by Ted Sherman

Created on: January 03, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

I served active duty as a reservist in both World War II and Korea, but never seriously considered staying in the military. Was I right or wrong not to make it my career? To this day, I'm not too sure. With almost never-ending wars since WWII, many high school and college students today are thinking twice before considering military careers. The disadvantages are obvious. First, you can get killed. Second, deployments take you away from your family for long periods of time. And third, military life is one of constant moving, strict regulations and obedience to traditional pecking orders.

When my kids hit their teen years, I took them on orientation visits to West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy. I didn't put any heavy pressure on them, and for awhile they considered military careers. Then they went their own ways and have been successful and happy civilian professionals. OK, but how about the advantages of a military career?

If you're a high school grad or equivalent, you can go in as an enlisted person. There are virtually limitless job potentials within the military, and an ambitious enlistee can look into them. From the perspective of my old age, I can see that the best advantage of a career as an enlisted military is that you can retire after 20 years. It may sound like a hell of a long time to a 17-year-old, but the years go quickly. If you apply yourself and move up in rank to master sergeant (or Navy CPO), you'll end your 20 years earning about $50,000. Then, for the rest of your life, you get half of that...$25,000 a year, as well as medical and other benefits, no matter what else you do. So, a 37-year-old retiree can easily move into a civilian life and job with an already good basic income.

If you're a college student or grad, going into the service as an officer has much more opportunity for income, job growth and management experience. Also, if you retire after 20 years as an officer at age 40 or so, depending on your rank, you'll get anywhere from $50,000 on up annually and all the other retiree benefits for the rest of your life. And you'll still be young enough to apply your military skills to a satisfying civilian career.

What do you think of my musings about a military career?

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