to understand why as I left the operating forces for a secondary billet that was supposed to foster professional growth training newly commissioned officers. For me the last straw was when the Obama era Transgender policies were being placed into effect. The fact that I was supposed to sign a paper that recognized that I had been breifed that there is a policy was so repugnant, I felt like Pontious Pilot having to rectify what one knows to be true vs the truth that is espoused by your commanding authorities. General Peter Pace said to me over a beer when I was in training "You have to look at the values of the institution, and when your values and theirs dont align, you either go or compromise your own values.... which no man should do." That message was early on in my career but I carried it daily in every interaction I had where I questioned if this was the right institution for me. Some can blindly follow, but for me, the ever present skeptic always brought that up when faced with questionable moral circumstances.
I say all that because the reality is that the military is just the physical enforcement of a country's political will. We use the military to ensure that our trade/dollar/empire stays at the top. You can make altruistic assumptions (as I did when I was a 20 year old) that the military serves as a good vs evil tool to ensure moral rectitude in the world, and that you'll get to be part of something that is bigger than yourself... and a force for good and all that propaganda and in many ways it is still true, but remember as Smedley Butler said, "All war is a racket."
If you deploy in a combat arms situation, you'll see God and the Devil in men. You'll see right and wrong, chaos, and order... but mostly you'll just see things that will make you be reminded that America is the best country in the world because we still have the freedom and stability to not have to live like animals no matter how poor or how "disenfranchised".
While I dont really know anything about the Space Force, as it was just established before i got out, if you are looking for the most "based" group, and you have some testicular fortitude, join the Marines/Army and seek out the infantry/combat arms MOS's/ even better train hard and do well and purse a special operations job. There is less PC malarkey there than in the average Air Force/Navy Unit... but you will always have a certain amount you'll deal with.
If you go in with the attitude that the military will open doors for you (and have great benefits) and provide you an avenue to better yourself and teach you life skills no other experience can offer, it is a great thing. But if you are not willing to commit whole-heartedly and die for that notion, I would caution you against it. Personally, I made it out lucky, I wasn't blown up/maimed ect... and I got experiences most men will never even be able to fathom, a set of problem solving skills that will enrich my life beyond description, the confirmation that I have the ability to overcome challenges presented and work with others under austere conditions, and most importantly the re-affirmation that God exists and has a plan for my life (which is the most fortunate message as many leave the military completely devoid of any religious beliefs).
Hope this is as helpful for you/others considering the military as it is to get it all out there for me, and viewed a lecture to dissuade or persuade one way or the other.
It's basically just AFSPC under new management.
Served in the Army for 6 years. I'll go against the grain, I would recommend it. Either go combat arms or some sort of MOS (military job) where you will learn a skill or get a certification that will open doors for you after the military--whether that's language school, a trade, security clearance, etc. Flight school checks several of these boxes, you may want to look into the Army warrant officer program which allows you to apply for flight school right off the street. The main reason I recommend it is the discipline it instills in most people.
In way of benefits, the GI Bill is a big one--not only covers your tuition but pays a living stipend based on the cost of living where your school is located--I was going to school in the Midwest (not a major city) and getting around $1200/month tax free in addition to free tuition. I haven't seen the VA home loan mentioned in this thread and that's a huge one, arguably just as big of a benefit as the GI Bill and often overlooked (mainly because most people have never heard of it unless either they or a family member are or were serving themselves, or they work in residential real estate). Essentially you can take out a home loan with no money down and no mortgage insurance, typically with a slightly better interest rate than you would otherwise qualify for. It can also be used as many times as you want with the caveat that there is a cap on the total amount you have loaned at any given time (I think around 500-750k depending on where you live), although even that is flexible as you can borrow more by putting down 25% of the difference. This is a fantastic tool for building wealth if you use it smartly. I've bought 2 houses in the last ~18 months using it--only primary residences are eligible for the program but you can buy a house, live in it for a year, then buy a new house (if this takes you over the cap either put the 25% down or refinance the original loan)--buy a house you expect to appreciate significantly and that you can be OK living in temporarily even if it isn't your dream house, stay there for a year or two, then buy a new house, move into it, rent out the old one, repeat.
There is a SJW undercurrent in the military but isn't nearly as bad as in corporate America (based on my experience serving in the Obama years and later working for a large corporation). Although at least for me it could be more annoying at times because you have the feeling that there isn't "supposed to be" SJWism in the military, if that makes sense.
