This is reproduced from the Center on Conscience and War website
Are you having doubts about joing the military? Are you having trouble deciding if you can kill someone? Is the possibility of deployment to Iraq causing you to considering other means of propelling your career forward? Are you suspicious of recruiters' promises?
Do you want to join the military? |
None of the Army's fancy brochures mentions that there are two wars going on and they never say you stand a good chance of getting hurt or even killed. Their brochures leave out the long tedious hours, the low pay, the mandatory eight-year enlistment contact and the fact that you can't quit if you don't like it.
The brochures also say if you join the Army you'll and earn up to $70,000 for college; if you join the military, college is all but paid for. However, only a small percentage of recruits receive any education benefits from the military! Most that do get money don't see anything close to $70,000. Enlisting in the armed forces is more likely to set your educational goals back than you or a recruiter might think. You can find an easier way to pay for college.
The basic pay rate for a new enlistee in the Army is less than $300 per week. You'll pay Federal Income Tax, Social Security, Medicare, and State Taxes on your basic pay. The military will foot the bill for you room, board and health care. In return, they'll own you.
Do you think you could find an adventerous job without joining the military if your life depended on it? You could be a merchant marine in the Mediteranean, work on oil wells in the Middle East or fish for King crab in the Bering Sea. Maybe you'd like to volunteer to feed the hungry in Africa or build homes for the poor right here at home? Perhaps a job at a resort on a tropical island or working on a cruise ship would be more to your liking than joining the military. You'd make more money than the military, you could quit if you didn't like it, and you wouldn't have to kill anyone or be told when to use the bathroom.
Some of these positions require a college degree and/or experience, but a great deal do not. Don't get discouraged. People often end up with a very narrow search that fails to provide results. If you have a high school diploma, you can type "high school" when you're prompted for keywords and you'll find jobs that require a high school diploma.
You'll also see commercial sites, educational sites, financing college, apprenticeships, religious & non-profit organizations and a huge variety of positions around the country.
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