If you join the army

Do it for the right reasons and do it smart. I sure as hell didn't. Here's how bad I screwed it up.

I had vague feelings about wanting to do something for my country (damned 'Profiles in Courage') and knew that the GI Bill could get me through college. When the recruiter came around, I thought I would hear what he had to say. First mistake, recruiters are there to get you to sign up so treat them like used car salesmen. Then when it sounded good, I thought 'ok, the reserves wouldn't be so bad and they'll give me a promotion based on my college credit.' Mistakes two and three: don't go in enlisted, be an officer; get any promises in writing. Then, because apparently I was on a roll with the bad decisions, I picked a job based on how long the training was so I could get back in time for the fall quarter. Mistake four: pick a job you want to do and will be useful once you get out. Some guy was being offered a shot at helicopter pilot school and a warrant officer position when I was picking my job. I thought, 'damn, I would jump at that' and didn't. Truck driving is great if you want to be a truck driver, I should have gone for flight school.

Last mistake (or first mistake): think hard about what you want to do and why you want to do it. I got disillusioned pretty quickly with the mindless sweeping of the motor pool and driving the aging diesel out of Humvees.

I think the military is a good option for some people, especially if they can stay off painting and barnacle scraping positions. For others with a 'can do for the country' bent, do AmeriCorps or Peace Corps or some local organization. There are lots of options and some of them might even pay you.

Just don't end up sweeping the motor pool.