Cime's adventures in Armyland

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Cimeries
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Cime's adventures in Armyland

Post by Cimeries »

I've been asking pretty much everyone I know, I figure I might as well ask here too.

As you may or may not know, I live in Israel and over here everyone* is drafted into the army after they finish high school (men serve 3 years, non-combatant women serve 2).

*Everyone in theory, not in practice, but that's internal politics so I won't get into that.

I have not actually started my service yet, instead I opted to continue studying for 1.5 years and earn a Practical Engineer's degree in my field, mechanics, specializing in flight systems, before being drafted into the army.

Now that I've almost completed my degree, I have the option to transfer to a "Practical Engineer to BSc" program for 3 years, and become a full Engineer before I even start my military service.

The pros are basically this:
- If I pursue a BSc after the army, I would need to re-learn a lot of material. Right now it's still fresh in my head and I still have the "brains" for it. If I finish the BSc now, I probably would never have to study anything again in my entire life, since I don't see myself pursuing a master's degree later anyway.
- I am instantly promoted to a Technical Officer (rank of Sergeant Major) when I am finally drafted. It usually takes at least 3 years to get to that rank anyway. I don't want a military career beyond my compulsory service, so the main advantage here is that I skip all the unpleasant stuff the army has to offer and get straight to the good bits.
- I get to do far more prestigious work during my military service, and that stuff goes on my resume later.
- If I understand it right, I could end up having two specializations: the first is flight systems, which I am currently studying, and another that I learn as part of the BSc.
- I have some connections in Rafael (a government-backed company that develops many of Israel's aircaft, weapons and military systems - the same guys who made Iron Dome), with a BSc there's a decent chance that I can land a position there and work on some really amazing stuff.

While the cons are:
- 3 more years of studying in a much less supportive system than I am used to.
- 1 more year of mandatory service, making it 4 total.
- I basically have to build an entirely new circle of friends. Most of my friends joined the army straight after highschool, the handful that pursued the Practical Engineer's degree with me and another handful that I made in the last year are going to join the army next year, so I'm going to be alone. Not the end of the world for me as I'm a solitary kind of guy, but the first few months will be hard because I won't have people to vent my craziness at...
- I would be drafted at the age of 23, whilst most people finish their mandatory service by the time they're 21.
- My parents would have to keep supporting me, at least at first. They're absolutely cool with it (my dad actually said that he doesn't care how long I stay as long as I am actively studying), but still feels uncomfortable to stick around for so long. I can easily find work with my Practical Engineer's degree while I study for the BSc, though, but a job will have a negative impact on my studies.

Thoughts?
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Shade »

I'm afraid I won't be much help to you on this matter (I'm so sick and in a generally bad condition that I got fitness level 5 [the worst possible], and they only take level 3 or better, so I ended up not having to serve at all), but...

Are those "friends" real friends, or just "buddies" - people you're cool with but don't have any deeper bond with?
Basically, all I can say is - don't let others influence you too much on this. In the end you should probably decide by heart what'd be better to go with.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Cimeries »

I wouldn't call them "real" friends, but that's mostly because I don't bond with other people that much, not by any fault of theirs.
It's not a "selfish friend" kind of influence you see in classic cases like these, so far their only objections were "I wouldn't do that given the choice because x and y." None of my friends are actually trying to persuade me against it.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Shade »

Sure, that's fine. I probably got that across wrong.
Why I asked is basically, while real, reliable friends are rare, simply finding new buddies shouldn't be too much of a concern, especially if you didn't have trouble doing so in the past.

Basically, considering all of this, from my point of view, the cons you listed don't seem overwhelmingly bad (but of course I don't know how heavily each point listed weighs for you)... So if it helps you in the future and/or makes your time in the army a bit more pleasant, maybe it'd be a good idea to do it.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by woodmouse »

My opinion is: do whatever you want. :D

...like, in the end, it's only your decision alone, so why shouldn't it be already from the beginning? No matter what people say, at some point you'll decide what you do, even if everyone else thinks it's just stupid and insane. :P Although, obviously opinions are important at weighing the stuff, but most of us here are probably people who didn't/will never go to the army at all. I'm assuming that, since nobody has really disappeared for times long enough to be that, etc. and I personally got to avoid it because of my anxiety, depression, etc. so that's like... non-army-interested/capable people will obviously tell you to get it done as easily as you can. :oops:
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Cimeries »

Of course, I just want to get as many opinions as I can so that I don't miss any insights others might have. Some of the considerations I only really realised existed after talking to people about it.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Maxaxle »

