Being in combat and being separated from your family can be stressful. The stress can put service members and veterans at risk for mental health problems. These include anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use. Suicide can also be a concern.
On the one hand, joining the military offers adventure, interesting work, travel opportunities and career training. However, the job is inherently dangerous, and there are no guarantees of where you will be stationed or how long a deployment to a remote war-torn country may last.
The most elite special operations forces in the U.S. are known as the Green Berets, and while that alone is enough to spark debate, there's great reasoning behind it. Training includes harsh mental and physical undertakings, including the school that's widely regarded as the hardest: Combat Diving.
Understanding PTSD in veterans
For all too many veterans, these are common experiences—lingering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, military service is the most common cause of PTSD in men.
Any member of the armed forces who, without authority— fails to go to his appointed place of duty at the time prescribed; goes from that place; or. absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed.
Army Injuries
Almost 50% of military experience 1 or more injury each year. They result in over 2,000,000 medical encounters annually across military Services. They require 90-120 or more days of restricted work or lost duty time, in addition to the cost of treatment.
Death as a result of wars is simply the "tip of the iceberg". Other consequences, besides death, are not well documented. They include endemic poverty, malnutrition, disability, economic/ social decline and psychosocial illness, to mention only a few.
There's so much more to life in the Army, with stimulating work opportunities, plenty of travel, amazing mateship, and extensive sport and leisure facilities. In the Army you'll earn a good salary from day one, plus a comprehensive package that includes generous superannuation and a variety of allowances.
If you are found trafficking, selling, or distributing narcotics, including marijuana. If you have three or more convictions related to driving while intoxicated, drugged, or impaired in the past five years before joining. If you are convicted for five or more misdemeanors.
To get out of the military, you need to be discharged.
Unlike many other positions, you cannot simply just quit the military once you are on active duty. You may choose to finish out a contract and then not renew, or you can get an early discharge if you do not want to wait or cannot wait for a contract to end.
Yes, a man with PTSD can fall in love and be in a relationship. PTSD does present its own set of challenges, such as the man feeling like he is unlovable, but if two dedicated partners work hard enough, they can conquer those emotions.
Studies have estimated that, in the US, approximately 27% of men and 60% of women are injured during military training, ranging from 6 to 12 injuries a month for every 100 male recruits.
Having a previously diagnosed mental health condition such as depression can actually be a disqualifying factor for service in the United States military, though individuals may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Being a soldier is not easy. You are asked to do things not asked of other people. You have to be aggressive and strong in battle, yet behave properly and show self-control all the time. You have to fit in and be part of a team.
The courtesies form a strict and sometimes elaborate code of conduct. It is an extension and a formalization of courtesies practiced in a culture's everyday life. It is intended to reinforce discipline and the chain of command by defining how soldiers will treat their superiors and vice versa.
Similar shares of men and women currently serve in the Army, which is the largest active-duty branch of the military, and in the Navy. But women are more likely than men to be in the Air Force; nearly one-third (31%) of military women are in the Air Force compared with 22% of men.
Some of the most popular benefits of joining the US military is the job training, educational assistance, steady paycheck, health coverage, and housing benefits. See a full list of the benefits here.
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.
Most first-term enlistments require a commitment to four years of active duty and two years of inactive (Individual Ready Reserve, or IRR). But the services also offer programs with two-, three- and six-year active-duty or reserve enlistments. It depends upon the service and the job you want.