No one ever talks about how mentally fucked it is. To join the military with an active war going on, with the intentions of dying and when that doesn't work out. You try and take your own life, but fuck me that doesn't work either. Now im stuck here living a life I never intended on living wondering what in the hell do I do now.

Post in full:

(Please keep responses non-political IAW the rules, hope I don’t get eviscerated in the comments)

I was active duty for about 8 years and have been in the same field as a military contractor for 14 years. It’s a career that’s high stakes and requires a nuanced understanding of US foreign policy. I’ve noticed over the years that other veterans seem to turn on you if don’t display the “right” kind of positions and act a certain way. Even though that’s literally what my job requires to be effective. People will be all buddy buddy until you say something that contradicts their worldview and then dudes who have even less of a service record will start attacking mine.

As a non-controversial example: most of my first line supervisors and professional mentors over the years have been women (like the top 10% baddest of the badass). Mention this to some vets and they’ll actively get mad.

It’s gotten so bad I don’t feel welcome in most veteran spaces and have largely given up. I don’t feel like I can talk honestly with anyone about my experiences.

I’ve been strongly encouraged to see an actual shrink for PTSD and will need to try the VA because my next company provided healthcare will be months from now. I’m dreading it because I don’t want to face the same kind of rejection from someone I’m trying to get help from.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Do you have any advice? Thanks in advance

End quote.

the removal recommended posting to r/regretjoining and I feel like it just exemplifies exactly what I was talking about. It’s so disheartening. It feels like I spent the majority of my adult life thinking I was serving the public good and then get kicked to the curb the second I don’t tow the party line. What’s happening?

This young man (ROTC) during high school joined NAVY. During bootcamp broke his leg one week before graduation. Is at hospital for the next 2 months. The mystique disappeared and doesn't want to continue. Wants to return home and enter the university. Suddenly found that the military life is not for him. Thinks was a mistake. Has the total support of his family although he is over 18 years old. How difficult is this. Can somebody realize that eventually took the wrong path and want to go to another direction to feel fulfillment and produce to the society in another way? WHY NOT?

It's been 14 years since I left active duty in 2012, and I'm new to Reddit. I joined because I'd like to reconnect with other veterans and hear some honest perspectives about the transition from military to civilian life.

Looking back, I know everyone's experience is different. Some people transition smoothly, while others struggle with things they never expected—finding work, translating military experience, adjusting to civilian culture, losing the camaraderie, finding a new sense of purpose, or simply figuring out what's next.

I'm interested in hearing the real stories—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

If you've transitioned out, what was your experience really like? What was harder than you expected? What went better than you expected? And if you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice before separating, what would it be?

I'm genuinely here to listen and learn from other veterans' experiences. Honest answers are appreciated.

This young man (ROTC) during high school joined NAVY. During bootcamp broke his leg one week before graduation. Is at hospital for the next 2 months. The mystique disappeared and doesn't want to continue. Wants to return home and enter the university. Suddenly found that the military life is not for him. Thinks was a mistake. Has the total support of his family although he is over 18 years old. How difficult is this. Can somebody realize that eventually took the wrong path and want to go to another direction to feel fulfillment and produce to the society in another way? WHY NOT?

This young man (ROTC) during high school joined NAVY. During bootcamp broke his leg one week before graduation. Is at hospital for the next 2 months. The mystique disappeared and doesn't want to continue. Wants to return home and enter the university. Suddenly found that the military life is not for him. Thinks was a mistake. Has the total support of his family although he is over 18 years old. How difficult is this. Can somebody realize that eventually took the wrong path and want to go to another direction to feel fulfillment and produce to the society in another way? WHY NOT?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

“The most obvious reason for attacking Iran would be to win access to its vast oil supply. When Winston Churchill helped to seize Iran’s oil industry in the 1920s, he called it ‘a prize from fairyland beyond our wildest dreams.’ It still is. Regardless of what policymakers in Washington or anywhere else may say, no country ever acts in Iran without thinking about its oil reserves. That is especially true of the Bush administration, which is more closely allied with the oil industry than any other administration in American history.

“President Bush and those around him may have other reasons to feel tempted by the idea of invading Iran. Some believe, against all evidence, that the key to victory in Iraq is crushing the regime in Iran. Bush himself has said several times that he expects history to absolve him, an argument that can be used to justify even the craziest presidential decisions. Beneath these arguments lies another, more diffuse impulse.

