Join Army or drive a truck?

[sbatson]

Well I always get the most help from this website and I have a problem, I have decided to either join the Army, dont know if ill go active or reserves, or go drive a truck get some experience and see where it takes me. A little background, I'm 30 years old married with two kids I have always wanted to join but never did and the same with driving a truck and I have been tossing this Army idea around for almost 2 years now and I know it would be a good future but I dont know if I would stay in for 20 or not. What do you guys think?

[century451]

Join the Army, better pay and benefits.

[Stainless]

If you want to risk your life at work everyday and spend endless nights away from home then join the army....at least you get to blow things up.

[thriver]

If you want to risk your life at work everyday and spend endless nights away from home then go OTR....but you won't get to blow things up.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

well atleast with trucking if you find you don't like it after 6 months and want to quit you're free to do so . :wink: ... And lets face it the reality of it is driving a truck is no where near the danger of being shipped over seas and having a bullys eye on your head every day .

[TomB985]

Remember...if you drive a truck for 10 years and decide you should have joined the army...you'll be too old by then...

If you join the army....well....you're almost never too old to drive a truck!

I was in the army for 4 years...it often sucked, but the pay and benefits were great, and I most definitely learned more about life during those four years than I had in the previous 20! I spent time in Afghanistan, but not Iraq...and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything!

It was a great experience for me...but like everything else in this world...it is what you make of it!

[sbatson]

See that was the other thing is being stuck into something that I dont know untill I'm in and that worries me, like you said if I didnt like driving a truck just quit and go on to something else.

[Rokk]

Driving truck is one thing, any monkey can be trained to drive a truck. and yes if you dont like it, you can quit.

as for the army, thats not something you should be asking advice on in a public forum, your married, with children, thats something you should be asking and talking over with your wife. as it directly affects your family. it only fair to say, yeah trucking and employment should be a family descision as well.

but the way things are right now, joining the service is a life/death gamble. me personally, i wont sacrifice myself for oil. i wont have a target on my back just because i am american. i wont let some whop take me out because of their messed up ideals. I want to go out for better reasons than that. especially if i have a wife and kids at home.

these are personal choices you have to make at this stage, there is not one trucker here going to be able to offer you great advice, because this s something you really need to take up with your wife and kids.

Trucking you get to come home every couple weeks. Iraq, Its safe to say, you just might never come home again.

just my two cents. i was married, took 17 years but i learned alot about not thinking about only myself.

also, if you really think you have to blow something up... go out on the farm and blow up a beaver damn. if you dont have one, let me know, we got a couple around here i will gladly let you have a hand at. maybe that will get it out of your system.

[ohiomohawk]

Driving truck is one thing, any monkey can be trained to drive a truck. and yes if you dont like it, you can quit.

as for the army, thats not something you should be asking advice on in a public forum, your married, with children, thats something you should be asking and talking over with your wife. as it directly affects your family. it only fair to say, yeah trucking and employment should be a family descision as well.

but the way things are right now, joining the service is a life/death gamble. me personally, i wont sacrifice myself for oil. i wont have a target on my back just because i am american. i wont let some whop take me out because of their messed up ideals. I want to go out for better reasons than that. especially if i have a wife and kids at home.

these are personal choices you have to make at this stage, there is not one trucker here going to be able to offer you great advice, because this s something you really need to take up with your wife and kids.

Trucking you get to come home every couple weeks. Iraq, Its safe to say, you just might never come home again.

just my two cents. i was married, took 17 years but i learned alot about not thinking about only myself.

also, if you really think you have to blow something up... go out on the farm and blow up a beaver damn. if you dont have one, let me know, we got a couple around here i will gladly let you have a hand at. maybe that will get it out of your system.

yeah, ^^^what he said :wink:

[Colts Fan]

Join the Army, better pay and benefits.

Active duty soldiers don't get paid squat.

Sbatson, it sounds like you have a hard time making decisions. Join the Army? At age 30 with 2 kids? That is something you do out of high school to learn a skill and return to the private sector after you have fulfilled your service obligations.

me personally, i wont sacrifice myself for oil. i wont have a target on my back just because i am american. i wont let some whop take me out because of their messed up ideals.

I find this comment offensive, especially to those who have lost loved ones who are over there defending our freedom and way of life.

[Rokk]

Join the Army, better pay and benefits.

Active duty soldiers don't get paid squat.

Sbatson, it sounds like you have a hard time making decisions. Join the Army? At age 30 with 2 kids? That is something you do out of high school to learn a skill and return to the private sector after you have fulfilled your service obligations.

me personally, i wont sacrifice myself for oil. i wont have a target on my back just because i am american. i wont let some whop take me out because of their messed up ideals.

I find this comment offensive, especially to those who have lost loved ones who are over there defending our freedom and way of life.

you can be offended all you want, i did my time in the military when i was 17 and 4 years afterward. i spent it over seas and all as well. they chose to be there, most of them chose to risk it by signing up to get money for college, it was a roll of the dice for them. as it is for the rest of us.
yes our service members are to be commended, but for you to take my words as offense is your opinion. they chose it, they rolled the dice. i have had the option to re- up and go over myself. i choose not too. as an american born and bred, i reserve that right. as well as my first amendment right of free speech. perhaps it is I that should be offended. however i am not that shallow of a person. my family, my children my life. oil dont mean that much to me. and thats my fnal answer. in a nutshell, i dont much care if i offend you or anyone elses family that has loved ones over there. no one runs my life, and i will not succumb to "peer pressure" to die for oil and radicalism.

have a nice day.

