• capital@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I’ll go against the grain here.

    I joined not long after high school because I wasn’t gonna be able to pay for college, not that I was a good student anyway.

    Spent most of my 4 year Air Force enlistment in the UK doing what I wanted - sysad, basically. Never deployed.

    Got out and worked for increasingly higher pay and now I make $250k+ without a college degree.

    • Allero@lemmy.today
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      9 months ago

      It is fairly dystopian in itself that army is used as a social mobility tool. A ton of resources go into luring young men into doing what is ultimately useless, dangerous and harmful. Resources that could be spent to help so much more people.

        • Allero@lemmy.today
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          9 months ago

          The point is not to eliminate this one leaving nothing, but rather to actually build other routes - something that goes through productive labor beneficial for society.

          Science. Engineering. Art. Medicine. And a lot more.

      • capital@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I’m afraid the world will soon find out what happens when the US doesn’t play world cop. I think the US and its allies will be worse off for it.

        Given the choice between Russia, China, or the US, my choice is clear.

        Regarding it being a social mobility tool, I’d like to think of myself as a realist, if nothing else. The facts remain:

        1. This is just how it is right now
        2. It works
        • Allero@lemmy.today
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          9 months ago

          Everything can work as social mobility tool if govt decides it to be. They can make a plan to boost any other sector of the economy and create a lot of super high-pay jobs which would achieve just the same while being actually productive for society, i.e. returning something tangible on taxpayer’s dollars.

          And yes, the world should know US shouldn’t be a world cop. Neither should China or Russia for that matter. The world cop should be the UN, the Security Council, and the UN Peacekeeper force.

          No single country is a good fit for the role, and all would severely abuse their power, leading to a ton of suffering.

    • theherk@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Similar story. Air Force 6 years, barely a degree worth noting, and tech jobs since. And damn good times and friendships were had. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. But… I would take it back if I had killed people. Never wanted to do that. Thankfully there is more to the mission than killing innocents on behalf of oil magnates.

      • buzz86us@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah this government system sucks either go into massive debt, or risk dying or depression to protect the interests of a company extracting an obsolete fuel

    • nbdjd@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I’m so envious. That’s what I wanted to do when joining the Navy. The paper said “advanced electronics computer field” and I ended up as an Electronics Technician. What a waste. The cost of ignorance is high. I didn’t have a mentor or father to guide me in such things. Now I’m in my late 30s studying AWS and tryin’ to make a change :-\

        • nbdjd@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I appreciate you. I need to remember that I did the best I could at that moment and time. Hindsight and “what could’ve been “ can be such a bummer and debilitating.

      • capital@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I went in thinking “if I hate it, I stick it out 4 years then get out and go to school”. But it just happened to work out well.

    • Che Banana@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      Same, gave me some experience and set me on my career path.

      Did my 4 years on bases with no flight lines (Like being in the navy and never stepping foot on a ship, lol) and only deployed to humanitarian missions even though the first gulf war was going on.

      Still keep in touch with people i worked/lived with all those years ago.

      Different world now and am glad my children didnt have to make that decision.

      • capital@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I hardly even know what most of these systems produce.

        It’s like working on a vehicle engine without knowing where it’s been or where it’s headed.