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Thinking about a military career?

Sometimes things that people tell you are just as good as they sound. This is the case about 5-10% of the time. Most of the time, people are trying to manipulate or deceive in some manner.

Some of you who read this might be considering a military career. This is for you!

I, for one, love our military. I'm glad we have such an awesome force in place to protect our country and way of life. I'm also very proud of those who serve and risk their life in service to the armed services.

Joining the military can be a wonderful adventure, and typically provides nice job security, and I'm sure that if you talk to military folks, most of them would probably not attempt to talk you out of signing up. So, my telling you these things isn't to try to talk you out of a decision that you want to make, but to make sure that you are not under any illusions.

Instead of describing the positives of military service ( I figure the recruiters will do plenty of that ), I want to point out what I see as the potential negaitives. Only because they are not usually brought up.

First and formost, military life can wreak havoc on families, with one parent or the other being gone for months or years at a time. My advice to someone joining the military...DO NOT start a family if there is a chance that you can be deployed for long periods of time. Military people get moved around every few years, and that can be disruptive, but deployment takes a parent away from their wife and children (if that's the case). I believe both parents should be able to stay near their family and be actively involved in raising their children, and if you can't promise that you can do that, then my advice would be to not start a family until you can!

Next; Know that there is a price to pay. Joining the military is kind of like signing a good chunk of your life away to the government. They OWN you as long as you serve your time, and also know that during a time of war, you can be called back (without being able to refuse) if they feel like they need you.

The military is desperate for recruits at this time, and so they are in some cases doing whatever it takes to get young men and women to sign up. The truth is, once you have been buttered up with delusions of grandeur, they can put you wherever they want and you have little to no say in the matter.

The other element to consider is the risk. We are at war! You could be killed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of risk. It's just something to consider. And, hey!, somebody has to defend us from the terrorists.

Here's something else that people rarely consider. The fact is, when you go through boot camp, you are physically and mentally "broken", so that you can be transformed into a "killer". I know that sounds a bit harsh, but when you fight in a war, you have to actually kill the enemy. Most people will not pull the trigger on another human. This natural 'aversion' to killing has to be trained out of you. This will permanently change your disposition at some level. In other words, once this has been taken from you, it can't be placed back. To be fair, plenty of people go through all that and turn out fine...some don't. In all likelihood, you may go through all that and stay just the same. Again, it's just something to consider.


Bottom line: If you are seeking to do God's will, he will bless any decision that you make. In other words, you can't go wrong, if you are trying to honor God with your life.

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