Is the Army Worth it?

Question

Army Reserve
Army
Navy
Marines
National Gaurd

If you've been any of those (or similar) please identify which one and tell us if it was worth the benefits (money for college, etc).

Answer 1

US Army. You EARN all benefits with blood, sweat and tears. If I was to asked to do it all over again I would. The friendships and the adventure I had was well worth it

Answer 2

I was Army Reserve and then Active Army. The other answers have already addressed the good stuff like money and the pride aspects, but to play devil's advocate, it can be a hard life, even for support troops.

Even if you don't go to Iraq or Afghanistan, you will probably be in the field several months out of the year altogether. It will often be too hot, too cold, too wet, and just plain suck. Back in garrison, you will have often have duties that are much longer than a civilian 8 hour day. You will be sleepy, but you'll be required to perform at 100% anyway. You will be required to run, march, and ruck with heavy weight on your back. You will be required to maintain a certain weight, and if you go over that weight get into trouble. If you have a child, you are very likely going to miss large chunks of your kid's life. If married, you will miss birthday's and aniverseries.

You may have really excellant leaders who look out for you, or you might have little napoleans who are power mad. Either way, you can't just quit like at wal mart. You will be in danger sometimes. It will be scary, whether you go to war or not. You will get your hands dirty. Even clerks have rifles and humvees to maintain.

Now, before I get a lot of thumbs down, i'm not saying it is a bad life, and I enjoyed a lot of my time, met some cool people, did some cool things, and made a little money in the process, but I am saying go in with both eyes open and know what to expect.

Answer 3

If your after benefits and money for college the Army: National Guard is the best of all. Not only do you get the Federal benefits like the GI bill, but you also get any benefits your state chooses to add on. Some states offer 100% tuition reinbuisiment.
But to your question "Is the Army worth it?" ... my answer is from a money prerspective NO. The military is good at signing you up and forgetting about you. If it is not in your contract when you sign your not getting it. The most important moment in your military career is those 10 minutes you spend sitting with a career sgt in his little cubilce. He may show you a couple quick videos and then he makes you sign page after page and doesn't explain jack squat. Most of the time they are just too busy to do it and rush you through the whole process.
Also they like to make that the last thing you do for the day so your so exhausted from all the tests and such that you just want to go home. It's their little plan.

Answer 4

You left out the most important reason. Feeling a personal desire to serve. I served in the Navy 7 1/2 yrs . Your question puzzled me a bit if one joins solely for financial benefit I think that would be a mistake they are modest at best. That said i think the services give more than financial benefit. They really make a lot of young immature people responsible adults by instilling self esteem, discipline, and a good work ethic. They also train their people very well and many of the skills are transferable to civilian professions. The monetary rewards are modest except for the generous retirement benefits but thats 20 yrs min so I think that should not be a chief motivation unless you are looking at making a career out of it. If you are asking yes I served in Combat in Iran and Grenada and generally recommend it as a positive experience. That said if you are looking at joining simply for college money and pay I think you are choosing the wrong reasons. If you are joining to serve your country and to develop yourself and job skills then i would say Anchors Away my boy!

Answer 5

Navy. Its not all that bad. I believe the GI Bill is around $37,000 or so right now. Be aware that you'll have to pay $100 a month for your first year in to take advantage of it. It's good to have free healthcare. It's not the best, but it's better than nothing. Once you make E-5 or so the pay is decent. Word of advice, if money for college is the only reason you're thinking of joining the military, don't do it.

Answer 6

If you are joining for the benefits, don't waste your time (theirs either!).

The military has enough people whining and crying about benefits when the military's main function should be defense. If you are willing to join, and fulfill your agreed commitment to do so then it is well worth it.

GI Bill, can't beat it-using mine now.
Medical care- quite acceptable
Pay- gotten better since I got out

Personal benefits-PRICELESS
Pride, dignity, discipline, self-motivation, real world working experience, commitment, courage, honor. These things can make you stand out above the crowd even after you leave the service.

If you are up to the challenge then my prayers and best of hopes are with you. If you are just looking for some freebies, please look elsewhere.

Any branch of service is what you make of it. I personally chose the Marine Corps. The opportunity is there if you seize it and utilize it. As far as education benefits, the Army may be your best bet, but please consider what I have stated above. Best wishes to you and your future.

Answer 7

My 19 year old daughter is in the Army right now. She just shipped to Korea a few weeks ago. She's making money for college and is learning a skill set. She's really enjoying herself.

Answer 8

in case you imagine of it that way, no it isn't. the military is all about preserving your us of a and its way of being. it isn't about preserving your neighbor or your pal or in spite of the indisputable fact that. that's about preserving what u . s . stands for. some ought to serve so all can stay the way we do. not all who serve will come decrease back, it rather is why they are commemorated as they are. next time you hear someone talk undesirable about squaddies keep in mind one ingredient, those squaddies are different their preserving that persons good to assert those issues! contained in the U. S. we've loose Speech, few different countries in this international have that! this is going to continually take squaddies scuffling with and dieing to guard that good and the others we draw close to and expensive. in case you may move into the military wondering like that, then certain that's a sturdy position. If not then you definitely gained't like it. that's administered with the help of people sitting in a chair finding out your destiny in accordance to stats and numbers and "perfect losses". Do they mourn those "losses" YOU extra powerful have self belief IT! yet they are of their positions and comprehend they nonetheless ought to cause them to!

Answer 9

I have been in the Navy for 10 years of my life, and I grew up a Navy Brat as well, my father served in Vietnam in Da Nang as a US Special Forces Operator. So of course my slant is to the USN

The united states navy offers a lot of benefits, and please keep in mind that I am not a recruiter.

If you are in High School, your best offer is to take ANY kind of Military ROTC class. This will help you not only with military knowledge, but it also offers basic BLT training * getting into shape for boot camp and basic knowledge such as your chain of command and your orders to the sentry / aka general orders * if you join JROTC you'll also be exposed to many other opportunities such as ROTC scholarships that will give you a FULL RIDE scholarship to one of the branches Universitities. Keep in mind that you must also have the GPA to be accepted into the university. This means that you'll be given money ... all the money you need to go to school, and they also give you a monetary monthly allowence. At the College level you'll need to also take an ROTC class. The monetary amount really depends on where you are going to school. If you're going to school in NYC then you'll get more money than if you were going to school in South Carolina. The services have their own "accepted" schools, but they are all well known and reputable schools. Once you graduated from your 4 year college, you will be an officer in the military *depending on which branch you decide to go into*

If you are already past HS, then you can decide to enlist now in the Navy. However, I'll tell you from what I know. If you plan on getting a college degree, DO NOT sign up right away. Because once you sign up as enlistment in the navy, your first two years in the navy will be overseas and working 12 hour shifts. So its quite impossible to get a degree that way. Your best bet is to go to college, and go take an ROTC class, get your degree, get a job that focusing on the usage of your Degree, and once you join the Navy, your civilian job will be tranlated into "points" where you'll be promoted into an Officer position. Once you get in, you'll be asking about, "what about the money i spent for college?" The navy will give you monetary money to pay off your student loans. I believe the maximum they pay out is about 150K -- but that is for an MD degree. For a regular Bacheolor degree I believe they pay out about 75K. But remember you'll have to commit to 6 - 8 years in the service.

I know the Army has the GI bill for 50K. but if you're going to an out of state college, that money will be gone the first year. I know the navy pays for all of it.

If you have any more questions please feel free to email me, [e-mail].

Answer 10

I was a Marine and yes, it was worth it. The benefits aren't too bad, but the biggest benefit I got was the pride in serving my country.