Grew up in Hawaii. Stationed only in San Diego and Hawaii and a few extended TDY to Pensacola, Va Beach, and Newport RI.
I would not say I had a good experience in the military. Got sent to iraq as a medic for 10 months in 2008. Was a terrible experience. Came home and graduated college and the economy was in the dump.
I foolishly stayed longer after that because the money was good (I became an officer) and the economy was so bad in 2010. I grew to resent the military for all the stuff it put me through by the time I retired.
The military has some great benefits though. But experiences vary wildly. Some people ride a desk their entire career and never deploy. Some people deploy constantly. Its all a roll of the dice.
Regardless of your experiences, thanks for your civic piety and patriotism.Did Sept 2004 - Sept 2009 as an infantryman with deployments to both vacation destinations.
Took me a solid three years to even get close to being a functional human being after getting out. Even that was only after I had a total mental breakdown and moved back in with my parents. Plenty of guys I deployed with didn't have the luxury of stable parents who'd stick things out for their kid. More than a few ended up on oxy, in prison, etc. I think about the 8 or 9 year mark was when I let go of a lot of stuff and now don't really think about my time in very often at all.
God I hate politicians, the brass/flag officers and the MIC.