To everyone aspiring to go into OCS: Why pursue military life vs civilian life?

[caburt1]

How did your internal debate between joining the Navy and pursuing a civilian career go, assuming you had one? What sold you to join the Navy? Since, you have to be competitive to get into Naval Aviation, I am assuming every one of us are competitive enough to get a decent job in the civilian sector.

I am going to play the devil's advocate for a bit here. Why risk your life, give up a lot of personal freedom, and choose to be away from your family for extended periods of time when you could have a decent job, lot more freedom, room for advancement, and maybe more money in the civilian sector? As a young college student/grad, why do you want to spend your young year in the rigidity of military life when you could have the world for yourself?

Before, anyone tells me I should not be joining if I am not completely committed, I just want to say you really should analyze the pros and cons before making such an important life decision. I have been through this debate in my head a lot in the last 6 months or so and I have found myself completely committed to joining the Navy.

 

[azguy]

I'm biased as I've already committed, but for me it was something I always wanted to do. I agree that it's a big decision and you're doing well for putting serious thought into it. I'm sure for an OCS guy, it's hard to walk away from a good job and take the plunge.

No one in the military is in it for the money, but for the non-Ivy League social science majors like me, there's really no way you're going get a job making $55k the day you graduate from college and be north of $100k after four years as a 26 yr old. So for people in that category it's a good deal, not so much if you're an STEM grad with strong grades.

 

[jander12]

A lot of it stems from internal feelings that can't really be explained. I consider myself a patriot and love this country which has afforded my family and me so many freedoms. I've always been of the opinion that every able person should contribute at least some time to preserving that freedom. With that being said, I was on track to be commissioned from USNA. I Left for personal reasons (not because I changed my mind), finished an engineering degree at a public university, started a career, and family, but have still always had that burning desire to serve in a more direct way. That is why I ultimately decided to re-apply for a commission. It's definitely not for the money, and It's definitely going to be a "worse" quality of life as far as family is concerned, but it's what I feel I need to do and my family supports that.

 

[wink]

To pursue challenges and adventure not found at all in the civ sector. If found at all in the civ sector, it is at great personal expense ($$$) or very very rare. For example, not just fly, but to fly with a real purpose larger than moving boxes or people for a pay check. To learn skills you can't learn anywhere else, like how to land on a ship, employ awesome weapons, con a warship, almost immediate leadership of a dozen or many more sailors and Marines, be responsible for a nuclear reactor, a $100M aircraft, or a company of Marines in no shit combat. I think the trade off is more than fair. Money, freedom to wear jeans and a polo shirt to work, 9-5 days, long hair and beard, none of that would have been a fair trade for the experiences I had in the Navy.

 

[Tycho_Brohe]

No one in the military is in it for the money, but for the non-Ivy League social science majors like me, there's really no way you're going get a job making $55k the day you graduate from college and be north of $100k after four years as a 26 yr old.

Especially as a pilot. You work your ass off as an instructor (or crop dusting or banner towing) to build flight time, then you go to the regionals where the hours suck and you start with a probationary salary. Once I heard that, I knew that's not what I wanted to do. And besides, you'll be spending a lot of time away from family anyway.
Of course, this assumes you're talking about civilian aviation vs. military aviation, and not military vs. civilian in general. I only wrote it so because it's my personal experience, and I noticed your top two are NA and NFO. But from someone who's always wanted to fly, I'm having a lot more fun in the T-34 sim than I ever had in the CRJ sim.

 

[bunk22]

Simply wanted to fly Navy aircraft and hit hot chicks because of it

 

[707guy]

Simply wanted to fly Navy aircraft and hit hot chicks because of it

^^^^ Pretty much the only answer that counts. ^^^^

 

[croakerfish]

....when you could have a decent job, lot more freedom, room for advancement, and maybe more money in the civilian sector? As a young college student/grad, why do you want to spend your young year in the rigidity of military life when you could have the world for yourself?

Lolwut. Ask a few more recent college grads how that's going. Speaking as part of the traumatized class of 2008, having my family on Tricare is huge. 8 year commitment? More like 8 years of guaranteed work. Nothing like looking back on a pregnancy scare when you're a graduate assistant making $1200 a month with no benefits of any kind besides free tuition and your wife just got laid off from her first job out of college after 8 months to make you appreciate how the military has your back.
Joining the Navy is the best decision I ever made. In terms of stability, advancement, compensation and job security, there's really nothing else out there that compares. That's not even touching the personal satisfaction of doing demanding work with a purpose, being part of a great team of motivated high-achievers, and moving around and seeing all kinds of cool stuff. Ask me again in 3 years, but for me the Navy has been nothing but upsides so far.

