[ICTHUS]

...something else I believe is that we should approach the Word of God with a certain degree of holy fear - something which I've lacked in this thread.

Jeff, I posted something before this, but you won't get to read it. It probably contains truth, but it also contains way, way too much arrogant pride for my liking.

I really don't know enough to defend my beliefs just yet, although that conviction is developing. And God's purpose for someone's life does not depend on my attempts at holy heroics or lack thereof. And we should not presume to use the Word of God flippantly or lightly.

However, Josiah, what I would like you to take away from this is the fact that Christ demonstrated on the Cross that he would rather die for his enemies than that they should perish. That one simple truth is enough to cement my conscience against the killing of another, whether it be in the service to Caesar or anyone else. It is not merely a 'distaste' for the military - it is a conviction. I hope it is enough to similarly cement yours.

I'm not bowing out because I'm ceding defeat on the issue. I'm bowing out because I don't think I can defend my convictions just yet, and because I see way too much pride in my heart.

I'm out. Peace to you all.

[MtlMom]

Let's get back to the original post. If anyone else has experience with the Peace Corp or military, please share with the OP.

[DaGeek]

Originally Posted by j0s1ah

Greetings.
I've been considering a few options after I graduate from college (May 2010). The options are listed in the title of this post. They are both means to ends, and ends in themselves. I'll explain. Both provide (in different ways and to different degrees) 2-4 years of work experience, monetary compensation, resume-building, international travel, and payment (at least partial) for further study (graduate school). They are also both things that I've been wanting to do for a while: service (cranked up a few notches, in my opinion, from e.g. community service at a thrift store), foreign immersion, the honor of serving as an officer in the military, etc.

Recently stumbled upon the "National Call to Service Program" which allows part of a military commitment to be satisfied via PC volunteering (Summary of National Call to Service Program - (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)). Pretty neat.

So yeah, just trying to pick some of your brains on the issues. Any experience in either one? What about graduate school payment?

I'd eventually like to get into international humanitarian work (I'm thinking from working with the UN, paid PC positions, orphanages, etc.), and plan on pursuing a graduate degree in either/or/all business, public policy, law, or divinity. My interests are just too broad, haha. But honestly, things change over the period of seven days, much less four years. So I have some broad goals and am trying to narrow down between these two steps which the wisest/most fulfilling decision.

Thanks for any insight.

I've only been in the Army (National Guard) about six months, but I can already say it's one of the best things I've done. Not only do I get the pride of being ready if my country needs me, but I get a heap of benefits in return, such as a steady paycheck, a lot of college funds, some great experiences, and a fantastic and loyal group of friends.

Graduate school payments: Your G.I. Bill that you pay into (unless you opt out, which I really highly advise you don't) in your service will cover a LOT of graduate school. When my dad got out of the Army, he went to Grad school and had, if I'm not mistaken, all of his tuition (or most) covered, plus some good checks to allow us to live while he was working on his Masters. He was in for twelve years, so I'm not sure how much it'll be after four, but rest assured that you'll have, at the very least, a darn-good chunk to put toward grad school.

Now, I feel it necessary to warn you that, no matter where you try to go or what you try to do, you always run the risk of being deployed, killed, etc. I get the feeling you already know this, however, so I won't drill that in too much. However, if you should join the Army, realize that pretty much everybody I went to Basic with (Graduated in late May) will be going overseas within six months, with the exception of maybe a small handful of people. My company had over two hundred people. So we get deployed a lot. I'm not sure about what it's like in the other branches, and I haven't actually had a deployment yet myself, but that's the Army. Don't join the Army without expectation of deployment.

Overall, though, so far the military, while it has some definite downright-sucky parts, has been a great thing for me. It's helped give me confidence in myself, my abilities, and a good plan for the future. Almost every veteran I know would tell you it was a good thing to do (whether or not they'd re-enlist again if they could . Some would, others wouldn't --- Won't hide that from you). If you're interested in what benefits you can get, sites like GoArmy.com and the equivalents for the other branches will be good resources for you .

