If I had to join a service (and I’m just plain too old at this point, anyway), it’d probably be the Coast Guard. Their primary mission is saving lives. One issue is that they’re also an arm in the War on Drugs, and that’s where shooting might actually come into play. Other issue is how they handle refugees. That said, you can still feel better about their work than the regular military.
Many, if not most “regular military” jobs in Western armed forces don’t involve front line combat and getting shot at or shooting at people. Less than 10%.
Now obviously, you look at Ukraine and think “Well that’s a lot bigger than 10%,” and it probably is. But any country with a large air force, navy, and sizeable ground forces are gonna have thousands of people trained to load weapons onto planes, manage ship engines, cook, drive supply trucks, load cargo planes, cook, manage payroll, manage procurement of equipment, fly drones, cook, run propaganda and recruitment, operate medical facilities… the list goes on.
I had an ex whose brother was going to med school to be a surgeon for the Navy. Her father, who was an Army pilot, thought it was great because he knew his son was just gonna be (relatively) safe on a carrier or hospital ship somewhere, not getting shot at, and just saving lives.
Coast Guard is offering $65k for anyone who wants to cook.
It’s honestly a pretty miserable job, but you’re not getting shot at, sooooo…
If I had to join a service (and I’m just plain too old at this point, anyway), it’d probably be the Coast Guard. Their primary mission is saving lives. One issue is that they’re also an arm in the War on Drugs, and that’s where shooting might actually come into play. Other issue is how they handle refugees. That said, you can still feel better about their work than the regular military.
Many, if not most “regular military” jobs in Western armed forces don’t involve front line combat and getting shot at or shooting at people. Less than 10%.
Now obviously, you look at Ukraine and think “Well that’s a lot bigger than 10%,” and it probably is. But any country with a large air force, navy, and sizeable ground forces are gonna have thousands of people trained to load weapons onto planes, manage ship engines, cook, drive supply trucks, load cargo planes, cook, manage payroll, manage procurement of equipment, fly drones, cook, run propaganda and recruitment, operate medical facilities… the list goes on.
I had an ex whose brother was going to med school to be a surgeon for the Navy. Her father, who was an Army pilot, thought it was great because he knew his son was just gonna be (relatively) safe on a carrier or hospital ship somewhere, not getting shot at, and just saving lives.
I used to game with a former Coastie, he said roughly the same thing.
Same GI Bill, same pension system, and you get to actually do shit most of the time you’re in.
Service industry for an especially entitled clientele? Fuck off. That’s not nearly enough money.
I worked for a coast guard contractor many many years ago. It also wasnt a great job but was kinda nice knowing that I might help save lives someday.