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Absolutely.
There isn’t a faster way to climb socioeconomically. It will provide them with skills and tools that no one outside of military has.
With the ROIon college, might as well go for free and be a more prepared adult
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True wisdom right here 👆🏼
Yes, if you're looking for structure and a way to get it together it without being a freeloader. Don't just pick any MOS. Be smart. Think about what it will do for you after the military. Study for the ASVAB. Higher the score the more doors you open for yourself. Stay out of trouble, study your MOS training, stay out of the bar, go to college, and use the GI bill. If done right, you can have a degree or almost a degree and military experience after your 1st enlistment.
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Wonderful pathway if you can discipline yourself!
I would say that in recent times, no. I won’t argue that historically it is a path to middle class. But today, even the middle class is struggling. Often times finding employment after the military can be hard. This is going to be blunt (and fell free to keep me honest) but last time I checked successful degree completion for users of the GI bill was something like 16%. And of that 16%, how many of these are degrees that actually lead to enhanced career outcomes? I see a lot of vets with degree mill credentials in subjects that aren’t in high demand.
Factor in the mental and physical health burdens that come with service, for 4 years you are putting the military first not yourself at a minimum, I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the costs for most people these days.
M1 definitely. I wish someone grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. I wasted part of my GI Bill on a "useless" degree aka Criminology. Not sure what I was thinking. Fortunately my saving grace was the fact I had a marketable MOS (intelligence analyst) and a top secret security clearance. If not for that I'd be in hot water. Vets need to think carefully about how they are spending their time, energy, and hard-earned GI Bill.
I could go either way. On the one hand, it’s one of the few remaining stepping stones from the working to middle class or middle to upper middle class, and that’s valuable.
On the other, since about 2015/16, I’ve become awfully disillusioned about Americans. Far too many seem eager to end our experiment with self-governance if it means they get license to be cruel to people they desperately wish were their social inferiors. Makes me feel deeply ambivalent about my own service.
Heck, doing the ROTC route and then coming out the other side debt-free and with job experience is also an option. That’s what I did, and at a time I’d be getting looked at for O-5, I make more than an O-10.
100% but I would tell anyone to sign up for a MOS that directly translate to a good civilian career. I was infantry and it literally did nothing for me when I got out bragging rights and feeling like a badass only takes you so far in life and no hiring manager cares enough to take a risk on you.
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Ive definitely heard the same, as my coworkers are 90 percent Veterans who decided to join the VA to continue serving but they talk about the struggle of post military life.
If they're a young adult from a working class or lower class family then probably yes, since it provides the resources to help them climb the socioeconomic ladder. With the caveat being they are risking extreme physical and mental stress. However many in that position are desperate and more likely to tolerate it. If they can make it the rewards are many. Regular kid from a middle class family with 2 parents in the home that care about them and want to support or guide them through college? Probably not. No use wracking up unnecessary wounds if you don't have to.
Citations/Sources: me, broken home, black female, prior enlisted, army airborne, Iraq vet. MOS: 35F. Current salary: 165K. Bachelor's paid by scholarships and GI Bill. Master's will be paid by GI Bill and IMHO the main reason I was admitted to an ivy league grad program is because of my veteran status.
So that's a lot of detail that I provided and I give all that because 90% of that is literally because I joined and completed service in the military. With that said although I am proud of my accomplishments God damn was it awful. I experienced so much physical and emotional turmoil but I'm okay today.
TL;DR: it depends. Poor kid from a broken home? Do it. Middle class kid with support systems and other options? Pass and do something else great with your life.
It worked out for me but it was a mixture of hard work and a heavy sprinkling of luck. I could have easily left the military, not went to college, let my clearance expire, and decided to work at Starbucks making $12/hr. I know several that have gone that route. As vets we are given many tools it's up to us to utilize them.
Tell them to enlist in the AF where we send our officers off to war.
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Thank you!
Idk man, normally would be a resounding yes but I’d have serious hesitations letting my kid serve these days in light of all the reports coming out on cancer incidence in the military even in non-deployer jobs.
That and lost too many friends and colleagues from the service to suicide.
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I see that a lot too in my work while processing Veterans health claims. It’s really sad.
It’s a pathway up to the middle class for most and put me on a different life path. My kids now live a better life than I ever had but I’m not sure it would have the same affect on them as it did on me and I probably wouldn’t recommend it when they get older.
Thanks for starting the conversation. I haven’t thought about it much with my kids being so young.
I would let it be their choice, however I would insist that everyone goes through basic training as a way to get more disciplined after high school. Then they can choose to stay with it or not.
