joining the national guard

Ok, I'm upset right now, I need to vent a bit.

A very good friend of my son is considering signing up for asshole's world domination program and we are trying to talk him out of it.

He's 23 and jobless and sorta homeless. His fiance dumped him etc etc
He thinks joining the guard will at least give him a job and a place to stay. Arrgghhhh...

He had moved to Chicago at the insistence of his gal, had a job there a car and so on. His car died, the gal decided she didn't want him anymore and he couldn't afford Chicago (didn't like it anyway) So he moved back to MI. His parent live in an itty bitty town and have a couch for him to sleep on and little kids running around. But all his friends are here in our small but not itty bitty town and with gas prices can't afford to run out there to get him very often. It's about a half hour drive. So basically he has been sleeping over at friends houses (ours mainly) a few nights here a couple nights there.

Forgive the run on sentences, I'm ranting. Anyway, he says doesn't like "mooching" off people, cant get a job if he might not be able to stay in town, can't get a place to stay without a job and so on....

So now he thinks the guard is the answer. I don't own the place I live and the owner refuses to let him rent a room here. every time he says but what if I get a job and then the people I'm staying with can't let me stay anymore. And I keep saying things like "will you still have all your limbs? will you still have a face? will you still be alive?

Gah I'm furious right now. I Hate Bush.

take advantage of the confusion, jump into an evacuee shelter, and get a taste of how the Bushies really deal with the little people, and he'll find out how cheaply lives are dispatched in today's military, no matter what branch. Let him talk to some real guardsmen, ask 'em about pointing guns at US citizens and other salient points.
Using the military as refuge is an old solution for some people who aren't cutting it among civilian society, but I don't think the potential consequences of losing your life (or soul) at the behest of our government nowadays is any kind of fair trade.
I suppose if the boy wants to go, he'll go. For the time being, at least, free will is still largely legal in the US.

an evacuee shelter? WTF? He's in Michigan, did you think I meant Mississippi?

We do have some Katrina refugees in Michigan. I know they opened a base in Battle Creek.

Don't see that as an option for a bunch of reasons, first and foremost he would be taking up a spot meant for a real Katrina victim.

One of the reasons why so many young head off to the military is because of the lack of options. Giving them more will entice them to look somewhere else.

Maybe college or votech or something. He should be eligible for grants and other benefits.

I'm trying. He has no money, no job, no car, and various couches to sleep on, food from the generosity of friends.

He's a good kid, he's had jobs and home, but now suddenly finds himself pretty much homeless. He could move back in with his parents, but probably wouldn't be able to find a job in their small town or get a car and would be cut off from everyone else he knows. And even they only have a couch for him to sleep on now.

I told him that is a better option than the guard. He can't be with friends if he's in Iraq yeesh. He'd have a roof and food and more time to figure things out. Even continuing what he's doing now is better. He just sees the guard as a better more immediate solution. They are giving him the sales pitch yanno. 10,000 sign up and so on. Says not all guardsman end up in Iraq or dead or injured. It could work out ok. I told him yes and he could get hit by a truck tomorrow but that doesn't mean he should go jump in front of one.

I'm being dramatic, maybe I need to calm down a little :)

then here's advice from a vet who has experience with good and bad recruiters.

1)Tell him to pick a MOS (job)in the national guard that will do him the most good in the civilian sector. Computers, for example. The recruiters need bodies to send to Iraq and those will be combat jobs such as infantry or artillary. Those can get someone in basic training and working fulltime almost immediately. If he takes something that he can use in civilian life, he may have to wait, but it will be worth it.

2)Tell him that those bonuses come in payments and are not given in one lump sum. Many times they won't get them until they've been in a year. The military doesn't like to pay them out until they get some use out of the soldier. Also, tell him to ignore that big money. Money is only temporary.

For anyone who does not have two nickels to rub together, ten grand is a hell of a lot of money and it's a major enticement. He needs to ignore it and consider the long term.

We went through this with a friend of my daughter's. He plans on going active in the next month or two. I took him out to lunch a few weeks ago and gave him a good talk so at the very least he will be better informed.

The better informed this kid is, the better decisions he will make. At least you will know you did everything you could no matter what decision he makes. He is an adult and sometimes we just gotta step back as much as we hate it.

I wish you and him the best of luck.

for the advice and best wishes :)

I know he's an adult and gonna do whatever he decides to do, that's certainly his right. That doesn't mean I'm going to step back, I will have whatever input I can and maybe it will make a difference.

Apparently they have already talked about picking a MOS, whatever. But I have heard that they will tell you stuff like that and that you won't have to go to Iraq etc and then turn around and send you there anyway. They need cannon fodder. Once you sign on the dotted line.....

Not that all of the recruiters are like that I'm sure, but whoever he is talking to has already tried to convince him to sign up in Chicago because he can't sign up in Michigan due to he's a little overweight.
They said they can get around that and offered to provide transportation to get him down there since he has no car or gas money.

I will just try and help however I can. He is going to talk to his parents, maybe that will help. Picking a good MOS won't do him diddly squat in civilian life if he's dead or missing body parts. :)

I would suggest US Coast Guard. Pretty safe and respected.

sounds like an idea, I will suggest that and look into it.

Have a friend that went through the CG, good person (great sailor at the end of it) and his memories were positive. Here in NYC we see more of them, they definitely are respected (after all, there are defending our coast.)

And if he says he is A liberal and doesn't like them guys anyway ask him why Kerry's kids aren't joining up?

If he still wants to join after that forget it. You are wasting your breath. He will make a great pipeline guard.

Don

alternative.

------------------------------------------------------
Ditch Bu$h and save the Gulf: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

When he is 60 what will he say, many years from now??

Did he do what he wanted to do or what others thought he should?

He is fortunate; he has time to think things through and friends to support him while he does.

I went through that same process in the 60's (aka Nixon) and I am glad I was able to. Went back to college got a degree in business & now I am a CPA in Seattle. Semi retired from a big corp courtesy of dick head and shrub, I now spend most of my time working with small businesses and non-profits. It is so much more fun than working for Boeing.

Think of it; helping a church at the center of the universe(Fremont, WA) start up it's operations; helping a pathologist running a medical practice; a counselor to the clergy solve his tax problems; suggesting to a young unemployed individual that there is hope after bush.

This youngster (anyone under 35 is a youngster) has so many opportunities; including helping to rebuild America after * when those skills will really be needed.

In some ways I envy him just starting out with a whole world of opportunity awaiting. Don't wast your life on what you thought someone else wanted for you or on guilt. Take the risk; let your friend help...