Anonymous wrote:How do you react as a parent today when your kid says they are thinking of joining either the Marines or the military.

Absolutely not.

Do not make me shoot you in the foot.

Members of the military are honorable people who are horrifically exploited by our government.

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Anonymous wrote:How do you react as a parent today when your kid says they are thinking of joining either the Marines or the military.

Depends on their age and who wins the 2024 Presidential election. If Trump wins, I would do everything in my power to discourage them, so they don't end up on the wrong side of history

Everything is about Trump with you fools.

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Anonymous wrote:A lot of people don’t realize you can serve in the military without fighting. Doctors, nurses, chaplains, engineers, scientists, etc.

Not really true. I served as a nurse. They make it clear you are a solider first. You have to the same basic level warfare and weapons training as all other specialties. Nearly all specialties get deployed. There are no longer battle field lines in modern warfare. Nurses, doctors, vets, etc. are killed in war while deployed. They suffer PTSD too. No one in the military is immune from combat.

Agree.
A few years ago there was a poster here whose husband was a minister and lost his job. Another poster suggested he could possibly be a military chaplain at Belvoir.
It doesn't work that way!
Even Chaplains will deploy, both in peace times and into combat. Even chaplains will get stationed in remote and/or undesirable locations, making it difficult to visit with extended family or even bring along their nuclear family.

Anonymous wrote:How do you react as a parent today when your kid says they are thinking of joining either the Marines or the military.

I think you have to support them. Just be sure they have thought it through. Our son is joining the military. As parents, we would prefer college, and have maybe pushed it a little bit, but it’s his decision. Last thing I would want to do is force him into something he doesn’t want to do- not that I can force him- he is 18 years old. He is an adult.

FYI, our son definitely could have done college- great grades, college fund, but he just doesn’t like school.

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Anonymous wrote:You never responded about how many children you have. Only child? It’s a flat out no for me. Maybe Air Force WITH PILOT TRAINING ONLY. Have to come out as a pilot able to drive for Amazon or UPS or major airline.

NP. Our kid talks about enlisting and he wants to do this. We keep explaining that he needs to get some sort of education first to in as an officer. No one can just enlist and demand they want to learn how to fly. There’s no guarantee you will ever be near a plane.

The other thing we tell him is that he has a hard time taking orders from authority and admits he doesn’t like it so the military is not the best choice.

Maybe he can take private lessons first and get a pilot license? The women on the bachelor franchise will fight over a pilot.

Enlisted don’t fly. Only officers.

That's not entirely true. Mostly because there is a path from enlisted to becoming an officer and a pilot. I know people that have done that.

It’s very rare and very hard to do. You really think that many enlisted become officers and then pilots. A few, sure.

I don't want to down play the accomplishments of others but it's not that hard to become a warrant or commissioned officer from enlisted. I know tons of people that have done that. Less people that then become a pilot only because those programs and people are rarer. But the opportunity is there and they can do it if that's their passion / goal. That was my friend. He really wanted to be a helicopter pilot after a decade in Armour as enlisted. He did become a pilot.

DP. I was an officer (through ROTC). One of my staff sergeants had enlisted even though he already had a college degree because he was told by a recruiter that it was easy to get a commission once you are enlisted. No, it's not that easy. You have to have a lot of support in your chain of command to do it. And you have to meet a board and get selected, in competition with other enlisted who want that slot. It's far more of a roll of the dice than you make it sound. My staff sergeant didn't get chosen.

TikTok "Military Recruiter Tries to Not Lie" Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

That is hysterical, yet so sad.

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Anonymous wrote:You never responded about how many children you have. Only child? It’s a flat out no for me. Maybe Air Force WITH PILOT TRAINING ONLY. Have to come out as a pilot able to drive for Amazon or UPS or major airline.

NP. Our kid talks about enlisting and he wants to do this. We keep explaining that he needs to get some sort of education first to in as an officer. No one can just enlist and demand they want to learn how to fly. There’s no guarantee you will ever be near a plane.

The other thing we tell him is that he has a hard time taking orders from authority and admits he doesn’t like it so the military is not the best choice.

