m0tbaillie
Former SWO
This question is deceptively simple, however, I'm not looking for simple answers. Try to avoid vague, simplistic answers like "I just got done watching Top Gun" or "to fly planes" - the AF and the Marine Corps fly planes, too.
What I'm asking is... what drew you in towards the Navy, specifically? For those of you getting ready for OCS, with OCS class-up dates, and for those of you who have at least received PRO-RECs and FINAL-SELECTs, what motivated/motivates you. Think of what the impetus was that got you through your oh-so-fun day at MEPS, the waivers (if any), the paperwork, and the nerve-wracking boards.
Very obviously, getting selected and accepting this conditional offer for a commission is the [arguably] easiest part of the whole gig. OCS is, I hope, the real challenge for most of us and just the very thought of it for those of us not in the know yet is enough to elicit a little nervous/anxious pang in the pits of our stomachs.
In my *very humble, very inexperienced* opinion, there are two types of who enlist in the military: those who find themselves with no other options or prospects in life, and those who genuinely want to be there to serve their country and foster a potentially rewarding career. I'd say these days, within my very limited scope of knowledge, it is usually a complete toss up between the two. There are those enlisted folk who love their job, love what they do, and kick ass at it every day, and there are those who skate by and generally just hate life because it's not what they expected or they don't take what they're doing to heart. We usually read about the latter kind in the news, but the media loves controversy, anyways.
There is, however, in my still-humble opinion, only one kind of person who seek a commission in the military: the kind of person who really, really wants to be there. Nobody on these forums is broke-ass poor.
Nobody sending off their applications for BDCP, OCS, ROTC, or any of the Academies is doing so because they have no other options. Nobody seeking a commission is doing so because they were forced into it. By the time you're old enough to apply for a commission, you're also old enough to vote, to be subpoenaed to court, and to pay taxes. You're fully responsible for that decision and you're not over a barrel to obligated to it in any way.
Nobody going to college, or going the ROTC route, or the Academy route is out of options. We are all, in general terms, at the very worst going to end up college-educated Americans. That's Grade-A in a lot of places.
And yet we are, for whatever reason drawn to these various commissioning routes for a multitude of reasons. Everybody has their own, many of us share common reasoning and rationale, but each and every one of us has a little spark inside of them somewhere the propelled them towards seeking a commission. A helluva spark - a spark that said "hey join the military" while our country is in the middle of an election season and in the middle of two not-so-popular (according to polls) wars on the other side of the globe and, to be truthful, in a relatively shaky and arguably unstable, uncertain state in terms of world affairs. That is, of course, putting it extremely lightly and with the most politically-correct tact I can muster at the moment.
That, I think, speaks volumes about everybody here and you all know why, I hope.
Now, if you've made it this far, please be so kind as to elaborate on my original question (way, way up there). How did you end up here, and where do you see yourself say, 5 years down the road?
Edit: wow, too long.
What I'm asking is... what drew you in towards the Navy, specifically? For those of you getting ready for OCS, with OCS class-up dates, and for those of you who have at least received PRO-RECs and FINAL-SELECTs, what motivated/motivates you. Think of what the impetus was that got you through your oh-so-fun day at MEPS, the waivers (if any), the paperwork, and the nerve-wracking boards.
Very obviously, getting selected and accepting this conditional offer for a commission is the [arguably] easiest part of the whole gig. OCS is, I hope, the real challenge for most of us and just the very thought of it for those of us not in the know yet is enough to elicit a little nervous/anxious pang in the pits of our stomachs.
In my *very humble, very inexperienced* opinion, there are two types of who enlist in the military: those who find themselves with no other options or prospects in life, and those who genuinely want to be there to serve their country and foster a potentially rewarding career. I'd say these days, within my very limited scope of knowledge, it is usually a complete toss up between the two. There are those enlisted folk who love their job, love what they do, and kick ass at it every day, and there are those who skate by and generally just hate life because it's not what they expected or they don't take what they're doing to heart. We usually read about the latter kind in the news, but the media loves controversy, anyways.
There is, however, in my still-humble opinion, only one kind of person who seek a commission in the military: the kind of person who really, really wants to be there. Nobody on these forums is broke-ass poor.
Nobody sending off their applications for BDCP, OCS, ROTC, or any of the Academies is doing so because they have no other options. Nobody seeking a commission is doing so because they were forced into it. By the time you're old enough to apply for a commission, you're also old enough to vote, to be subpoenaed to court, and to pay taxes. You're fully responsible for that decision and you're not over a barrel to obligated to it in any way.
Nobody going to college, or going the ROTC route, or the Academy route is out of options. We are all, in general terms, at the very worst going to end up college-educated Americans. That's Grade-A in a lot of places.
And yet we are, for whatever reason drawn to these various commissioning routes for a multitude of reasons. Everybody has their own, many of us share common reasoning and rationale, but each and every one of us has a little spark inside of them somewhere the propelled them towards seeking a commission. A helluva spark - a spark that said "hey join the military" while our country is in the middle of an election season and in the middle of two not-so-popular (according to polls) wars on the other side of the globe and, to be truthful, in a relatively shaky and arguably unstable, uncertain state in terms of world affairs. That is, of course, putting it extremely lightly and with the most politically-correct tact I can muster at the moment.
That, I think, speaks volumes about everybody here and you all know why, I hope.
Now, if you've made it this far, please be so kind as to elaborate on my original question (way, way up there). How did you end up here, and where do you see yourself say, 5 years down the road?
Edit: wow, too long.
The Navy allowed me to get an education for free (I guess this depends on your definition of free, I didn't pay for it so it meets mine), fly, and retain some small (tiny) level of dignity. Now that I am here I can't think of anything else I would rather do.
