The most of military skills in normal everyday life outside the military are absolutely worth of zero.

Instead of that in normal life useful learned things like self-confidence, patience, maybe better social skills, leadership, learn to enjoy even little joys of life such as good food, enough rest, free time, sleeping in the bed and so on. Also learn the way to stay in good condition is very usefull too.

What has military given to you?

Discipline, integrity, drive, leadership ability, self esteem, judgement , loyalty, decision making skills. I could go on.

I say the military had gave me all of the same. Also, I have truly learned to be more grateful and thankful off all the things and people I have in my life. My family, friends, and husband. I used to take everything for granted and now I'm thankful of everything and one I have in my life.

When I walked into the recruiter's office in 1962, I had what clothes were on me and a pair of shoes that had seen better days. My choice was the service or the highway. At 17, my old man put me on a Greyhound for Ft. Polk and I never looked back. I finished High School in the Army and learned how to get along on my own. Good grub, warm bed, and more clothes than I had ever seen in one place. My parents couldn't support me any longer but the Army could, simple as that. I would have made a career out of the Army if I had stayed single. The GI bill sent me to College and I took as much electronics engineering possible. Now, I make an obscene salary but, down deep, miss the service.

The way I look at it is I went in with nothing and came out with something.

Originally Posted by Missileer

The way I look at it is I went in with nothing and came out with something.

I've only been in the Forces for 4 months, and I'm starting to feel that way too. There's a lot of things I learned in my 6 years as a Cadet, but none of it compares to some of the stuff I've learned here in the past few months. Leadership, teamwork, social skills, and even language skills are all things that I'm learning here and will greatly appreciate later on in life.

Originally Posted by NCdt Steliga

I've only been in the Forces for 4 months, and I'm starting to feel that way too. There's a lot of things I learned in my 6 years as a Cadet, but none of it compares to some of the stuff I've learned here in the past few months. Leadership, teamwork, social skills, and even language skills are all things that I'm learning here and will greatly appreciate later on in life.

You don't have to be a lad from the backwaters of deep East Texas to fare better from military experience. The knowledge and experiences that you receive will be helpful to you the rest of your life. This is a unique education that you can't get anywhere else. And remember, even the bad experiences will be a crucial part of your skills learned. Good Luck.

In the British army they use mainly the same qualifications that civvy street does...i.e BTEC in Joinery/Management etc...

there are so many that your bound to come out of the army with a trade and many qualifications....that with all the everyday experience you get makes the army the best school there is

Originally Posted by 03USMC

Discipline, integrity, drive, leadership ability, self esteem, judgement , loyalty, decision making skills. I could go on.

Exactly. There is so much that the military has done for me that it would take to long to list it all.

Originally Posted by beardo

In the British army they use mainly the same qualifications that civvy street does...i.e BTEC in Joinery/Management etc...

there are so many that your bound to come out of the army with a trade and many qualifications....that with all the everyday experience you get makes the army the best school there is

We have the same thing here in Finland too, with cadet school which is very much equivalent of a university degree. Even the courses are the same, for example educational sciences belong to the cadet school curriculum. Most of our flag carrier Finnairs pilots are former airforce officers who decided to resign because they get better pay in the civilian sector. The number of trained pilots resigning actually got so large that the Air Force had to raise wages and adopt a commission style system which makes it a lot more difficult to just change jobs.

But OTHO while ex-personnel used to be very popular in good jobs such as bank managers et cetera, they are not so anymore. The reason is that some of them tend to have the same manners as before and forget they're not in the army anymore.

But back on topic. My time in the army gave me some medals and a gilded bottle opener made from a 12.7 NSV cartridge.

Actually my time in the army tought me to love nature and I value that highly. I spent a bit over a third of my time in field excersises and even now I like to go to the woods camping or fishing. It also gave me friends who share these values. It also gave me a good work ethic.