Why? Very good question. Did I want to serve my country? Defend freedom and "the American way"? Kick Afghan ass? And any other patriotic reason?
Short answer: No.
None of that mattered. What did matter is I'm 20 with no job and the best college I could go to is Trident Technical College. The best job would be minimum wage. I'd like to move out, get a car, and have a decent paying job that could lead to a good paying civilian job.
So I made the only choice possible. Why the Navy instead of some other military like the Army or Air Force? Probably cause both my parents were also Navy. I was born in a Navy hospital.. so I suppose I'm naturally just biased towards the USN.
I leave for bootcamp in Great Lakes, IL on March 12th for 9 weeks. After that I go to Pensacola, FL for 32 weeks of school at NTTC (Navy Technical Training Center) Corry Station. What I'll be doing is Electronics Warfare Technician (EW). Requires a security clearance and very classified... (the symbol for EW below)
It's a 5 year enlistment (with $7,000 sign on bonus). I'm gonna go for advanced promotion so I'm an E-2 before even bootcamp, skipping E-1, and making $1,239.30 a month.
[ January 24, 2002, 19:16: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
-------------------- I'm slightly annoyed at Hobbes' rather rude decision to be much more attractive than me though. That's just rude. - PsyLiam, Oct 27, 2005.
Registered: May 1999
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Congrats, Hobbes! I gave the Navy and Marine Corps serious consideration when I graduated high school. Wish you the best, and while I'm sure we won't hear from you when you're in bootcamp, looking forward to hearing from you when you're training as an Electronic Warfare Tech. A friend of mine enlisted over the summer (she's about my age), and the lucky girl left for her 2-year station in Italy.
(BTW: if you ever bump into a Daniel Singer -- he'll either be an ensign, maybe a lieutenant -- tell him you know Jeff Benson from Atholton High, and that I say 'hi!')
Oh, yeah ... good luck with those Marine Drill Sergeants -- !
[ January 23, 2002: Message edited by: Malnurtured Snay ]
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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Yeah...if you get assigned to USS Higgins, I went to HS with her Surface Warfare Officer, Jerry Pilewski. He's probably a JG if not a full LT by now.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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I'll be far from an officer. You need college to be one. Officers are people who want to make a career out the military. I'm just looking to do a few years for job experience.
-------------------- I'm slightly annoyed at Hobbes' rather rude decision to be much more attractive than me though. That's just rude. - PsyLiam, Oct 27, 2005.
Registered: May 1999
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Yes, Hobbes, we know you're not going to be an officer, but we do know that you're going to have to interact with them at some point
And, er, some enlisted men stay in the service for a career. A cop up in this area put in 20 years with the Marines, retired, got his military pension, and is about two years away from being able to retire from the Baltimore County police and get his police pension, too.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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Apparently, it's "electronic intelligence" or "electromagnetic intelligence".
'Til I looked it up, I'd assumed it was just a really bad typo for "intel"...
Registered: Mar 1999
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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"Um...excuse me...excuse me, sir? Shouldn't we keep the VP's PC on the QT, cause if it leaks to the VC, he could end up being listed as MIA & then we'd all be put on KP."
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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Well good luck Hobbes, I think that you will find the US Navy boot camp isn't that bad. I have a cousin who is in the navy right now and he told me that boot camp is somewhat tolerable. At least it's not as bad as the army.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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