Military culture a good fit for my kid?
- Thread starter williamsdr3
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5centsmom
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@USMCGrunt... i love it when there are reading suggestions, thank you! (You may have recommended to another, but I’m still trying to learn)
Just hope it’s not bc I nominated myself so early for Clueless of the Day club... there’s still a lotta hours in the day left to fill!
Just hope it’s not bc I nominated myself so early for Clueless of the Day club... there’s still a lotta hours in the day left to fill!
Magna Venari
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This has been a rather interesting read, it has provoked a lot of thought for me about how my child will handle the SA.
My child is the opposite, at 5 years old, she declared that she was going to be a Marine. She graduates from a Military high school this year. We chose this billet when we PCSed because she wanted to go to that High School. Since Kindergarten, she has prepared herself to be a Marine. She lived in camo, played war, had an impressive arsenal of wooden wasters and nerf, a full set of leather armor for body protection, insisted the castle playscape we built was her "Fort" or "Garrison". She did "PT", built obstacle courses, begged for a target to shoot her BB rifle at, laid out battle plans with Papo Knights, Little People, Duplo blocks, Lincoln logs, Thomas the Tank railroad sets and Tonka Trucks for supplies, used Godzilla and the dogs as adversaries, and remote control helicopters for air support.
She has applied to one service academy and for a Naval ROTC scholarship with Marine option. She has been accepted into three of the four schools with Naval ROTC and Marine Corps option that she applied to.
To hear my kids talk, I am the strictest and meanest mother around. I have expectations which are clearly defined, if they don't meet them, they don't get privileges or what they want. My kids have chores and responsibilities, I expect them done and done right the first time. I am another one who will tornado my kids room. If the dogs tell me they have food in their room or their room turns into a swill heap, I will flip the mattress, dump the drawers, empty the closet and all the shelves while telling them they get to start all over again at keeping things where they should be. (There is another reason for this. I am handicapped, I can't walk through piles of stuff on floors and can't reach things when they are not in their homes) They were taught that when they try their best, failure is not the end of the world, it's another opportunity to learn and grow.
Only now is my daughter realizing that what we did was prepare her to be an independent adult with no need to depend on anyone else when she goes on to college and starts her life. She can run our household, manage finances, budget, balance her bank accounts, pay bills, do basic taxes, do routine home and auto repairs, cook, clean and keep all her uniforms and gear in pristine condition. Had she a driver's license and a job, she would have no need of us.
By her choice, she has been in a military uniform since she was 12 years old. She is a Young Marine, and in Marine Corps JROTC. She is active in sports, team captain of her crew team, competition color guard team captain, holds a JROTC Command staff billet, she is a leader in Young Marines and has received many awards for her efforts. Her bearing is impeccable, she has been called to do many high profile color guards and ceremonies, as well as to speak in front of high ranking officers and members of the community. She is calm under pressure, stress does not cause her to melt down, she can act and think clearly in emergency situations. I am told that she is a natural leader. Kids prefer to be in her squads, her platoons and on her teams because even though she is in charge, she leads from within and does the same things they do.
She has a 3.94 GPA, with AP, dual enrollment and on-line college courses outside of school. She will finish out this school year with over 600 hours of community service during her high school years and over 800 since she joined Young Marines.
Until the middle of her junior year, she was pretty set on being a Marine Corps Officer. Then she started talking to a lot of Marines. Last summer she went to four straight weeks of military camp in three different states. Two weeks of Young Marines Advanced Leadership Training in Oregon, flew into Connecticut for a week at the Coast Guard Academy AIM program, I picked her up in CT and dropped her off at Quantico for a week at Marine Corps Leadership and Development Academy. She decided then that she wanted to go into the Coast Guard as their missions meet her personal leadership style, Leadership through Service.
Two weeks ago, she went out to sea for a week on a tall ship. She loved it. Her Maritime instructor told me that it was as if she was right at home on that schooner. She took to the tasks she was given readily and asked for more. She loved handling the sails, going out on the bow sprint, steering, standing watch at night and took pride in keeping the schooner ship shape, safe and clean. They were hit with some storms, the choppy water thrilled her, she said the rock of the ship lulled her to sleep. The crew loved her so they gave her more responsibilities that let her experience more of being an actual crew member on the ship. Her maritime instructor said she was indistinguishable from the crew when they worked, he had to look for her curly hair to find her. Her full run down of the trip told me she had found her element, even with her descriptions of the kids that were useless and not at all interested in being useful or helpful, she thoroughly enjoyed being on that schooner, even if they had no shower for 7 days.
Considering how she was raised and her choices of activities, I wonder how the SA environment will affect her? Will she love it, will she hate it, will it challenge her, will she she enjoy that challenge, will it bore her because she is so used to a military life style, or will she just say "to hell with this" and run off to be a deck hand on a tall ship with a spunky little terrier to kill rats in tow?
My child is the opposite, at 5 years old, she declared that she was going to be a Marine. She graduates from a Military high school this year. We chose this billet when we PCSed because she wanted to go to that High School. Since Kindergarten, she has prepared herself to be a Marine. She lived in camo, played war, had an impressive arsenal of wooden wasters and nerf, a full set of leather armor for body protection, insisted the castle playscape we built was her "Fort" or "Garrison". She did "PT", built obstacle courses, begged for a target to shoot her BB rifle at, laid out battle plans with Papo Knights, Little People, Duplo blocks, Lincoln logs, Thomas the Tank railroad sets and Tonka Trucks for supplies, used Godzilla and the dogs as adversaries, and remote control helicopters for air support.
She has applied to one service academy and for a Naval ROTC scholarship with Marine option. She has been accepted into three of the four schools with Naval ROTC and Marine Corps option that she applied to.
