Active Duty Personnel: How Many of You Were Saved By Joining?

Question

Lots of previous questions calling for resumption of the draft as a way to rehabilitate and "toughen up" youngsters. Questions also calling for prisoners to be used so they can turn their lives around. Folks with medical problems who think the service can fix them up. So, I'm curious as to how many of you active duty men and women believe that joining the service helped you in your lives.

Answer 1

It helped me do something I believed in.  

My life did not need turning around, I was plenty tough, and I have no health problems.

Answer 2

I was going nowhere fast and it seemed that giving up would have been my best option.  However when the Army recruiter came to my school and told me to stop feeling sorry for myself and realize I can go be someone and make a difference it was all I needed to hear.  The Army made me turn my life around, realize I can't change the pass but only make my future better..

Thanks to the military I was able to fulfill me dream of becoming an RN and to have respect for myself.

I gave alot to the miltary but they gave me way more.

Answer 3

People with medical problems are not allowed into the service because their medical problems cost money. If they are allowed, it's either negligible or the MEPS station was so lenient that they didn't care about the health of that person.

For me, no, it didn't help me in my life. I went into the Marine Corps fit as a fiddle with plans (and progress) to do women's competitive bodybuilding. I was discharged last month because I am now permanently disabled.

FYI: The Marine Corps now allows felons, and for some younger people, they are given the choice of going to jail or enlisting in the Marine Corps.

I think the draft is ridiculous because a volunteer-based military is the best way to go...you get the most cooperation that way.

EDIT: How did this get a thumbs down? I answered the question truthfully ("Did the military help you?" "No, they disabled me.") Weird.

EDIT 2: lol, two thumbs down? I guess it's that little problem people have: once they join/leave the military, that's ALL they have/had going for them, so they hate when people talk negatively about it...even if it IS the truth.

Answer 4

comment by a veteran joining certainly taught me to respectfully answer your loaded question(responsibility) learned while serving my country honorably, many advantages taught while serving the citizens of this the best country on earth!

Answer 5

It helped me tremendously.  I was stuck in a deadend job and my future was going to be nothing but oilfield work.  I wanted more.

The Army gave me the opportunity to travel, meet people of different nationalities, gave me lifelong friends, and the experience and knowledge not learned in a text book.  I have no regrets about my decision to join.  

I initally signed up for a way out of a rut and to help me with my soon to be family.  The educational benefit was a nice perk.  Who knew that I would walk out a better person.  

I did time in Somalia, Bosnia, and a year tour in Korea.  I met people and had friends in each of those countries.  To this day, I still keep in touch with a Korean friend that I met while working part time at the Dragon Hill Lodge in Yongson.  

So, yes, I was saved.  There were bad times, but the good times outweigh the bad.  

Answer 6

I joined the Marine Corps because i didn't want to go to college ( i didn't have the money for college either ).I had no idea that i would change so much. I didn't realize the change until i got out and came back home and started talking to my old friends and such. Even though majority of them were all my age, they all talked immature and stupid to me about things that were so irrelevant.

Asking me stupid questions about how was the military, like for instance,

So the guys and girls shower together in Boot Camp?

or

Can you shoot anything you want?

Really dumb c**p like that. I was almost 22 and these former friends of mine acted 14.

Being in the military gave me maturity, and a sense of responsibility that i never would have had if i never left home.

Answer 7

I wouldnt say it saved my life, I had nothing wrong with me upon joining, I would however, say that it got me out of my small oklahoman town, it took me across the world, Iv experinced thing only people dream about, Fly in a black hawk, jump from a plane, been to Alaska, Japan, Germany, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qutar. Belive it of not I did it in about 3 years. Being in the army made me a stronger person, I met so of the most insterting people that one could ever met, I'v sat next to an Iraqi and drank chi in their house, Iv played soccer with the locals kids in Mosul. I'v ridden on the back of a camal in Kuwait, Iv seen Alaska from thousands miles above flying in a black hawk, and let me tell you... Its breath taking,I faced my fears jumping from a plane (airborne) Iv have more fun in the Army then in High school. Was I saved in the Army you ask? The answer is NO, I found myself.

Answer 8

This is one big misconception about the military. Many assume that enlisting will rid them of all their issues..If you serve for years then your issues will still be there four years later..We will never change who we truly are inside..We are born this way..The military will only solve some issues temporarily. If you look at many who get out after four years you would never guess that they served..

For many the military adds or brings out qualities that would never of have been used if it wasnt for the military. This is where the change comes from..The military gave me direction and purpose in life. I never had these things before enlisting..I am today filled with pride and confidence but I feel I always had these things in me ..It was just that the military brought them out of me..

You can throw a drunk into the military or a criminal into it, upon his completion he will still be a drunk and or a criminal..The military does not possess a magic wand to waive over troubled folks to cure them of their issues...

For many who serve the change is just a temporary one, and for a few others the change lasts a life time..it simply depends on who we are as in our character types.

Answer 9

I'm not a servicemember, but I can absolutely say the Army saved my husband's life. He was in the foster care system for most of his life and upon turning 18, had "aged out" of the program. He already had a juvenile criminal record. He had been in and out of rehab.  He was homeless. He joined the Army because he felt he didn't have any other good options. What he found was a family, a brotherhood, a purpose and Direction. He learned discipline, respect, found a sense of pride, honor and responsibility. He has received excellent training, has a good career, earned a degree and has become the wonderful man he is today. He has been serving for 14 years so far.