[insert comment prompting horrible, life-ruining decisions here]
But seriously, I'd consider the Practical Engineer to BSc program. I have no idea what it's like over there, or for you personally, but here you don't get anything better than minimum-wage without a decent college degree, and what you're describing suggests that becoming a Practical Engineer would supplant the need for a college education (or maybe I'm skimming too much!), so if college seems like it might be more difficult/less practical/etc. than the program, you should probably go with the program.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Agent of Dread »

I'd say go for the long study. Knowledge is great, and the cons don't seem world-ending to me. But I'd not place too much stock my opinion, so. :P
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Cimeries »

There's always demand for Practical Engineers, and they can actually make as much money as full engineers here (mostly because an experienced PE is better than a green Engineer fresh out of Uni in most scenarios), but PEs work harder and are less likely to get the more interesting (in my opinion) jobs like project development. :P
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Cimeries »

Update since lot's of stuff changed:

I finished earning my diploma (honors and top of my class because I'm a bad MOFO).

I've decided to continue to a full Engineer after the army (mostly because I've discovered that one of the colleges in my city allows me to take a technical aptitude test instead of the usual language and math bullshit (I've done the former before, and I always kick serious ass at those things, they're basically IQ tests and you can't really study for them. So yay for laziness.)), but that college isn't part of the program that I've been offered, so I can only study there after my service is finished.

I've enlisted a few days ago and began studying the profession that I'll be doing in the army - Apache technician. Pretty cool since I will get to work on both the mechanical systems and the weapons systems (chainguns and missiles yay!), and thanks to my education and the fact that a bunch of the people already serving in the unit I will be joining, are people I went to highschool with, this should be a breeze.
Plus about a third of the guys that I studied for my degree with are here with me and we're all going in together.

Things pretty much fell into place in the best possible way that they could.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Shade »

Nice to hear, I guess.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Cimeries »

Update tiem:

Finished my professional course - 93/100. Not too shabby.
Finished basic training - Stupid waste of time. :P

Usually you're supposed to do the basic training before you do your professional course, but since I studied in a military school the order is reversed. It was great since I wasn't an actual soldier and I could get way with a lot more goofing around.

Now I'm officially a technician, fixing up dem choppers 'n' shit. Pretty fun so far (though it's only been a week and I haven't done much), and the base has good housing, a decent gym and a pool.
Also the Apache is like seriously the most badass thing ever constructed by man.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by woodmouse »

Congratulations! I'd think of something weird to say, but I'm not sure if my brain is working properly today, so, instead, let's have some awkward silence:










...
Cimeries wrote:Now I'm officially a technician, fixing up dem choppers 'n' shit
Have you been all "get to da choppa!" yet? :mrgreen:
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by Cimeries »

Update tiem again:

I'm now a Preflight Technician (which means that I'm responsible for arming the helicopter and checking it before missions).
At around April I'll be taking another course, this time for something called "Advanced Helicopter Repairer" - basically the guys who are in charge of the mechanical aspect of the helicopter - rotors, rotor heads, landing gears, hydraulics etc. After the course I will be doing actual professional work (and not just be limited to looking for problems or arming the helicopter), and a few months after finishing that course, I'll be in a sort-of commanding position, though I'll just be happy with being able to do some more interesting work.

I am also actively studying various topics for my BSc whenever I have the time - I got a tablet and about 50 books about mechanical engineering, aerodynamics, thermodynamics etc (and some regular books, and there's also Khan Academy). I'm reading them whenever there isn't any work. I anticipate that by the time I've finished my service I'll have most of the knowledge I'll ever need, and earing the diploma itself will be a breeze. I'll probably be able to work part time as a Practical Engineer and go to Uni in parallel when the time comes.
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Re: Need your opinions on something.

Post by woodmouse »

Sounds like your life is turning out pretty lifey and meaningful. :o Soon, you'll be rich and successful and people will want you to fix all kinds of things all over the world, calling you and being all "yo Cime I broke Optimus Prime, pls help" and you'll utter an epic one-liner to indicate the massive size of your balls while inserting sunglasses, the sun reflecting off their surface with tons of lens flares and shit. The caller's bladder would empty itself thanks to the epicness overload as you jump into a speeding chopper and prepare to pull the MacGyvers on him. Your flight is compressed into a single nanosecond because light doesn't want to risk you outshining it, allowing you to travel faster. Once there, you go post-MacGyver and fix Optimus Prime with the snap of your fingers, brushing your hand through your hair (which has grown to your shoulders during the flight) and saying it's no big deal. Optimus Prime then attempts to hug you, but misses because you're already on your way to perform another epic feat of mechanical awesome.

...

What? Oh. Well. You get the point. :P
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