Navy Recruitment

Continuing Education via Vacation Travel

So, the tour of duty is over, and you’re starting to itch a bit following a decent sized chunk of time spent reconnecting with family. Not that your family completely understands, but family time needs only last so long for military personnel, who are used to getting things done in a hurry. When you’re used to picking up and going on a dime, it can be hard to sit idle for any length of time. It’s especially hard to be still in a small town after seeing so much of the world. Reconnections made, it’s time to head to where the action is, and the best spots are in all the biggest cities, such as New York, Vegas, and Vancouver.

However, visiting military personnel might well be out of the loop in these cities, and without the benefit of a military base right in the heart of these metropolises, finding the place to be can be a challenge without an information resource such as Canada 411. New York for example, offers up five contemporary boroughs, and each has its own flavor. After being stationed in an Afghanistan desert for some time, the glitzy shopping and haute couture of Fifth Avenue might not have quite the appeal that designers hope to instill. But nearby, the Soho district brings a diversity that might be familiar to any international traveler. Bohemian and free spirited, the area creates a vibe that any returning soldier might well appreciate following residence near the dangers of battle torn areas.

But maybe it’s the darkness of the desert that’s gotten its claws into you. Then Vegas, based in familiar desert terrain, is the moving, bustling, well-lit capital of antithesis. With non-stop activity, the place hums at all hours, just like a military base! There’s always Vancouver, with its hipster flair and younger, less moneyed vibe. Go there and get re-schooled in cool.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Military base, New York

Showing Appreciation for Tough Job

For those families who are left to deal with a soldier who is off fighting for the freedom of the United States it is a full time job to keep the family running in their absence. There are several ways that others can help these military families make it through the absence of their loved ones. One great idea is to offer to help with some basics like shopping or babysitting. These are a big deal for a home that may have one parent away at war and another home trying to balance it all. This little bit of weight lifted from their shoulders can really make a big difference and help them manage everything from their emotions to the basics the family needs.

Another great way to help a family who is waiting for a soldier to come home from a war is taking the time to honor them by offering to cook a meal a week for their family or giving them the ability to take a time out and relax while you take them to a picnic for families who are waiting for a loved one. This is great way to get these families together and be able to support one another while expressing appreciation for all that you do every day to keep it all together for the soldier. You can even put together a mass play date for all of the children of families who have soldiers hard at work for the citizens.

Any bit of help that families of the military can get will go a long way to making their difficult wait a little less stressful. Knowing that they are being supported by the community is vital to helping them make it through the process.

Filed Under: Recruitment, Service Tagged With: Family, Soldier

Support for Military Families is Essential

For as long as anyone can remember citizens of the United States have been going off to war leaving behind their family members for an undetermined amount of time. The stress that comes with leaving ones family is incredible and the stress felt by the family being left behind is equally as enormous. To have no control over your loved one as they go off to war is overwhelming to say the least and then to be left manning the ship so to speak is a big job. For those families that are left behind to fight the battle of life at home there are some helping hands available. In each community there are a number of resources cropping up to help those who have to maneuver life on their own.

These resources offer to the families of the military everything from moral and emotional support to help with the basics of every day life from car pooling and getting the children where they need to go to finding a way to pay the bills that mount up. Being a military family member who is left to work and wait for their soldier to return can be a full time job. This means that they need some extra hands and a little extra moral support to get through the rough times. It is extremely stressful wondering if your loved one will return home or become a casualty of war. The family left behind has to be as tough as the soldier shipping out because they are going to be pushed to their limits with emotions and day to day life. Thankfully the resources are becoming more available for the many families left to cope while their soldier is off protecting the country.

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Military Tagged With: Family, Military

The Decision to Serve

It takes a special kind of person to want to enlist in the armed forces. While most of the world is content to simply think of the military as a group of people who are “out there” fighting in the latest war, those few people who are brave enough to actually do so are truly cut out of a different sort of material from the rest of us. After all, we have long since abandoned the idea of having a forced conscription, either out of the general civilian population or out of the prison population. So we have an entirely volunteer military, and every single one of them has made a conscious decision to serve in the armed forces.

