This poll is a headcount of those who have served, or are still serving in, the military.
U.S.A.F. for four years.
US Army, 1971-1985
IDF, 1993-1996.
I’ve been in the reserves since then; I have what should be my final deployment this coming January (just a few weeks - NBD).
Usaf, 1991 - 2014
Hey, why can’t I put USAF in all-caps?
Because you needed to have other letters or it was an all-caps post.
I did not serve, by reason of not being allowed to due to gender. Middlebro did his military service, Littlebro went civil service.
US Army, 1966-1969
The Spanish military doesn’t recruit women?
They didn’t want me.
I need a fourth choice; other - please explain.
I did ROTC but stopped at that point. I never took any money from them so I didn’t even have to go Reserves at the end; Uncle Sugar and I could part as friends. I saw enough from my brothers service (he was a Major by then) to know what it was all about, learned enough about myself and my lack of desire to be a leader of men, and Carter was POTUS. If the excrement had entered the oscillation device I would have happily served but probably more as an enlistee of Non-Com. My talents fell more along those lines.
USAF l991-2014
Let’s hope ISIS, HAMAS, et al aren’t listening.
Did not serve myself but did receive a draft card, classified 1-H but never reclassified due to draft winding down. Very glad I didn’t serve, not sure that I would have come out of it the way I would want to be.
USAF 2002-2010, USAFR 2010 - Present
I’d guess this poll is going to skew high though, there’s not much incentive for the “I have not serveds” to post.
Nope.
Back in my senior year of high school (1988), recruiters were all over campus, day in and day out, making grandiose promises of what a life in the military would be like. And for reasons that elude me, somehow they all collectively decided that this ill-behaved, long-haired outcast with a chip on his shoulder was just what the U.S. military needed. They would not leave me alone. Two Army recruiters even showed up at my house one night, Mom let them in. They proceeded to give me their sales pitch, and lacking any better idea, I simply stood up, walked away, got into my truck, and drove off to get something to eat. Mom gave me an earful about that.
All of this is to say that I never wanted to join the military (and I wouldn’t have lasted an hour, anyway), and after my experiences with recruiters, I was even less inclined.
You were in the exact same years as me? Inconceivable!
Called a USAF recruitment office in college, as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after graduation. He asked my major. I said, “English.” He couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. And thus ended my experience with the military. My dad, Vietnam vet, couldn’t have been happier.
Civilian, never served.
From childhood I’d planned to become a Naval aviator. Then I destroyed my knees in high school, and that was the end of that. The closest I got to being in the military was Sea Cadets as a child, and Civil Air Patrol as an adult.
They didn’t want me.
What I wanted was very selective, and they didn’t like me. I didn’t want to be in for in’s sake, so I passed on it all.