Looking back, did your views of the world change after your service?

2017-05-08T18:37:29-04:00

Whether they changed dramatically or not at all, share what happened for you.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 8 at 2017 6:41 PM

2017-05-08T18:41:32-04:00

It's not my military service, alone, that has changed my view on the world.

Response by LT Brad McInnis made May 8 at 2017 7:37 PM

2017-05-08T19:37:52-04:00

They didn't really change, but I can tell you that building a basic school building for a poor village in Costa Rica and seeing their incredibly grateful faces (plus the huge meal they cooked for us) certainly made me re-adjust how I saw just how blessed we are here. It made me more sympathetic/empathetic to others.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 8 at 2017 7:51 PM

2017-05-08T19:51:40-04:00

SN Vivien Roman-Hampton Most Definitely, One thing to Listen to Talking Heads on the Boob Tube a Whole Nother thing to have the NSA, CIA, DIA Intelligence Brief as You Daily Paper. One thing to Read the Tour Guide a Whole Nother Thing to go Traipsing Around Yakota, Yokosuka, Singapore, Hong Kong, Phuket, Dubai, Manama, Philippines. One thing for someone to give Me their Opinion about Iran it was a Whole Nother thing to sit for 2 months Twice 20 Miles off the Coast Listening to Everything they did. Always liked the Nature, Travel, Science shows on TV. After being a Mt Pinatubo Survivor, Next Time I want to be Farther Away than 25 Miles.

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made May 8 at 2017 8:29 PM

2017-05-08T20:29:39-04:00

Innocence lost is the best way I can explain it,coming from an insular Northeastern neighborhood and being suddenly and sometimes violently exposed to different cultures and ways of life was in fact eye opening,I think that I learned more of the human condition in the three years of my Service than all of the 71 years I've been on the planet.

Response by COL Charles Williams made May 8 at 2017 10:52 PM

2017-05-08T22:52:27-04:00

Yes they did SN Vivien Roman-Hampton !!! Once I traveled the world, I learned to appreciate all that is great in this country, and that there is no place I would rather be. On the down side, my service caused me to become very cautious of many different groups....

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2017 9:49 AM

2017-05-09T09:49:04-04:00

Naivety definitely gave way to cynicism..

Response by MSG Brad Sand made May 9 at 2017 10:51 AM

2017-05-09T10:51:18-04:00

For sure...but those changes could also be tied to growing older and having a family as well?

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2017 10:51 AM

2017-05-09T10:51:53-04:00

My views definitely changed. For the better and the worse. For the first time I saw real evil in people. It made what I was doing take meaning. Those people can't be "loved" into peace. We can't airdrop puppies and change their hearts. And "tolerance" (as preached by the media) won't do it either. The world is just better off without some people in it. On the other hand, I saw no matter where I went that most people want the same basic things. They want to live in peace and watch their children grow up. Having the "stuff" that we as Americans have is nice, but it by no means makes people happy. Peace and family. If you have that, there's not much else you need. But as with most things in life, we have 10% of the people screwing all that up for the other 90%. So ipso facto, we have a military.

Response by MSgt James Mullis made May 10 at 2017 11:48 AM

2017-05-10T11:48:43-04:00

As a 18 year old going off to basic training, I had just graduated from High School, so I knew everything, or at least had a good basic understanding of all the important things. Of course I was completely wrong, although I did know enough not to volunteer for anything when asked by a TI. What the Military did for me was shape my experiences while becoming an adult. The hard part was coming to understand just how different those experiences were from someone who went to college and became an officer or from someone who never served at all.

I've heard it said that every time you are exposed to a part of the world you didn't previously know or understand, it changes who you are...your opinions...your beliefs, your misconceptions and often you aren't even unaware of the changes. I gained a love for talking to people who have different beliefs than I do or who grew up in a different part of the country or a different part of the world. Everyone I meet has an amazingly different perspective than I do. That's why I regularly read newspapers from other parts of the world.

I would say that the biggest revelation I've had during my military and civilian careers is the sure fact that there is more than material, money, and food in the world to properly clothe, house, and feed everyone on the planet. However, there are also truly evil people in this world and even worse is the sure knowledge that "everyone" has that ability to perform evil acts within them. I have no doubt that if I had grown up in post World War 1 Germany, I would have fought on the side of the Nazi's (and so would almost everyone else in this forum). I've also learned that tribalism in all its forms will ultimately result in more evil than good, that some people can't be helped despite your best wishes, to not to let bullies get away with it, and finally to be grateful for what I have...today.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made May 10 at 2017 12:21 PM

2017-05-10T12:21:31-04:00

Transitioning into the private employment sector changed my view of the world some, but the underlying foundation of a Christian world view only grew stronger.

Private sector employment is almost always a temporary situation. The days of lifetime employment with a single employer are pretty much gone in the USA. I worked in the IT and consulting business. Our jobs were linked to projects and the projects to contracts. When the contract ended, employees were assigned to other projects to the extent that was possible. If an employee didn't have the needed skills and knowledge for a current project, then they might be kept "on the bench" against future work for a month or less and then laid off. I overcame this pattern by being valuable to my company. I successfully grew the business area I was in by helping to win additional contracts. I learned project management and gained PMP certification, making be more desirable and assignable. All of this helped me work for the same company for 16 years and to leave on my terms. I did keep my resume up-to-date and worked at networking through professional societies and personal relationships. I think I had a good reputation as a PM in my sector of industry and probably could have found work fairly quickly if I had been laid off--came close a few times.

Public sector employment can be a permanent situation. After 16 years in the private sector, I joined the public sector as an Army Civilian. What a change! Everything you hear good and bad about government civilians is true. Most Army Civilians are hard working, honest employees doing their best to accomplish the mission every day. They do tend to come to work and go home on time. They know the job and work will be there tomorrow. You develop a longer-term view of things than your military counterparts because their employment lives aren't prescribed by a 2, 3, or 4-year assignment. Civil Service and Union protections make it very difficult to fire a government employee. It can be done, but it takes a pile of paperwork and about a year. This is very different from private sector employment. Some Army Civilians know and exploit the rules, but most just do their job every day. They expect an annual increase in pay if Congress and DoD allow one. They also get longevity pay increases (Steps) regardless of performance. Bonuses do exist. Some employees believe they are entitled to bonuses and promotions just because they have survived longest in a job or department. They will complain to everybody, officially and unofficially, if their expectations aren't fulfilled. This was a revelation to me after working in the private sector where raises and bonuses were based on performance, but similar to the military (same funding source--Congress).

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made May 12 at 2017 12:24 PM

2017-05-12T12:24:49-04:00

Honestly, I wish more people had the opportunity to travel the world, to experience different lands, cultures and people. The more you travel, the differences start to fade and you realize that no matter what side of the wall or ocean or border someone is from, we're all just people. No better or worse than any other people.... I think a lot of the fear mongering in this country would be far less effective if people managed to turn off their TV's and get on a plane/ship... If nothing else nationalism/jingoism would be far less common, I think...