Pros
Combat Arms, the family that you build inside of that brotherhood can NEVER be replicated. When you go downrange, are in imminent danger with these brothers day in and day out. Lose some, watch them go home on honor flights, then take comfort with those that are left only draws you closer. Your anger grows towards those trying to hurt you, but you always seem to have those who are the more calm who keep the tension a little lower. it prevents there from being anything that would be illegal and morally wrong. You become so close to these people that they are literally your "brothers from another mother." If you come into the Army and only do your minimum time in the Army, then you do not see much benefit. if you spend enough time in the Army (I did 15 years before being medically retired), then you are making a lot of money, and it is HARD to make the same amount on the outside. The Army pays for your Education, in my case, it bought me MY Bachelors degree and I gave my daughter my GI Bill and so it bought me TWO degrees for my family. Then there are the brothers who are the ONLY ones that understand what I feel inside. My wife does not understand what it feels like to be blown up 8 times, what it feels like to be in a "TIC" (troops in contact), to feel that adrenaline rush of an RPG flying over your head. ONLY my brothers know. For EVERY story I have, my brothers either understand, or can ONE UP me. I was talking to a LTC the other day and he summed it up the best. If we TRY to tell a civilian these stories, they look at us like we are crazy. We tell our battle buddies about it, and they respond with "OHHHH YEAH, well ONE TIME I... Then there is the unmistakable heartbreak that you feel when you lose one. I just lost another one this past May. He was stationed at my last duty station before I went recruiting, then he went to Afghanistan. He was lost there. When I heard it, it was the same hurt and sick feeling I felt when I found out my dad or my grandmother died. We all have family, but in the ARMY, you get TWO families. One that is relatively small and one that is THOUSANDS. In the end, the ONLY thing I regret is becoming a civilian again. I LOVED being a tanker. I would do it all again in a HEARTBEAT.
Cons
LOTS of time in the field.
