| My MILITARY Experience in the U.S. Army |
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| True, I was only in the military for a year and three days, but while I WAS in, I learned a LOT about myself and communications technology. Actually, the military gave me a lot of discipline, the ability to be confident when the pressure is on, and the ability to speak to people with authority. I lacked a lot of these things straight out of high-school, as do many teen-agers. I boarded the plane to Korea in a humid 87 degrees wearing shorts and a Army t-shirt. I got off in Seoul Korea in a -4 windchill, ice rain, and utter black darkness (not too much light polution for a major city). Needless to say, I had to break out a coat from my luggage. I was stationed in Korea for about 7 months, during which summer came and went, never too hot. Rather, the weather in Korea was quite pleasant. There were the constant torrential downpours in the spring; I remember washing my equipment in the rain in the motor-pool on base, only to get the whole quite muddy durring the field exercise that followed. In the Army you learn to not let these ironic activities bother you. But ultimately the military was not for me and I was released on a Honorable Discharge. It seems that the mind I have been given is destined for even bigger things than the worlds best military. I found myself alone and without that many competent companions to console with. It wasn't that I was lonely, but that I do have a need to socialize with intelligent people - not simply people that want to talk about their day in good english, but people who willingly abstract on cosmology, science, or religion and can do so with conviction. While there were a few individuals in the service that I met with great interest, I ultimately still had a longing to be out. They granted me that. My primary mission was to assemble and monitor radio communications towers atop snow-capped mountains. I would drive my humvee up the steep side of the mountains, on dirt roads that were often quite slippery. Upon reaching the pre-specified coordinates, I would erect a tall mast with a UHF or VHF antenna on top. Then came the hardest task of rotating it until the signal lined up with another antenna miles away (on another mountain top, in most cases). |
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| Actually, I got kind of screwed by my recruiter. I had scored VERY high on my ASVAB test, which gave me the right to select almost any entry-level job available in the Army. I selected to go in as a satelite communications operator, which would have had many more civilian applications once I got out. I did basic training thinking that everything was in order, that I was to eventually work with military-grade satellite technology. In fact, the title of my MOS was given to me before going to basic, but the titile alone did not tell me enough to warn me than a switch had been done: Multi Channel Transmission Systems Operator. It was not until I left basic for advanced training that I found out that I had been switched to radio communications. That sucked. That was another reason I wanted to leave, because even after I discovered the switch had been made, I was not allowed to go back and do satellite communications. So eventually it came to that I was loathing my situation, then destined to work in a job that was no where close to what I wanted to do professionally and without many civilian applications.. I have changed my carreer path unalterably and do not see myself doing anything with satellite communications now, however. I have become a serious salesperson, with strong convictions that I can sell pretty much anything that I believe in. But retail sucks too, so I may be moving on. Specifically, I want a job that actually has benefits AND money, both of which I have never seemed to have received at the same time in any past job. The Army, for example, had by far the best benefits, with practically NOTHING for income (a mere $680 a month for E-1 paygrade). In the very beginning of the Army, I did learn to do nothing other than my absolute best. I entered weak and timmid. I left a strong and confident individual, capable of remaining independent and self reliant in any situation. I also learned to not expect to be comfortable. I am content in any situation (short of ones that could end in my demise). I am a lot less materialistic now as well. I think that I was so agressive to being my best because I felt it was my patriotic duty to do so. The way I figure it, if you enter the military, it is your JOB to do your best, as the country is depending on YOU. Whether it is how you perform under pressure or how well you can shoot your rifle, maximizing your skills ensures that you will have the maximum positive impact on the battle field. This principle has remained in my character out of habbit now. I don't do my best out of patriotism now, but because the impact I have on the world in general depends directly on where I will end up, good or bad. The behaviors I got used to in the military are now habit, affecting my proffesions. I am thankful for my military experience because of that. I plan to retire at a decent job with decent benefits and not really necessarily worry about what the job actually is, but rather realize that the job is NOT my life, but simply sustains it. The better I do, the better I will be. Some people like people whom LIVE for their jobs. I am not that kind of person. Rather I live my life for my art...all of my arts. The occupation I have that sustains my life merely does only that. Because of this personal philosophy, I could work practically anywhere and be content. Why I was not content in the military is only due to the nature of my entry being supposedly on MY terms, with my CHOICE of what I would be doing; and of course NOT getting what I had requested. In the end, I have learned not to ask for too much from my employers. Rather I find that by simply doing my best, I am recognized, and then I receive my rewards as they come, benefits and all. |
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| 122 Signal BN, 2nd Infantry Div. |
| View from inside my Humvee in a convoy in Korea. |