Army recruitment

Ylen13

Banned
Sep 18, 2001
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I read on the net that if u go to the recruitment office and decide to sign a contract to join the army that you are theirs for 2 years. But how can that be, if after u sign a contract u decide that u don't want to go anymore ,don't all u have to do is fail the boot camp?
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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You are theirs for 8 years. Please don't sign up, we need men and women, not boys.
 

Ylen13

Banned
Sep 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: Spikey217
IIRC, If you fail bootcamp, you get recycled and go through it again.

so how many times can a man/women be recucled?

i do not have any intensions at this time to join the army/navy or any other service just incase someone is wondering if i am asking this because i have plans to sign up or already did sign up
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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With your spelling skills, I doubt you'd be able to pass the entrance exam.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
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If you raise a big enough stink, they'll simply cycle you out. But be careful, because if you piss them off enough they'll prosecute you.

We had three or four "broke dicks" get out while I was in basic training and AIT. One of them was put in jail and prosecuted. The others got dishonerable discharges, IIRC.

The simple thing to do is to just say you're gay. But then you'll get an "other than honerable" discharge and that will follow you for the rest of your life.
 

Ylen13

Banned
Sep 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: Amused
If you raise a big enough stink, they'll simply cycle you out. But be careful, because if you piss them off enough they'll prosecute you.

We had three or four "broke dicks" get out while I was in basic training and AIT. One of them was put in jail and prosecuted. The others got dishonerable discharges, IIRC.

The simple thing to do is to just say you're gay. But then you'll get an "other than honerable" discharge and that will follow you for the rest of your life.

So basically if an 18 year old decides after signing that contract he doesn?t want to be there he has 2 choices. 1) Suck it up and do his best and pass boot camp (basic training) 2) declaring him self gay but the dishonorable discharges will follow him everywhere. Reason I asked this question was I wondering how many of the solders that are currently in the army signed up and then realized they didn?t? want to be their. From everyone reply I gather if they really don?t want to be there, they have a way out even if it?s not the best one.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
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Originally posted by: Ylen13
Originally posted by: Amused
If you raise a big enough stink, they'll simply cycle you out. But be careful, because if you piss them off enough they'll prosecute you.

We had three or four "broke dicks" get out while I was in basic training and AIT. One of them was put in jail and prosecuted. The others got dishonerable discharges, IIRC.

The simple thing to do is to just say you're gay. But then you'll get an "other than honerable" discharge and that will follow you for the rest of your life.

So basically if an 18 year old decides after signing that contract he doesn?t want to be there he has 2 choices. 1) Suck it up and do his best and pass boot camp (basic training) 2) declaring him self gay but the dishonorable discharges will follow him everywhere. Reason I asked this question was I wondering how many of the solders that are currently in the army signed up and then realized they didn?t? want to be their. From everyone reply I gather if they really don?t want to be there, they have a way out even if it?s not the best one.

Yep. And if you make your bed, you must lay in it. I have no sympathy for someone who signs up, then gets cold feet.
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Ylen13
Originally posted by: Amused
If you raise a big enough stink, they'll simply cycle you out. But be careful, because if you piss them off enough they'll prosecute you.

We had three or four "broke dicks" get out while I was in basic training and AIT. One of them was put in jail and prosecuted. The others got dishonerable discharges, IIRC.

The simple thing to do is to just say you're gay. But then you'll get an "other than honerable" discharge and that will follow you for the rest of your life.

So basically if an 18 year old decides after signing that contract he doesn?t want to be there he has 2 choices. 1) Suck it up and do his best and pass boot camp (basic training) 2) declaring him self gay but the dishonorable discharges will follow him everywhere. Reason I asked this question was I wondering how many of the solders that are currently in the army signed up and then realized they didn?t? want to be their. From everyone reply I gather if they really don?t want to be there, they have a way out even if it?s not the best one.

Yep. And if you make your bed, you must lay in it. I have no sympathy for someone who signs up, then gets cold feet.
Ylen13's post really makes me wonder if he has any morals or scruples.
 

PlasticJesus

Senior member
Mar 16, 2001
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Had to read your posts 3 or 4 times to make any sense of it.

There are a fair number of folks in the military who do not want to be there. It's excruciatingly irritating to those in leadership positions who quite often find themselves doing nothing but dealing with these folks.

As a member moves further through the process it becomes more difficult for them to get out. There is the time between contract signing and then when you show up at MEPS to give your oath and then go on to recruit training. Then there is recruit training. Then there is your MOS school. Then there is everything after.

How difficult it is to get out depends on which service you are in and where you are in the process. It probably also depends on whether or not the country is at war. During peacetime, Army and Air Force folks can actually simply display a "failure to adjust" and be discharged. This would work probably only prior to completion of the MOS school. Navy and Marine Corps folks must display a "pattern of misconduct" to go along with the failure to adjust.

