Help... 18 year old brother wants to join the military

[libertarian4321]

Ok, I didn't read through all of the responses but I'm a defense contractor and have worked with military guys since I got out of college.

I was poor, no money for college but I got grants and loans which got me through 5.5 years of college. After college (back in '97) I started working with a salary of $45k as a defense contractor. My buddy who had the same degree and graduated at the same time was in ROTC and went on to join the army. He started as a Lieutenant and was making far less than $45k at that point. From college I had racked up $20k in student loans and paid those off in the first 2 years of work. The whole time, I've got a great retirement plan and get to travel all over the country for work if I want to. I get to work with high ranking military officers as a peer instead of a subordinate, shooting the shit with generals while the lower ranks have to do the "yes sir, no sir" thing.

Fast forward a few years while I'm making the big bucks (beefing up that retirement account) to the war in Iraq. The soldiers are going off to fight and they get a slight pay increase for going out there (I think the rank of Lieutenant is around $60k or so while out there), I signed up to take a defense contract job in Iraq when at the time I was making over $80k in the US. By going over there my salary was tripled with the first $80k tax free. So I'm making about a quarter of a million dollars working along side soldiers who have to follow all of their rules and procedures, carrying their huge rifles everywhere they go (even when eating), they get guard duty standing out in the hot sun and all of this other crap that they have to put up with for a lot less than I make. I'm sitting in an air conditioned room working on a computer, just as I would in the US. The soldiers have to go off and fight and risk their lives. I am one of the guys that those soldiers are there to protect and defend with their lives. I had a room to myself, most soldiers had cots with a foot locker. Plus, I flew over there in business class, I was given a free flight anywhere for a month vacation and I only had to be out there as long as I felt like it.

Right now I'm making more than the $80k I was making at that point, plus my work is paying for my masters degree. I was able to pay cash for a new car when I got back and put down over $100k on my house.

So, sure you get a nice retirement if you stick through it with the military...but for my retirement I'll have a (really nice) house paid off, I'll have over $2 million in my retirement account and will more than likely have all of my limbs.

As for getting in shape...I can go out on my lunch break and go to the gym to get a decent work out the way that I want to get in shape, not some doctrined standard.

Here's a few things you didn't consider.

While you are working to pay your way through school and paying off loans, he is working part time jobs and socking every penny of it away. Not only that, but ROTC pays him a monthly check- and if he's smart, he's banking a good chunk of that money, too.

That LT is getting a LOT more than just his salary. He's getting free housing (if he plays his cards right, he can make a profit on his housing allowance), free medical, free BAS, and an number of other payments and bonuses (many of them tax free). He'll probably get the military to pay for at least a Master's degree, and possibly a PhD. Not only will the government pay for all his college expenses, they'll pay him a full salary while he's going to school. Getting a free ride through school, while collecting a $60k pay check, just to go to class ain't too bad.

He'll get 30 days of vacation a year (6 weeks) plus he'll get every holiday off. On top of that, he'll get "training holidays." He can turn in unused leave time for cash.

Also note that while Lieutenant's don't get paid much, military officer salaries rise FAST- by the time you make Captain, you'll be making a decent salary (plus all those extras) and it gets better as you rise in rank and time in service.

That LT will be able to retire at age 42, probably as a LTC or higher. He'll get a fat retirement check for the rest of his life, as well as free health care for him and his family. The government will pay for him to go back to school again if he chooses to do so. Or he can use the new GI bill to pay for his children's education. He'll also get a pile of other benefits- right up to the day he dies (free burial at a military cemetery).

On top of that, he will probably step out and grab a job as a defense contractor OR a high level government job. That contractor will pay him VERY well because he will be expected to use his military connections to help them get lucrative contracts (if he's worth a damn, he'll probably get a nice signing bonus, too). Unless you are a real hot shot, or he's a complete stiff, he'll probably end up making more than you do working for that contractor at age 42- he'll shoot past people who've been at the company for decades, because he's a "rain maker." It may not sound ethical, but it happens every day.

