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[Choop]

let's have a big round of applause for dmitri martin

[jaydub]

let's have a big round of applause for dmitri martin

Because we're all fans of Flight of the Conchords?

[Choop]

heh damn i didn't realize that post new-paged on me. i should have quoted inev's post, it read like a dmitri martin 'bit' to me.

[schnitzelbank]

Have you thought about Teach for America or the Peace Corps?
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.grads
Some NGOs need people with financial backgrounds.
If you do go in:
Air Force, Air Force, Air Force.
The doctors are better, the housing is better, the jobs are often better - ask a veteran and the list gets longer.
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcejoin/a/afbmt1.htm
Don't trust recruiters. It's worth repeating what others have said: Get everything in writing. In case something goes horribly wrong medically, become familiar with the UCMJ concerning discharges and have the numbers of your elected representatives handy.
On the bright side the Post 9/11 GI Bill does not suck.

[Drygioni]

Fra m ZPPA

[jaydub]

Frank Zappa?

[Drygioni]

GOOD.YEs, who needs th epeac drop. corp

[lprkn]

Air Force, Air Force, Air Force.

As a Marine, I must say I agree with schnitzel's sentiments exactly.

I have unreasonable expectations of jumping out of planes and stabbing bad guys. It's a problem, I know.

[Lister]

My college roommate got his bachelor's in industrial engineering paid for through a Navy deal where he owed them four years of work afterwards.  He must not have minded it, because those four years were over in 2002 and he's still working for them.

Actually, he's finishing up med school now (again on the Navy's dime) and will be working for them for another number of years once he's a for-reals doctor.  It worked for him because he's:

A) Smart
B) Not one who grates under authority
C) Super Organized
D) Smart (again)
E) Self-actualized

He's never been deployed anywhere (though he might have to be a fleet doctor for a year, soon) and has been able to save a lot of money due to the sweet deals Navy people get on financing, housing, etc (plus not having to pay for med school).

It's not for everyone.  I know it's not for me.  But if you're the type who can deal with taking orders from someone who isn't as smart as you and who you feel is actually making the wrong decision, and execute those orders immediately, happily, and to the best of your ability, you can probably handle the military.

[wombat]

deal with taking orders from someone who isn't as smart as you and who you feel is actually making the wrong decision, and execute those orders immediately, happily, and to the best of your ability

It's worth considering that that describes an awful lot of the job and school experiences you might have that would come with a lot fewer benefits.

[AugustWest]

But if you're the type who can deal with taking orders from someone who isn't as smart as you and who you feel is actually making the wrong decision,

Yeah, what Wombat said. 

You mean there are jobs that aren't like that?

[littlefallsmets]

True but how many jobs are there where you can be thrown in jail for quitting because of those things?

Or, in certain situations, shot in the back for it and then everyone covers it up?

Call me nuts but there's a certain comfort in knowing that if you say "Screw you guys, Imma going home" all they can do is... stop paying you.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Or, in certain situations, shot in the back for it and then everyone covers it up?

I have a feeling that if I worked with you I would do precisely this thing.

[side_show]

My reaction is:  oh dear god, don't do it.   Do not join the military.   Like ever, at any cost. 

Back in the day, I had a job interviewing aboriginal veterans (to collect their biographical information), and it was one of the jobs that changed my life.  As an outsider to my interview subjects I was told all sorts of disturbing stuff that the veterans had never told anyone, including their children and wives and such.  Seeing children and other civilians get shot or meet otherwise violent ends, watching your buddy blow up, having PTSD and/or never ending physical pain... These dudes are tough, and don't generally complain publically or even to their own folks about their experiences, so I would get comments from their kids and wives such as "I never knew that," or "He never told me that" when the articles were published.  They would always ask me why the veteran hadn't shared these details and so I started asking veterans this very question and the answer was invariably "I didn't want them to suffer like I did.  Suffer knowing ___________ like I do."  Holy shit, some of the shit I heard... 

Yeah, so my vote is always against anyone joining the military.  As noted, there is a reason why the military is always in need of psychologists. 

[JorgeFabregas]

Pretty far off topic from the original post, but side_show's post reminded me of this piece by theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas:

http://www.plowsharesproject.org/journal/php/article.php?issu_list_id=8&article_list_id=11

It may not be of interest to people who have no interest in theology, but there is some meaty stuff in there about the silence that surrounds killing. That section starts under the heading "The Sacrifice of the Refusal to Kill."

Lt. Col. Grossman observes that to study killing in combat is very much like the study of sex. “Killing is a private, intimate occurrence of tremendous intensity, in which the destructive act becomes psychologically very much like the procreative act.”[