Posted on Mar 31, 2016
If there was anything different that you could have done throughout the course of your military career, what would that have been?
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Advice
Career Advice
What Would You Do
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 36
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SSG Derrick L. Lewis MBA, C-HRM not specifically in my career but it did affect it. I would have won my war over obesity sooner and joined earlier. I was obese all my life and couldn't make the weight, finally at 31 I joined. I'm pretty sure that if I joined at least 7 years earlier, I would be a SSG by now. So now I have to wait and make SGT at the age where pretty much everyone is SSG or SFC.
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SSG Derrick L. Lewis MBA, C-HRM
SGT(P) (Join to see) ,
No worries, and most certainly nothing to be regretful about. You overcame your challenge and were able to do what you wanted, that being serve your country. That gesture alone speaks volumes with regards to your passion and determination Do not worry about age, as it does not serve as a defining gauge of one's mindset or maturity for that matter. Stay focused on your goal and may you successfully achieve it. Thanks for sharing.
No worries, and most certainly nothing to be regretful about. You overcame your challenge and were able to do what you wanted, that being serve your country. That gesture alone speaks volumes with regards to your passion and determination Do not worry about age, as it does not serve as a defining gauge of one's mindset or maturity for that matter. Stay focused on your goal and may you successfully achieve it. Thanks for sharing.
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SPC Bob Tolford
I'm 59 years old brother. It would be nice to be in your situation. Stick with it, you'll get there.
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Not have put off finishing the college courses needed and earning my bachelors until after I was already eligible for retirement. Probably the difference between retiring an E7 instead of E8. My advice to young NCO's it to use the resources available and get your degree early on. Requires sacrifices in your time between the Army mission and family, but is key to your advancement. I see you have already earned civ ed credentials, congrats. That will definitely help you in your career path.
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SSG Derrick L. Lewis MBA, C-HRM
SFC J Fullerton ,
Spot on self-reflection and advice for future recruits! Thanks for sharing.
Spot on self-reflection and advice for future recruits! Thanks for sharing.
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SFC J Fullerton
Those that join the Army straight out of high school and re-enlist are already at a competitive disadvantage to the "fast trackers" who enlisted after college and come in as an E3 or E4. Makes it all that more important to earn college credits early and often for promotion points for E5 and E6, and have a degree earned by the time you are eligible for the E7 board. Can't stop there either, because then you need advanced degrees to be competitive for E8 and E9. Some of your peers will already have that all out of the way because of what they accomplished before they even enlisted, and the hard work they put in early in their career.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Same here. When I earned a Bachelors degree on active duty while at Ft. Bragg as a buck Sergeant, the change in the way officers and senior NCOs interacted with me was amazing. I had to sacrifice a lot of leisure time and sleep, but it was worth it in the end.
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