Eight years I carried the label of an enlisted U. S. Marine. In that time I learned that although there are many that wear the uniform, there are several stories that repeated themselves. Many I came in contact with were enlisted as a means to pay for school; they found that there were methods put in place to accommodate their situation. Unbelievable but true, there was a large number that were offered enlistment to avoid judicial punishment. Yet and still there is the All-American story; the model citizen, honor student, honest employee, the whole nine yards. With all that, this person still lacks the opportunity or something to be a successful civilian alone. Another was the individual who simply wanted to serve the country.
During peacetime, there was a need to drive enlistment so someone got the bright idea to offer college assistance to solve the dilemma. It became a great idea when more and more students began enrolling in universities. Not only could one have funding for the pursuit of higher learning, but they would also be exempt from the selective service if ever instituted. Each branch of service even offered different perks to make the program even more enticing.
The stark reality is that good ol' Uncle Sam's could give a rat's ass if you are a student or not, as so many have learned since 2001. Deployment dates are not drawn on semester or quarter time lines, leaving many to withdraw mid-term hoping to receive credit for courses in progress. I wonder how many enlisted college students have extended a college stay due to consistent activations.
The remedy to the problem above is simple, join full-time. You know, be a service member 24/7 for at least 4 years then go to college as a non-traditional student. I'd recommend this option to anyone considering school and military. They could discover the world and then collect the educational funding, and it does pay to discover.
Just before you pull out your Stars and Stripes, there's another group of people that defend your country. In order to slow the growing population of detention facilities, or for whatever reason, there are institutions of justice that offered military enlistment as an alternative form (reform) of punishment. Do not fear, your sons and daughters are not serving along side murderers and rapist, well maybe rapist. Usually minor offenses served as a means to this option. As a matter of fact, the signing of the dotted line kept one's record clean. That's a real bargain.
In this great country somewhere is a young person torn between going down the same road as friends and adults before them or trying to make a change in an environment that is always the same. Trapped in world with narrow views, this person doesn't have much of an idea of how to break free from the cycle that is their life.
They say the price of freedom is high. Few take this to heart and seek to pay for it by serving the country. Out among the ranks of service members are men and women who lived a stable lives before enlisting in the branch of their choice. To some, there is no real reason for them to join the military for they have it "all." These people sometimes feel the urge to protect that in which they've earned, taken, er acquired. The All-American troop is the story that portrayed more often than not leading most of us to relate to this individual. I haven't met many of these people in my years of service though.
Aside from the benefits that the military offers it's members, there is a dream of pride that's sold.
These are just a few of the reasons that one would sign his or her life over to our good Uncle. My reason was due to pure boredom with life at the time. I've found that it still drives my decisions today. Maybe I need that checked out.
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