[OiBoyz]

To the original question... I don't have experience being in either military or peace corps. Both have good points and bad points. But my initial reaction to your question is that if your intent is to go into humanitarian type work, then go ahead and start in the Peace Corps. If your intent is not to be a career military person, then you're really just "putting in time" until you get to do what you want to do.

I don't think the military is bad, or immoral, but it may be a waste of time if you can get experience and monetary needs met going the humanitarian way to start with. May God bless whichever decision you make.

And shame on you people who are willing to reap the rewards of what our military personnel have lived, fought and died for. You are pretty free expressing your opinions for people who aren't willing to at least be grateful to those who provided you the freedom to express yourself. My nephew died in Iraq. He was a Christian, he never killed anyone (in fact died trying to save his buddies) and believed at the cost of his life in protecting you. I'm very proud of him. He was, and is, and honorable man.

[OiBoyz]

Originally Posted by DaGeek

There's nothing wrong with joining the military for four years as a means to doing something else. Not to say anything's wrong with the Peace Corps at all (heck, it's a great thing to do, too, I'm sure!), of course, just stating the other side.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to do military first, even as a means to an end with no thought of a military career. My point was that if the Peace Corps thing will get the OP training and monetary support while at the same time gets him/her (sorry I don't know which) headed immediately to the humanitarian thing, then it seems like a no brainer to me.

My only concern in the OP's first post was involvement with the UN which certainly seems to me to be as political and military as any group out there. I'm much more comfortable with the Peace Corps as a humanitarian entity than the UN. But maybe that's just my uninformed opinion.

I would rather go without the rights than kill for them.

And yet you don't have to. Thank those who were willing to provide all the blessings you are willing to use, but not defend for others. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us whether we want to admit it or not.

[beanbag]

Originally Posted by j0s1ah

Both options offer amazing venues for different types of service, experience, and educational benefits-- all of which I am hoping to include in my next "season" of life, God-willing. That program I mentioned in my first post has been appealing to me a little more over the past few days, you can basically serve a 4 or 5 year commitment divided up between the military and the PC. Sounds dandy!

I am curious about the program you mentioned. is it through the military? I am very interested in the peace corps myself (I'm taking baby steps by doing americorps this year) and somewhere in the eligibility page on the peace corps site there is a statement that former military personnel cannot serve in the peace corps for at least 10 years after the completion of their service. I assume the program is, therefore, through the military and you would do the peace corps part first?

I have not been in the military myself, but I have had family members and acquaintances who have been. my uncle joined the air force, and has always been a fine and upstanding man. I know one guy who joined the marines and one who joined the army, and both have ruined their lives. I really think that you should consider military service very carefully. it helped my uncle develop his talents further (he worked in art and graphic design in the air force) and refined his character, but it caused those two other guys I know to fall into drugs, alcohol and womanizing. one of them has been in jail multiple times on dui violation convictions. it's certainly not a decision to make lightly.

I think what it boils down to is whether you want to be a peacemaker or a warrior. I am not going to put my own thoughts/opinions on either of those roles in this thread (you are certainly welcome to pm me and ask if you are curious, though) but I believe that this is the difference between the military and the peace corps, that one is service as a warrior and the other is service as a peacemaker. both are difficult and demanding roles, and will require different sacrifices of you.

if you're interested in humanitarianism (is that even a word?) my advice would be to join the peace corps. the peace corps is much more focused on humanitarian issues than the military. the issues the military seems to address are things like immediate human rights violations and threats that concern our own country. the peace corps is primarily interested in clean water and farming and AIDS education, and has a wider scope within humanitarianism (I'm just going to use it) than the military.

have you considered visiting a career counselor?

[MtlMom]

I just went through and deleted all the irrelevant and/or inappropriate posts since the last redirect. I don't want to close this thread, because the OP is asking something very reasonable - for advice and feedback from people in the military - not for everyone's opinion of the military.

Suggestion: someone might consider starting a thread to debate the morality of war/serving in the military. That will give you all a place to vent without hijacking the OP's thread.

Edit: closed due to continued off-topic posts.

To the OP: you might consider PM'ing the guys who posted who are in the military (TahoeJeff and DaGeek) for more information.