It's a sad individual who goes into the military and then one day simply decides that that doesn't fit into their life's plan. Such things are what makes the school commands so irritating. If you are a cynic (which I am) you could quickly come to believe that the world has gone to hell and everyone is pulling this crap, but the reality is that such folks are a very, very tiny minority.

The obligation is actually a full 8 years as noted above. If you go active duty for 2 years you then are a reservist of some kind for 6 more. That reserve obligation may be transparent to you if the country is not at war or has no need for your service.

It's an awful sad thing to think that that Marine that you see in pictures now and again these days has what it takes to show his face in public. Such people who want all of the glory without paying any of the price are truly disgusting. Having been in the Marine Corps for a number of years I'm fairly qualified to guess, I think, that that fella' would have eventually married his fiance' and he would have done it in his Dress Blues and he would have looked like crap but his stupid friends and family wouldn't have know any better and he probably would have cut his own hair the day before 'cause he's too cheap to pay 6 bucks for a haircut, never mind he looks like crap, and he probably has Marine Corps stickers all over his car and he has a cell-phone and personalized plates on his crap car but he'll still tell you he doesn't make enough money.

oldsmoboat -- Wasn't your daughter in the Army? Is she still in the Army?
 

Brutuskend

Lifer
Apr 2, 2001
26,558
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Originally posted by: Spikey217
IIRC, If you fail bootcamp, you get recycled and go through it again.

That depends on WHY you fail.

We had guys that were uber stupid that didn't get recycled, they got dismissed.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
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fobot.com
if you/whoever isn't sure/dedicated to joining/staying in for the term of your contract, then don't do it

anybody that is that interested in how they can get out before they are even in, shouldn't think about joining up

the military doesn't do "trial memberships" like a friggin health club
rolleye.gif
 

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
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When I was in basic, we had four or five guys leave in my platoon. One had a heart attack, he was 34 years old, and in very poor shape, one of them had a head so big they couldn't find a helmet or hat that could fit him, honest to God. The others attempted suicide by feigning an injury and getting muscle relaxers prescribed and then took them all. Nothing really happened to them except they lost control of their bodily functions and they were as limp as rag dolls.

The Drill Sargeants told us that if anyone attempted suicide and failed, they were going to keep you there for the entire cycle until you were sent home. They isolated those 2 that did, and we weren't allowed to talk to them. They were basically kept in solitary confinement for 8 weeks and did chores like rake the grass and pick up cigarette butts all day. I felt sorry for those guys just waiting and waiting while they watched us practice marching, go to the range, etc. I'm sure they regretted what they did.

One sure fire way to get out is to test positive for drugs. That will still get you an honorable discharge if it's the only thing you've done wrong. I know, I processed several discharges as a commander, and I even tried to get dishonorable or even a general discharge under honorable conditions. It wasn't easy to do. I was only able to get a general discharge for one guy, and I had a file full of documented problems with him. In order to get a dishonorable, your discharge had to be pretty much connected to a crime IIRC.
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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Originally posted by: PlasticJesus
oldsmoboat -- Wasn't your daughter in the Army? Is she still in the Army?
I was in the Army, both regular and reserves. My daughter is 19 and in college.
We had little boys try do get out in basic by trying to overdose on tylenol and aspirin. The military is for men and women. Little boys need to stay home and allow those men and women to protect their freedoms for them. There is no shame in that. The shame is in agreeing to join and then trying to get out of it. Men and women live up to their obligations with respect and dignity. There were times when I thought I had done the wrong thing and wondered why I was there. But I raised my right hand, no one forced me to do it. I am proud of my service and I am glad I did it. It's just not for everyone and they need to realize that before they join.

 

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
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Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Originally posted by: PlasticJesus
oldsmoboat -- Wasn't your daughter in the Army? Is she still in the Army?
I was in the Army, both regular and reserves. My daughter is 19 and in college.
We had little boys try do get out in basic by trying to overdose on tylenol and aspirin. The military is for men and women. Little boys need to stay home and allow those men and women to protect their freedoms for them. There is no shame in that. The shame is in agreeing to join and then trying to get out of it. Men and women live up to their obligations with respect and dignity. There were times when I thought I had done the wrong thing and wondered why I was there. But I raised my right hand, no one forced me to do it. I am proud of my service and I am glad I did it. It's just not for everyone and they need to realize that before they join.

Just remembered a guy in another platoon in my company that drank a can of Brasso to attempt suicide.
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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Originally posted by: jemcam
When I was in basic, we had four or five guys leave in my platoon. One had a heart attack, he was 34 years old, and in very poor shape, one of them had a head so big they couldn't find a helmet or hat that could fit him, honest to God. The others attempted suicide by feigning an injury and getting muscle relaxers prescribed and then took them all. Nothing really happened to them except they lost control of their bodily functions and they were as limp as rag dolls.

