Brooks Demmer
How I Project My Military Experience Will Prepare Me For My Career
In order to understand where we begin, it's important to know where we want to end up. I've always had respect for the discipline and life of a soldier, but my motivation to join the army began as a young boy. I would listen to my grandfather tell me stories from World War II. Just like so many of the veterans of his time, he was hesitant in telling stories of his experiences to my family members. After a few cocktails, though, he would sit down with me and my other cousins and tell us all about what he had gone through. Most of the time, it would end in him tearing up and saying good night to us before he could finish. However, sometimes he would be able to stay with us and tell us more. Although he was an uneducated man, hardly a sixth grade education, I respected the discipline and will he had portrayed. The death of his father when he was only 12 challenged his resolve at an early age.
Times have changed a lot in the military since he was in it. It's a different warfare, different customs and different technology. There are still the same deep roots that make the Army what it has always been. Perhaps the greatest change from his time is the implementation of a volunteer army, as well as all of its programs available to soldiers. There's training available for almost any profession a young soldier wants to pursue. The three most influential ways the army will prepare me for my career are through training and education, leadership experience and psychological fortitude.
One of my ambitions has always been to be involved in military and foreign intelligence and affairs. There are numerous programs available for soldiers or contractors but most require a higher level of education. The military allows me to pursue my ambitions through tuition assistance and scholarships. As long as one has the will and desire to succeed, the military will aid that person to continue their success. An important skill which aid soldiers in all areas is proficiency in a foreign language. A foreign language can also carry over to the civilian sector if I choose to give up my commission later in my career. Another example of civilian transferable training is the training which soldiers must go through to be qualified in the military. If I serve in Military Intelligence, the intelligence courses taught to me allow a transition to a job with intelligence in the civilian sector. The training given by the military is second to none and allows as much success as a person puts into it.
One skill that is valuable wherever you work is the ability to lead others. This is a skill that cannot be taught, it must be experienced. Most civilian jobs are unable to give this experience until later on in their careers. Unlike civilian jobs, the military requires you to have the training and experience needed to lead others. For example, in order for a Lieutenant to become eligible for promotion they must spend no less than 12 months as a platoon leader. As a platoon leader, they are in charge of up to 30 other individuals. However, this is not the usual leadership civilians think of. Platoon leaders are responsible for anything from their soldier's room tidiness to how their bills are getting paid. Not only do you learn how to take care of your subordinates, but also how to take care of a family.
Lastly, psychological fortitude is a skill the military teaches you. However, I've come to realize that it is more of an awakening or a self awareness than a skill acquired. I grew up like most people that it is everyone's right to get a certain amount of personal time and sleep. I could have never seen myself getting up at four in the morning on four hours sleep 3 days out of the week. These are the things we take for granted in our daily routines. We possess so much potential and so many opportunities compared to the rest of the world, but all we need is a little 'nudge' to help us realize it. For me, the military is this nudge. It essentially all comes down to relativity. Ask me to get up at 3:30 in the morning on 2 hours sleep, run 4 miles, eat lunch in 5 minutes, do over 200 push-ups, sit in a room for 4 hours with 100 other soldiers and not talk with 100 lbs of equipment strapped to me with my feet and knees together and then throw me out of a plane. Oh yeah . . . I volunteered to do this. Back on campus, when asked to complete a report, I sometimes can't help but laugh at the comparison.
In closing, my experiences have led me to believe that my opening statement in this paper to be false. I don't believe one needs to know where they want to end up in order for them to begin. In only our society can a successful internet guru own a basketball team, own a clothing line, make rap albums and own half of wall street. Our society is built on some hypothetical constructs called credibility and successes. The more successful you are, the more credibility you have, enabling us the freedoms to pursue other goals. Credibility has many forms; money, power, even more work. To believe what you want now is what you'll want later in life is a silly paradigm, yet our lives are built around this. The best we can do for ourselves to be best prepared for the changes later in life is to align our lives up with our values and succeed at the route in which we choose. The military educates, leads and expects success from those in it. These are the values from which I chose to serve the military.