[ohiomohawk]

t;]me personally, i wont sacrifice myself for oil. i wont have a target on my back just because i am american. i wont let some whop take me out because of their messed up ideals.

I find this comment offensive, especially to those who have lost loved ones who are over there defending our freedom and way of life.[/quote]

I dont think it was meant to offend. You can support the troops 100% but disagree with the cause of war.

[Colts Fan]

Join the Army, better pay and benefits.

Active duty soldiers don't get paid squat.

Sbatson, it sounds like you have a hard time making decisions. Join the Army? At age 30 with 2 kids? That is something you do out of high school to learn a skill and return to the private sector after you have fulfilled your service obligations.

me personally, i wont sacrifice myself for oil. i wont have a target on my back just because i am american. i wont let some whop take me out because of their messed up ideals.

I find this comment offensive, especially to those who have lost loved ones who are over there defending our freedom and way of life.

you can be offended all you want, i did my time in the military when i was 17 and 4 years afterward. i spent it over seas and all as well. they chose to be there, most of them chose to risk it by signing up to get money for college, it was a roll of the dice for them. as it is for the rest of us.
yes our service members are to be commended, but for you to take my words as offense is your opinion. they chose it, they rolled the dice. i have had the option to re- up and go over myself. i choose not too. as an american born and bred, i reserve that right. as well as my first amendment right of free speech. perhaps it is I that should be offended. however i am not that shallow of a person. my family, my children my life. oil dont mean that much to me. and thats my fnal answer. in a nutshell, i dont much care if i offend you or anyone elses family that has loved ones over there. no one runs my life, and i will not succumb to "peer pressure" to die for oil and radicalism.

have a nice day.

LOL!!! That shook you up pretty good. I was expressing my opinion on your offensive, unpatriotic comment. If you can't handle it, then tough $h*t. I was merely exercising my first amendment right. By the way, if oil doesn't mean that much to you, then your job must not either.

[Rokk]

of course it was not meant to offend, its my view. i am entitled to my view. everyone wants to hate our president bush for starting a war. but everyone sure wants to get offended when ever someone chooses not to join in the battle and lose their life.

i was giving the original poster my own personal advice on his situation.

[Rokk]

[quote="Colts Fan
LOL!!! That shook you up pretty good. I was expressing my opinion on your offensive, unpatriotic comment. If you can't handle it, then tough $h*t. I was merely exercising my first amendment right. By the way, if oil doesn't mean that much to you, then your job must not either.[/quote]


spoken like a true steering wheel holder. as for my job, you can have it if you like. i am going fishing

[YoungZ.W.]

Colt's fan has the same attitude as his role model on here. He is the know it all of trucking !! He likes to starts wars on here so just ignore him. He couldn't hack it OTR so now he is just bitter with himself and tries to make himself feel better about by starting problems with others.

[Rokk]

Colt's fan has the same attitude as his role model on here. He is the know it all of trucking !! He likes to starts wars on here so just ignore him. He couldn't hack it OTR so now he is just bitter with himself and tries to make himself feel better about by starting problems with others.

ahh shucks, that guy, ok gotcha. thanks YZW.

[mikey4069]

You can train for jobs that dont put combat. By the way i have friend over there right now he works on the trucks and such and only been shot at once . Hes been there over 6 months. Its over more than oil. They been trying to kill us before iraq remember 9/11 Its kill or be killed

[TimberWolf]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the last information I was given is that Iraq and it's people had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks on our country. in fact our country is responsible for putting Iraq's former leader in office... hmmmm.. The only thing this war has done is to make more Islamic people look at Americans as war mongors and yes over the last few years Alquida has now moved in on Iraq and caused civil unrest across the country, at least Sadam had the people under control, Martial control but none the less control, These people have lived this life style for 1000's of years it is an eye for an eye life style no real justice of any kind just quick judgement and punishment right away, and our president has deemed them a threat to our way of living. Iraq is no more of a threat to our life style then Vietnam was. America is a strong country but who are we to tell others how to run their countries, smell likes the revoluntionary war all over again just reversed...War sucks plain and simple nobody wins in the end, just my two American cents given to me by the 1st admendment.

SBatson since your so gung ho on wanting to start vigilante mob and go kill people you have deemed unfit then maybe Iraq could be good for you..... but with children in your life I could tell you how it felt as an 7 year old to see my father leave for Vietnam, he gave 28 years of service to our country. 3 years in the navy WW2 and 25 to the Army. he left for Vietnam on July 4th 1969 Our mother took us to Heritage Square in Golden, CO to watch fireworks that night, at 7 years old it was like any other day. The day he came home I was at school on the playground and my teacher came running out to me crying and told me he was coming home I could not understand why she was crying so hard while I was happy to just get out of school early, 21 years later it hit me like a rock when I saw families being seperated for operation dessert storm and to this day I thank God for bringing my father home, so many children are unable to say that and it truly sucks......
It Is What It Is......

Timberwolf

[Colts Fan]

Colt's fan has the same attitude as his role model on here. He is the know it all of trucking !! He likes to starts wars on here so just ignore him. He couldn't hack it OTR so now he is just bitter with himself and tries to make himself feel better about by starting problems with others.

ahh shucks, that guy, ok gotcha. thanks YZW.

Oh, Young Z.W. Your 3rd grade education comes to light with every post. You can't handle the fact that I am home every night and make more money than many experienced OTR drivers.

Woe is you.