As students prepare for their next step after high school and college graduation, I encourage them to seriously consider military service. I’m partial to the Army of course but exploring and comparing all the services will help find the best fit. The best ways to do that are by talking to recruiters and checking out each service’s website. Talk to recent veterans for their opinions while keeping in mind they all had different experiences both good and bad. If it’s a high school student that is looking into the military, the parent(s) should be involved in those discussions. College students would also be wise to include a parent or friend in any serious discussions to provide some objectivity.

So, what are some reasons people look into military service? People join the military for different reasons. They range from a desire to serve the nation, family traditions, education benefits, adventure, travel, job opportunities, training, and sometimes it’s just the best way to get out on one’s own or find steady employment.

It’s important to find the right match for one’s goals and motivation. Also, some personality and physical traits are better suited for certain services and jobs. Whatever job or career someone is looking for, I’m very certain there is a military counterpart to that civilian field. Picking up a trade skill in the military is a great first step to becoming an electrician or mechanic. I know the Army has a transition program for truck drivers getting ready to finish their service and work for the long haulers in the civilian sector. Computer operators and technicians in the military get all the same opportunities for specialized certifications needed to land well-paying related jobs in the civilian sector. If you want some excitement in artillery, missile defense, working on an aircraft carrier, defusing bombs, driving tanks, flying fighter jets, parachuting or sub-surface swimming to a target, boarding a boat off the US coast and interdicting drug or human traffickers, or shooting lots of weapons then the combat arms jobs in all of the services should scratch that itch. Whatever it is someone wants to do in life, there is a like job in the military.

Career in music? Auditioning for the military’s bands is as competitive as auditioning for a professional band gig or studio session musician. Military musicians can find themselves with Julliard-trained colleagues in a symphony or unit band. Someone can make an entire career as a musician in the Army or other services. A public affairs job in the military can lead to a professional journalism job or as a professional photographer after discharge.

Does that person aspire to be a doctor or lawyer? The services offer fully financed scholarship opportunities for medical school. In fact, the Army Reserve has a full-ride medical school program that sends the person to school and in return, service in the Army Reserve. The Army for sure has an Army-funded legal education program where they send someone to law school to become an Army lawyer. The other services likely have similar programs. Recruiters are the best source for current information on all these programs. Benefits and programs periodically change so it is imperative that one make an informed decision with the help of a recruiter. Don’t rely solely on the advice of someone that completed one of these “five or ten years ago.”

Someone may be interested in becoming a military officer. There are the service academies like West Point and Annapolis, ROTC programs in colleges across the country, and Officer Candidate School for those that are either already in the service or want to join for an OCS option. Recruiters, veterans’ services representatives in the colleges and universities, and service academy administrative offices have all the information needed to make the right decision.

Aside from “traveling to foreign countries, meeting new and interesting people, and killing them” as the old gallows humor goes, there are countless things that people get out of their service. Let’s address the elephant in the room first. Yes, there is a possibility that someone will join the military and go to a war zone. That is part of defending the nation and our values. Many people joined the military in the days following 9/11. They did the same following Pearl Harbor. I worked with an older crusty Army Special Forces Colonel years ago that was a Canadian citizen and moved to the US so he could join the Army and go to Vietnam. True story.

Here’s my own brief story. I joined the Army in 1983. Two of my uncles were in the military. One did a stint in the Navy and the other made a career of the Army. The latter taught ROTC to then-Cadet Colin Powell at the City University of New York. My father was a career NYPD police officer but exposed me to the military at a young age. I remember visiting West Point as a kid. I used to climb all over the cannons at Fort Hamilton when we lived in Brooklyn. Had he not become a policeman he probably would have served as “a frogman” as he often told me. A frogman back then was a Navy Underwater Demolitions Team member, today’s Navy SEALs. My grandfather and his brother were in the Army during WWII. The latter was shot down over Italy. So, military tradition in the family was always on my mind to some extent.

I was bored and tired of working at my job on Long Island. I was antsy about getting out on my own to figure out what to do with my life. I knew I didn’t want to stay put. A co-worker at a bar at which I worked the door was in ROTC and just commissioned as an intelligence officer. I also met a recruiter at a small gathering of friends. He just recruited a couple of people I knew. I met with a couple of recruiters for the first time around early 1982. I can’t recall the exact timing. I walked out with a stack of brochures and had serious thoughts about it. I told a close friend that I wanted to enlist, and I let him talk me out of it. A year later still working in a dead-end job, I walked back into that recruiting station to that same recruiter and said, “I’m ready to join.”

I signed up as an Interrogator in Military Intelligence. The Army gave me a $2000 signing bonus, repaid my student loans, and gave me education benefits for future use. Today some new recruits are receiving 10, 15, or even $20K bonuses. I’ve seen retention bonuses in the $100K range over the years for critical fields like pilots, sub-mariners, and Special Operations.

The Army sent me to the Foreign Language Institute in Monterey, CA to learn Serbo-Croatian. Then I went to the Interrogator course at Ft Huachuca, AZ. I reported to my first duty station at an intelligence unit in XVIII Airborne Corps at Ft Bragg, NC. After a short while, I decided I wanted to become an officer. The Army allowed me to go back to school and complete ROTC. I returned to the Army as a lieutenant. Over the years I earned a Master’s Degree in International Relations using my education benefits and another Master’s Degree in National Security Strategy when they sent me to the National War College.

I worked in a variety of positions over the years. I did a fellowship for a senior Member of Congress and accompanied my boss to an Iraq strategy discussion with VP Dick Cheney. While in a Joint Staff job in the Pentagon I had a meeting at the White House Old Executive Office Building with the Deputy National Security Advisor regarding the Palestinian Security Forces. I did strategic policy analysis on Israel for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and made periodic visits to Israel and the West Bank and wrote monthly reports on compliance of the Middle East Peace Process Roadmap for Secretary of State Rice. I commanded Soldiers at various levels and deployed to several combat and hostile fire zones.

Looking back, I enlisted as a Private First Class and retired 35 years later as a Brigadier General. Someone who goes from enlisted to general officer ranks is called “a mustang.” I’ve very proud of that moniker because there aren’t many of us around. I put a lot into the military and got a lot out of it. That’s what the recruiter in “Stripes” told Bill Murray and his sidekick when they joined the Army. You get back what you put in.

Less than 1% of the American population volunteers to serve in the military. That elite group projects American power across the globe. This is a noble profession. It’s no longer “join the Army or go to jail.” I encourage soon-to-be high school and college grads to keep this course of action on the table and at least explore the options.