To hear my kids talk, I am the strictest and meanest mother around. I have expectations which are clearly defined, if they don't meet them, they don't get privileges or what they want. My kids have chores and responsibilities, I expect them done and done right the first time. I am another one who will tornado my kids room. If the dogs tell me they have food in their room or their room turns into a swill heap, I will flip the mattress, dump the drawers, empty the closet and all the shelves while telling them they get to start all over again at keeping things where they should be. (There is another reason for this. I am handicapped, I can't walk through piles of stuff on floors and can't reach things when they are not in their homes) They were taught that when they try their best, failure is not the end of the world, it's another opportunity to learn and grow.
Only now is my daughter realizing that what we did was prepare her to be an independent adult with no need to depend on anyone else when she goes on to college and starts her life. She can run our household, manage finances, budget, balance her bank accounts, pay bills, do basic taxes, do routine home and auto repairs, cook, clean and keep all her uniforms and gear in pristine condition. Had she a driver's license and a job, she would have no need of us.
By her choice, she has been in a military uniform since she was 12 years old. She is a Young Marine, and in Marine Corps JROTC. She is active in sports, team captain of her crew team, competition color guard team captain, holds a JROTC Command staff billet, she is a leader in Young Marines and has received many awards for her efforts. Her bearing is impeccable, she has been called to do many high profile color guards and ceremonies, as well as to speak in front of high ranking officers and members of the community. She is calm under pressure, stress does not cause her to melt down, she can act and think clearly in emergency situations. I am told that she is a natural leader. Kids prefer to be in her squads, her platoons and on her teams because even though she is in charge, she leads from within and does the same things they do.
She has a 3.94 GPA, with AP, dual enrollment and on-line college courses outside of school. She will finish out this school year with over 600 hours of community service during her high school years and over 800 since she joined Young Marines.
Until the middle of her junior year, she was pretty set on being a Marine Corps Officer. Then she started talking to a lot of Marines. Last summer she went to four straight weeks of military camp in three different states. Two weeks of Young Marines Advanced Leadership Training in Oregon, flew into Connecticut for a week at the Coast Guard Academy AIM program, I picked her up in CT and dropped her off at Quantico for a week at Marine Corps Leadership and Development Academy. She decided then that she wanted to go into the Coast Guard as their missions meet her personal leadership style, Leadership through Service.
Two weeks ago, she went out to sea for a week on a tall ship. She loved it. Her Maritime instructor told me that it was as if she was right at home on that schooner. She took to the tasks she was given readily and asked for more. She loved handling the sails, going out on the bow sprint, steering, standing watch at night and took pride in keeping the schooner ship shape, safe and clean. They were hit with some storms, the choppy water thrilled her, she said the rock of the ship lulled her to sleep. The crew loved her so they gave her more responsibilities that let her experience more of being an actual crew member on the ship. Her maritime instructor said she was indistinguishable from the crew when they worked, he had to look for her curly hair to find her. Her full run down of the trip told me she had found her element, even with her descriptions of the kids that were useless and not at all interested in being useful or helpful, she thoroughly enjoyed being on that schooner, even if they had no shower for 7 days.
Considering how she was raised and her choices of activities, I wonder how the SA environment will affect her? Will she love it, will she hate it, will it challenge her, will she she enjoy that challenge, will it bore her because she is so used to a military life style, or will she just say "to hell with this" and run off to be a deck hand on a tall ship with a spunky little terrier to kill rats in tow?
USMCGrunt
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@Magna Venari: your post was great. It reminded me of this classic:
https://patch.com/connecticut/westhartford/letter-home-from-a-farm-kid-who-joins-the-marines
https://patch.com/connecticut/westhartford/letter-home-from-a-farm-kid-who-joins-the-marines
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I love this.
DKTKT
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DS is in NROTC this year. He is college program (i.e., not scholarship) so only did the few days of training at the beginning of the school year. I don't know how comparable those few days were (I do know there was a lot of yelling), but a couple of the scholarship guys (who would have also had training earlier in the summer?) withdrew during/right after it. So I think kids who are just not wired for military environment just have to experience it some to know. (And then, since the kids who go to SAs and have ROTC scholarships are there because they kick ass, they just go excel in another context!)
Magna Venari
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The funny thing is, I'm sure that we'll be hearing about the awesome marksmanship equipment they have, the wonderful shells and boathouse for crew, and her continued love of the water once she gets out on it. And Drill if she makes a Drill Team. She loves precision drill.
I don't know when they get to handle firearms, but I'm sure that will be another favorite for her, so she will tell us all about it. Her current love is my neighbors SCAR-17. We find it amusing to watch her shoot, her pony tail flies up after she squeezes the trigger, then we hear the gong she hit. The good ole boys down at the range are convinced she would be an excellent sniper with a little guidance and practice.
Magna Venari
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As much as she loved sailing on a tall ship, I think she is too logical to take off with a terrier tucked under her arm. She has goals beyond Academy and a Military Career that she can not reach unless she completes the first two things.
Old Navy BGO
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Had to laugh, you can have the title of meanest Mom, but I get meanest Dad.
I remember when my daughters (now successful adults ) tried to tell my father (now deceased) that I was the meanest Dad- my father looked at them, and deadpanned that he thought he was the meanest dad and was proud of it. Having and enforcing expectations isn't mean. Frankly, more people should try to be parents than their kid's friends.
Last edited:
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One of the lines that is forever etched in my memory involves my youngest DS (who is about to commission).
Whenever I would discipline him or not allow him something he wanted (which was often), he would blurt out "you're mean!"
And invariably my reply would be "the meanest."
He never could come up with any retort to that.
There is nothing more truthful these days.
Not everyone this year had training earlier in the summer. Only some programs were selected to participate in the NSI trial program.
That being said, your description is not uncommon. There are scholarship MIDN who DOR on day 1.