Hellobee Boards

What's your question? Is your husband looking to join or something? My husband was a captain in the army...it paid for his engineering degree and he gained valuable leadership and life skills. That said, lots of it sucked. But he felt strongly about serving his country

Enlisted men don't make very much in the army so don't think the pay is very awesome. It's really not

I wouldn't do it for the pay. Enlisted barely make over minimum wage.

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@StbHisMrs: another vote for the railroad here. My dad is a railroader, so was my grandpa, HIS FIL, HIS FIL, something like 5-6 generations back. It's a demanding job time-wise, but the pay is really good. And in the area I live in the railroad can't fill their positions b/c people don't want to pass the drug test, show up on time to their interviews, or deal with the changing schedule.

I have literally never heard anyone in the military tout the pay as a plus.

@redeyedtreefr0g: If your husband isn't willing to "step down" into the restaurant business, I advise he stay really far away from joining the military. He doesn't sound like he would take orders from a 25 year old LT very well. And you start out at the bottom of the barrel. So....being a private is probably not what he's got in mind. And i agree, that 1 weekend/month, 2 weekends/year is hard on a family. DH had to leave for his training when E was 10 weeks old. It just is what it is.

Sounds like your husband should get another job or think about adding a college education to his resume so he can move up.

@redeyedtreefr0g: Forgive me for being forward, but reading through your posts makes me concerned. You seem to have a very high view of your husband and everyone around you. I'm wondering if your view from where you sit might be a little unrealistic?

Maybe your husband should see a job counselor who can evaluate his strengths and abilities without bias and make a recommendation based on that.

@redeyedtreefr0g: Reading through your comments and I honestly do not know if the military would be right for your husband. It sounds like he does not want to start from the bottom and that is exactly what he would be doing.

The reality is, that a lot of times, people without a degree can only move so far up. There are always exceptions, but that is the reality of it. I am in the same boat. I am to the point where and am unsatisfied with my job opportunities. Therefore I am back in school. It sucks but having a degree opens up doors.

Maybe he can look into either going back and getting a degree or doing some kind of trade school?

Mr. frog sounds awesome and amazing, I think the military would be a great fit

He should have a talk with grandad, as frustrating as he is, he would probably be a great source of wisdom for Mr.Frog.

@redeyedtreefr0g: I meant your description of your husband, much like @Arden was getting at. I can see how you think college is useless if you gave up after you got your degree and do nothing. Not all degrees are like that, though. And they're a necessity in some fields. Perhaps not selling laundry machines, but you know what I mean

You don't advance fast in the military. Not at all. It's not merit based. You put your time in and that's all it is. The military owns you-your schedule, your job, where you live, what activities you go to. They jump, you say how high. You get pretty minimal leeway as enlisted. And everyone else tells you what to do. So that's often frustrating for adult men to take. It was frustrating always having the army dictate our schedule. Oh and the 15 months my husband did overseas wasn't stellar, either

@redeyedtreefr0g: They don't advance quickly at all. My Husband has 10 years in and he's an E6. He makes less than half of what he brings in from his railroad job. This is with hazardous duty, separation, housing allowance, and all the other add-on's since he's deployed to a not so favorable place. When he's home and just doing the monthly thing, he gets just a couple hundred a month, not worth it. I have no idea what an active full timer makes.

@redeyedtreefr0g: I am in the military. I'll try to address some of the pros you mentioned and some cons, all in no particular order.

Pay: base pay is not great. What offsets the crappy-decent base pay (the crappy-decent range is based on rank and years of service) are the tax-free allowances we receive such as housing allowance. All our pay and allowances are public information and easily Google-able.

Medical/vision/dental/pharmacy: $0 premiums and $150 deductible/year are hard to beat.

Holidays: generally we do receive federal holidays off, but never a guarantee and I've also worked many, many more weekends than I've had holidays off.

Leave: you do accrue 30 days in a year which is generally a bit more than the civilian sector. But there's also really no such thing as being able to pick up the phone and calling in sick for a cold and not showing up.

Retirement: honestly not sure what civilian companies offer pensions anymore, if they even exist. Military still does.

Housing: base housing may or may not be desirable depending on which base we are talking about... but as far as safety is concerned, I do agree that it pretty much can't get safer than base housing.

Other tangible and intangible benefits: you can get your college or masters paid for, and this benefit can be passed on to your dependents.
Also, military training, while tough, can be great tools for your career, leadership, life in general. I am a more confident and capable person today because of all the training the military provided for me. My outlook on life has never been more positive and appreciative because of all the hardships I endured during said training.
People in the military do their jobs. We simply get the job done. It's a frustration I've had transitioning back to the civilian side and something I took for granted in the military until I saw how many emails I had to send to multiple people in my company just to get simple answers.
The civilian sector of my particular career field places a huge premium on veterans, though this will vary for different career fields.
On a similar note, military personnel and vets are often viewed as very reliable by landlords, banks, employers, etc.
Sense of pride and honor in serving your country. Sounds corny and cliched but there's really no other way of describing it.
Depending on which branch and career field, may get to travel to some very cool places.
Speaking of cool, there are some really cool jobs in the military you will never get to do as a civilian, ever.
Access to VA loans and other incredible programs only available to mil.
Lastly - discounts. It seems petty but they add up!

Cons... the commitment is a tremendous sacrifice. So much so that all the pros mentioned above will feel like not worth it at times. Many times. Aside from the fact that you are literally vowing to give up your life possibly, you lose all freedom over your life. This is true particularly during training but afterwards as well. You have to take orders (no matter what rank you are because there is always someone above you.) The rank structure is a BIG transition for those of us accustomed to civilian life. You need be accountable at all times, literally can't leave a certain radius of your duty station without filing leave paperwork. Constant mandatory training, events, everything. Very little freedom in how to dress, style your hair, how to speak, what you can and can't do on a daily basis. Forced assignments to possibly undesired locations every few years. Combat trauma, physical and/or mental. Can be very difficult for family life due to all the frequent moves, spouse/parent being gone for long stretches, etc. Remember I mentioned there are some really cool jobs in the military? There are some also incredibly crappy (for lack of a better word) jobs. Depends on which branch you join and job you choose/are assigned to.

Death in line of duty is a very real possibility.

Really though the freedom aspect of it is the biggest drawback that I can't stress enough. I never appreciated freedom because it was something I always had living in America. The times that it was completely taken away from me in training were the worst times of my life and that's when I saw how truly precious it really is.

I'm sure there are more pros and cons but those are the few I can think of at the moment.