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[Karma13612]

17. For those who are already MOSTLY well adjusted at 18, or who are mentally and physically

Not strong enuf for a confrontational in-your-face rough-and-tough bootcamp experience, I think you would need some sort of alternative.

Trust me when I say that I would not have survived a year of bootcamp military training. I am a pacifist who was ‘trained’ by daily and summer chores. A strict up-bringing by a male parent who had been in the Army. A female mom who was the exact opposite. I needed life experience and would have benefited from a gap-year (that’s what they call it in England at least). Instead, I embarked on a college path that saw me try 3 different majors over 6 years. Eventually graduating as a pharmacist. I only practiced for 10 years. Then I started a life-long search for what I really enjoyed doing.

So, I made bad, naive career choices very early on. But, I would have failed a militarized, combative, training style experience and that would have made me feel more like a failure the rest of my life. I remember some hard-ass gym teachers in grade school who belittled me about my weight. They didn’t realize the home family dynamic or they wouldn’t have berated me.

Nope, not everyone can be shoved into molds and expected to shine. I am aware that women in some foreign countries are expected to do military service as well. I don’t agree with that. If a woman wants to join, and train, and serve, that is fine. My opinion is that there should be much more visible presence of Foreign service recruitment efforts in educational institutions for those of us who are curious and want to be involved, but only know about the options of weapons and strict military physically demanding body-focused combat roles.

I grew up in a small, conservative area of the country. I had very little influence from the outside world so was clueless about options when I graduated from HS. I needed a gap year most definitely. But, the military would have been a huge mistake.