• Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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      8 months ago

      It’s not the wage. It’s an enlistment bonus for shipping out to basic within a short time frame of enlisting. Meant to help fill vacancies in the Army.

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Nobody wants to join the military because people are tired of going to fight strangers in foreign countries they have no beef with. We’re figuring out that our military is actually more of a terrorist organization with veto power in NATO.

        Plus you know, people are worried about the impending climate crisis and the future water wars more than the geopolitical dick swinging the military is used to enforce.

        • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          plus all we ever hear about from vets is how this country refuses to take care of them… the abysmal state of veteran care in this country has broken the line in many traditionally long running military families. like, if big papa breadwinner of the traditional southern family comes back broken and unable to work that family just ends up on the street. that alone breaks that chain of what may have been 10 generations of military men. now think of every less extreme scenario and how common they are and how they affects the minds of those children that may have previously been gung-ho to sign up.

          veterans these days have little pride over what they accomplished or failed to accomplish, the war stories are hard to make glorious sounding, they all have some severe medical issue caused by the military that the military refuses to acknowledge and/or help them with, so very many homeless veterans…

          I’m not at all pro military, but even I can see how ridiculously fucked it is that a man can sign his life away to fight for a county and for that county to not even have the decency to pick him up out of the fucking dirt after…

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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      7 months ago

      That’s the sign on bonus. The salary is around $22,000 a year starting. Abysmal, but you don’t have to pay for much. Food, and housing and insurance is covered.

      Army wouldn’t be my choice, but my best friend did his 20 and out in the air force and climbed high enough in the ranks that he was making six figures. He got to retire at 38 with free Healthcare the rest of his life and gets like $60k a year and got to go to a lot of cool places (as well as shit ones, of course). AF or coast guard be about the only ones I’d consider.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I knew a marine growing up. Fully into all things marine, vietname vet. Right around the time I turned 18 he told me to not go into the Marines, go into the Air Force, go into anything except the Marines.

        Maybe he didn’t like me, but I don’t think that was the case.