You visited a recruiting office? Don't you have a girlfriend. I respect your courage,

Yes.

No, I wish I did, but i have terrible luck with the ladies.

Thanks

i lived at an army barracks for a couple of years. i met more than a few idiots who expected fantastic things out of the military. They genuinely believed in all the hype and glorification of war, violence, and militaristic unity. it was bizarre. one of the guys (he was still a baby at 18), just kept telling me he joined the military because he "wanted to shoot people." i can't remember what his job in particular was, but it definitely wasn't glorious. his other jobs after work included mopping floors and being ordered around. somewhat glorious, but not really.

This piece does not portray the whole story. Disgruntled or otherwise, all of these people nevertheless signed a contract (which does state a unilateral responsibility clause). If they were surprised by what they found after enlistment, it was because they did not adequately investigate the nature of the job. Perhaps it is Hollywood that is to blame for glorifying the system of warfare, or its naive audience for embracing what they see in films.

One other point is that the poster says 'military' in the title of this video, yet does not give evidence to support that all branches are purportedly guilty of giving misinformation. Where is the supposed incrimination of the USAF or USCG?

FWIW, I am a military officer. I am very satisfied with my job.

I'm not going to argue with you, we certainly need people like you in big numbers. Thanks.

But the military, with it's combined advertising budget of $2.4 BILLION dollars has not hired dummies to give their pitch.
Usual stuff, accentuate the positive and play down/eliminate the negative.

It's not necessarily lies but as you say, you better read the small print they will not point it out to you.

When I enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean war, I heard the recruiter telling some guys, that had intentions of joining the AF Reserve, that doing so would almost be a death sentance. He said reservists were likely to be used as tail gunners and tail gunners had a very short life span in combat.

They joined the regular AF.

I discovered quite a few years later that the Air Force hadn't used a tail gunner during the entire Korean war and had not since the end of WW2, but he was a good salesman. :-)

This sort of thing really bothers me because I know that it is true to some extent but it paints a pretty distorted picture of the military as a whole.

I don't dispute what any of these folks are saying but for every guy who says he was "trick-f*cked" into joing the military, you'll find 10 others who will tell you they knew exactly what they were getting into.

And despite all the BS that goes along with a career in the military, a lot of us are/were willing to put up with it because we believed in what we were doing. We knew what crappy barracks life would be like and what a stop loss was. I know today, that I can (contractually) be called back to active duty. I know these things because I bothered to look into it and learn before making one of the biggest decisions of my life.

Educational benefits etc. are a great lure but I didn't join for that stuff and many others don't either. I'm not a poor white/black/hispanic boy who was mislead into joing the military because I had no other options and I can point to MANY of my friends who came into the service from similar backgrounds.

I'm a firm believer in "Buyer Beware" - I did my home work before I signed and I had a plan for my 20 year military career. I didn't wait for people to give me ANYTHING. I busted my tail to EARN a college education (while on active duty) and to save money. I also made a conscious effort to learn some transferrable skills before I got out(not all of which were related to my military job).

One point that someone else brought up and I concur with... this problem is probably more rampant in the Army or Marine corp (IMO) because it is a harder draw than the Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard.

That is some f**ked up s**t

Now I hate the military even more.

WOW, a couple of those people need a reality check.

Recruiters lie with every breath, No denying that. BUT, if you were about to sign a contract that tied up the next 4 years of your life, don’t you think that a little research is called for? I did tons. I talked to family, friends, asked both if they knew someone in the military. And luckily, I got straight answers from almost all of them. In a nutshell it was, “sign that contract and you’re US Gov. Property for four years (or more) and they will do with you as they please. And there ain’t jack beans you can do about it!”

I worked for some world class arse’s, and they knew it, and proud of it.

I did get my GI bill, $1200 in, $11,900 out. Spent on College, cars and some good ole fashioned heavy drinking.
Bought a house with GI Benefits. Never been to a VA hospital. (They scare me)

Did I ever believe that recruiter when he said I could go golfing on the base while in boot camp, nope. If he told me I would spend 1 year in school and 3 years on two ships stationed out of San Diego, and go to Iraq (the first time) and Somalia I’d still think he was lying, just a better chance of that coming true.

Interesting video. I could also expound for many minutes about the military. Most of what the vets said are TRUE.

My recruiter was a good guy. The hardest part was, as a woman, getting in to see a recruiter. Most had "filled their quota for the month", at least before they saw my test scores!

I was promised 3 choices of MOS (aka job title) including translations. I was offered jobs that were at a level that offered an enlistment bonus (which I had to FIGHT to get after my field was changed!)

And I have not been able to find work in my trained field (avionics calibration). I wouldn't take one, after realizing that this small field would be filled with the same men who harassed and molested me for years.

I HAVE gotten some jobs more easily because I am a Vet. Cashier at a gun store, large aerospace agency. But yes, after getting out, I was a minimum wage employee for at least 7 years. Partially because of the PTSD.

But I have finally gotten my VA disability rating, which includes a monthly check that is 2/3 of my federal disability check. That took 4 1/2 years to get....

And then, after you get out, you are never UNTRAINED. If you were a grunt, or other person in a war zone, you have developed some highly specific abilities and senses which do not translate into regular society. Women are not given jobs that will officially put them in a war zone, so that chick talking about how much fun it is to blow sh!t up won't be doing that job in Iraq.

The VA hospitals ARE better IMHO than the active hospitals, but you do get what you pay for in most cases. I have been quite well treated here in L.A., but most of the doctors are young, and trained at UCLA or other top local med schools.

In high school, way back in the 80's, we always were told that military was always an option for getting a good start. My family is military going back centuries. None of us are rich or famous, but all of us are patriotic and have a firm belief in America.

But now, I would tell a young person what my English teacher always said: Pick your college, and then find someone to pay for it. Grants, loans, scholarships, work programs, Uncle Bob, ANY path.

If you MUST go into the military, know that your better bet for high tech will be either the Air Force or the Navy. Do NOT join the Army unless you are dumber than a bag of hammers and only want to kill and sweat and be dirty and scared for long stretches of time. There are some opportunities in the Marine Corps, as they are Dept of Navy, but your odds of being a grunt are even money, unless your ASVAB scores are above 140! If you graduated from high school, paid any kind of attention, and retained most of the stuff you learned, you should score well.

If you can wait until after the next inauguration, your chances of survival might improve.