Maybe he can take private lessons first and get a pilot license? The women on the bachelor franchise will fight over a pilot.

Enlisted don’t fly. Only officers.

That's not entirely true. Mostly because there is a path from enlisted to becoming an officer and a pilot. I know people that have done that.

It’s very rare and very hard to do. You really think that many enlisted become officers and then pilots. A few, sure.

I don't want to down play the accomplishments of others but it's not that hard to become a warrant or commissioned officer from enlisted. I know tons of people that have done that. Less people that then become a pilot only because those programs and people are rarer. But the opportunity is there and they can do it if that's their passion / goal. That was my friend. He really wanted to be a helicopter pilot after a decade in Armour as enlisted. He did become a pilot.

DP. I was an officer (through ROTC). One of my staff sergeants had enlisted even though he already had a college degree because he was told by a recruiter that it was easy to get a commission once you are enlisted. No, it's not that easy. You have to have a lot of support in your chain of command to do it. And you have to meet a board and get selected, in competition with other enlisted who want that slot. It's far more of a roll of the dice than you make it sound. My staff sergeant didn't get chosen.

TikTok "Military Recruiter Tries to Not Lie" Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

I’ve had several relatives and coworkers go the enlisted route and a couple the ROTC commissioned officer route. The latter, especially those who did the Air Force, seemed to have come out of it way better, financially, mentally, and physically. The ones who did enlisted and then went to college have fared well financially. Physically and adaptability to civilian life for them seems more varied. The flat out enlisted, no ROTC, no college afterwards have done far less well financially, as one would expect. I will also say to be very wary of the Marines unless they are physically and mentally super, super fit.

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Anonymous wrote:You never responded about how many children you have. Only child? It’s a flat out no for me. Maybe Air Force WITH PILOT TRAINING ONLY. Have to come out as a pilot able to drive for Amazon or UPS or major airline.

NP. Our kid talks about enlisting and he wants to do this. We keep explaining that he needs to get some sort of education first to in as an officer. No one can just enlist and demand they want to learn how to fly. There’s no guarantee you will ever be near a plane.

The other thing we tell him is that he has a hard time taking orders from authority and admits he doesn’t like it so the military is not the best choice.

Maybe he can take private lessons first and get a pilot license? The women on the bachelor franchise will fight over a pilot.

Enlisted don’t fly. Only officers.

That's not entirely true. Mostly because there is a path from enlisted to becoming an officer and a pilot. I know people that have done that.

It’s very rare and very hard to do. You really think that many enlisted become officers and then pilots. A few, sure.

I don't want to down play the accomplishments of others but it's not that hard to become a warrant or commissioned officer from enlisted. I know tons of people that have done that. Less people that then become a pilot only because those programs and people are rarer. But the opportunity is there and they can do it if that's their passion / goal. That was my friend. He really wanted to be a helicopter pilot after a decade in Armour as enlisted. He did become a pilot.

You only know the people that were successful in achieving that goal. But you don’t know the other hundreds/thousands of enlisted that have applied and were denied. It is fairly competitive.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people don’t realize you can serve in the military without fighting. Doctors, nurses, chaplains, engineers, scientists, etc.

Not really true. I served as a nurse. They make it clear you are a solider first. You have to the same basic level warfare and weapons training as all other specialties. Nearly all specialties get deployed. There are no longer battle field lines in modern warfare. Nurses, doctors, vets, etc. are killed in war while deployed. They suffer PTSD too. No one in the military is immune from combat.

I would be supportive.

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Anonymous wrote:You never responded about how many children you have. Only child? It’s a flat out no for me. Maybe Air Force WITH PILOT TRAINING ONLY. Have to come out as a pilot able to drive for Amazon or UPS or major airline.

NP. Our kid talks about enlisting and he wants to do this. We keep explaining that he needs to get some sort of education first to in as an officer. No one can just enlist and demand they want to learn how to fly. There’s no guarantee you will ever be near a plane.

The other thing we tell him is that he has a hard time taking orders from authority and admits he doesn’t like it so the military is not the best choice.

