Deciding my future, help needed

[reluhcs]

Alright, by now most of you probably know me. I'm a fifteen year old sophmore who's interested in SOF's. I want to be one of the best,[whatever that might be] but I definently don't want a career in the military. My dad currently owns a million dollar bussines that he has been extremely succesfull at. The plan is for me and my brother to continue the family bussines with him when we come of age[sadly, my dad is totally for the war effort but apposed to the idea of his sons in the military, infact he wanted me to join the SEALs over the Marines because of the low death rate in the Teams]. I definently want to honor my dad and get married and start a family and live the American dream, but I plan on spending some time in military SOF to mature me and prepare me for the responsibilities that I will face in life. Besides, I would feel like I was being run the whole time if I gave up what I wanted and did what someone else had ideas about. I figure the max that I'll spend in service is ten years so that means I'll be roughly 28 when I'm out. My problem now is finding the right SOF for someone who doesn't want a career. I know the big-boy units[Special Forces, SEALs, Delta] usually have their members for 15-20 years, but for my plans that is far to long. If my plans work as follows the I'll be able to serve my country on the battlefield, and serve my country in another area: defending against the broke, wellfare mentality that is running rampant in this country, I'm a firm believer that this country doesn't need any more broke people. I believe that anyone who is willing to do the work to serve his country in the military and serve his country in building a business in the free enterprise system that we have is worth honoring, I plan to do both. Any SOF operators[former or current] are welcomed to post anything that you feel will be usefull. I really need to know if the Teams are a good choice for someone who not in for the long haul. By the way, is there much combat time gauranteed in the Teams? I wouldn't want to do all that training and not get some bullet time. Anyone with info feel free to post but take note: No foolish talk please, I want to be in strict accordance with the mods new policy about saving this sight from mediocrity and making sure that the forums are used only for information.[Anyone who wants to crack some jokes or fool around please feel free to PM me]

[thatguy2695]

"I know the big-boy units[Special Forces, SEALs, Delta] usually have their members for 15-20 years"

minimum enlistment for SEALs is 5 years

[reluhcs]

So what, that's just their enlistment statement, most of them re-up anyways. I simply just want to make sure that I won't be leaving in the middle of the fun if I ditch in the first 8-10 years.

[thatguy2695]

o ok just making sure you didn't think you were locked in. Well this is out of my scope of Knowledge.

[reluhcs]

Anyother's with info? [SOF operators maybe]

[infantry_scout]

I'm not a SOF operator, but you are not REQUIRED to serve any longer than you're minimum enlistment. To me it sounds like you are worried that you will get to the end of your enlistment, and want to re-enlist, because you love it, and don't want to "leave in the middle of the fun."

So I would say, make it through training, spend your 5 years, then if you are having to talk yourself out of re-enlisting, then maybe you want to keep doing it enough, that it is more important than being a millionare. There is more to life, and more to the American dream than being rich. Figure out what is most important to you.

[bigv123]

This answer to your question(s) is complex. First and foremost, you need to make sure that joining the military in general is what YOU want...and that you want it for the right reasons. This is exasperated when you throw on top of that the added complexities of ANY SF training. There's an excellent video posted of a former SEAL giving a speech to a civilian SEAL wannabe training class. Watch it. Understand it. The theme he describes applies to ALL SF endeavors, not just SEALs. After you sit down and have that long, drawn-out conversation with yourself, if you decide that SF is really what you want to do for the foreseeable future, great.

Now then, the military, and any SF unit, doesn't require you to devote 20+ years to prove your commitment. That's what's called a non sequitur...Latin for "it doesn't follow that...". People change, the circumstances around their lives change. And, the military understands that they can't always provide the right opportunities for everyone. This is one of the reasons why enlistment contracts have a fixed duration. What the military DOES require is that for the time you sing up for, that you're 100% committed. Serve your time and do the very best job you can while in the military. For some people it's only a single enlistment of 4 years...others make it their life's work and put in 30+. Don't think for a second that just because you know going in that you're not going to be a lifer that you're any less of a contributer. Your contribution will be defined every single day you put on that uniform and do your job.

As far as which SF unit to join, only you can make that decision. Make sure you understand the role each of the SF units fills. And, they DO have very specific roles. SEALs tend to operate in smaller groups than most every other SF unit. Rangers lead the way by taking down larger targets that require more than a squad or two (airports for example). Green Berets spend a lot of time training foreign units and partisans. I'm obviously just scratching the surface of the operational capabilities of these units. I suggest you read, read, and then read some more. This general information isn't classified and you'll be able to find many answers...perhaps even a few that you didn't yet have questions for...

V

[scskowron]

I forget the exact number, but a very significant number of former Navy SEALs have gone on to graduate from Harvard Graduate School of Business and become successful businessmen. I suppose you could have the best of both worlds.
If you're Dad has a serious problem with going into combat, you could consider a less combat-oriented position like Coast Guard Swimmers or Navy SAR perhaps. Those are some tough guys. But of course, it's ultimately your decision.

[KentuckyBoy]

Hay, I'm not in the navy or anything but if I'm not mistaken I think my father (who was in the navy) told me that the maximum amount of time that you can be held in (during war time) is 21 years. Is this true for the seals as well or is that just other branches?

[YoungerPope]

Reluhcs - You're 15. Have you ever heard anyone say "The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry"? Your plans could be very different by the time you're old enough to enlist. If you're serious about wanting to go into business for the long haul, then go to college before you enlist. Seriously though, you're too young to worry about that stuff right now. I used to try to plan things way out in advance like you're doing and my life is already so far off that path it's ridiculous.

[reluhcs]

I made my descision a long time ago, and I will follow through. I used to think that the Marines was what I wanted, but after a while I suddenly realized that I was being called SOF. While my dad always tries to talk me out of it, but I have a feeling that in the end he would support and be proud of me. Yes, SOF's is right for me, if it is the only thing that I get out of this life besides serving my God, then so be it, I'm here to offer whatever this nation asks of me.

[thatguy2695]

Hooyah bro, I've been praying on this a lot and I feel like it is what I was made to do. Just don't let anything get in the way of your dream and like everyone says but we'll never listen don't think to far ahead. Go at life one "evolution" at a time and the military will come.

[mmaakuma]

Study hard, participate in school activities like sports, work out and train. As you approach junior year, then you can decide whether to attend college, enlist, or just work straight out of high school.

Don't close any doors by having too low a GPA or not graduating, scoring too low on the ASVAB, not having a qualifying PST score, and so on.

[mmaakuma]

What I mean don't focus on the short-term by focusing on what you're going to do 20 years from now. If you don't work at it NOW, then that future is not going to be available to you 20 years down the road.

For example...

Why worry about how long you're going to serve as a SEAL if you don't work on PT enough to make it as a SEAL?

Why worry about operating a business when you should be focusing on doing well in high school?

Baby steps.