Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

[dickey1331]

Did you military guys have to tread water? If so, what was the longest time.

I can do everything, except for tread water lol

Edit: and I wasn't in the military just so you know

For boot swim 100 yds without stopping and then tread water for 5 min without your head going under.

I remember that we had to chug water in boot camp. That sucked.

Do you really care where I sent this from?

[TMagic]

Thanks for all the input fellas. Its really appreciated and helpful.

Seems like its a pretty mixed bag. Some like it and others not so much. Talking to some people I know the other day, they said the friends they know that are in the military enjoy it. Then on here, theirs more negative feedback than positive.

Somebody brought up a good point earlier. For most people, they are going to complain about the ANY job they have. Its not often that you come across someone that loves his or her job. Someone that looks forward to going into work everyday. So it should come as no surprise that people are going to have bad things to say.

Does anybody have any experience as an officer? Does the experience of an officer vary that much from going in enlisted? I'm not really even sure I know exactly what it is that an officer does compared to enlisted either.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

Did you military guys have to tread water? If so, what was the longest time.

I can do everything, except for tread water lol

Edit: and I wasn't in the military just so you know

In boot camp we had to do it for 5 minutes.

It wasn't all that bad. I loved seeing all the people in the kiddy pool who couldn't swim though. When we did our swim qualifications in boot camp the instructors had these huge nets and they would scoop people out of the water who were struggling. It was funny to see.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

Thanks for all the input fellas. Its really appreciated and helpful.

Seems like its a pretty mixed bag. Some like it and others not so much. Talking to some people I know the other day, they said the friends they know that are in the military enjoy it. Then on here, theirs more negative feedback than positive.

Somebody brought up a good point earlier. For most people, they are going to complain about the ANY job they have. Its not often that you come across someone that loves his or her job. Someone that looks forward to going into work everyday. So it should come as no surprise that people are going to have bad things to say.

Does anybody have any experience as an officer? Does the experience of an officer vary that much from going in enlisted? I'm not really even sure I know exactly what it is that an officer does compared to enlisted either.

One thing to remember is that while your always in the military your "job" can change within the military. Changing duty stations, changing departments, deployment etc you can do a completely different job while still serving in the military. So it depends on a lot of factors.

I loved my "job" when I was in Rhode Island. Worked with a great doctor, had good co-workers and it was a good work enviroment. At my home command in Great Lakes I do not enjoy my job as much.

I've worked with a lot of Officers but they have all been medical. The medical is a little different then other communities. The Officers I worked with did less hands on work and more admin and paperwork then the enlisted.

[Cusefan]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

Two quick points :

1. As a officer you will be responsible for a soldiers life, do not forget that.

2. The military takes all the fun out of shooting weapons, it essentially becomes a chore (picking up brass, making sure your weapon is good to go, making sure your weapon is not hot or no ammo fell in your pockets).


that being said, I loved my time in the army,

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

Two quick points :

1. As a officer you will be responsible for a soldiers life, do not forget that.

2. The military takes all the fun out of shooting weapons, it essentially becomes a chore (picking up brass, making sure your weapon is good to go, making sure your weapon is not hot or no ammo fell in your pockets).


that being said, I loved my time in the army,

# 2 is a good point. I hated spending hours cleaning my weapon and picking up brass.

[Crimsontide27]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

Point of most of these posts are to show you that there is no way for you to gauge exactly what your individual experience will be like. There are literally thousands of different variables that will decide the experience you will have. Everyones is different.

Usually you will get about 3 different types of stories from people.

1) Soldier loves it and the military can do no wrong story
2) Soldier hates it and the military can do nothing right.

or

3) Some washout that got kicked out of BASIC tells everyone what an amazing experience it was because they did some classified missions , was in an MOS that no one can talk about, and was so hardcore they ate nails for breakfast and killed people by just looking at them.

[superjames1992]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

My dad absolutely loved being in the military as an officer, but he was a pilot (made it up to Captain status before quitting) which is a bit different than being a Lieutenant in the Army or something.

You get paid a lot better as an officer to start off, too.

[chilli311]

Re: Any veterans/people with military experience out there?

Hey Chia I actually though the Air Force had pretty tough Physical requirements and tests? I have a couple of Air Force buddies who always brag how their PT tests are tougher then the Navy (not saying much) and I read a article last year that the Air Force PT test is on par with the Marine Corps PT test which is the toughest of all the services in regards to physical training.

Sorry bro, but your friends, and that article, are lying. The Air Force PT test is a joke. In my 10 years, I never once failed it, and I also never spent a day in the gym outside of mandatory PT time.

Thanks for all the input fellas. Its really appreciated and helpful.

Seems like its a pretty mixed bag. Some like it and others not so much. Talking to some people I know the other day, they said the friends they know that are in the military enjoy it. Then on here, theirs more negative feedback than positive.

Somebody brought up a good point earlier. For most people, they are going to complain about the ANY job they have. Its not often that you come across someone that loves his or her job. Someone that looks forward to going into work everyday. So it should come as no surprise that people are going to have bad things to say.

Does anybody have any experience as an officer? Does the experience of an officer vary that much from going in enlisted? I'm not really even sure I know exactly what it is that an officer does compared to enlisted either.

I did ten years enlisted and if I went back, it would only be as an officer. Yes, there's my admin and politics to deal with, but the pay difference is worth it IMO.

I'd never tell someone they should or shouldn't join, but after my time, I have no complaints except for one. Know how to play the game, and be political. You're going to be asked to do things that don't make any sense, and to do them in a completely inefficient manner, but you'll be expected to do them without complaining. Unless it's something that will cause serious harm to someone, it's not worth arguing about.

The only other thing I will mention is that the annual performance reports are a joke. It's intended to promote the best, and get rid of the worst. Problem is, if one of your subordinates isn't one of the best, and you give them a report saying so, it makes you look poor. True story that happened to me that started me down the path towards getting out:

I had two troops, both had been out of training for about 6 months. Troop A came in on time, left at the end of the shift, and always did enough to get by, but never gave that extra effort. His uniform was always within regs, but not impeccable. When it came to off duty conduct (you're expected to do so much community service), he never did any. When it came time for his performance report, I gave him a 4 (out of 5) which essentially means that he was a good troop, but not a great one. Because he kissed *** to the higher ups, they thought he deserved a 5, and argued with me over it.

Troop B came in on time, and stayed until his work was done, even if it meant staying late. He was the #1 analyst on my team. He helped out the rest of the crew to make sure everything was done. He always looked sharp. Off duty, he took kids from his church paint-balling every Saturday, and did all kinds of squadron fundraising. Sounds like the perfect troop, right? Well, he was a cynic (much like I am), and leadership frowned on his "attitude". I closed out his performance report with a 5, and two weeks later, he got pulled over for speeding, and got a DUI. My leadership fought me for a month to try and get me to lower his report to a 3, but I wouldn't budge (my argument being that when I signed it, he had yet to get the DUI). In the end, I ended up losing the argument when MY supervisor was threatened with repercussions if I didn't change the score. We compromised on a 4, and he still ended up getting a 3 on his next report (since the DUI happened in that time frame).

Those are the kinds of politics that I can't stand to deal with, and that's why I took my experience to make twice as much doing the same thing as a civilian.