Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

chrisseaton.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 608 posts

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#221

Post by LanceH »

photochemsyn wrote: post #196
dawsmik wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is some incorrect information in this post. I know people who have completed their Bachelors and Masters completely funded by the GI Bill, including living expenses. In the experience of the people I know, the VA goes out of their way to give benefits as needed. One case, in particular, they were granted 100% disability for life with a packet submission and one phone call.

The details matter. A lot of people sign up for a two-year active duty contract (it's an eight-year contract in all though, you're in the reserves afterwards). That only gives 70-80% of the benefit (which only runs for a max of 36 months, not a full four years). You're also restricted to in-state public schools, no private (Ivy League etc.) or out-of-home-state schools. Most of the military people I talked to at my l…

The GI Bill is not at all limited to in state public schools.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#222

Post by dugmartin »

foldr wrote: post #59
jmyeet wrote: post #14

So one of the things I like about Tiktok is you get exposed to something you normally wouldn't and it can be fascinating. One example of this I had an Air Force recruiter pop up on my fyp. This is obviously US-centric (as opposed to the article, which is the UK) but here are some things I've learned: 1. The difference between Reserve and Guard? Reserve is Federal, Guard is State (this was news to me); 2. Signing up f…

>You also get medical and dental insurance. This reminds me of a point Michael Moore made in Sicko – that Americans are generally fine with government spending if it's directed at the military. As he put it, America could probably have a national health service as long as the doctors and nurses wore camo.

IIRC, Bill O'Reilly wrote about this idea while he was getting his MPA from Harvard. Create a universal national health service run by the Surgeon General where all the doctors wore military uniforms. This would radically reduce any big government scare messaging from financial conservatives.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#223

Post by starwind »

photochemsyn wrote: post #131

The most important thing to realize about military service is that you sign away all your citizenship rights (free speech, etc.) when you sign up for the service. Hopefully you won't be used in ridiculous debacles like the 2003 Iraq Invasion, based on lies about WMDs pushed by Washington (and see British role as well), but you'll have no say in the matter. The other thing to realize is that, at least in the USA, they…

> they'll do everything they can to deny you medical benefits for injuries suffered in basic training

I know of a guy who got run over by a speeding MP during Basic and had his leg broken in like 3 places. The guy who got run over got a medical discharge, and now gets a full pension and Tricare

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#224

Post by uoaei »

dogman144 wrote: post #85
micromacrofoot wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you call something a positive and then immediately call it a tragedy? that's not a positive at all!

I will never view military service as a bad thing in totality. Locally evaluated, it's a good option. Putting aside the more heady concepts of public service and sacrifice, it is one of the last remaining conduits to change your stars and "make a man/woman/adult out of you," *although it is certainly not without faults and has certainly caused horrible experiences for people who served*. It is an imperfect organizati…

> Locally evaluated, it's a good option.

Locally evaluated, it's a rational option. But I think you're going to lose a lot of people by framing it as "good". Rational decisions are not always good ones, and vice versa.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#225

Post by gadders »

sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

>> My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders

I heard Petraeus (I think) on a podcast and he said the biggest misconception by civilians about the military is you can just order people to do things, and the biggest misconception by the military about the private sector is you can just sack people.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#226

Post by jriot »

photochemsyn wrote: post #131

The most important thing to realize about military service is that you sign away all your citizenship rights (free speech, etc.) when you sign up for the service. Hopefully you won't be used in ridiculous debacles like the 2003 Iraq Invasion, based on lies about WMDs pushed by Washington (and see British role as well), but you'll have no say in the matter. The other thing to realize is that, at least in the USA, they…

I served in the military for 11 years as an air traffic controller; 95% military jobs are non-combat related. Moreover, the military does more than fight wars, we launched aircraft to aid Indonesia after the tsunami hit them, Haiti after the earthquake hit them, Antartica for scientific research, etc... Additionally, the military completely paid for my bachelors and two masters degrees and I am now employed as a data scientist for a cyber-security company. I still have GI Bill benefits if I want to pursue further eduction.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#227

Post by Tacos4me »

photochemsyn wrote: post #131

The most important thing to realize about military service is that you sign away all your citizenship rights (free speech, etc.) when you sign up for the service. Hopefully you won't be used in ridiculous debacles like the 2003 Iraq Invasion, based on lies about WMDs pushed by Washington (and see British role as well), but you'll have no say in the matter. The other thing to realize is that, at least in the USA, they…

There is so much misinformation in this post is appalling. Plenty of responses have pointed out some but I will just say this: I know several people that have received masters degrees while serving

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#228

Post by adewinter »

pphysch wrote: post #143
adewinter wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might be naive but doesn't make the statement any less accurate or true. Some people have a strong belief, and faith, in democracy and democratic leaders. To the point that they'd join up and go fight if called upon. It's not for everyone but that's ok in a democratic society. Implying that people who do believe in the system are stupid or "lesser," is perhaps something you should consider not doing.

It does make the statement less true, because it is evidently not based in reality. In actually-existing 21st-century "democracies", the people do not choose who gets bombed. Those choices are made by unelected officials in the MIC and rationalized by think tanks and communications firms funded by the same MIC. > Implying that people who do believe in the system are stupid or "lesser," is perhaps something you should…

Hey fella, you're the one moving goal posts here.

First you say it was "used by the executive branch to dictate any military operation"... ie the executive branch are the ones calling the shots. Now all of a sudden it's "unelected officials in the MIC" who are choosing who gets bombed. So which is it? The author clearly believes elected officials are in charge and he trusts them. Emphasis here on "believes".

I'm not here to make a judgement on whether the article author's *beliefs* are correct or based in reality as defined by you. It's pretty straightforward to see how the author came to his conclusions (described in parent replies in this thread), when you begin with his starting assumptions. Clearly you disagree with those (e.g. whether democracy exists and whether it's worth signing up/fighting/dying for), but that's a real boring conversation.

Also, fail to see how it's "strawmanning" when I'm pointing out your name-calling the author "naive," and how it's not great.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#229

Post by baud147258 »

giantg2 wrote: post #92
sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

"My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for feedback, and subordinates dutifully carry out those orders. None of those is true. There is a time to "shut up and color" but that is by far the exception." Based on my limited knowledge, I think it's highly dependent on the leaders in the unit. I have a friend who always dreamed of being an nava…

> an XO overrode a maintenance officer in order to bark orders that work needed to be done in a way that was contrary to documented procedures and resulted in loss of life (in training no less)

did the XO suffer any consequences from this?

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#230

Post by iostream24 »

freedomben wrote: post #117
oaxacaoaxaca wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>None of that is true. All of that is true about my Army experience lol. If I could go back and do it again, I'd definitely choose Air Force. I agree that the military can be a positive experience and it's a good idea for some people, but the caveat with my endorsement is that you gotta carefully choose the branch and the job. I almost chose linguistics, but for some silly reason chose mechanic and paratrooper, and w…

> you gotta carefully choose the branch and the job yes absolutely. I'd even say "the job" is the most important part. There are Army jobs that are pretty good, and there are Air Force jobs that are pretty bad.

Yes, MOS is key…
Post reply on HN