Aspie joining the military?

Post Reply New Topic

What do you guys think? I have been diagnosed for many years now and I am soon to be 22 in March, unemployed, still living with mother, not much going on. I am single with no girlfriend, I don't do much all day except use the computer or maybe read. I am in good shape and I do go to the gym every now and then.

I have come a long way as for as social skills and I have tried to understand cues a little better.

Have any Aspies been in the Military before? What's it like? I was thinking the structured enviorment might be a welcomed change for me. I was mainly focusing on the Navy.

Thanks

Some pros:

Their'll be structure, support, order

cons:

to many to list, it's hell for people who already have good coping mechanisms, I don't know what happens to people with terrible ones.

I was in the army active duty for 5 years and am in the reserves now. I'll tell you what I'd tell any young man, Aspie or no: Don't do it just for "A job" or "Something to do." Do it because it's something you really want; to challenge yourself, serve your country and see things you'd never see otherwise. Yes, there is a lot of structure, but there is also a LOT of social interaction and little tolerance for mistakes. For myself, I'm glad I did it and proud to have served my country, but if I knew what basic training would be like, I'm not sure I would have gone through with it.

I tried to join the navy as a nuclear engineer. I got a 90 on the asvab so test wise I qualified.

I had 2 main reasons. You could do college if you choose to while in the service, while getting paid so it was the best option money wise, and a 12k sign on bonus. The second reason was for some friends.

But they did not like my medical history of depression and bad grades.

I got a waiver for add easily (am not diagnosed with aspergers yet), and for getting an F in precalc.

They promised me a waiver for depression and I did not get it.

Looking back on it I am glad it did not work out. If someone does not approve of my work, or I am or I am bullied (which of course they try to do in basic) then I don't handle it well and can't do work well.

On a side note I was told by 3 different recruiters, 2 of them navy that I should just lie and say I do not have a medical history. So I could have gotten in that way. But you here mixed opinions on if they can find out about that. And it probably would have driven me crazy that I had lied about something so important.

Sorry this went kind of long

I'm active duty Navy myself (two years in on a six year contract). If you want to do it because you want to serve your country or anything of that ilk, go for it. But if it's just because you want structure, or you feel stuck in a rut, check your options on the outside first. There's a lot of structure, which is nice, but there's a LOT more forced socialization. And what's worse is that you're liable to be stuck with some genuinely repulsive people. I'm a nuke myself,and supposedly we're the "best and brightest" the enlisted ranks have to offer, but I've met some genuinely stupid obnoxious people through my work. And if you don't qualify for nuke, it'll only be worse. Furthermore, there's a lot of high stress meltdown inducing situations in training, and even more underway (flooding, fires, etc.). That said, I wouldn't take back what I've seen and done for the world. As hard as everything's been, I'm a better, stronger person for it.

AS precludes you from being able to join (medically unfit).

I was in the air force. I'm not trying to sell the AF but being an aspie or HFA you might want to consider that since living conditions tend to be better than other branches (not 100% guaranteed, though). By that I mean more space and privacy in your living quarters. My younger brother was in the navy and spent most of his 4 years on a carrier where privacy and space were pretty much non-existent. Not to mention very long duty hours when the ship was underway and lots of noise all the time.
Regardless of what branch you go in I can assure you that basic training/boot camp will be a culture shock for you. It's that way for a reason and I can't fault it but for an aspie there's nowhere to escape to chill out for a while when you get overwhelmed. You'll be living in open bay barracks with about 50 others and doing everything with them so go figure. If you’re not a team player this is where you need to start being one in earnest and keep that mindset for the next four years.
After basic, tech school is a little better and you'll have more space to yourself and not quite as strict of a regimen.
Once you get to your first permanent duty station its considerably better still. I found people were generally more accepting of someone being a little unusual since you have people from all over the US and all walks of life coming together.
You could get assigned just about anywhere in the world so be aware of that.
It is a four or six year commitment so once you sign your life away and take the oath you are IN for the duration. Make sure that's what you can live with and choose your branch of service and specialty wisely.

HellRazzer7878 wrote: