When I was going to college I had just gotten out of the Navy, and was still in the Reserves so I used to get asked a lot by younger men whether I thought they should go into the military. At that time I had about five years on them, which counted for a lot. Usually, these guys would give me two reasons for their desire to enlist: 1) They wanted to get into shape and boot camp looked like a wonderful way to do that, and 2) They just needed more discipline in their lives.
Unfortunately, my approach back then was to be fair and even-handed. It was a serious question, after all, and it deserved a serious answer. Therefore, instead of screaming out: "Good God, No!!" I would give them a well-reasoned discussion of the pros and cons of the military. Never did I directly address the two main issues above, but I will now, So ... 1) If you want get into shape, join a gym or get yourself a personal trainer, you don't need to ruin the next three or four years of your life, and 2) No. You do not want more discipline in your life, you want less. You want somebody else to wake you up in the morning and feed you and put a roof over your head and tell you what to wear and do every day of your life. If you truly wanted more discipline in your life you would do so by being more disciplined ... you know, setting your alarm clock in the morning, and showing up for classes, and study when your supposed to - that sort of thing.
Nope. I didn't say that. I talked about the commitment of time and the difficulties, but I also mentioned the good things the military could do for you. For example, it can teach valuable job skills, or, as in my case, it can provide tuition assistance and the opportunity to earn extra money - like in the Reserves. The fact that you could die never once entered the equation, but this was long before we were at war in Iraq under President Bush (take your pick which one). The military at that time was viewed sort of as a civil service job where you wore the same thing every day. We were post Vietnam and there wasn't much appetite for US foreign adventures.
As a result of my lack of being totally, clear about a half a dozen of these guys actually did enlist. Really, I should have not said anything at all about the upside, because the downside far outweighed the benefits. Or maybe I should have heartily recommended that they enlist for long, long years so they would do the opposite. Either way, I feel bad that because of my careful approach they each had years of rude awakenings, starting with that first day in Boot Camp.
I'll let you in on a secret: Pretty much nobody who enlisted actually read their enlistment contract when they signed it - pretended to, didn't. I remember that I made a show of looking it over carefully, but that was just for the recruiter's benefit so he wouldn't think I was a naive schmuck. Well, he knew better and the fact of the matter is that I was a naive schmuck. Nobody who understood what was in that contract would put their name on it.
Years later when I was in the Reserves I attended a mandatory Rights and Responsibilities seminar on one of my weekends. As part of this seminar, the lecturer handed out standard enlistment contracts and mentioned that we could keep them if we felt like it. So I did, and I looked over at leisure when I got home that night. I've got to tell you that I was appalled, not only because long ago I had signed the damn thing, but because this was the contract that I was still obligated to. Among the jewels I discovered were these facts: 1) The Navy wasn't required to pay me if they didn't want to, 2) The Navy could extend this contract indefinitely, and 3) They only had to feed me one meal every third day.
So, Young Men here is my advice: Do not join the military because you can die. You will not get into any better shape than you could on your own. If you achieve more discipline in your life, it won't matter because you might die. You can get college money other places.
There. That's exactly what I should have said from the start. Any more questions?
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