Maybe he can take private lessons first and get a pilot license? The women on the bachelor franchise will fight over a pilot.

Enlisted don’t fly. Only officers.

That's not entirely true. Mostly because there is a path from enlisted to becoming an officer and a pilot. I know people that have done that.

It’s very rare and very hard to do. You really think that many enlisted become officers and then pilots. A few, sure.

I don't want to down play the accomplishments of others but it's not that hard to become a warrant or commissioned officer from enlisted. I know tons of people that have done that. Less people that then become a pilot only because those programs and people are rarer. But the opportunity is there and they can do it if that's their passion / goal. That was my friend. He really wanted to be a helicopter pilot after a decade in Armour as enlisted. He did become a pilot.

DP. I was an officer (through ROTC). One of my staff sergeants had enlisted even though he already had a college degree because he was told by a recruiter that it was easy to get a commission once you are enlisted. No, it's not that easy. You have to have a lot of support in your chain of command to do it. And you have to meet a board and get selected, in competition with other enlisted who want that slot. It's far more of a roll of the dice than you make it sound. My staff sergeant didn't get chosen.

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Anonymous wrote:You never responded about how many children you have. Only child? It’s a flat out no for me. Maybe Air Force WITH PILOT TRAINING ONLY. Have to come out as a pilot able to drive for Amazon or UPS or major airline.

NP. Our kid talks about enlisting and he wants to do this. We keep explaining that he needs to get some sort of education first to in as an officer. No one can just enlist and demand they want to learn how to fly. There’s no guarantee you will ever be near a plane.

The other thing we tell him is that he has a hard time taking orders from authority and admits he doesn’t like it so the military is not the best choice.

Maybe he can take private lessons first and get a pilot license? The women on the bachelor franchise will fight over a pilot.

Enlisted don’t fly. Only officers.

That's not entirely true. Mostly because there is a path from enlisted to becoming an officer and a pilot. I know people that have done that.

It’s very rare and very hard to do. You really think that many enlisted become officers and then pilots. A few, sure.

I don't want to down play the accomplishments of others but it's not that hard to become a warrant or commissioned officer from enlisted. I know tons of people that have done that. Less people that then become a pilot only because those programs and people are rarer. But the opportunity is there and they can do it if that's their passion / goal. That was my friend. He really wanted to be a helicopter pilot after a decade in Armour as enlisted. He did become a pilot.

Anonymous wrote:How do you react as a parent today when your kid says they are thinking of joining either the Marines or the military.

Depends on their age and who wins the 2024 Presidential election. If Trump wins, I would do everything in my power to discourage them, so they don't end up on the wrong side of history

From the 10th grade, our son has talked about enlisting in the Navy. As parents, it wasn’t our preference, but it’s what he wanted and what he ultimately did. He is in boot camp right now.

While we didn’t discourage enlisting, we also didn’t encourage it either- we pushed college more, but that’s not what he wanted. He signed up the summer after he graduated high school. He is 18 years old and we aren’t going to force him to goto college, which he certainly could have done- he was National Honor Society in HS.

Even though his Navy career has just started we are proud of him. He is doing exactly what he wanted to do and is excited about his future in the Navy. We’re excited for him too.

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Anonymous wrote:You never responded about how many children you have. Only child? It’s a flat out no for me. Maybe Air Force WITH PILOT TRAINING ONLY. Have to come out as a pilot able to drive for Amazon or UPS or major airline.

NP. Our kid talks about enlisting and he wants to do this. We keep explaining that he needs to get some sort of education first to in as an officer. No one can just enlist and demand they want to learn how to fly. There’s no guarantee you will ever be near a plane.

The other thing we tell him is that he has a hard time taking orders from authority and admits he doesn’t like it so the military is not the best choice.

Maybe he can take private lessons first and get a pilot license? The women on the bachelor franchise will fight over a pilot.

Enlisted don’t fly. Only officers.

That's not entirely true. Mostly because there is a path from enlisted to becoming an officer and a pilot. I know people that have done that.

It’s very rare and very hard to do. You really think that many enlisted become officers and then pilots. A few, sure.