On 1/3/2015 CardinalGirl said: It's hard, but you need to focus on the benefits and not on the negative. You are going to be surprised at how he changes. You are going to see him mature and become so much more confident and self-assured. He is going to make good, life-long friends and he'll have the opportunity to see parts of the world that most people only dream about. He will also have the opportunity to learn about and experience other cultures. The education he gets from the military is all-encompassing and unequaled. Congratulations and best wishes to your son!
Very well said!
My older son has been in the Navy for 6 years this coming May. He initially enlisted for 6 years but he's decided that he's going to make a career out of the military. He wants to get his college degree, become an officer, & retire after 20 years.
When a service person retires from the military after 20 years, they collect a pension. They get 50% of whatever their monthly base pay is at the time for the rest of their lives. The longer they stay in, the higher the % of what they receive. My son will be 41 when he retires from the Navy. He'll be young enough to get a "real" job & he'll be collecting the Naval pension as well. He's already decided that he wants to keep doing what he's doing,but as a contractor because the pay is better that way.
He's an intelligence specialist, stationed in Japan since 03/13, he returns to the U.S. 04/15. He's been deployed several times but he's never seen any action because of the nature of his job.
I wasn't happy when he told me that he'd enlisted but I told him that if that's what he wanted, I was behind him 100%.
This son was a screw-up when he was younger. The military life has matured him immensely, made him responsible. I am so proud of him.
The only thing I've really heard him complain about is being separated from his wife & daughter, which is hard on him. He's missing his baby girl growing up. She'll be 2 in July & he's never seen her in person, only pictures or videos of her.
He actually complains a lot about the idiots that he works with, he has the same complaints that you hear in the civilian world: he's working with idiots who don't know what they're doing, his bosses, who have no clue of what his job entails are telling him how to do his job, etc.
In closing, it's a good lifestyle IF the person is willing commit to it & give it their all. The military is a very demanding job but the rewards are immense. There used to be a saying in the Navy: "your family wasn't issued with your seabag", which basically means that the job has to come first, before even your family.
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