LeftFootRightFoot
Unverified
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2016
- Messages
- 26
I'm probably beating a dead horse here a bit, but I figured I'd drop a nickel in this piggy bank. Don't let the traditional stereotype of the infantry sway your decision. I scored a 96 ASVAB, graduated from a well known university with honors and two majors and I'm a Lance Corporal in the infantry. I've met both the smartest guys and the dumbest guys in the infantry, and I mean that sincerely for both directions.
Now why did I join the infantry? Probably for the same reason I'm training for A&S. The job's all fine and dandy, but the real calling for me is the family. It just seems hard wired into me. It felt like that's where in the puzzle of society my piece fit in, and I wanted to be around fellow "crazies." The guys with heart who weren't just there to do a 9-5 for a paycheck. I'm not saying other MOSs aren't like that because I have friends in the wing who tell me of some hellish working schedules, but the "Steve-Os" and the "Johnny Knoxvilles" I'm looking for don't hang out there.
At the end of the day it really comes down to I just love laughing and I've never laughed more than with my guys. Life's a roller coaster and if you want to get the highest highs, you're going to have to stomach the lowest lows. We're all searching for our sense of completion, or personal satisfaction, or peace, or whatever you want to label it and the only real way to get there is relentlessly following your heart and constant growth and development. As I'm sure you've learned by now, don't ever utter the phrase "I'm too smart for the infantry," or any rendition of that again. One, it's flat out ignorant and wrong; and two, it's probably the worst thing you could say to a grunt besides "Have you killed anyone?" because not only is it insulting, but in the infantry that phrase is heard as, "I was too much of a little girl to go infantry so this is the excuse I like to use to try and elevate myself above you because your accomplishments make me feel bad about myself."
Additionally, if you want to go SOF there isn't really a better environment to prepare for it than in the infantry, but whatever you decide don't let it be because your ASVAB is "too high." It's simply a test of how you do academically and honestly doesn't have much correlation to how well you can do a job, barring you don't score ridiculously low. Being a good test taker doesn't make your pack lighter or your sight picture sway less.
Now why did I join the infantry? Probably for the same reason I'm training for A&S. The job's all fine and dandy, but the real calling for me is the family. It just seems hard wired into me. It felt like that's where in the puzzle of society my piece fit in, and I wanted to be around fellow "crazies." The guys with heart who weren't just there to do a 9-5 for a paycheck. I'm not saying other MOSs aren't like that because I have friends in the wing who tell me of some hellish working schedules, but the "Steve-Os" and the "Johnny Knoxvilles" I'm looking for don't hang out there.
At the end of the day it really comes down to I just love laughing and I've never laughed more than with my guys. Life's a roller coaster and if you want to get the highest highs, you're going to have to stomach the lowest lows. We're all searching for our sense of completion, or personal satisfaction, or peace, or whatever you want to label it and the only real way to get there is relentlessly following your heart and constant growth and development. As I'm sure you've learned by now, don't ever utter the phrase "I'm too smart for the infantry," or any rendition of that again. One, it's flat out ignorant and wrong; and two, it's probably the worst thing you could say to a grunt besides "Have you killed anyone?" because not only is it insulting, but in the infantry that phrase is heard as, "I was too much of a little girl to go infantry so this is the excuse I like to use to try and elevate myself above you because your accomplishments make me feel bad about myself."
Additionally, if you want to go SOF there isn't really a better environment to prepare for it than in the infantry, but whatever you decide don't let it be because your ASVAB is "too high." It's simply a test of how you do academically and honestly doesn't have much correlation to how well you can do a job, barring you don't score ridiculously low. Being a good test taker doesn't make your pack lighter or your sight picture sway less.
