• PizzaMan@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    They sent a recruiter to my place of employment back when I was in retail. They asked me if I ever thought of joining the armed forces, and I gave them a polite but firm no.

    So then they asked “are you happy with where your life is going?”, trying to take advantage of me being a teenager stuck in retail.

    Even if they werent asking you to throw your life away in some oil war to protect corporate interests, even if they weren’t asking you to sell your morals away, they’re aggressive assholes. So fuck them they’re getting the treatment they deserve.

    • Transporter Room 3@startrek.website
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      11 months ago

      Had a recruiter stop by my desk about two years after I enlisted, and tried to pitch the navy to me.

      I started laughing at him, then when he got all offended and mentioned me “working in a dead end job in the middle of nowhere” I shot back with “beats DYING in the middle of nowhere, where nobody above your CO will even bother reading the casualty report let alone care” , and that if the navy REALLY wanted me they should have returned my calls after I got a medical discharge for having emergency surgery in basic, then denying my reenlistment due to having a surgery in my adult life.

      Of course at this point in my life, with the knowledge and ideals, I wouldn’t touch the MIC with a 899.16cm pole.

      • PizzaMan@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        Thank you for your take.

        Completely unrelated to what you said, I appreciate seeing so many star trek fans around here. It really makes lemmy feel like a home.

        • Transporter Room 3@startrek.website
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          11 months ago

          I’m a huge trek nerd so this place is basically like A Little Piece of Heaven.

          I’m slowly getting my wife into it, but she’s still learning the basics so it’s great to have a place to read and discuss the finer points.

          Like how much RICK FUCKING BERMAN sucks ass, and how Captain Jellico may be a good starfleet captain but he’s still an asshole and not a great enterprise captain

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Hey don’t be dismissive of the pole! I have you know that there is a MIl-STD for the pole and only 3 companies are authorized providers for the pole. Do you know how much testing went into that pole? Plus the colonial who headed up the pole project is now working for the approved vendor in umm management of quality.

    • pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online
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      11 months ago

      My high school made us take the ASVAB. I ended up with an 88, and it took threats of harassment charges to stop all 3 major branches from just showing up at my house unannounced.

      They also straight up lied when trying to get me to join the reserves, saying I’d never be called to active duty. But, they had already been calling reserves to active duty in Afghanistan/Iraq. Idk why they thought I’d be dumb enough to believe them, considering they wanted me because of my test score.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Idk why they thought I’d be dumb enough to believe them,

        It’s literally their job to lie and there’s a good chance this is a lie they were successfully sold when they joined.

        The US Military is basically just an MLM that ends with your kneecaps blown off in a friendly fire incident.

      • CheezyWeezle@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I got something stupid like a 96 on the ASVAB and I just told the first air force guy I smoked a lot of weed and I never heard from any military again lmao

        It was tempting when they offered me to go right into a program to become a satellite operator starting off making $125k/year immediately after boot camp… but I don’t regret not taking that offer. Who knows what would have actually materialized, anyways. Probably would have been 6 years deep dreaming of hopefully seeing 6 figures one day while I end up managing logistics or something.

    • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      so for most enlisted folks, you have a choice of career paths: recruiting, or drill instructor. both are exceptionally stressful in different ways, but recruiting in this age has got to be the harder one. I’m not going to apologize for dickhead behavior and shitty recruiters, they are certainly out there, but for the most part I just feel bad because they will never meet their numbers in this economy and it often hurts their careers.

      • zaph@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        Seen many good marines not make it back from recruiting duty. Most people don’t sleep well at night after lying to a child.

        • crackajack@reddthat.com
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          11 months ago

          Not to simp for the US military and dismiss the unnecessary lives lost, but I heard most people who join the military opt for non-combat support role. That way, they are physically and mentally safe but get the free education perk.

          • Facebones@reddthat.com
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            11 months ago

            Depending on the environment, that may not mean shit. I killed it on the ASVAB and took a “hide out in my storage container and get a killer bonus” gig then immediately out of training got pulled for a team to “Road Trip Iraq” in a desperate bid for people to stop breaking million dollar systems.

            Got taken out by an IED in less than 6 months and put out due to injuries. Bright side I’m chillin at 36 on a 100% disability payment and a sub $500 mortgage.

      • Rob T Firefly@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I don’t feel bad if my local crack dealers don’t sell as much crack as they wanted to, I don’t feel bad if my local kidnappers fail to steal as many children as they’d hoped, and I don’t feel bad for the local military recruiters not making their recruitment numbers.

        • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          you do you man. most everyone I knew in the mil was there for school and vet benefits, not because we wanted to murder innocent people in far-off lands. looking at the hellscape out there, it’s not an incomprehensible choice for people with very limited options, aka, lack of trust funds.

          • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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            11 months ago

            Yes, that is the exact tool they use to get those people.

            Make life as miserable, but allow the military to get all the benefits you should have been getting in the first place.

            You want a good life, get a degree! Aww, can’t pay for school because we made it expensive? Now you will be forced to join or be bankrupt until your 50s! Tough choice