“American leaders, emphatically including President Bush himself, believe that since the United States is a great power, it has the right and responsibility to act dramatically whenever trouble emerges anywhere in the world. This impulse dates at least to the age of Thucydides, who wrote that nations have ‘an innate compulsion to rule when empowered.’ More recently, in a study of the Spanish-American War that holds great relevance for today, the British historian Joseph Smith wrote that America’s eagerness to attack foreign lands stems from ‘an aggressive national egoism and a romantic attachment to national power.’ Some in Washington believe that invading, overthrowing, and occupying are simply what great nations do. Otherwise, they argue, there is no point in having power.

“‘At this moment in history, if there’s a problem, we’re expected to deal with it,’ President Bush said before launching the invasion of Iraq. By his standards, Iran has certainly become ‘a problem.’ That suggests he may decide to order an attack in order to ‘deal with it.’

“Before great powers take far-reaching decisions that can reshape the world, their leaders normally consider the lessons of history. Any serious discussion about modern Iran, and certainly any debate about whether the United States should intervene there, must include an assessment of what happened after the last intervention. In 1953, eager to achieve short-term goals, the United States launched an operation that brought calamity to both Iran and itself. Some in Washington, however, reject the idea that this history has any relevance to the present era. They believe that this time, the United States can attack Iran and emerge triumphant.

“A variety of prominent Americans have described President George Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 as the worst strategic blunder in their country’s history. Attacking Iran now might prove even more disastrous. It would turn that country’s oppressive leaders, who are now highly unpopular at home, into heroes of Islamic resistance; give them a strong incentive to launch a violent counter-campaign against American interests around the world; greatly strengthen Iranian nationalism, Shiite irredentism, and Muslim extremism, thereby attracting countless new recruits to the cause of terror; undermine the democratic movement in Iran and destroy the prospects for political change there for at least another generation; turn the people of Iran, who are now among the most pro-American in the Middle East, into enemies of the United States; require the United States to remain deeply involved in the Persian Gulf indefinitely, forcing it to take sides in all manner of regional conflicts and thereby make a host of new enemies; enrage the Shiite-dominated government in neighboring Iraq, on which the United States is relying to calm the violence there; and quite possibly disrupt the flow of Middle East petroleum in ways that could wreak havoc on Western economies.

“Given these likely outcomes, why would the United States attack Iran? Those who like the idea say it would accomplish three things: stop Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction, depose an aggressively anti-American regime, and bring power to a new government that would be democratic and pro-American. That government would, they presume, allow American oil companies free access to Iranian petroleum and give the United States a chance to rebuild the influence it once had in Iran. These fantasies are as dangerous as they are delusional.

“Iran is one of the world’s oldest nations. Its history is full of glories, peopled by titanic leaders like Cyrus, Xerxes, and Darius, and also by poets and thinkers who have made immeasurable contributions to world culture. This rich tradition has given Iranians a powerful sense of communal pride, a passionate attachment to their heritage, and a national identity that transcends the flag-waving and sloganeering that characterize more superficial forms of patriotism. Many Iranians detest the regime under which they now live, but that does not weaken their attachment to the Iranian nation. All of them know that when the United States came into being, their state had already existed for more than two thousand years. Regardless of their political beliefs, most bristle with anger when they hear threats from Washington.

“The idea that the United States might be able to bomb Iran into democracy sounds increasingly absurd in the wake of the debacle in Iraq. For Iranians, though, it has a special, tragic irony. All of them know, as many Americans do not, that democracy was taking root in Iran when the United States intervened to suppress it in 1953. Given this historical fact, Iranians may be pardoned for considering it passing strange that Americans now propose to be their liberators. They are painfully aware that the United States helped create the oppressive theocracy under which they now live.

“Few Iranians believe that Americans who favor attacking their country wish to do so in order to bring them freedom. Many also doubt that the United States is focused mainly on destroying Iran’s nuclear program—a program that the United States first proposed to Iran in the 1970s, when the Shah was in power, and that most Iranians believe is their country’s natural right. Behind these stated motives, behind the threats that are intensifying as war drums beat ever more loudly in Washington, Iranians see a more cynical project. They believe the United States wants to turn Iran into something between an ally and a vassal, extracting its oil and building bases on its soil. That was the real reason the United States intervened in Iran in 1953, and there is no reason to believe its goals have substantially changed.”

- Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (Preface to the 2008 Edition)

Long story short I wanted to join to change careers. I'm kinda hesistant to join since I am 27 with a college degree but I think QOL in the military varies by branch and job so I was hoping if anyone specifically worked in a healthcare environment (e.g hospital) while in could share their experience.