A lot of guys on here have a lot of gripes about lazy Sailors, PC bullshit, misplaced command priorities, promotion wickets and so on. It's all there, but it could be a lot worse. I've seen it be worse. I don't understand why everyone doesn't want to join the Navy.

 

[Dangy]

Because my civilian career failed right off the start. I don't mind giving X amount of years of my life to work in an industry I always dreamed of.

 

[Renegade One]

Joining the Navy is the best decision I ever made. In terms of stability, advancement, compensation and job security, there's really nothing else out there that compares. That's not even touching the personal satisfaction of doing demanding work with a purpose, being part of a great team of motivated high-achievers, and moving around and seeing all kinds of cool stuff. ...for me the Navy has been nothing but upsides so far….I don't understand why everyone doesn't want to join the Navy.

Pretty much sums up anything I could have said. Probably better…since it comes from one of "you folks".

 

[Mr Spenz]

Personally I did not want to get stuck in the civilian sector. I was originally selected for Veterinary School out of my undergraduate studies. I wanted to do something that no one in my family has done and that is serve my country as a Commissioned Officer. On top of that I am still young and healthy so I figured why not put myself in for a great challenge while I am still of age.

 

[JamesL37]

Had a sudden realization during graduate school where I was working towards a PhD. I was the youngest in my department where everyone else was in their late 20s or early 30s. Why spend my 20s behind a desk reading books and writing papers when I can do that in my 30s? I wanted to do something exciting while I was still young. Then I heard I can get a PhD through the military and teach at service academies if I stay longer than initial obligation. I could have the cake and eat it too. So I left grad school with an MA and started my application to join the navy. Even if my plan doesn't pan out exactly like I planned, I can go back to complete my PhD after my initial AD obligations with some money saved up and my student loans cleared.

Plus, I became a naturalized US citizen mid-last year, and considering that I had to go to military in my previous country, I felt like I had to give something back to America. At least now it was my choice to serve.

 

[Renegade One]

Had a sudden realization during graduate school where I was working towards a PhD. ...Why spend my 20s behind a desk reading books and writing papers when I can do that in my 30s? I wanted to do something exciting while I was still young. Then I heard I can get a PhD through the military and teach at service academies if I stay longer than initial obligation. I could have the cake and eat it too. So I left grad school with an MA and started my application to join the navy.

Tough Love: Let me just say…this is not the "best motivational statement" I've ever read.

I don't mean to go all "JFK" on you, but it should be more about "what YOU can do for your [new?] country"…and less about "what your [new?] country can do for YOU."

At this point in history, I'm not entirely sure your decision to leave grad school was the best one for you. If you have a "day job"…keep it while the process unfolds.

 

[Tycho_Brohe]

I don't mean to go all "JFK" on you, but it should be more about "what YOU can do for your [new?] country"…and less about "what your [new?] country can do for YOU."

There's gotta be some give and take, though. I think very few of us, if any, would do this work for free, just for the privilege of serving. And an all-volunteer force would suffer as a whole if it didn't offer competitive benefits. Whatever his motives, the Navy will get a very competent young man with a MA in Political Science who would stay longer than his obligation in exchange for some higher education.
And worst case, if he sucks at his job or sandbags it just to get the degree, his fitreps will suffer and he won't make it that far.

 

[JamesL37]

Tough Love: Let me just say…this is not the "best motivational statement" I've ever read.

I don't mean to go all "JFK" on you, but it should be more about "what YOU can do for your [new?] country"…and less about "what your [new?] country can do for YOU."

At this point in history, I'm not entirely sure your decision to leave grad school was the best one for you. If you have a "day job"…keep it while the process unfolds.

I think I would be doing both at the same time. I don't have to make sacrifices to give back to my new country if I can benefit from it as well. When I said, "I could have the cake and eat it too," I meant that I would not lose out on the time to get PhD instead of taking advantage of the navy in any way. In fact, I already was on track to get the PhD in grad school which I delayed for the navy. And as for your "JFK" thing. I addressed that in my second paragraph: I didn't have to join the navy, but I did because I thought both me and my country could benefit from each other rather than just me going about my merry way on my own.