In good conscience I couldn't let see a post similar to mine happen without making a very strong argument against joining the military. I will speak from the perspective of a former US Navy nuclear engineer, I served on the Carl Vinson CVN 70 in San Diego.
I have gone through military life as what was considered to be the upper echelon of responsibility and training that they had to offer. I was very enticed by the promise of such training, and they had me hooked when they told me I could reenlist to get 25k and automatic E-5 after only 2 years of service.
This begins the trend of undelivered promises. The real tragedy of the military in its current state is that it is based heavily on the United State's sense of tradition. Initially the U.S military seeks to strip you of your basic human dignity, almost everything you take for granted as far as survival and comfort is tested heavily the first few days of boot camp.
This is to weed out those who can't handle the pressure, yet when its over there is very little sense of appreciation for the evils we became accustomed to during boot camp. That is the problem with forcing submission to the extent that they do, and it's only when the mistreatment reaches a fever pitch does it out of nowhere become easier.
The journey of going through bootcamp was shocking to say the least, and in it's own right the hardest times I've ever been through. I can tell you all about the gas chamber they put us through too, the multiple injections of who the hell knows what all culminating in receiving what they called the peanut butter shot. Felt like peanut butter going in.
So from a completely monetary standpoint, if you honestly think you can stomach all that bullshit the pay is pretty fucking brutal, for the hours you end up working and the obvious danger inherent in doing basically any job in and branch.
You can expect to reach E-5 as a sailor in 4-5 years, though it can be as soon as 2. For those that reach it in 2 years after enlisting, or have made it at a young age or for many other trivial factors you will be viewed by your shipmates as a shipmate. If you were ever in the Navy you know what I mean when I say that, the worst thing I could ever, EVER call a fellow sailor is shipmate.
At 4 years of service and having reached E-5 your base pay will be 2,669 a month.
Basic Allowance for Housing rates are based on geographic duty location, pay grade, and dependency status (With Dependents or Without Dependents). The rates are based on housing costs in the local civilian housing markets and are designed to include the rent and utilities. Over 300 Military Housing Areas are included in the calculations.
From 2005 to 2015, BAH was designed to cover 100% of housing costs, including the cost of rental insurance. Starting in 2015, the BAH calculations removed the cost of rental insurance from the formula ($20/mo on average), and decreased the percentage covered by 1% per year annually from 2015 – 2019.
2017 BAH rates are designed to cover 97% of housing costs. The 1% decrease will continue in 2018 & 2019, covering an expected 96% and 95% of average rent costs, respectively.
So what this all means is that at certain points in your career you could be eligible to live off base. To the average sailor you may get this opportunity at 3-4 years. If you are E-5 you are automatically entitled to BAH pay, and but if you went to specialized training for your rate (job) or are married or probably a few other circumstances you can receive it.
So all together as an E-5 receiving BAH you will make $46,456 according to the calculator for adding together BAH and E-5 pay and allowance for subsistence which I don't remember picking up when I was in but it adds about 4400 a year.
So after 4 years of the hardest work you will likely ever experience in your life, plus going through what I consider to be light torture, but torture nonetheless in boot camp I hope that you will realize how insane it is to think that it's worth it to join the military.
Now onto the benefits. That's obviously the best part of military service and probably why everybody does it, the reward seems immense. But the payoff doesn't add up at all, you have to be diagnosed with some sort of health issue after you're out to get the true benefits.
The GI Bill is decent, but the way they disperse it can be extremely anxiety inducing because it doesn't always come through when it's needed, so universities (especially ones that don't deal with the GI bill alot) may end up screwing it up but more than likely the VA will do that itself. They can delay payment for months, which means you won't have school payed for in time to start a semester.
The VA is doing more for veterans now than ever, that is definitely true. I'm fortunate to have documented most of my medical struggles while I was in, which turned out to be essential to getting 70% rated for disability. Still trying for 100% which would allow me to get about twice the amount of money every month, I currently receive $1400 a month for disability. I will receive this benefit for life, but this is not normal for most veterans and shouldn't be because I now suffer from mental health ailments that I may never be completely healed from.
So to summarize, a little TLDR if you will, I would not recommend joining the US military in this present time because they will borderline torture you at first, shit on you for the duration of your service, and then look for every reason to deny you or fuck up your benefits when you're out. If anyone wants to know more, I'll try to reply to comments here... I'd love to hear other veterans from other branches chime in here too.
Submitted November 15, 2017 at 03:31PM by jonathanappleweed http://ift.tt/2hu6Ug7
