Posted on 04/07/2014 5:35:52 PM PDT by MacMattico
Wow. My daughter is 16, an A student and interested in possibly joining the military. While this fills me with great pride, and my family has a history of male members in the navy and Marine Corp, this kind of blew my mind. Not in a bad way, I guess it's just amazing, wonderful and scary all at the same time coming from MY daughter!
I was wondering if anybody would like to share any and everything they know about their daughter or females in general in the military. At this point she is thinking of an eventual career in something like Energency Management, perhaps law or intelligence, or a medical field. In other words undecided, but we have a family history of Veterans that went into Emergency Management and Firefighting, so maybe that's what she sees as "the family business"! It's a lot to take in all at once for a mom, but what should she be doing now if this were her eventual goal? She is a Varsity athlete, good student, and keeps out of trouble. Thanks so much! And while I will of course ask within the family, I appreciate outside opinions.
I Agree with Sequoyah.
My Daughter is finishing up her 6 year enlistment. Even though it has been a positive experience for her, I have been concerned since she enlisted because of the pervasive 'rot' at top levels.
History is full of instances where military action is started in order to divert blame away from incompetent leadership. I fear that she would likely be caught up in events beyond the control of "We the People'.
Remember, in the military the Commander in Chief has the power to decide if your child will live or die. Do you trust him ( or his successor ) to make the right choice?
>Maintenance is a great field.
for those few doing it at US locations. Cost is driving this to Central America, India, and Eastern Europe.
I agree. I would not suggest my child to join the military. In fact, I would discourage it.
You’re daughters have done well in the Navy. What changed since their re-enlistment that makes them want to get out?
My uncle joined the Navy in 1952 on the “Kiddie Cruise”. He was only 15 and lied about his age. He was actually only 17 when he got out.
I throw this stuff out hoping that someone will be able to prove me wrong. So far, nobody has.
The truth is just as you say. Lots of good conservative people who are there to do the right thing but the upper ranks and the civilian overlords are toeing the line. The best you can possibly hope for is to be able to keep your mouth shut. More likely though you will be expected to endorse, approve, embrace and engage in the liberal agenda as a condition of your well being or promotion. You are indentured in the military. You can’t get out and your life can be made a living hell.
How would you like to be a competitor, driven, always having been top of the heap and find yourself branded a loser because you just accepted what is instead of embracing it? Branded and beat down with no opportunity to compete or losing to people far less qualified than you are because of your principles and there is not one damn thing you can do about being a loser.
USMC
The reality of living conditions, hygiene, type of work, locations of deployment....all of those would mean to me that I’d never recommend anything except the Air Force to any daughter of mine.
And I’m an Army retiree. I’ve seen the difference in living conditions.
Don’t worry about the haters on here. I’ve been in all through the Bush years and through the current occupant of the White House. It’s not terribly different, but the drawdown has made it more difficult for advancement in general. That’s not necessarily a bad thing since promotions for anyone/everyone were almost guaranteed during the Bush years due to the need for people.
Is she looking at officer or enlisted?
In all history, there is not much of a database to go by. We are the first since the Greeks to pretend that homosexuality is something to be celebrated. We need to try, and I expect success. The perverts win because we give up or withdraw - decent people are happy to happy the Bible's "turn the other cheek" but slow to think about whether that should apply in a particular situation in light of the rest of God's Word.
I served 20 years in the Navy, retiring in 1998. I currently work for the Navy, providing technical assistance to the ships. So I work with today’s sailors on a daily basis. This gives me some insight of the Navy at the deckplate level.
Recently I served on a jury hearing a case of a young man(?) who shot and killed a sleeping homeless man. That made me see the other side of our young people. It was so refreshing to go back and work with the outstanding sailors of our Navy.
There are bad apples in every bunch, but from my experience they are few in the Navy. The sailors I work with are hard working dedicated professionals who give more than should be expected.
When I joined I was not mature enough to be on my own. I had partied my way out of college. The Navy gave me the structure and discipline I needed to succeed.
The Navy will train her for her job, and will help her get a college education while she is in (in fact that is recommended). She will get to see places she maybe never could have otherwise. The more places I visited overseas the more I appreciated the U.S.
Fredhead, ET1, USN Retired
She sounds fantastic. Consider steering her towards Hillsdale College first. Friends Marine son started there, enlisted and finished there with support from the Marines, graduated as an officer and is in good shape. At a young age she would be extremely vulnerable and would be so much wiser and stronger after a conservative college education. Best wishes!
I suggest you encourage her to talk to recruiters as well as request information about ROTC. The services will tell her what qualifications interest them, and they have videos about training and so forth. They’ll also give her things like keyrings and t-shirts ... we still get stuff from the NC National Guard, after #1 son filled in a card at the air show.
In my opinion, your daughter has nothing to lose by considering what the armed services could offer her, and what she might contribute to the service. Gathering information and exploring possibilities (don’t forget the Coast Guard, which is not DoD) doesn’t cost anything but time, and it is not any kind of commitment.
I don’t believe in discouraging my children’s interest in any career. No matter what possibility is mentioned, I respond with, “That’s a possibility. We can look into what the opportunities and requirements are.”
ROTC. Pick a service, then find a good university with the ROTC program leading to a commission in the service she chooses. Most importantly, become an officer. There is nothing dishonorable about serving enlisted but life for an officer is very much better.
Unlike most of these people I am actually currently on active duty in the USCG. This crap about the military being taught to turn on civilians is hysteria at best. If she wants to join the military and is willing to work as hard as everyone else to get where she wants to be then I say go for it.
Even if she doesn’t really want to make it a 20 year career the benefits are tremendous. 5 years in the military has definitely given me the background and drive (and money) to succeed in the (future) civilian career field that I’ve set my sights on.
I come from a military family (my husband was in the USN for 20 years, my dad spent 4 years in WWII) Lots of career uncles and enlisted ancestors.
I could not in good conscience advocate military service under Obama’s rule. However, she won’t be 18 for a couple more years, wait and see who gets in and what they are doing to the military.
The Air Force is considered by the Marines to be the wimps of the military. Air Farce. Oh heck, EVERYONE is consider to be wimps, by the Marines!
Those good serious patriotic people are not the leaders, the upper levels of officers. Do you really think that anyone except the top leaders have anything to say about how far left they are pushed? No dear, it’s all about rank in the military. An E3 who has been that for a week longer than your daughter can order her to take out the trash and she has to do it.
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