Quick question for you guys.......................Donald Trump thinks that people who are smart, DON'T join the military. He recently said this...............
According to eyewitnesses, after a White House briefing given by the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford, Trump turned to aides and said, “That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?”
Now, I don't know why others joined the military, but for a poor country boy from Montana, joining the US Navy seemed like my best shot for seeing places I would never be able to see otherwise. I've been to 26 different countries, and 49 different states, only missing Alaska. Granted, nobody ever got rich serving in the military, as the pay isn't really all that great. As an E-6 over 20 years of service, I only cleared 36,000 my last year of active duty. And, my last tour, I ran the Navy office for Amarillo MEPS, my boss was all the way down in San Antonio. If I was to do the same job in the civilian community, I would have been earning 120,000 to 150,000/year, maybe even more.
Does this make me "stupid" or "not smart" for spending over 20 years of my life in the Navy? Personally? I think it was one of the better decisions I ever made. Not only did I get to see a whole bunch of really cool stuff, but I now have a pension and health care for the rest of my natural, no matter what. And, having an income you can depend on is pretty important right now. Not everyone has the security that I do.