Leaving for the Navy Jan 31st

[Cody_King]

Any millitary people here? i dont really know how i feel about going, but i need to do it to better my life, im 18, 19 in feb. Hopfully ill have more time and less distractions to practice while im in. Any words of advice for me?

[3rd_degreeburn]

Awesome man!!! thats good that your serving your country :D
My dads retired in the military..I thought about the Navy Seals but my dad wants me to go to college instead.
Good luck

[Polera]

Go to college is the suggestion.

[Leedogg]

When I was a kid (like 13-15) I entertained the idea of going to the military. But then I saw Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket and I deftly decided against that.

My buddy just got back from basic training in the Air Force, which I hear is the easiest of all the branches of the armed forces, and he said it sucked terribly. If you don't mind getting screamed at all the time and don't mind being made to do pushups excessively, then maybe it'll be a nice fit for ya.

[Akira]

If it's what you wanna do, then go for it.

[Pantallica1]

My buddy went through the marines and got hurt (gunpowder in the eye) and was honorably discharged, but he said it was pretty much like the movie Full Metal Jacket.

He even sang the "This is my gun..." song.

But if he can do it, then anyone can. He was a major slacker, never get up before noon, lazy, but he did it and it changed him a lot. He was a totally different person when he came back, but he doesn't regret it (but he also doesn't have to go to war).

Good luck and God bless.

[SPL]

How exactly will joining the Navy better your life?

This is not criticism, I'm just curious.

[PonyOne]

Any millitary people here? i dont really know how i feel about going, but i need to do it to better my life, im 18, 19 in feb. Hopfully ill have more time and less distractions to practice while im in. Any words of advice for me?

well, congrats. personally, i had hoped to go into the military my whole life, but my dad, who's currently in Iraq, wouldn't let me. all's well that ends well.

he joined the Navy before he transferred to the Army. I'd suggest getting into Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun, Battletech or some other paper and dice RPG; that's what he did to pass the time while he was at sea (6 mos at a time).

better your life? how? i had a friend who said the exact same thing. he got out a few months after BT and never spoke kindly of it. I think that the whole "it straightens you out" thing is a misnomer, besides everyone "needs to better themselves" or "shape up" when they're 18, but you don't necessarily need boot camp to do it. those are my 2c. and less distractions to practice? no way, man... that one's totally off. after your day is over your distraction is going to be sleep.

honestly if you don't know how you feel about going in you probably shouldn't, this is not the best time to go in not knowing if you follow. my suggestion would be to see if there's any way to not go in after all. but don't listen to me, i'm a scum sucking liberal (according to 3rd degree burn at least :rolleyes: )

[Leedogg]

i'm a scum sucking liberal

Hey man, you're not alone! :D

[Raskolnikov]

I have a lot of friends who went into the military and most of them are better for it.

I half regret not going in myself, but the fact is, they wouldn't let me keep my hair.

From what I've heard from them, here's my advice:

-Boot camp is going to be like a "demented summer camp." Do what they tell you and you'll come out OK. If the drill seargent doesn't know your name by the end of boot, you've probably done well for yourself.

-Get yourself into a good MOS that will have value in the civilian market. My uncle was an Nuclear Engineer in the Navy and now he's earning pretty good money bulding submarines.

-TIME KILLERS: Once you're deployed, you're going to be bored out of your mind. Find something small and portable to keep yourself amused with.

-When you get out, use that GI Bill and get yourself into college.

Other than that, keep your head on your shoulders and don't blow all of your money.


Best of luck, man.

[Cody_King]

better my life? unlike a lot of people i dont have family support or money to leech off of, so i can either get the benifits of the navy, or work a low income job all week long and go to Jr. College if i could even afford that, which wont lead to much, once i finished that i wouldnt be able to afford real college. so thats how it would better my life.

[Cody_King]

would a custom shop Randy rhodes be a waste of money? :) i really hope i can keep a guitar on the boat if i am deployed.

[3rd_degreeburn]

i'm a scum sucking liberal (according to 3rd degree burn at least :rolleyes: )
:D

All the people that I know that have joined the military have came out better than they were before. For example my brother.
Before the navy he was a punk, slacker , and all he could do was draw really good and he wouldnt be able to make much of a living off that. He joined the military and now hes an eletrical engineer, discaplined (not saying that you have to join the military to get disacplined) and has a skill that will give him the lifestyle he wants even after he gets out of the navy..He is only doing it for 4 years but those 4 years are gonna give him the free training he wants and needs..Plus he doesnt have to go to Iraq

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

Accelerate your life...by increasing your chances of death...yeah right.

It crossed my mind(for money and benefits) but I wouldn't even be eligible for a draft because of my anxiety/panic disorder(there would be lots of friendly fire on my part)..

Try not to forget you would be apart of a poison in this world that can do no good for the future of mankind...

(the above is the result of being generally pissed today)

[PonyOne]

I have a GED and slacked off in school and I make $40 g's a year. no help from my family whatsoever (they stopped feeding me when I was 14, and I ended up getting food and whatnot from friends and girlfriends, then ended up living on my current g/f's couch for all of 2002 before moving to LA... all of which is financed on my own).

not really saying that it was super easy, or that anyone can do it, but... you don't have to be screamed at and go to war or spend the next 4 years on a boat for 6 months at a time.

if it's really what you want to do then more power to you. but i had no support network whatsoever and I managed to get somewhere... I'm starting school next semester too...

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

Your a car salesman right pony?I have a great amount of respect for you.You seem to(from all the posts youve had describing your life)have taken life and made it the best from what hand you were delt.
Your living just about every guy's wish(myself included...that being independance,nice girlfriend and good income)...DON'T EVER take your acheivments and progress in life for granted.

much respect.

