Desperate times call for desperate.......

Parent Cafe
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<p>My S plans to have a military career. He is in college doing NROTC. He has wanted this all of his life. There would have been nothing H or I could do to dissuade him. He researched it all very carefully before making his choice. The month spent training with the Navy this summer has only solidified his desire to be an officer in the U.S. Navy. H and I are proud of his choice and feel it was a great decision for him. </p>

<p>As someone mentioned earlier, all the recruiters who called our home during his high school years were extremely polite and did not call back once we told them he was committed to Navy. The Navy ROTC recruiter was beyond helpful and even drove 2.5 hours to be at S’s h.s. Awards night to present him with his ROTC scholarship in front of the whole senior class and parents.<br>
We have had nothing but a good experience thus far with NROTC and S is really excited about his career which is more than I can say for most of his friends.</p>

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<p>I think that is great Packmom.</p>

<p>I don’t think that most of the parents or students on these boards are anything but well informed.</p>

<p>However I did post the links, so that additional information could be found for reference to those who wanted to help those who don’t have the patience or skillset to do their own research</p>

<p>The young man that I knew most recently that joined the Marines, also researched extensively over a several year period his decision.</p>

<p>Still, as some parents of students at military academies have noted, even though they researched extensively, it doesn’t come close to the real experience.</p>

<p>If their experience at the miltary academy is more extreme than their expectations, how much more extreme is actual military life going to vary from expectations for those who don’t have much real knowledge of it?</p>

<p>I am haunted by the description of a soldier in this article
<a href=“http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200608/babylon-by-bus-1.html[/url]”>http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200608/babylon-by-bus-1.html&lt;/a&gt;
…

[quote]
As his muscles grew, he seemed to become a little prouder of being a soldier. Still, that didn’t stop him from regularly drinking on the job. One night, he was so “completely bombed” when he went on shift that he fell flat on his ass in front of a superior.</p>

<p>"He picked me up and threw me in the radio box and said, ‘You have to work,’ " Ski complained. “I had to sit in there for 12 hours trying not to throw up.” Occasionally, Ski went off on tangents, talking about how many rounds per second his weapon could fire. When we pointed out that he sounded crazy, he agreed. “I was under psychological observation back in the U.S.,” he said. “I told the Army shrink at Fort Hood that I wanted to kill myself and other soldiers and that I didn’t want to go to Iraq.”</p>

<p>“Jesus,” Jeff said. “What did he say?”</p>

<p>"He said, ‘You’re going to Iraq, soldier.’ "
…<snip>
As for our pal Ski, things didn’t get any better. He kept doing steroids, kept hating the Army, and kept his eyes on the prize of going home to marry his fianc</snip></p>

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<p>How does the experience of a self-described junkie fit with the standard military MOS experience? This is the kind of thing that really ticks me off.</p>

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<p>Also this soldier was a private, an enlisted man. Comparing a service academy grad.(or any other officer) and a 20 year old enlisted man with a drug problem is apples and oranges.</p>

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<p>I agree that someone who has researched the military academies is going to be pretty informed about what to expect- however- when you are 18, you may not have the perspective of just how different it could be from your expectations.</p>

<p>Someone who volunteers for service, without having military background, is going to have even less perspective of how reality is going to differ from expectations.</p>

<p>Not all of us are quick to adjust, students at miltary academies are handpicked- recruits with only a high school diploma- not so much.</p>

<p>I think those who are in Iraq have enough to be concerned about, without worrying that those alongside them are unstable enough to be a threat.</p>

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<p>I have enormous respect for enlisted folks as well…EK’s cited article is agenda-driven.</p>

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<p>PackMom - congratulations! You must be very proud of your son.</p>

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<p>Thanks Hayden, we are. It’s nice to see you kid making his dream come true. And if it turns out not to be his dream job, he will have given it his best shot and will be the wiser for having done so. Quite a few in his NROTC batallion are enlisted personnel who have returned to college to get their degree and become officers (they are still enlisted the whole time and getting paid to come to school). These folks are older and wiser than the average college student and have given S some good insight (and real life stories) on what lies ahead for him. And he still wants to do it.</p>

<p>Some people that we know reacted negatively to his choice, asking “Isn’t he really smart?” (He was always a good student, graduated #6 of 450) Isn’t that sort of a waste for him? Shouldn’t he be a Dr. or lawyer?"
My reply was usually along the lines of " So you think the not smart people should be in charge of leading our country’s military?" Usually no more questions after that!</p>