But since the military is the armed forces instead of the armed “forced,” one has got to wonder what can motivate a person to want to serve in such a potentially dangerous occupation. Now granted, there is going to be some degree of danger in any kind of job that anyone is ever going to do. Every day we all face the prospect of being maimed or killed, often through some kind of a completely random event. In a situation like the military, however, one is often literally marching (if not actually charging) right into harm’s way. While it is definitely admirable to do things of this nature, one has got to wonder why.

Most people who go into the military are not crazy in the slightest. Rather, they have decided that, while they might end up dying in the line of fire, it is worth the risk in order to do something great in life. Often they have goals that will require more education later in life, and the military will often help them to pay for that education. And this is not even mentioning how the military teaches discipline and leadership skills. It has to, in order to bring its people back home safely.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Armed forces, Conscription

Hurrying up to Wait

It has been said that the typical method that the military uses is composed primarily of “hurrying up to wait.” And while this is often the case, a lot of people never really think about why that is. After all, being ready is all about being early, and that often entails charging both on the battlefield, and toward it as well. The military has been known to make a grand entrance for as long as their have been armies marching around. After all, a lot of the purpose of an army is to be seen, and to put forward the silent question of, “do you really want to mess with all of this?” Part of that is the level of energy which can only be shown off in this manner.

There is a certain need for any armed force to put on a strong presence. Nobody is going to respect an army that looks to be in any way weak or vulnerable. While everybody has vulnerabilities, showing them off is terrible. This is why military personnel often do not sleep very much. After all, the enemy could attack at any given moment. And for the very same reason, they veritably leap out of bed, throw on their fatigues, grab their weapon (or the tools of their trade) and get into the fray. And if the fray just happens to have not begun yet, that is fine. They can wait.

The entire notion of hurrying up to wait even extends into the notion that a military force can appear to be in many places at the same time, simply through hurrying up to get from one potential engagement zone to another one. This can do more than just stop an enemy in a force on force battle. It can actually also act to demoralize them into believing that they do not have any chance of defeating this force at all. This is a very good thing.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Army, Military

Military Care Packages—How to Assemble Them and What to Include

: Image by Luodanli via Flickr

If you have a loved one in the military, you know how important it is for them to receive things from home. One of the things they will enjoy most are care packages.

Many companies provide this service for those who wish to send care packages. Some companies have pre-packaged ones, with different types of food and entertainment items already included, while other companies actually let you pick and choose each individual item you want to put into the care packages.

The care packages are ready to mail. All you do is supply the information on where to send them and who the recipient is. Some companies offer care packages that are holiday-themed. They can give you information on when the packages should be ordered so that they can be shipped to arrive on or near the holiday.

If you simply can’t bear the thought of letting someone else make up your care packages however, you can make your own. All you need is a good strong box, some metal containers (like those that hold cookies, popcorn, or other things), and some packing and mailing supplies.

Before assembling your care packages, ask your soldier if there are certain items that you cannot send. This way you won’t have to worry about him or her receiving things that could be considered contraband, subversive, or offensive. Once you have this information, then you can start collecting your things to put in the care packages.

Food is always a popular item, but don’t forget that your soldier will enjoy other things in his care packages. These can include things like playing cards, handheld games, and books, magazines, or other reading material. Make sure you tuck a few pictures in there, too.

When you get ready to pack your care packages, put as much as you can in the metal containers. You may want to group similar items together in one container, or you can simply mix them up.

Filed Under: Military

Soldiers Don’t Sleep Much

Whoever saiid that war is hell was probably someone who expected to be able to go to war, and still be able to get a good night’s sleep out of the deal. Any person who expects to be able to fight to that extend, and be able to sleep a fully refreshing eight hours, must have been told a story by their recruiter. It is pretty obvious to any new person going into the military that sleep is a precious luxury that they can enjoy a whole lot more of after they have retired and gone home. For the time that they are on active duty, sleeping just does not happen to the extent that a human body ideally desires, which is probably among the reasons why the military tends to recruit young people who can shrug it off.

While burning the candle at both ends is not a very healthy practice, it is a whole lot healthier to be conditioned to the lack of sleep from months or years of training, than it is to suddenly have a lack of sleep thrust upon you. As someone once said, a person performs as they train. So the unfortunate soldier just has to grin and bear it when their eyelids want to droop, and when the constant cycle of “hurry up and wait” carries on for hours and hours.