Depending on where he lives, he'll probably get state and local tax breaks for being a veteran.

He'll retire at age 65 and start double or triple dipping- collecting a big military retirement check, a social security check, and perhaps a government employee retirement check.

Oh, and another thing. Most military officers never come near combat. Unless he is a junior officer in a combat arm (infantry, armor, and the like), he's probably sitting fat, dumb, and happy on a fortified base somewhere (if he even gets deployed to a war zone- many officers do 20 or 30 years and never come within a thousand miles of a war zone).

Being an enlisted ground pounder in a war zone sucks, but being a military officer can be extremely lucrative, and in some cases is no more dangerous than being an accountant in Nebraska.

And I didn't even cover VHA loans and a bunch of other benefits.

 

[hillbilly123069]

Make sure he has read the US Constitution and if things go wrong,demand to see Barry's birth certificate before following anymore orders.That got at least 1 guy out of deployment to asia.

 

[Uriel999]

The Navy hasn't done any real fighting since WW2, and isn't likely to do any in the near future, given that the US Navy is large enough to wipe out all the other Navies in the world (combined) without even breaking a sweat.

Just get a ship board MOS and spend your career fat, dumb and happy safely floating around on a big ship hundreds of miles away from any war zone.

Not true at all. My brother recently got out of being active in the navy. He was a Lt. in the SEALs. He has done plenty of real fighting. Believe me, hanging out with him now is almost actually disturbing to see what combat has done to him. I remember before his last deployment him in conversation making disturbing statements that were unnecessary and made me feel very uncomfortable.

 

[Uriel999]

Essentially, he fought, has killed and has seen his friends killed.

 

[libertarian4321]

Not true at all. My brother recently got out of being active in the navy. He was a Lt. in the SEALs. He has done plenty of real fighting. Believe me, hanging out with him now is almost actually disturbing to see what combat has done to him. I remember before his last deployment him in conversation making disturbing statements that were unnecessary and made me feel very uncomfortable.

Um, Navy Seals is not what I meant by a "ship board" specialty- that would be one of a tiny number of exceptions.

Most naval officers sit on a big metal tub out in the ocean nowhere near the war. Medical officers, supply officers, chaplains, administrative officers, and hundreds of other specialties.

Hell, even Navy pilots are at minimal risk in wars like Iraq.

My brother in law was a Naval officer on a huge ship in the Gulf about a year ago. The most dangerous thing he faced was sun burn if he forgot to put on his Coppertone.

 

[TinCanToNA]

Um, Navy Seals is not what I meant by a "ship board" specialty- that would be one of a tiny number of exceptions.

Most naval officers sit on a big metal tub out in the ocean nowhere near the war. Medical officers, supply officers, chaplains, administrative officers, and hundreds of other specialties.

Hell, even Navy pilots are at minimal risk in wars like Iraq.

My brother in law was a Naval officer on a huge ship in the Gulf about a year ago. The most dangerous thing he faced was sun burn if he forgot to put on his Coppertone.

You're saying some very accurate things. Most Naval Officers will not see any sort of combat, but there is always a chance. The individual augmentee program sends a small number of Navy personnel to supplement Army and Marines on the ground, for instance. However, most Unrestricted Line Officers (the "combat officers" if you will, like Surface Warfare Officer and Naval Aviators, etc.) won't see combat; with the notable exception of SEALs and relatively few Naval Aviators or Naval Flight Officers.

Ultimately, though, he Armed Forces see combat, and if someone is signing up with an expectation of never seeing combat, then they have a dubious expectation. It is what I would call an "exponential job." Exponentially more is required of you than if you were a working schmuck (aside from business owners, then just a bit more is required of you than of a business owner), while you get exponentially more benefits than any private job--and not just monetary or traditional benefits.

 

[Promontorium]

You don't get to go to "any college you want" for serving. Serving may get some money to go to a school, but no matter how much you get, it won't get you "in" and in the case of private colleges, it probably won't pay the bills.

- I'm a veteran currently going to college. Any more questions anyone can PM me.