As far as the ethical dilemma....I wouldn't suggest it unless you are proud of your country and wish to defend it, even if you don't like what it has turned into now, at least the ideals. The right's biggest failure over the last ~50 years or so has been to allow the left to completely take over most of our institutions--academia, the media, entertainment, government bureaucracy, etc. The military is one of the few that has not yet been completely subverted. What happens if conservatives stop raising their hands to enlist (or commission)? We, as in the future of the country and western civilization, need conservatives in the military and--I'll catch heat for saying this--we also need conservatives joining the three letter agencies. If things go to shit civilization-wise you'll either still be in, and able to work on the inside, or out but with skills and experience you can use to help defend your family and community.
I will say, make sure your account here is airtight and make sure you don't have anything on social media that would raise eyebrows, in particular if you have any references to ((())) stuff on social media I would scrub it immediately.
In way of benefits, the GI Bill is a big one--not only covers your tuition but pays a living stipend based on the cost of living where your school is located--I was going to school in the Midwest (not a major city) and getting around $1200/month tax free in addition to free tuition. I haven't seen the VA home loan mentioned in this thread and that's a huge one, arguably just as big of a benefit as the GI Bill and often overlooked (mainly because most people have never heard of it unless either they or a family member are or were serving themselves, or they work in residential real estate). Essentially you can take out a home loan with no money down and no mortgage insurance, typically with a slightly better interest rate than you would otherwise qualify for. It can also be used as many times as you want with the caveat that there is a cap on the total amount you have loaned at any given time (I think around 500-750k depending on where you live), although even that is flexible as you can borrow more by putting down 25% of the difference. This is a fantastic tool for building wealth if you use it smartly. I've bought 2 houses in the last ~18 months using it--only primary residences are eligible for the program but you can buy a house, live in it for a year, then buy a new house (if this takes you over the cap either put the 25% down or refinance the original loan)--buy a house you expect to appreciate significantly and that you can be OK living in temporarily even if it isn't your dream house, stay there for a year or two, then buy a new house, move into it, rent out the old one, repeat.
There is a SJW undercurrent in the military but isn't nearly as bad as in corporate America (based on my experience serving in the Obama years and later working for a large corporation). Although at least for me it could be more annoying at times because you have the feeling that there isn't "supposed to be" SJWism in the military, if that makes sense.
As far as the ethical dilemma....I wouldn't suggest it unless you are proud of your country and wish to defend it, even if you don't like what it has turned into now, at least the ideals. The right's biggest failure over the last ~50 years or so has been to allow the left to completely take over most of our institutions--academia, the media, entertainment, government bureaucracy, etc. The military is one of the few that has not yet been completely subverted. What happens if conservatives stop raising their hands to enlist (or commission)? We, as in the future of the country and western civilization, need conservatives in the military and--I'll catch heat for saying this--we also need conservatives joining the three letter agencies. If things go to shit civilization-wise you'll either still be in, and able to work on the inside, or out but with skills and experience you can use to help defend your family and community.
I will say, make sure your account here is airtight and make sure you don't have anything on social media that would raise eyebrows, in particular if you have any references to ((())) stuff on social media I would scrub it immediately.
I'll add one more thing, if you're a racial nationalist you won't do well in the military. I was the only white guy on my team for most of both of my deployments and I would not hesitate to put my life in the hands of any of the guys I directly served with. If you can't handle not only taking orders from officers or NCOs who don't look like you, but also literally trusting black/Hispanic/Jewish/Muslim/gay/etc comrades with your life then I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Gee, I wonder why conservatives aren't joining those institutions.
Oh, right. We have to pretend that everything is fine. We have to work with fifth columnists who dedicate every single waking moment of their lives to subverting America. We have to abide all the top-down mandated diversity training and other self-flagellant activities. It's great that you can trust people that don't have America's interests at heart or even any common core values with you -- I'm sure that Cannon Hinnant and Seth Smith trusted their Peaceful neighbors with their lives, right up until they got shot and killed.
You tell people like me to join the military so that we can provide a counterbalance to the leftists, but then you tell us to go elsewhere because we refuse to fellate Satan. I'm sorry, but our knees are reserved for the Lord.
There are literally a hundred things you can do to improve your life right now that don't involve giving up your life for Globohomo wars.
1) Leave NYC. It's quite literally the easiest place in the country to leave. I did it. What is keeping you there?
2) Move somewhere off the radar that is affordable. Don't overrthink this, I don't mean Idaho lol. The Midwest seems good. Indiana. Texas other than Austin. The South. The office culture changes quite a bit when you leave the Northeast.
3) Everyone hates office work, but it really doesn't exist anymore. My entire professional life is zoom calls. So I don't think it's that bad. Really, a blessing. If once a year you need to do a diversity training zoom, whatever. Suck it up and do it. It's worth having 100% remote freedom.
4) If you're really intent on letting your degree go to waste and can't play the career game, go ahead and do a trade. You're never going to get 100% of what you want. Guys have unrealistic expectations about life and think they can live it 100% on their terms. The people who live 100% on their own terms are homeless people.
God doesn't care about your career.
There are literally people starving and suffering in large parts of the world, God isn't thinking about your career choices.
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Maybe I didn't make my point very well. When you're serving in combat alongside another man all that matters is whether or not he can do his job.
If you're talking about a desk job then that's different, but your life generally isn't at stake in those kinds of jobs anyway.
Nobody is asking you to "fellate Satan", but if you can't stomach taking orders from someone who doesn't look like you then yeah, maybe not the best place. Yes, we need strong conservative men (and the military is still mostly conservative) wearing the uniform for the good of society as a whole but it isn't for everybody.
Sad. I had a lingering hope that the reason Trump created it to make a fresh, completely un-pozzed military network, one that was not infiltrated by the Deep State---one that would mass arrest Deep State actors and defend Trump from any coup attempts. Yes, it was a vague hope, but still, I am disappoint!
I think you're putting too much faith in a single man's ability to overcome institutional inertia that has had a majority of its non-PC senior officers purged by the Obama Admin. Except for Combat Arms and small units, a the majority of the military is there for support/logistics and full of women/inept people. You can absolutely find very based commanders/units, but they are still under the construct of the DOD which has been turned toward a liberal progressive ideology in large part. The fact is the US Military has always been more socially progressive than the public. Reference Segregation, Dont Ask Don't Tell being repealed, and now Tranny freak show acceptance.
If Trump was doing something like that, he would create a new intelligence organization that would basically be designed to supplant the FBI. Yes, the media would scream secret police, but they've already been tarring Trump with the Hitler brush for a long time, so I think that would largely just be an impotent attack vector by this point.
You listed a lot of people-groups that are different in much more than just looks. Stop trivializing those differences. This trivialization is why we're in the situation we are in now. What we need are strong right-wing (conservatism is a failure) men that build their own parallel institutions, not joining existing, broken institutions that will leave permanent scars on their bodies, psyches, and souls.
Again, what are you going to do when they give you the order to storm an American town? Are you gonna stand up and give the usual conservative monologue that's always worked so well over the past 70 years, and make the military suddenly have a change of heart and realize that apple pies and baseball are worth defending?
The answer is parallel institutions that will stand tall while the old institutions rot to death because all the competence left to go join the parallel institutions.
What "parallel institution" is there to the US military?
No, I would not have (I'm not in any more) obeyed an order to murder American civilians. So in the event that order is ever given, wouldn't you rather it be given to the type of men who are prepared to refuse it? Military service has benefits for men, and having as many of the type of men on this board in the military as possible benefits all of us. My point is that if you can't play the game long enough to get yourself in a position to receive and refuse that order, you'll be cast aside and someone who will obey it will take your place.
MusicForThePiano
Pelican
Brother was in for a long time, I am unable to relate personal stories but I will say that if you go in you may as well get a tattoo of the IMF first, so you can at least remind yourself daily who you truly work for. Everything, every operation, every invasion, every black op, all of it only benefits one system and those who control it, and it's not the US. Yeah most say the US is basically the Israeli Expeditionary Force, which is true, but even at the end of the day, there are Israeli's that are dying to further the aims of the banksters.
Wouldn't it be great if there was a non-co-opted non-pozzed righteous military to join for all these lost young men these days? It's almost as if someone would have to start a grass roots military, even if it is just with sticks and stones, because if its righteous, more will join than will a corrupted system.
OP, don't sign those papers unless you are ready to be owned by people who are campaigning for your extermination.
Wouldn't it be great if there was a non-co-opted non-pozzed righteous military to join for all these lost young men these days? It's almost as if someone would have to start a grass roots military, even if it is just with sticks and stones, because if its righteous, more will join than will a corrupted system.
OP, don't sign those papers unless you are ready to be owned by people who are campaigning for your extermination.
This has been a topic of discussion for years on the forum. Network with like-minded men.
So you're willing to face court martial and years in prison? Globohomo will just pick up ten replacements for you off the street with promises of looking the other way while they loot, pillage, and rape, while the opposition would be down one valuable strong fighting man that they can't easily replace.
That's a worthy aim but it isn't really the same thing. If you're talking something approximating a parallel institution to the US military, you're talking the various forms of armed citizen groups. Those certainly exist, but they are comprised in large part either of military veterans or people who were trained by veterans. The training and potentially combat experience you get in the military (mainly talking Army/Marine Corps here) are difficult to impossible to replicate in the civilian world.
Having allies on the inside of the power structure is invaluable. If we want to turn back the tide of globohomo instead of merely surviving long enough to pass the burden to the next generation it will be helpful to co-opt existing institutions just as the left did in the past. Doing that and setting up parallel institutions aren't mutually exclusive. Men should join the military, law enforcement, go into law, run for elected office, government bureaucracy, even the 3 letter agencies, wherever their talents and interests lay.
This sounds like the same tortured reasoning devout Christian parents have used to send their kids to public school. "If they work from within the system, they can change it!" Except The System itself is evil, and designed to create more damned souls to perpetuate itself.
Only the Left is adept at this infiltration thing. Once they get in charge, they use all their power to prevent others from doing the same. Only collapse and destruction will put an end to them.
Okay, you get into power, and..... the rot gets worse on your watch. You're forced to hire the less qualified (read: SJWs) because hiring meritocratically gets noticed, and they threaten to put your job on the chopping block unless you hire the chaff. You're forced to attend mandatory DIE training, and you're also forced to require your subordinates to attend those training, otherwise your job is on the chopping block. You can't fire the incompetents because the rules for firing people have been twisted into pretzels. And whenever you apply for promotion up the chain, you get passed over so that LaShaquia can be the First Black Transexual Woman To Be X. You are, effectively, as a middle manager, castrated.
Believe me, I know. I'm doing exactly what you are suggesting we do right now, and I'm telling you. It wouldn't matter how hard I tried, you can't un-subvert that which has already been subverted. You can only burn it down and rebuild it from the ashes. There is no way I am going to be able to un-subvert the mess I've landed in. It's just going to ride the shit train straight to the graveyard.
But I can see myself creating a parallel institution that does what this old, rotting institution did, and better, and more profitably (read: having better long-term survival chances).
Maybe I missed it, but do you have experience with military service? If so, what did you do and did you ever deploy? Those are relevant questions and not meant to attack you personally, but only so we can all gauge your experiences and understanding for credibility sake. Two people could both serve in different MOS's and have completely different experiences. I guarantee you I had a much more positive experience that was less full of globohomo than a desk clerk in and administration shop in the Air Force/Navy. There is always an element of poltical correctness in all things we have to interact with as all institutions are ran by men who have to answer to the politics of the time. The military is no different than a majority of organizations in our world. Currently I work for a small, very Christian company who's owner has sued the Obama Admin about the Birth Control thing... Even there I cant go in and point out the JQ and how this country should only consist of British Isles colonial subjects and their descendants, and how diversity = hatred.... I still have to keep those opinions to myself for the most part. Assuming you work, you too probably have similar circumstances.
I personally think this discussion is beginning to stray from the OP's interrogatories. Militias and other types of organizations are fine in theory, but discussion on a board about them is a straight up green light to get infiltrated by feds. These new institutions you're alluding to, I would expect you would want people who served in the military in them to train you how to do all those things you're discussing, to me it sounds a lot like larping and idle babble, unless call of duty is going to teach a generation how to think critically in austere environments...
To the OP: If you want to join, do so, if you're strongly set that the military is nothing but globohomo bs...it is an all volunteer force. As I said in my above post, which is very fair and balanced on both the pros and cons: You will do things, good and bad, that will expose you to all the highs and lows of life. Depending on your job, one day you could be giving aid to victims of a hurricane, then the next day you'll be shooting at people. This is just part of the job. I have advised many to join the Marines, and advised many more not to join. I caution everyone to look at what they want to get out of the military and what their true motivations are. For me, I knew I would not feel that I had experienced self actualization until I had put myself in the situations only afforded by the tradition, culture, and tenacity of the Marine Corps. For others, they're just trying to get some life experiences, the GI Bill, and maybe some cool war stories.
