Peacetime Military

[AfroNinja267]

Hey folks. As stated in my intro, I'm interested in joining the military (probably the Army, but maybe the Marines) and serving my country proudly. However, seeing as how Obama has reduced our presence in the Middle East, I was wondering how this would affect my chance of deploying somewhere and fighting, since most of our recent conflicts have been there. I don't know if I could handle serving in the Army during peacetime, as I've often heard that being deployed is the best part of your military career.

So, to all you vets out there that enlisted as an infantryman and never saw combat, was it still worth it? Thanks in advance.

P.S. Odds are I'm still enlisting, I just want to get an idea of what to expect

 

[AKkeith]

You most likely will not see combat. In the Marine Corps you will still deploy on MEUs, where you will go out on ship and train with other countries. Is it worth it? That's up to you.

 

[Ranger Psych]

The purpose of the servicemember is to be prepared for the nation's call. Honing the steel in preparation for action is just as important as performing with honor should your services be required. I enlisted in peacetime and had no quams with my peacetime service. Plenty of schools and training to be done, which in good units across the services will be more testing in some regards than actual combat.

It's your decision.

 

[BloodStripe]

On September 11th, 2001, do you think the Soldier's and Marines PTing on the east coast woke up that morning and thought, "Today is going to impact me and everyone else for the rest of our lives?"

 

[Ooh-Rah]

- likely you did not intend it this way, but something about your question is rubbing me the wrong way. Here's why:

- You have not even gone to MEP's or graduated a boot camp yet, and you are questioning whether or not you should come aboard based on whether or not you might see combat?

- In the same post you talk about "handling the Army" during peacetime. What in the wide, wide world of sports gives you the impression that we are anywhere near "peacetime" right now?

- If you choose to join the Marine Corps, you will find that peace-time" and "being deployed" are not interdependent.

- Based off your intro post, and now this post, I have this perception of you thinking something along the lines of, "Huh, maybe I'll join the military, but only if I can do cool guy stuff and travel a lot"

Jesus dude, either you want to serve your country or you don't - make a decision and then move forward with it, but as @SOTGWarrior mentioned above, shit can turn on a dime. You cannot make your life's decisions on "what if's".

 

[AWP]

P.S. Odds are I'm still enlisting, I just want to get an idea of what to expect

"You pays your money and you takes your chances." If you want a sure thing then go buy a dog. Treat it well and it will love you unconditionally.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Treat it well and it will love you unconditionally.

Funny, that's what my recruiter said about the Corps!

 

[x SF med]

You never know what you will get, even in 'peacetime' .... stuff still happens, it may not be reported or known, but stuff still happens.

 

[DA SWO]

Peacetime Army is "boots on the ground" in Iraq.
Peacetime Army just put a Striker Convoy through Eastern Europe as a show of force, err, solidarity.
Peacetime Army is waking up on the DMZ in Korea.
Peacetime Army is walking patrols in the Sinai Peninsula.

 

[AfroNinja267]

Thank you all for the insight. I'm sorry if I came off as the "I wanna join the Army to blow shit up" kind of guy, I'll go back to lurking now.

 

[Gunz]

Thank you all for the insight. I'm sorry if I came off as the "I wanna join the Army to blow shit up" kind of guy, I'll go back to lurking now.

You can blow shit up and shoot cool toys even in peacetime. You can jump out of airplanes, rappel off cliffs, fastrope out of helos. There are a multitude of challenges no matter when you serve. And there is always the unknown. Just because somebody doesn't get the chance to kill people doesn't mean they're not totally qualified and ready. It's about giving back to the country you love, being prepared to walk the sharp edge even if you never have to.

 

[Viper1]

Thank you all for the insight. I'm sorry if I came off as the "I wanna join the Army to blow shit up" kind of guy, I'll go back to lurking now.

This is what I tell folks: "If you're thinking about joining, you already know the answer."

Train hard, have fun, be a good, polite person, and listen to those who know. No one knows when the next war is going to kick off, as September 11, 2001 showed. The peacetime military prior to that was deploying to Korea, Kosovo, Thailand for Cobra Gold, the Philippines for Balikatan, the Sinai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, other exercises across the globe. Those exercises are dangerous. They involves bombs, booms, sweat, pain, hunger, and lots of stress; but also the fun and satisfaction of training hard with your unit. Plus, with the regionally aligned force structure in the Army, a lot of units are deploying to various places e.g. Africa.

Act in the spirit of the Nike commercial and just do it. As you can see from the members of the board, old and new, it is worth it.

We look forward to reading about your progress in the SITREP thread.

EDIT: A word of caution. It is honorable and praiseworthy you want to join and train for combat to serve your country. I ask you to keep in mind the cost, and the price you may have to pay. Everyone on this board has lost friends, family members, and comrades in the conduct of our business, whether in war or training. This is a dangerous business; war is not a game. People get hurt, and people die. It can happen downrange on an operation or at NTC when your vehicle flips into a wadi during a dust storm. If you can accept all of that, get to the recruiter and throw the chips all in. Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[The Accountant]

You never know what you will get, even in 'peacetime' .... stuff still happens, it may not be reported or known, but stuff still happens.

Off topic. The beginning part of your comment had me reading it in a Forrest Gump voice.

 

[x SF med]

Off topic. The beginning part of your comment had me reading it in a Forrest Gump voice.

Funny, it was not written that way. Start searching for the declassification of Cold War Era operations.

 

[DA SWO]

FWIW- My wife was in Bosnia on 9/11.
They were in the middle of a rotation with the replacements high over the Atlantic when the first plane hit.
Those Guardsmen left peacetime America enroute to a piece of cake Peace Enforcement mission, their Nation was at war when they landed.
2/22 Inf was knocking heads a short time later.

 

[pardus]

If you think you will be "bored/get no action etc..." in a peacetime military, enlist to go to Recon/Ranger/SF etc... I'm pretty sure they'll keep you busy and interested, and deploying, even without combat.
Also, with the way the conflicts we are experiencing today are, those are the units that will be seeing most of the "action" for the foreseeable future.

 

[RetPara]

Peace time military. In my life that has been a joke... Peace is merely the time between deployments, conflicts, or crises that give you time to do maintenance, refine your physical conditioning, improve you military skills and learn new ones. We have been in a war since 1979; but the so called popular media and most of the citizenry refuse to recognize it. They arose from stupor to grogginess on on 9/11 but have succumbed to blissful slumber since. Then you get the call to come in at 2AM and start planning an airborne assault to seize an airfield with a unique drop zone hazard....... African Croc's in the water on three sides of the DZ. Then you get to brief the command group on this and they look at you like your on drugs... Yep.... peacetime is a piece of cake....

Do this one thing first; read Heinleins 'Starship Troopers' three times. First for the story line. Second for the philosophy behind the book (Heinlein was an Annapolis graduate), and the third time to pick out the points of leadership on loving, caring for, but NEVER babying your troops.

 

[AfroNinja267]

Thank you for the book recommendation, RetPara. I just walked to my library and put Starship Troopers on hold, along with The Red Badge of Courage. Once I finish Malcolm X's autobiography, I'll be sure to spend awhile on both of them.