WildcatAlumni
New Member
What expectations do you think need to be managed in this case? She raised her hand and apparently did multiple deployments as a Naval Officer. She raised some legitimate issues reflected in formal surveys and thus far the 'interesting discussion' in this thread boils down to chest-thumping about designators and expectation management. Refer to her resignation point #3.
We don't require prospective JOs to commit to an entire career in the military, and for many officers, particularly women, the prospect of moving around and inability to balance service with family life is a deal breaker for continued service. If the military wants to retain more women into senior ranks, it's going to have to do a better job of managing that besides 'suck it up buttercup.'
There has been much discussion on this topic recently and change is inevitable. I am young(22) and I can say that many of the people I associate with view military service as a delay of entering adulthood and I think there is some truth to that. Some past dating experiences of mine have led me to conclude that I would never want to have a wife or serious girlfriend while serving, I couldnt expect them to remain faithful. Even now, with 2 months to go until I get to Quantico, the Marine career thing is a sort of scarlet letter for dating. A serious relationship isnt possible so girls arent interested. Luckily I have just been hitting up the local college and thats great because girls there dont need to see the potential for a long term relationship. However, I dont want to keep up this strategy of preying on college freshmen until Im 30 and my commitment to the Marines is up.
I would consider myself very financially conscious and I would like to be a home owner. Obviously renting for 8 years of my life before buying is not ideal financially and I am not thrilled about the fact that I will not be able to invest into a home until my military service is up. Im not going to be married or know where I am going to be stationed so why would I buy a home? This is another example of how the military lifestyle isnt very accommodating for typical life goals.
There is going to have to be some change to continue to attract skilled applicants that want some work/life balance. I know my generation has been quoted as wanting "experiences over things" and with the whole PTSD thing in the military, the military isnt offering the desired experiences. A paycheck for a hard, undesirable lifestyle isnt going to attract the best and brightest like we need in today's modern military.
I would predict that in my career, I will get sick of the bureaucracy and the military's unwillingness to change and probably leave, but making changes to the career structure is something I would like to do in my time as a Marine Corps Officer.
Also, there has been talk about a potential 401k like system being instituted instead of just the pension after 20 years. If that is instituted about 3 years into my career, would I be eligible for it you think?