[Akira]

I have a GED and slacked off in school and I make $40 g's a year. no help from my family whatsoever (they stopped feeding me when I was 14, and I ended up getting food and whatnot from friends and girlfriends, then ended up living on my current g/f's couch for all of 2002 before moving to LA... all of which is financed on my own).

not really saying that it was super easy, or that anyone can do it, but... you don't have to be screamed at and go to war or spend the next 4 years on a boat for 6 months at a time.

if it's really what you want to do then more power to you. but i had no support network whatsoever and I managed to get somewhere... I'm starting school next semester too...

Dude that's awesome. Much respect goes to you.

[Leedogg]

Yea man, you did pretty good for yourself considering what you had to work with. No help since you were 14? That's rough bro, but I'm glad you pulled it all together and are doing well for yourself. Most people in your situation would've just ended up being loser druggies.

[amerok]

Cool, but watch the cornhole.

[PonyOne]

wow, thanks guys... maybe I should be a motivational speaker :D :rolleyes: maybe not.

no i definitely haven't had the easiest time of things, but i guess that it's just that i've always tried to take everything that life has thrown at me and run with it. when it feels like i have a whole mountain of insurmountable grief and adversity over me, i don't try to go around it or over it... i try to drill straight through it and knock it down as i go, that way i don't have to deal with it again later. i'm also lucky in that i've lived a LOT of different places, from the sticks in Washington and Oregon to Boston and LA, and I've seen a lot of what life can offer.

if life seems like things aren't gonig well, grab life by the gonads and twist; don't let life get you, you go get life. maybe there's a heaven after this, maybe there isn't. who knows. i believe in an afterlife but it's a long time till i get there... or at least i want it to be. i couldn't do the military because by god, i want my own determinaton and i'm sorry but, at least for the first few years you're in, you have no self determination in the military; i thought about it, it just doesn't make sense.

if you can't set yourself straight then no one can. having some big dude scream at you and make you do things doesn't set you up for a good life, it sets you up to get yelled at and told what to do. why get $1700 a month to not have any choice what you're gonna do? it's pretty damn easy, honestly, to make $1700 a month, and it's not what you want to settle for. if you go into the military and get training to be an electrical technician or something along those lines, then you did waste four years of your life because you can get your certificate at a community college for the same thing for a few hundred bucks.

[Raskolnikov]

if you can't set yourself straight then no one can. having some big dude scream at you and make you do things doesn't set you up for a good life, it sets you up to get yelled at and told what to do. why get $1700 a month to not have any choice what you're gonna do? it's pretty damn easy, honestly, to make $1700 a month, and it's not what you want to settle for. if you go into the military and get training to be an electrical technician or something along those lines, then you did waste four years of your life because you can get your certificate at a community college for the same thing for a few hundred bucks.
Wait, wait, wait...

I have seen Tae Kwon Do (which I'm pretty sure I remember you taking) turn people around (after a lot of yelling and doing what you're told to do) and I've seen the military turn several of my friends around. That's not to say that the military is a universal fix, but learning a little dicipline never hurts and getting a good MOS and being PAYED to learn a skill, practice it and then have your college education PAYED FOR by the government isn't exactly a raw deal.

Especially if you spend it on dry land in a support role or in the all but garanteed safety of a boat in the middle of a substatial fleet.


As far as I can see, this kid is doing something good for himself and for our country.

The LAST thing we should be doing is busting his balls for it.

[3rd_degreeburn]

Bootcamp and military training is much more than just getting yelled at by some big guy and doing thousands of push ups.
In Military training you - learn a skill (its free, not everyone can afford college even if its a community college, hell the military will help pay for your college), you apply that skill in a work force, you learn to become a leader ..I seriously doubt you will find that in a community college..You will definitly get a lot more out of military than your average community college. The 4 years wouldnt be a waiste of his life seeing that he would learn so much more in the Miltiary than that of a community college.
Some here make it seem like its a bad thing to join the military and I agree with Raskolnikov that we shouldnt be busting his balls for his decision.

[PonyOne]

yes i did take tae kwan do.... tae kwan do never struck me as being yelled at, to be honest.

i think you guys are misunderstanding me. i'm not saying that the military is BS or that it can't help you at all, i'm just saying that if you personally can't get yourself in line then you can't rely on someone else to.

he said himself that he wasn't sure that he really wanted to go. if you weren't sure you wanted to really work for a company, would you sign a contract binding you to them for four years? because that's what you're doing when you join up. and if you get your GI bill that's awesome, but, it's not like you do four years then just go to Stanford and use the skills you learned in the engine room of a ship to make you a successful lawyer. you do four years, go to school, then go back for a couple, and stay on inactive duty, where you can be called up, for some time afterwards.

i have a coworker whose sister got called back by the army after 7 years of inactivity because she used the GI bill to go to a state school. just remember that whne you sign up with the military unless you get a discharge (which is getting harder and harder to get in the first place) you're signing your life over for your country. if that's what you want to do then fine. but don't do it because you don't know what else to do.

i don't think i'm busting his balls, i'm just being honest. it's not a bad thing to join the military at all if that is really what you want to do. it's a bad thing if you're unsure about it and ate up all the recruiter pamphlets.

[unclereemus]

Alot of harsh words out there, I'm in the Navy, have been for the last 13 years and it's nothing like full metal jacket. I've been on 4 submarimes and been all over the world and have had a ball. As long as you keep a good attitude and stay out of trouble you'll be fine. The Navy has alot to offer take advantage of it. Don't worry about basic or any of that it's all a head game, keep that in mind when they're screaming and yelling about stupid stuff. None of it's as personal as they try to make it seem. Good luck man,

vios con dios, Unclereemus :cool: