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<blockquote data-quote="get2choppaaa" data-source="post: 1358447" data-attributes="member: 17150"><p>Commissioned active duty in the Marines in 2012 and got out in 2019 as a Captain.</p><p></p><p> My two cents and a general background for context:</p><p>Grew up in a very rural area in Texas. Think wooded forests where people still ride horse to school...</p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>Regarding the "pozzed/based" reality of the military: </p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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."</p><p> </p><p> 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". </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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). </p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="get2choppaaa, post: 1358447, member: 17150"] 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. [/QUOTE]
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