Yeah, I'm prior service, chair force, and I have been trained by the government to agressively file some paperwork. Yeah, it does come in handy when corporate America tries to get a free ride on my butt. I also did Engineering in there. I did score a 95 on the ASVAB, and the only way I could be an officer is to get a useful 4 year degree. I say useful cause I knew people with a degree in health and fitness who could only enlist. Military needs first, so you got to know what they need to know if your degree would be useful, and in four years, it may no longer be useful unless you go with something safe like Engineering, nursing, etc.
If you are joining for some action, then go Marine Corps. Marines join to kill people, period. Once you do boot camp, you can switch to any other branch without having to do their basic training, but if you wanted to go from Army to Marines, you'd have to do boot camp. In addition, Army, Air Force, and Navy maintain a standard. Marines exceed it. Air Force is every man for himself. Army and Navy is like they are a team, but they are not. Marines take pride in their team. You will never fight one marine. You tick off one of them, you just ticked off the entire corps. Also why I suggest them because they have better values when it comes to that. They are a gang, a mafia, and they are stronger than the other three branches combined because they take it more seriously. They also have more pride in their rank, their song, their colors, their history, and their devil dog. When I meet people who claim to be marines, I have a series of questions I ask them that only marines would know. I don't have that for any other branch. But if you go marines, you will be stationed overseas (probably as early as your first station), and you will see danger. Army depends. Air Force and Navy, only if you stay in long enough. Marines also earn rank faster, and it can be taken away just as fast. Rank is not ego, it is your pay grade. So yes, being able to move through the ranks faster is very important to your checking account (much more important than a fifty cent medal that you had to pay 5 dollars for once you worked your tail off to get it).
When taking the ASVAB, score for the job you want. A high score means more jobs the military can choose for you. Like I wanted to work in accounting or marketing, but since I scored so high in the electrical section and they needed electricians, engineering (surveying and drafting) was the only job they'd offer me that wasn't electrician. Be careful, if you score too low, then you're a cop.
Just because you want to see some action, don't get a job that's all action. You want a marketable skill for when you get out. Many marines will serve 8 years to work at Applebees bussing tables because there just isn't a high demand for being able to kill people and work a bunch of different weapons out there.
When you join, your soul is sold. IT's not about being yelled at and taking orders. Anyone can do that. THat's easy. It's about giving up things you enjoy and changing your lifestyle completely. You live where they tell you to live. You love when they tell you to love. Most important, a civilian can get fired for sexual harassment. Military can go to jail, be reduced to an E1, be forced to finish their contract after they get out of jail only to get dishonorably discharged for the same crime. The legal office now is having a blast at enforcing the stupid rules to the fullest. So your lifestyle has to change where you don't do any crimes (including drinking, can't get drunk, even if old enough to drink) or so that you don't get caught (which I totally don't recommend to a newbie).
The hardest thing is being far from home because you easily forget the reasons you left home. You are alone in the military, and it's scary. They become your family, yes, but it's very different. When you get out and do go home, things seem so different because things changed while you were gone, and you've changed. So, that alone feeling will never go away as the military does become your new family because they are the only ones to understand what you went through, something your civilian family would never comprehend, but since they aren't blood, they wouldn't go as far as your mom would to have your back (they may in combat, but not so much when you get back state side).
The thing you got going for you is the PT. If you are in shape, that helps a lot. Also if you are a dude, that's easier. Females have it rougher as they have to prove themselves and nobody really wants them there.
If you think you are mentally ready for the military and combat, then you are not. You have to have something worth fighting for, and fighting just to fight is a mentality that won't take you through it all. There will be moments that you are scared, and moments that you lose hope, and moments where you want to give up, and if you don't have a cause to get you through those moments, then you won't get through them. They don't have to be noble, just something you feel is worth fighting for, even if it's something like proving yourself to yourself, or getting edcuation benefits, or in some cases, I see guys in the military to get citizenship in the US. But it has to be worth it to you. But if you do go marine corps, you always answer the question "Why did you join the Marine Corps?" with "To kill people" no matter what your real reason was.
Some tips for basic training/boot camp (whichever you do), do look your drill sgt (technical instructor in my case) in the eye. They are like dogs, and if they sense fear, then they will pick on you. The point of basic training is really to wipe off that deer in the headlights look off your face. There's no room for failure, and you have to be able to fold your tshirt, shoot your weapon, march in formation, and look like you know what you are doing even if you don't know what you are doing. The mind games is secondary and has nothing to do with it as much as their method to teach you how to be a service member. Ability to work as a team is important most in basic training in all branches, and it seems to only remain as such beyond that in the marine corps.
As far as Aspie... I think the military helped me deal with a lot of the social problems. It also gave me confidence that was stripped away from many people throughout the years because I'm aspie. I thought I was confident when I went in, but I was really cocky (which works well in the Marine Corps). I didn't have true confidence in myself, and the military helped me find it. It also taught me that the body is capable of anything if you push it hard enough, and that's something I really needed. It won't teach self discipline like I thought it would. I have discipline when someone is enforcing it, but I can't seem to enforce it upon myself.
Will it interfere with your military career? No, Aspergers won't. You can screw up your career with or without it. The military as a whole is most concerned about fulfilling the mission. If you got something that will compromise the mission, then they won't take you.
I will say if you go in, make sure you don't volunteer too much information about yourself to other service members as that's just too weird for them. Don't talk a lot, and let them always pick the subject. Always have a positive attitude (that's very important). They don't like people who complain. Most of your Aspergers shouldn't affect you on a large level, but it will affect how you deal with people one on one in many cases, so watch your social p's and q's. My mentality was to focus on my military bearing. That's the military, serious face that doesn't show any form of emotion when getting chewed out (standing in attention, not watching the butterfly flying by you, etc.). I took it one step further and decided my military bearing was me not being myself, but me being the professional soldier, and that included social rules like no monologues, not talking about topics I wanted to talk about, not trying to impress people, not trying to win them over, just a freaking robot with a positive attitude who gets the job done. During duty hours, that's who I tried to be, and I'd often self talk in my head "don't forget your bearing." I still do it sometimes.
Anyway, this is long, and I want some McDonalds. Sorry so long, but this is all info I wish I knew before going in. I seriously suggest Marine Corps. I've seen a few Army Rangers get beat up by marines in my time. The only person I ever saw win a fight against a marine was myself, and that's only because I am double jointed and was trained by my fellow marine friends to fight MCMAPS (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program). I will say it is also by far the best martial arts I've seen in my time. Being a chic who is a size 3, I've been able to take down 250 pound dudes in less than 5 seconds with MCMAPS. It's awesome. Can't wait to teach it to my kids.
Oh, and OORAH DEVIL DOGS and AIR POWER
16 Jan 2009, 6:35 pm
) who has Asperger's & he should actually be getting out of Air Force boot camp right about now.
