Hi. I would very much appreciate all responses from this thread as I have been racking my brain for some time now. I have been considering whether or not I should join the army after school. I am a bit of an idealist and wish to help people. Please do not take this the wrong way as I do believe that the military helps a great deal of people. This is what confuses me. I have heard multiple military personnel online state that you should not join if what largely motivates you is the helping of others (although there are other reasons). Why do people say this and is this completely or only partly true? Thanks very much!
If you seek to help people, how do you seek to help them, and/or where do your talents seem to lie? Not being in Australia, I am uncertain exactly what avenues there are to 'help' people, but I would imagine that they are broadly similar across most of the globe.
From my own experience in the US with HADR operations there are numerous types of opportunities.
- emergency first aide/medical services
- search & rescue
- fire service/support
- canine search/handling
- disaster animal response
- emergency communications
- emergency sheltering/mass care
- emergency food service/mass care
In addition to the above, there are then all sorts of support functions which are needed. So part of the question will be how do you wish to help people, and how directly do you wish to do so. Driving a truck delivering pallets of commodities like water, blankets, rations, etc. is not something people usually think of when they say that they wish to help people, but it is a vital function that needs to happen during the response and recovery phases, even if the drivers never directly interact with those who need assistance.
In many cases, the above list has both civilian and military counterparts that cover the same type of role. If you are thinking of joining up, consider what you like to do and depending on how long it will be before you join up, see if there are local civilian or volunteer agencies that cover some of the functions you think you might like doing.