| First of all, a little about me. I joined the U.S. Army Reserves in April 1999. I was a junior in high school, so did basic in summer and and AIT the following summer. I was an 88M10 aka truck driver. I hauled JP8 (Jet Fuel aka high grade desiel). I Did my weekends/2 weeks a year. Then in Feb 2003, we where deployed to Kuwait. A few days after the beginning of war, 4 days later to be exact, we were hauling jet fuel into a combat zone, 100 miles into Iraq. Not fun. We later moved to Iraq, spend the next 8 months hauling fuel around the Baghdad area, then came home in Dec. I saw no action, only a couple bombs ahead or behind me. Now I am in the IRR (Inactive Ready Reserves). I don't drill but I can be called up if needed.
Ok now that you know my perspective(sp?), here are my thoughts. Do you want to? I wanted to experience, to prove to myself and others that I could. I didn't really do it for school money like some think. There are other ways to pay for school. Make sure you want to do this. Have clear reasons.
This is from my limited point of view. I was only in one Reserve unit, others will be different. The Army can be horrible, many people are idiots, some are great. You can't choose who you work with. That is why I left, my unit swapped the platoons and put me with idiots. That left me to either go to another unit or get out. Prepare for this. If you hate everyone in your first unit, you may regret ever joining. Your unit, be it company, platoon, or even squad, is what will ultimately make your stay in the Army either great or horrible. If it is horrible, but you still want to give more of a try, try to get transfered. If your leadership doesn't look out for you, you could be in trouble.
Also, you never what the H4 is going on. Never. No mater how much you prepare for something, it will not happen the way you expected, ever.
One thing I have heard for others is that the Air Force treats it soldiers nice than the Army. The Army, at least from the soldiers standpoint, does not care about you. The Air Force supposedly does. I don't know. Again, I would say your unit is the most important thing.
In the end, you get out of it what you put into it. If you work hard, do you best, etc, you will be rewarded. At least in the military, they are very formal about promotions and rewards and other good stuff. Everyone starts at the same level and everyone has the same chances. There should be difference with you are white, black, asian, hispanic, or anything else. Male and female don't matter (execpt females are allowed in certain MOS's I think, again not my normal area of working). No one can really complain about anything they military throws at you. We all joined of our own free will (Except for the few left who were drafted. I know one) Everything before the military does not matter! All that matters is what you do once in the military.
In the end, it is up to you. you have any specific questions please ask.
If this helps, I am glad. If not, I am sorry. If you want you can email me at jcshimek AT mn DOT rr DOT commericial tld.
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