Today I received a most disappointing, demotivating, and down right depressing letter via email. In part it reads:
I feel like crying!
For those still confused… Basically when I leave Korea in February, I WILL NOT be returning to the Special Forces Qualification Course, but instead be sent to Recruiting School!! Despite the fact that I don’t want to, never voluteered and never want to be one, the Army thinks I would make a good recruiter and have made the decision for me. Also, they decided to go ahead and submit and approve waivers on my behalf. The waivers are necessary because I currently have only two years left on my enlistment instead of the required three for recruiting. Though I had planned - and still probably will - reenlist in January, they don’t know that.
… So anyway, thats all I feel like saying for now. I think I will go lay in the dark for a while.
I should elaborate. While it is true that a servicemember’s preferences and their special skills will be given due deference by a detailer, the needs of the service will always take priority.
Bear_Nenno, recruiters are not intrinsically evil. Do your job well, with honor and integrity, and I don’t see how any but the most strident anti-military can have a problem with it.
Ahh, you should make a great recruiter. Well, as long as there’s no math involved.
It sucks that you’re being (sorta kinda) railroaded into a position you don’t want but if it keeps you in a safe place then I’m glad. I don’t wanna lose my younger quintuplet brother.
FWIW based on your ability to express yourself and your (usually) gung ho attitude, I think you’ll make a great recruiter and those skills, if developed, will make you a lot more attractive to post military employers than being able to kill men at a glance with your special forces kung fu.
The ability to sell the mission is a super critical skill. The only pisser is that this is a time when that job is going to be made super tough by the danger and questions about the rationale of the war. It does take intestinal fortitude. Some recruiters fall apart under the strain of this difficult task. Don’t let this happen to you.
I know you can’t do it, but it would be an great opportunity to get fake prosthetic hook and pound the table in front of a wavering recruit and shout “the Arny made me the man I am today!” then put a pen between the hooks and offer it to him to sign up.
If I understand the OP correctly, that was why he needed the waivers. He doesn’t have three years on his enlistment, as required. His enlistment isn’t being extended for another year without his permission. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
Just to clear this one up. They will not be extending me an extra year. The waiver says I will go to Recruiter School despite not being able to serve as a recruiter for the required 3 years.
BUT, they will pressure me into extending for an extra year when I get to the school. I can stand my ground and refuse to reenlist and ultimately that is my option and then I would be a recruiter for just 2 years and then get out.
But what the Army is counting on - I’m sure - is that I am going to reenlist anyway.
This happens to be the case. I actually AM going to reenlist. I made that decision long before I was assigned to recruiter school. I just have to wait until I am in my reenlistment window. And that comes up in a couple months. So basically I will end up reporting to the school with 7 years left instead of 5. And because of that, I will end up serving 3 years as a recruiter.
I think this is what the Army counts on when they send people to recruiter school with less than 2 years left in the Army. They hope those soldiers will reenlist or extend their current enlistment.
Better than that! Only the school is in SC, after that I could be stationed anywhere. And from what I hear, everyone is getting their station of choice. So what it means is that I can spend 3 years back home in Tampa, with a very safe and cushy (yet stressful) office job. One that offers a take home car, $400,000 life insurance, extra money for food and living expenses, and an expense account. There would be no chance of deployment and I could actually go back to college and finish the semester and a half I need for my BA. Also, there is excellent oppurtunity for promotion and advancement. So there is no reason I shouldn’t have another promotion by August or so of next year. If not earlier.
… Some people would give their left nut for this oppurtunity. The stability and safety from being deployed are usually the most desired benefits. But those people are not the same kind of person who send a dozen and a half emails to Branch last year requesting an assignment in the desert. Ironic how the Army sends people to war when they dont want to go. And keep those who try desperately to go, back home where it’s safe.
Most people I talk to - and most of you will agree with them - but they think I must have an angel on my shoulder. At the end of my recruiter service, I will have served 7 years in the military - as an infantryman no less - through the heart of two major conflicts (maybe even more by that time) and I will not have deployed ONCE!!!
Some people will think that I am fortunate, and I am lucking out. I feel that it makes me a worthless shitbag. And ultimately, that’s my biggest problem with becoming a recruiter. I did not sign on for a desk job. All my training up until now has been to better my ability at leading infantry soldiers in combat. And without ever having performed where it counts, I will be going to sit behind a desk where I will get others to sign up and do what I never did. Should I feel hypocritical that I may talk young men and women into signing up and going to war; into possibly dieing in combat when I haven’t even been myself!? I think this is the biggest problem I have. Well, next to the fact that my military career goals will not be put on hold for three MORE years.
But like everything else, I will give it my all and do my best. If the Army wants me to be a recruiter, then I will be the best damn recruiter they’ve ever seen. . .
lol. I actually thought of that one. But there’s no chance there. The Army would rather me be a recruiter for two years, than something else for 10. Silly maybe, but not considering the number of people I will enlist in that two years.
