Xequecal wrote:
Diamondeye wrote:
Xequecal wrote:
I'm sorry, I'm really having a hard time grasping that you need to do nothing but work when you're not sleeping to provide yourself a future. That's a horribly bleak outlook on the world. The federal workweek is 40 hours, the majority of the populace gets by on something close to that. Hell I'm lucky if I can GET 40 hours a week of work, the only way I'd get 70 is if I offered to do 30 for free.
You're apparently not grasping the difference between "getting by" and "having a future". You don't have to work 90 hours a week to have a future, but it is one avenue.
When I was deployed, my normal weekly schedule was 80-100 hours per week. That, of course, ignores the possibility of a mortar attack or some **** at any time.
Yes, this is why I would recommend against anyone joining the armed forces. That "12 hours on, 12 hours off" schedule is absolutely brutal. You realize you were probably making less than minimum wage, right?
Not even close, unless you're going to count pay by all 24 hours in a day for the entire deployment, which is silly because A) you're not working all 24 hours and B) who cares? Minimum hourly wage sucks in the U.S. because you're trying to get by on 8 hours a day, 5 days a week of it. The amount I'm making
per week still vastly exceeds what a minimum wage person could make in a work week.
In my case, I'm a senior Captain so my pay is pretty high to begin with. There's also hazard pay of various types on top of all this, and no income taxes.
Yes, 12/12 is brutal, but its only for a year, there's nothing else really to do (well there is, but you can only watch so many movies, play so much softball, etc.) and there's not a lot to spend money on. You sleep free, eat free, and if you're not a dumbass spending all your money on snacks, video games, extra gear that isn't issued to you and you don't really need anyhow, or buying a motorcycle or a car you come home with an assload of money in the bank, plus a nice little form you can add to any future job application - especially any government job - saying you're a combat veteran. All this plus whatever nice skills you learned from your MOS.
Really, don't be ridiculous. 12/12 is a reason not to join the military? It's only like that in the field and in combat. Please, don't sign up. We don't need more whiners.