I am encouraging my daughter. Not to enlist but explore The Academies Air Force in Colorado in Colorado Springs 1st choice or Annapolis,West Point then NewLondon. I am the 7th Generation to serve. My daughter is the last hope for an 8th none of my nephews or nieces did. I explained it to her as my dad did to me. When I asked him why public service was so important to him. He said "Our name appears on the Declaration of Independence twice. Your grandfather with 7 greats in front of it (Adams are late bloomers in the art of parenthood) organized a tea party up in Boston. His first and second cousins were the 1st and fifth residents of the White House. They got this country started it is our job to perpetuate it."
I'm not going to pressure her but I would not discourage her if that's what she wants to do. I think I would be as happy or more if she went to Stanford or Harvard. But that's just me
It would be highly dependent upon that kid’s situation in life. Frankly, I wouldn’t recommend it to my daughters. I know them and they wouldn’t be happy in that life.
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Absolutely! Makes sense to me. Some people thrive and some are miserable.
Definitely recommend. It’s the major way in life I was able to get to where I am today.
Short term benefits:
Discipline
Intro to leadership
Time management
Attention to detail
Financial management (hopefully!)
Financial benefits:
100% GI bill for 3 years active duty service
VA home loan after 180 days peacetime service
TSP & pension for retirement (TSP if separate early)
Opportunities for advancement (NCO, Warrant, Commissioning)
Excitement & Adventure:
Travel - potentially
Opportunities for unique jobs that regular trades/ office jobs don’t (ex, working with foreign military, shooting guns, driving large vehicles & operating large equipment, etc.)
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And you deserve it! I really enjoy listening to my veteran coworkers who tell all kinds of stories of their time in different places. It’s really fascinating to me.
Yes, likely would, though I'm not a fan of the crusader spirit that won't seem to die in American foreign policy.
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I totally hear you.
No, values and standards are not upheld.
As a National Guard Recruiter the answer is yes. I would reccomend starting in the Guard to get you through college and once you are done with it is when it would be time to evaluate whether you wanted to finish your initial enlistmentand having a go as a full civilian, go active, or continue your part time service to retirement.
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Great advice!
It is amazing how perception changes with the passage of time. When I was a younger me. The military was the ability to get out of a small town with no future. Or the judicial system giving you a last chance and an alternative to incarceration.
Now I see a soft entitled generation with an overwhelming sense of self importance.
I didn't ever think I would be an advocate for compulsory service, but I am absolutely onboard with it. People by and large have no social etiquette.
I still can't wrap my around the great divergence.
People argue that it is social media, but that doesn't account for Gen x and boomers who had these mannerisms instilled into them. I see more and more where they are behaving like neanderthals All that being said they appear to be perfectly content with being adrift in life.
Maybe I'm jaded and have turned into the curmudgeonly old get off my lawn guy...so be it that's how I see it.
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It takes that passage of time and life experience to form WISDOM.
Used to. Not anymore.
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Care to elaborate?
As a stepping stone? Yes. A career path? Absolutely not. Military pay has not kept up at all with inflation. Frankly, I have no idea how a newly enlisted member is expected to survive. The pay is not all that different from 10 years ago, yet costs are exponentially higher. These young men and women are better off working the oil rigs, driving for UPS, working law enforcement, or breaking into the solar/EV-adjacent manufacturing industries. Stepping stone: for those that come from poor/working class backgrounds, the military is often their only chance to attain a higher level education (I was on this boat myself). A college education with a Veteran's home loan is a solid foundation for a middle class life. I would highly recommend the service to this particular demographic.
I'm curious about officers. I mean, the whole reason I enlisted was because college after high school was not an option for me. These guys/gals HAD the education, why join the service? VA home loan and related benefits are not that great when you could just start working corporate from the get-go.
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Thanks for your input!
I would definitely recommend the Military as a career choice. Your job in the military counts as college credits. You can travel the world. You always have a job, you are not bound by Businesses who may decide to cut jobs which means you are out of work and out there looking for another job. In the military that doesn't happen you can be retrained and do something else. Stay in 20 years and you receive a pension. Plus medical. It's a special way of life a better one. One you would have friends and comradery forever. In Business you would work a lot longer than 20 years plus saving for retirement may not be enough. I would say Air Force but pick one where your heart tells you to go. Check out each one pros and cons what jobs they have open benefits etc. Then make your decision. Basic Training is hard but you can get through don’t give up. Tech School is a lot easier, When you get to your first base you’ll have a buddy to show you the ropes. Yes you will also have lots of fun.