Really, it is a very good thing that the military keeps a watchful (if a wary) eye on the world. After all, a sleeping military would find it very hard to protect anyone, let alone go on an aggressive campaign of conquest or a preemptive strike. Since being alert as much as possible is pretty much what the military is all about, hibernating is just not an option. After all, the enemy is probably doing the same thing, and watching to see whose eyes are going to droop first. And drooping can have some seriously dire consequences.

Filed Under: Military, Navy Tagged With: Soldiers

From Military to Law Enforcement: Educational Opportunities to Launch a Career

To advance your career, it is important to look at the skills you have learned as well as the ones you want to learn. Finding opportunities along the line of what you are capable of is sometimes the best way to go, but this can depend on many factors. Anyone in the military learns many skills that could be used in the criminal justice field, for example. A good route for them to take is to earn a criminal justice degree online, because so many of these skills can be used in law enforcement. Law enforcement and security career opportunities are growing and can provide for a lucrative stepping stone in your career.

Most people previously in the military have physical and mental abilities sought after by recruiters in the law enforcement industry. By earning a criminal justice degree online, you can land any number of jobs, and not just as a police officer. Many other security jobs become available such as those in airport security and even computer forensics. You can also become a body guard or work for a private security firm.

Being a former military employee combined with getting a criminal justice degree online not only strengthens the chances of finding a job, but the opportunities that are growing make it favorable as well. From 2008 to 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor predicts that law enforcement career opportunities will grow by 10 percent. Degrees are even more important if you want a job with a federal agency, but more companies are focusing on stricter education requirements.

Educational needs have to be met, but in this field, you also need to possess certain psychological, personal, and physical traits, which the majority of military personnel do. If you also earn a criminal justice degree online, then you have an open book of career opportunities in a growing industry.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Coming into force, Criminal justice, Employment, Law

The Military’s Relationship With Society

Some people would say that the officers of the military (whether they be commissioned or non-commissioned) are the finest people in a society. After all, they have taken an oath that they will do whatever it takes to defend the world in which we live (our country, our culture and our very way of life), up to and including giving their very lives for the purpose of something which is greater than themselves. That is a pretty good argument for the notion that military folks are a special breed. And the fact that they keep themselves in good shape and are constantly striving to improve how well they can do their jobs (through acquiring new training, pushing themselves in their workouts and studying both the history or warfare and the tactics which win battles), they make their own argument for being pretty awesome on a daily basis.

The average military person gets up at roughly five in the morning, almost every day. At that point, they go through a good waking up workout, which is often followed by putting in some time on the rifle range, going through an obstacle course, and doing some boxing or wrestling with one of their buddies. If not for the fact that these people might get called up to go give their lives at any given moment, it would almost sound like being a professional athlete.

But it goes deeper than that. While the individual soldier is just another person who pushes him or herself beyond the normal level, the military itself (which is composed of millions of such individuals) is a human wall in our society. Their purpose is to keep people who would harm society out of it, and keep enemies who would like to come and hurt us occupied in the cause of defending themselves in a far off place. That is an interesting relationship to have with the rest of society, and it works well.

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Military Tagged With: Military

Tactics Used in Military Recruitment

Since America is currently at war, enlistment numbers are down for all branches of the military. It’s very hard to convince people, particularly high school students, that it is worth risking their lives to enlist in the military. Military recruiters use a number of strategies and tactics to try to convince people to join their ranks.

Military recruiters aim to make themselves part of a high school’s community. If they are trusted by the faculty and the students, they are more likely to be able to convince students that they are truly looking out for their best interests in convincing them to join the military. They do this by becoming friends with class leaders, such as athletes, student council members, and class officers. They also become friends with the faculty so that they may participate in more school activities.

Another part of military recruitment is playing up the positive aspects of the military. When recruiting in small towns, recruiters may tell students about all of the countries they can see as an enlisted member. It’s an extremely appealing prospect to someone who has never left their hometown. As the cost of college climbs, the tuition payment aspect of the military is used more and more as a selling point. The military will pay up to $250 per credit hour; students that dread student loans may listen to a recruiter if they talk about tuition reimbursement.

Recruiters also play on the heartstrings of students and potential service members. By talking about America and what an honor it is to serve their country, they inspire patriotic feelings in students and subtly encourage them to make the same dedication to their country.

As recruiters continue to miss their recruiting goals, high school students across the country can expect to see more aggressive recruitment tactics in use.

Filed Under: Military, Recruitment Tagged With: Military Recruitment