what should my friend do? [military personale, your input is much appreciated]

[andylawcc]

I shouldn't have left out the Army part, but the Topic Summary can only fit so much.

1) My friend is in the Army Reserve
2) He will have a choice of going to Iraq or not.
3) If he goes, it will be for 18 months.
4) Each month, he will pocket roughly $3500-5500 home, depending on combat situation, and no tax.
5) Death is out of the equation.
6) He is 25, with 2 years left in his college life as an accounting major

above are the facts. now here are his opinions:
He will forfeit roughly 2 years of his life for something that will not add much to his resume. By the time he comes back from duty he will be 27. After he graduate, he will be 29. Being an entry level accountant at age 30 is not really enticing.

He doesn't mind going into combat though. He considers it a once-in-a-life-time thing - something he actually wants to do.

so what are your thoughts?

 

[razor2025]

I really don't think anyone wants to go into combat or not regret it. Even with Death out of the equation, what about injuries and wound? There's many times more soldiers getting their limbs blown off by IEDs than killed by it. Have your friend thought about that?

I say, he should stay in school and try to get the diploma as fast as he can. Although having combat experience listed on your resume could be positive thing. Nothing's more stressful than being shot at in real-life. If your friend can survive that and still keep his head cool, it shows the potential employers that he can perform well under extremely stressful environment, a trait that's probably useful in accounting.

 

[JS80]

poll? I'd go to Iraq. Looks great on the resume and makes you look like a patriot (hence the loyalty translates to loyalty to an employer).

Edit: If he plans on working in liberal metro cities (LA, SF, NY) then skip Iraq. They hate patriots and he will be looked down upon by the majority.

 

[andy04]

I think he should go to Iraq make money for the future... he can always go back to school. Right now he may get his education and get a job but then its just a matter of time before it ends up in India and he looses everything... I have Masters and fight it everyday at work

 

[crystal]

A lot of company will hire a Veteran over a common joe if they have the same exp. Go and do what he wants which is deploy to Iraq.

 

[Queasy]

I'd stick to school after coming back. Possibly even going on to grad school. Adding something ITish to accounting can be a big help (have a friend who did this and is doing well now).

Military experience does nothing but help a resume. It means you are more likely capable of working with others, taking orders, giving orders, adapting, seeing things through, etc than your average fresh faced kid out of school.

 

[spidey07]

If he wants to serve, then he should serve. It will help him throughout his entire life and career. He'll quickly rise through the ranks of the private sector from what he learns.

 

[garyngwind]

Alright, first of all, thanks for my buddy trying to get opinions for me.
I am that Joe that he is mentioning.

First off, I see going to Iraq as my duty, if I have sign up for it, i have to go if they want me to. I am in no case trying to avoid it.
Second, I have little say so about it. I can tell my commander about my situation and he might be able to pull me out of the deployment order, or I can just shut up and go for the ride.

I really do see this as a once-in-a-life time experience. I mean what other job can let you see ****** like that.
My real debate is as my buddy said, I have to postpone 1.5 years on my education, I have already served 3 years in active duty right after high school. Which means I will be 7-8 years older than a normal college grad. As he said, starting my accounting career at the age 30 ain't really a beautiful thing, however, I can do a little "fixed" on my resume due to I have friends operating different kind of business.
It is just that I have a really stable path in front of me, do I want to take more risk taking the other path(Iraq) and try to earn more in my life.

 

[d3n]

Originally posted by: garyngwind
Alright, first of all, thanks for my buddy trying to get opinions for me.
I am that Joe that he is mentioning.

First off, I see going to Iraq as my duty, if I have sign up for it, i have to go if they want me to. I am in no case trying to avoid it.
Second, I have little say so about it. I can tell my commander about my situation and he might be able to pull me out of the deployment order, or I can just shut up and go for the ride.

I really do see this as a once-in-a-life time experience. I mean what other job can let you see ****** like that.
My real debate is as my buddy said, I have to postpone 1.5 years on my education, I have already served 3 years in active duty right after high school. Which means I will be 7-8 years older than a normal college grad. As he said, starting my accounting career at the age 30 ain't really a beautiful thing, however, I can do a little "fixed" on my resume due to I have friends operating different kind of business.
It is just that I have a really stable path in front of me, do I want to take more risk taking the other path(Iraq) and try to earn more in my life.

I will say that my resume looked pretty good after my military experience. I was an E5 so take that into consideration. My resume entries looked something like this.

I managed this x of resources worth x much money and did it with x amount of efficiency.
managed x number of people, maintained x% level proficiency.

If you strip the military speak out sometimes you would have a hard time coming up with the same level of accomplishment in a civilian job. The only way that this gets hard is if you are an E3 with no responsibility off the bat. I have also noticed that it is easier to move sideways into a higher position job in another company or in the military than to struggle up a later in an established business department. Every experience is different tho.

 

[d3n]

Also don't forget that military service counts towards tenure for jobs in most state governments. It also counts towards a preferred hiring status in some cases. Those are some nice jobs to have. Eligibility for reserves is something to look into.

 

[Sinsear]

Originally posted by: garyngwind
Alright, first of all, thanks for my buddy trying to get opinions for me.
I am that Joe that he is mentioning.