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<p>Serving in the military is an honorable decision. For some people is is a rational decision, for others it’s a mistake. (Like a lot of things young people decide to do.) But I think it’s kind of tangential to complain about recruiting. Granted, deception is wrong, and such tactics should be investigated and dealt with. But MySpace? Videogames? Seems like legitimate (and savvy) tools to reach the target demographic to me. And I have no problem with reading materials for young children portraying the military in a positive light. The armed forces are the people whose job it is to defend our nation. Just because political leaders misuse those forces sometimes shouldn’t mean that we have to deny them the respect they have earned and deserve.</p>

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<p>yes the young man that we know * extensively* researched his decision to sign up.He was probably the brightest student in his graduating class- although he took a few years off after high school- to teach and travel.
He read and interviewed many people to make his decision.</p>

<p>He was quite a contrast to my brother, who joined the military because he was tired of his dead end jobs working in a gas station and selling drugs.
( in the 70s, it wasn’t unheard of for someone to be given the chance to join the military or go to jail- he had never been arrested as far I as knew, but he knew it was only a matter of time apparently)</p>

<p>It is curious though, that I read that the military is so stretched for enough recruits that they are signing up neo nazis in teh armed services at the same time they are releasing trained troops who happen to be homosexual
<a href=“http://www.houstonvoice.com/2006/8-4/view/opinion/dadt.cfm[/url]”>http://www.houstonvoice.com/2006/8-4/view/opinion/dadt.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Yes, we know, EK. You mentioned this before. :)</p>

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<p>so where is it that I can get the pass to repeat myself?
am I standing in the wrong line?</p>

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<p>This paper is a rag for the “gay and lesbian community” of Houston - no agenda there I’m sure. What it has to do with military recruitment anyway I’m sure I don’t know. As for your OP, I think it’s hilarious that some people are so up-in-arms about a big bad military recruiter coming into contact with their apparently defenseless little hs darlings, fearing a scene out of the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” I guess. But you’re right - repeat all you want. I personally find it tiresome but I’m sure others appreciate the info.</p>

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<p>I dont want to see military in the high schools
I realize because of NCLB they can have access unless parents opt out, but I dont see why they should have any more access than employers or colleges.</p>

<p>The military targets low income youth.
We have several visits a year from recruiters at my daughters inner city public school, but at schools with higher average income like her sisters, they don’t come at all.</p>

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<p>Well, EK, based on my personal experience that’s just not true at all. Our local hs has only 2% low income students and recruitment tables for all branches are in the hallway or the cafeteria several times a year. I really don’t see it as any different than college recruiting.</p>

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<p>EK, don’t colleges visit your daughters’ schools? Despite what people think on this board, not everybody is mature/studious enough to go to college.</p>

<p>And you need to make up your mind. If the military is targeting the rural South, then why are they wasting time at EK’s kids’ inner city school in the Pacific Northwest?</p>

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<p>

Could the 101st Airborne be looking for their next Jimi Hendrix?</p>

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<p>um probably not since he was discharged for being “gay”
<a href=“http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=34493&category=22148[/url]”>http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=34493&category=22148&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>( And if the army alone needs to bring in 9300 recruits in a single month, aren’t they going to need to broaden their search as much as possible?)</p>

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<p>First of all, hyperbole aside, EK4 is absolutely right that nobody should enlist in the military or attend a service academy without researching it thoroughly.</p>

<p>As one who often suggests that talented kids who post on CC should consider SAs, I also admonish them that they are not for everyone and that because they are essentially a full ride – that is absolutely the wrong reason to even compete for an appointment. </p>

<p>I add the suggestion, because a lot of kids really don’t know much about the academies, and I believe the more options one explores, the better one’s ultimate decision will be. And secondly, because my son attends an academy and it has been a terrific experience for him both personally and academically.</p>

<p>I am proud of his commitment to serve, but I am just as proud of his group of friends who ended up at Columbia, Oberlin, Bucknell and FAMU – especially since they have all stayed very close despite the very different college experiences.</p>

<p>As for the experience being more intense that one imagines, like everyone who has gone through it, he says it was. But, he also says it was the best experience of his life because he learned things about himself he never would have had he not been pushed that hard.</p>

<p>Also, remember these men and women, commit to serve, not just this President, but also, President Richardson when he has exhausted all possible diplomatic remedies with North Korea and needs to take action so they don’t lob a missile at Seattle.</p>

<p>I thank every service member I see and when I’m at a ball game, if I see someone in uniform, I send the beer man to their seats and buy them a round.</p>

<p>The key with recruitment is making sure people are making the right decision for their situation. It doesn’t help the Army to have kids show up who don’t know what they are really getting into. By the same token, it is a disservice to the kid that the service might be just what he needs to be prevented from knowing about that option.</p>

<p>Its about balance. Most often these dialogues are good for that.</p>

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<p>When recruiters began calling my S his senior year I told them he wasn’t home. When they asked when it would be a good time to call back I told them when W’s daughters were in the military.</p>