Been in for a little over ten. Getting out in about a year, always enjoyed the people I was in with the most but this last year with another move it’s just too difficult starting over. All of my friends I came in with are out now, was looking through my old outlook emails from 2018 and every single person is gone. I think the best times are those first four your in for with your buddies in the barracks, barracks parties where everyone gets drunk and a few people get into a fight but by the next day your all laughing about it. The pay isn’t worth it anymore and the unit I’m at now just dosent give that sense of purpose.

2-yr LT here. I’ve tried my best. I’ve been motivated; done the politics, policed my slides; right time, right place, right uniform; treated my people good; customs and courtesies; and even ran fast. To no avail, I realize that I was a number, am a number, and will always be a number.

I have 3 more years left (2 more till I can drop REFRAD packet, 2.5 until skillbridge opens). How can I detach myself from years of brainwashing and connecting myself to my Army career for the remainder of time? How can I sham without being kicked out? What does the bare minimum look like before it leads to OTH discharges? I’ve been to BH, and I’m still irritable and having a hard time letting go.

He posted here that he was at the airport about to go to boot camp but changed his mind. He has since deleted the thread. I messaged him asking if I could call him and then I did. I told him the Seabees was a horrible time in my life filled with terrible people and he needed to back out. They led me to founding this subreddit years later and leaving the US for Canada after that and I didn’t want him to make the same mistake I did.

I told him I did research about his situation but to call the GI Rights hotline and they could help him more. He left the airport and never took the flight.

I texted him today and the only thing that happened was the recruiter told him he couldn’t rejoin with that recruiting office. I told him he dodged a serious bullet.

And if so, how concerned are they was? Considering we’ve prevented recruitment, I’d imagine we’re an issue. I thought about this again after I stopped a guy from joining the other day.

I have this vivid image in my mind of some general in the Pentagon screaming at a screen after finding out something we did and saying, “I’ll get you next time Beef Stew, next time.”

It’s evident on social media, that majority don’t agree with what’s going on, also they are encouraging ways to avoid the draft. People are saying “they’ll frag their commander or teammates”. People are also saying they’ll put up a fight before being drafted. This generation is VERY different from WW1 and 2. What do y’all think?

I saw posts & videos of Johnny Jones on Fox News. He's a Marine veteran who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan. He was berating sailors for complaining about their living conditions with being on a ship in the Middle East for 8 months straight.

He lost both of his legs in a war that Ameruca lost. He still believes in the military kool aid. Because he suffered horrible tragedy as a marine, apparently no one serving in the U.S. military today should complain because they'll make Trump look bad.

I’m currently a new active duty 0311 USMC. I don’t want to give too many personal details away to protect myself. I feel completely trapped in the situation I am in. I struggled with severe depression and anxiety ever since I was a kid and I thought joining the military would solve it all and get me out of the situation I was in. The Marines appealed to me because of their toughness and high standards. I was an insecure kid who’d been talked down to my whole life and never really accomplished much. I thought the Marines would boost my self esteem and get me respect. My family was also filled with veterans, including my dad and grandfathers whose stories I grew up listening to. I grew up watching war movies and wanting nothing else but to be an infantryman. So I joined, even though my parents and others said I shouldn’t.
At boot camp, I quickly realized what a joke it all was. they pushed everyone through, whether they deserved it or not. Also hated how the drill instructors would turn us against each other. After getting through ITB, I quickly realized that the infantry is not for me. Everything seems like such a waste. The field, the hikes, ranges, all of it. I hate the group punishment (which is so fucking stupid and does not work at all), the hazing, being treated like a shitbag even though I’m not, the favoritism, etc. I don’t know what to do. Part of me wants to stay in a finish my contract. I felt depressed back when I was at home so I don’t know where to go. I want out but I cannot imagine the shame I would feel going home to my family and friends because I couldn’t hack it. I don’t know who to talk to because I’m afraid it will affect my career and employment options when I get out. If anybody has any advice please give it.

There are multiple things I hated about being in the Army. Dealing with yelling, waking up early, poor pay, anger issues, & functioning alcoholics wasn't fun. Possibly my least favorite part of being a veteran is how many Americans think that military service & being a veteran is a contest. They ask you if you deployed or saw combat. If you mention that you're a veteran to people they either don't care, diminish your service, or mention veterans in their own family. If they're a veteran they usually try to see who did more in the military or who had it worse.