First off, I see going to Iraq as my duty, if I have sign up for it, i have to go if they want me to. I am in no case trying to avoid it.
Second, I have little say so about it. I can tell my commander about my situation and he might be able to pull me out of the deployment order, or I can just shut up and go for the ride.

I really do see this as a once-in-a-life time experience. I mean what other job can let you see ****** like that.
My real debate is as my buddy said, I have to postpone 1.5 years on my education, I have already served 3 years in active duty right after high school. Which means I will be 7-8 years older than a normal college grad. As he said, starting my accounting career at the age 30 ain't really a beautiful thing, however, I can do a little "fixed" on my resume due to I have friends operating different kind of business.
It is just that I have a really stable path in front of me, do I want to take more risk taking the other path(Iraq) and try to earn more in my life.

The combat experience only enhanced my resume (being an E6 let me put all sorts of management and accountability type stuff on there); kudos to you for being willing to pull your fair share in the fight. It truly is a once in a lifetime experience and it was one of the best years of my life. Godspeed.

 

[FoBoT]

go go gadget go to iraq and kill some terrorists

 

[garyngwind]

well, I am a Corporal now, putting in my E-5 packet. I am the sole person in my Battalion S-4 session, so that being said, I have plenty of stuff to write about in my accountability and leadership role.

It seems like going for the "risk" is the path I should take.
You know what, it is like this, like a lot of other occasion in life. You know what you want in life, but you spent time debating should you do it; and you just wish there might be something that will force you to do it.
Remember one of those time that you flip a coin to let fate decide, but when you lose your toss, you said to yourself it is a 2 out of 3 toss deal? LOL
I hope my commander will tell me that, "nope, you dont' have a choice, you gotta go." then I don't have to struggle with it.

 

[Bateluer]

18 months times 3500 dollars = $63,000, a decent chunk of change. I say deploy to Iraq, finish school when you get back. You could live for a year, perhaps more, on that money very easily if necessary, well, depending on your financial situation right now.

 

[chrisms]

May I ask how you go into combat and have no chance of death?

 

[garyngwind]

actually I should make around 4500 because of housing allowance and stuff. so basically I will make around $75,000 TAX FREE!!!

after all the expenses paid during that time, I should have around 55,000 left in my account. And yes, I can easily live on that money and go to school, probably finish school with it. However, that's not my plan, I will continue to work part time.

 

[Strk]

Personally, I think the last things you should be your reasoning for serving would be pay or resume material. You serve because you want to.

 

[amish]

PM TallBill. he is an excellent resource.

 

[spc hink]

I am in Iraq, with the S-4, as well as half way done with school. I can say that Iraq is not the greatest place on Earth. You will miss home more than anything. If you have kids or a significant other it will be very dificult. You most likely work more than 80 hours a week. However, if I could have had the option of not going to Iraq, I would never have passed up on going. You will get a greater appreciation for life than you ever had before. I am very proud of what I am doing here and have gained experiences that I will never be able to get anywhere else. Also the pay out here is pretty good. You will most likely pull in around 2.5-4 g's depending mostly on where you live and if you have dependents or not. (I assume you live in cali. I pull in about 1 grand for BAH and if you are in the LA or Bar Area you can pull in as much as 1800.) It is not so much how much you make but how much you can save. There is nothing to spend your money on. If you have any more questions, hit me up on my email. (I pmed it to your buddy.)

 

[garyngwind]

First of all, let me clarify myself.
I volunteer to join in the army not because of its pay and benefits, because basically, the pay sucks!
I join because I believe in the ideals of this country. I serve because I want to put in my share of effort to promote this country. And I continue to serve because of the men on my left and my right.
If my country call for my service, I will pay my due. But I have also consideration of myself first. I am not holding a critical position, anyone can replace me, so should I just blindly go to Iraq without considering my own situation?? I afraid not.
However, I do see this as a great opportunity to mature myself, to experience life, to have greater appreciation of what I already have.

Thanks, SPC Hink. Thanks for your effort over there. Just remember this, no matter what others say, NO ONE CAN EVER TAKE THAT ****** AWAY FROM YOU. You been there, done that and serve your country proudly!

 

[PrinceofWands]

It's unanswerable because we all have different criteria of importance and value. You can't artifically limit the decision factors like you did. I don't care about jobs, I do care about values. Therefore I would NEVER go to Iraq in the military because I am against the entire thing. The decision is easy for me, but it doesn't have anything to do with him. The same is basically true of everyone else as well.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: spidey07
If he wants to serve, then he should serve. It will help him throughout his entire life and career. He'll quickly rise through the ranks of the private sector from what he learns.

 

[garyngwind]

I dunno, I am in the military and this is what my country calls for. Whether I am against the war or not, it has nothing to do with my "duty".

you watched Black Hawk Down?
"When that first bullet fly over your head, politics and all that crap just go right out the window."

 

[Windogg]

Does he have a security clearance? If he goes to Iraq for two years, he can come back to the states and work either as a government civilian or contractor. DoD is looks for lots of contracting and finance people with experience in acquisition.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Windogg
Does he have a security clearance? If he goes to Iraq for two years, he can come back to the states and work either as a government civilian or contractor. DoD is looks for lots of contracting and finance people with experience in acquisition.

Yeah, a security clearance will count for a lot.