The Military

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Hi, guys. It is my dream to be in the military (I plan to join the marines). Any thoughts, comments?

Are you going to grow a mustache like the guy in your avatar?

Always share non-monetary rewards with the group.

Try to avoid the front line.

Remember Military is a social institution, very similar to high school.

LOL, no.



I want to fight.



How so?

I agree with the military being like High School. I was in it for 10 years and hated it. Bunch of adolescents who refuse to grow up. Plus having to go to 3 theaters of war didn't improve my opinion of the military either. All around, I wouldn't advise anyone that I cared about to enter the military as it stands now. It should be noted that the more aspie you act, the less likely you are to succeed in the military. Just so you are forewarned.

Ah! That is only a little one.

When I was 15 I gave serious thought to enlisting in the Royal Canadian Navy when I graduated from highschool, but then thought I wouldn't be cut out for military service.

There was a time when I was seriously considering enlisting in the Canadian Military Engineers. Instead I got married.

I would have been better off in the military.

This says most of it.

The military can be a rich and rewarding experience...IF you can make the most of it. Having AS puts a major negative on your side of the equation.

If you manage your AS well enough to have decent social contacts and can handle being stuck around others most all the time, you might do okay.

Frankly, someone with AS would be best served (IMHO) joining the Air Force. The most "civilian" of the branches of service, it makes adapting to military life a lot easier. There's another thread around here about the military where you'll find lots of posts on this issue from those who served and got booted out, served and got their time in (both good and bad experiences) and those who wanted to serve but were rejected.

I am not officially diagnosed with Aspergers by a doctor. My school diagnosed me, but I am 200000 percent sure I have it.

joining the military was #1 on my list of things NEVER to do, but life circumstances [ the "reagan" recession in '82-'83, no jobs, losing apartment] made me reconsider. i would not recommend it to anybody like myself, but since i don't know anybody else like myself, i could not say "join" or "don't join" and make it relevant for any potential recruit. i can only tell y'all what this aspie went through.

i chose the army because the air force wouldn't take me, i wasn't part of their recruiting "mandate" [too old, uneducated], same for the navy, and my older brother who is a hundred times tougher than me couldn't take the marines for a whole hitch. so that left the army. the recruiter was a decent fella, he showed me laserdiscs [nowadays it would be on a computer screen] with scenarios of the various MOS's [military occupational specialty or jobs] then available [short of people doing them] in the army. in almost all of them there were people shooting guns in the bushes and plains, except for one- MOS 91d10, "operating room specialist" - i chose that one like a fool, never mind that i had never worked in a hospital before and wasn't aware that blood bothered me. but i was stuck with it, i wanted no part of shooting people. the other MOS's i liked were already overstrength, iow taken by too many other folk. computers- god i wished i could have gotten in that one, i'd've been set by now.

basic training- a big shock. being screamed-at face-to-face, spittle on my face and not being able to wipe it off due to being in the "position of attention" - hearing obscenities i had not imagined were possible ["you want me to stick my what where?"]. being rushed everywhere. having my long hair shaved off, humiliating. being slapped and kicked [that was legal then]. forced association with 50 other recruits of mixed temperaments, mostly wary and unkind. constant "GI parties" [mopping, waxing, buffing, dusting] in the open-bay barracks. being roused from too-little sleep at 0-dark-thirty and rushed down to formation where we were screamed at and forced to do punitive push-ups for this and that. being rushed into the mess hall [eats] and forced to wolf-down a meager meal in 3 minutes, then being given the bum's rush back out. marching in the rain, calisthenics in the rain, range practice [shooting] in the rain. i never cared for shooting. i was near-sighted and wasn't good for much of it. endless formations [standing in rows for inspection and getting screamed-at]. on a 6'4" frame, i weighed 150 at the end of it.

thankfully then, basic training was only 8 weeks. afterwards, 90 out of 120 of the original company of recruits [those who didn't "bolo out" or "screw the pooch"] were sent on to advanced training to learn our MOS's we signed-on for. my job was deceptively simple at first- just learn 100 surgical instruments and the basics of aseptic technique [not contaminating anything sterile] and the rudiments of scrubbing in surgery. i was lousy at that part. i kept dropping instruments. i passed the exams somehow and was sent on to my "permanent party" [final assignment at an army hospital] where i was not wanted due to my clumsiness but they had to keep me, so to keep me from killing anyone in the operating room they sent me to central supply where i wrapped instruments for sterilization. i liked it there as it was away from the meanies in the OR.

the barracks were noisy and lacked privacy. lots of beer-swilling rowdies and harpie hangers-on. constant barracks inspections with the "white glove" treatment. "extra-duty" punishments for the mildest of infractions [loose button on uniform, smudge on rank insignia, et al]. 11-hour days in the operating room. more "GI-parties" -next to no free-time. military police and their drug-sniffing dogs rousting barracks-dwellers awake too damned early. i put up with this for 4 years, then got the hell out and never looked back.

you should have at elast applied. To the OP if you really want to and you don't have any serious irreversible physical issues that would cause your superior officers to deem you unfit for active duty, go for it

I found the nuclear Navy to be very aspie friendly. Everything is done by procedure, so you're never left guessing what someone wants you to do but didn't actually think to tell you. Attention to detail is important and respected.

That said, if the experience auntblabby describes sounds like hell, you may want to stay away from the military, especially the Marines.

Is this based on personal experience?

I would have thought the Air Force would be the worst service to join for an aspie, specifically because it's so "civilian", and thus so dominated by neurotypical ways of doing things. However, that may just be my service bias showing.

I don't know about that. My aunt (who has many Aspie traits) served in both the Navy and the Air Force national guard and did quite well in both. My brother is in the Air Force and has a very aspie-friendly job (he fixes airplanes - exciting!). However, he's also very neurotypical and responds well to authority and constantly being around people.

I couldn't do it. But that doesn't mean no other aspie can.

From both experience and what I gather from others, my take on things....

Army and Marine Corps....seem ideal for someone with AS due to the rigidity and structure, but don't be fooled. A lot of mindless BS that does not work well with the AS nature to take things literally and don't grasp the subtle cues. If you have AS, you think the rules MUST be followed, and you'd be neurotic about disregarding them, but the effective soldier/Marine knows which ones must be obeyed and which ones can be ignored. As I've heard many veterans say, "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." Knowing where the line is and how to walk it depends on being able to grasp the subtle social cues that define where that line is.

Navy....More "civilian" than Army and Corps, but most naval assignments involve sea duty which is equal to being stuck in a can of sardines with other people. Heavy social environment with little to no private space.

Air Force....Most "civilian." Not to say no BS, but likely the least "head games" of all the branches. More like a job than anything else, and living accommodations tend to be the best of all the branches. Gives the most "breathing room" for someone with AS to cope in private with the stress of daily life.

from personal experience, the american military frowns on anything bigger than a military-style mustache which doesn't go beyond the mouth-corners and is trimmed very short.