The Drill Sargeants told us that if anyone attempted suicide and failed, they were going to keep you there for the entire cycle until you were sent home. They isolated those 2 that did, and we weren't allowed to talk to them. They were basically kept in solitary confinement for 8 weeks and did chores like rake the grass and pick up cigarette butts all day. I felt sorry for those guys just waiting and waiting while they watched us practice marching, go to the range, etc. I'm sure they regretted what they did.

One sure fire way to get out is to test positive for drugs. That will still get you an honorable discharge if it's the only thing you've done wrong. I know, I processed several discharges as a commander, and I even tried to get dishonorable or even a general discharge under honorable conditions. It wasn't easy to do. I was only able to get a general discharge for one guy, and I had a file full of documented problems with him. In order to get a dishonorable, your discharge had to be pretty much connected to a crime IIRC.
Too bad you weren't my commander. I had an E-2 steal M16 rounds from the range. They were found in his locker with the First Sergeants name written on them. When the First Sergeant asked him why he took them he replied "to shoot you". When the commander asked me what I wanted to do I replied that I wanted him confined and discharged . They busted him to E-1 and restricted him to post for 30 days.
rolleye.gif
 

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
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Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Originally posted by: jemcam
When I was in basic, we had four or five guys leave in my platoon. One had a heart attack, he was 34 years old, and in very poor shape, one of them had a head so big they couldn't find a helmet or hat that could fit him, honest to God. The others attempted suicide by feigning an injury and getting muscle relaxers prescribed and then took them all. Nothing really happened to them except they lost control of their bodily functions and they were as limp as rag dolls.

The Drill Sargeants told us that if anyone attempted suicide and failed, they were going to keep you there for the entire cycle until you were sent home. They isolated those 2 that did, and we weren't allowed to talk to them. They were basically kept in solitary confinement for 8 weeks and did chores like rake the grass and pick up cigarette butts all day. I felt sorry for those guys just waiting and waiting while they watched us practice marching, go to the range, etc. I'm sure they regretted what they did.

One sure fire way to get out is to test positive for drugs. That will still get you an honorable discharge if it's the only thing you've done wrong. I know, I processed several discharges as a commander, and I even tried to get dishonorable or even a general discharge under honorable conditions. It wasn't easy to do. I was only able to get a general discharge for one guy, and I had a file full of documented problems with him. In order to get a dishonorable, your discharge had to be pretty much connected to a crime IIRC.
Too bad you weren't my commander. I had an E-2 steal M16 rounds from the range. They were found in his locker with the First Sergeants name written on them. When the First Sergeant asked him why he took them he replied "to shoot you". When the commander asked me what I wanted to do I replied that I wanted him confined and discharged . They busted him to E-1 and restricted him to post for 30 days.
rolleye.gif


Sounds like your commander didn't want to go through the hassle of a Court Martial or his Battalion legal clerk didn't want the hassle so they went with an article 15 instead. If the kid admitted it, they should have court martialed his ass if for no other reason than to set an example that the leadership was going to put up with no foolishness. Luckily for me, I always had hard-nosed First Sargeants and we shared the same philosophy on discipline. My last 1SG once told me that if an article 15 made it to my desk, he felt like he had failed as an effective 1SG. Subsequently, he dealt with most personnel problems himself. Too bad for the guys, because I guarantee you he was harder on them than I would have been.
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
I hate to say this to you... but really. TYPE THE ENTIRE WORD!!!!!1111
For gods sakes man! Its YOU! REPEAT AFTER ME!
Y O U
Y O U

The letter u IS NOT A WORD! IT CAN NOT REPLACE A WORD!!! AHHHH
 

burnedout

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,249
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Yeah, there are always nutcases during each cycle who can't adjust. LOL, we even had a recruit who we affectionately called "Benny Hill". I think my platoon lost 9 trainees back in '80. Inability to shoot, unable to pass APFT, or keep their mouths shut were the primary reasons. Every group has them. To me, basic training was actually much easier in many respects than the activities experienced by a typical light infantry company.
 

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
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Originally posted by: burnedout
Yeah, there are always nutcases during each cycle who can't adjust. LOL, we even had a recruit who we affectionately called "Benny Hill". I think my platoon lost 9 trainees back in '80. Inability to shoot, unable to pass APFT, or keep their mouths shut were the primary reasons. Every group has them. To me, basic training was actually much easier in many respects than the activities experienced by a typical light infantry company.


My drill sargeant made up nicknames for everyone and when he was in a good mood, he called you by your nickname. There was Bullwinkle, Nasty Huff, Chicago, Chief (an American Indian), and a ton of others, those were the funniest ones. Good memories
:)