As the mom of a daughter who DID enlist in the Army as a 17 yo with a GPA of 3.8 and PLENTY of scholarships, I can tell you what has happened over the past 4 years for her.
First, the recruiter was pretty straight up with her...it was an 8 year commitment. She enlisted in the Reserves because she knew that she wanted to finish her degree. She decided against ROTC and wanted to go through basic training as soon as possible. She left 1 week after her 18th birthday and was gone a total of 9 months to complete basic training and AIT (job training). She came home and started back at college using Army tuition assistance, GI bill and other scholarships. She was able to get her own little apartment not too far from us and loved it. Although basic training and AIT were very difficult (she is an intelligence analyst), she came out with a top secret/SCI clearance and job skills that could have gotten her into a high paying job immediately if she had decided to do that.
During the next 2 years she did several short stints of active duty for schools, short missions, etc and saved enough money to buy herself a house by the time she was 20.
In February of 2009 she was mobilized and deployed to Iraq and just returned a couple of months ago. Yes, it was difficult for all of us, but we got through it. She was able to save quite a bit of money and has even more GI bill benefits. She has matured in ways that you cannot imagine. She is back at college, finishing her senior year, is now engaged (not a military person) and has made quite a life for herself...and she isn't 23 years old yet!!
She has 3 years left on her contract and will not re-enlist because she will be starting her family by that time. But she said if she had to do it all again she wouldn't have done anything different. If your daughter is interested in talking with mine, PM me and we'll get them together.
First, the recruiter was pretty straight up with her...it was an 8 year commitment. She enlisted in the Reserves because she knew that she wanted to finish her degree. She decided against ROTC and wanted to go through basic training as soon as possible. She left 1 week after her 18th birthday and was gone a total of 9 months to complete basic training and AIT (job training). She came home and started back at college using Army tuition assistance, GI bill and other scholarships. She was able to get her own little apartment not too far from us and loved it. Although basic training and AIT were very difficult (she is an intelligence analyst), she came out with a top secret/SCI clearance and job skills that could have gotten her into a high paying job immediately if she had decided to do that.
During the next 2 years she did several short stints of active duty for schools, short missions, etc and saved enough money to buy herself a house by the time she was 20.
In February of 2009 she was mobilized and deployed to Iraq and just returned a couple of months ago. Yes, it was difficult for all of us, but we got through it. She was able to save quite a bit of money and has even more GI bill benefits. She has matured in ways that you cannot imagine. She is back at college, finishing her senior year, is now engaged (not a military person) and has made quite a life for herself...and she isn't 23 years old yet!!
She has 3 years left on her contract and will not re-enlist because she will be starting her family by that time. But she said if she had to do it all again she wouldn't have done anything different. If your daughter is interested in talking with mine, PM me and we'll get them together.
