Aspies in the military

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I'm thinking about joining the Navy once i get my degree. Although the decision is not for everyone whether they are AS or NT I am attracted to the idea of making something out of yourself by unselfishly serving the country...plus there are lots of interesting career opps, especially bc i'm a woman with aspergers because i otherwise would not have a future. I want to further my education and travel the world for free. I want to make a difference in someone's life someday. I come from a military family. My dad was in the Navy. My grandpas on both sides of my family were Air Force pilots in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. My great grandpa was german but he fought for the allied powers in WWI. My Dad's side of the family fought for the Union in the Civil War. I want to carry on the legacy...and who says an aspie girl cant? lol
Do you think Aspies in the military is a good idea?

What will you do when you are ordered to participate in or support
an activity that you know is wrong? It is absolutely guaranteed to
happen, just about every day.

Sorry, but I just don't buy the whole idea of "the innocent soldier."
Neither do I buy the excuse that you don't know what's going on.
How can you kill someone, or support it, without asking why?
I would expect an Aspie to have more trouble with this than most.

Actually there is another post on here where a guy said because of his Aspergers diagnosis he was not allowed to join. I suppose it would be a risk to train people on the spectrum who are already socially ret*d how to kill and how to handle big weapons. Though if someone is crazy enough to want to join the military let them join then go and kill each other. The military isn't noble. I have plenty of relatives that have served. If you really want to do something with your life why not help the disabled instead of creating more disabled by shooting and throwing grenades at people? If you're just interested for the feeling of belonging to a group or wearing a uniform then why not offer to be a Den Mother for the Cub Scouts? Do something positive with your life. Killing others is what losers do.

The job of the U.S military is not 'to kill', just like the job of the police is not to 'shoot criminals.' Its job is to serve the country's interests, whatever they may be. Sometimes, that job does include throwing grenades and shooting people, but it's naive to think we shouldn't have men and women ready and willing to do it. LadyKathleen, if you decide to go navy, then best of luck to you. Serving your country IS an honorable profession. Even if you don't agree with the decisions America makes, you can make a positive difference in a way you never could any other way.

My favorite is actually national guard, but I voted coast guard. If I had to be in the military, I would want to be helping my country, not fighting in a war i don't believe in.

I really think the military is a bad idea because:

A) You may have to commit murder. Nothing is selfless if other people have to die for it.
B) You might be killed in a vicious brutal way. Keep in mind you wouldn't be the only one to suffer from that (family).

Recruiters will tell you anything you want to hear.

My mom always tells me about this kid she knew who went to the military. She said he had this light in his eyes, but when he came back it was gone.

LadyKathleen, I retired from the US military. The Navy needs smart people. As an officer, you would most likely have a desk job, making sure others do their jobs correctly. Most officers never see combat unless you volunteer for field duty, or accept a combat support position.

It amazes me that so many people here have a negative view of the military. Who do you think is in the US military? The US military is composed of your friends and relatives. Therefore, the negative people must believe their friends and relatives are a bunch of losers capable of murdering others without question.

Take a reality check:
The US military is not full of losers.
They are the good people who protect others from getting murdered. The US military arrests and tries the real murderers.
People join the US military to be honorable and to be noble.

For those who think the US military is evil:
You are either too dimwitted to understand who is good and who is evil.
Or, you are to cowardly to defend others with your own life, and are trying to make yourself feel better about it by talking bad about others.
Or, you hate the freedoms that exists in the western world, and want the military gone so the freedoms will go away.

Freedom is not free.

I myself spent 8 months in marine boot camp, and am going to be going into the Navy officer program in June. It is largely for this reason I have not sought a formal diagnosis of my AS. I will say as an AS, it can be very difficult to adjust to the social dynamic of life in the military, but I adapted somehow once before and hopefully will again. There does seem to be a lot of anti-military sentiment here, but these people don't really understand what the military is. I would ask you though, why do you think you would not have a future outside the military? What is your degree in? Don't you think you would be able to do anything else?

For God's sake DON'T JOIN THE NAVY!

The Navy is by far the worst service for an Aspie. A Navy ships' crew has to work as a team, and that means you must make friends. Being a coworker won't cut it. What your ship Captain is going to want from you is that you be the kind of person who goes out with the people you work with when the ship pulls into port. He (or she) will want your division to go out and socialize together off duty. That kind of friendship is what makes a crew work as a team when you're in a battle, and fighting battles is what the Navy is all about. Trust me, I know this first hand. There are few things worse for an Aspie than to be stuck on a ship at sea, where you have no privacy and no place to be by yourself to collect yourself. And then there's what I just discussed. Very quickly your shipmates will discover that you don't make friends easily. That will make you the "odd person out". On your ship there will be one crew, and one individual. Guess which one you are? Your inability to make friends will shoot through the grapevine so fast you won't even have time to put your clothes away before others start screwing with you. And without friends you won't be able to do your job, no matter what it is. Please take my advice and don't go through what I went through.

The military is fine and its good experience for learning how organizations work. However; if you have a narrow interests and want to do a only certain things its not a good idea. You end up filling holes in administrative defects all day long and never really do the job you were taught. One day you'll be flying planes the next day you'll be filing TPS reports 24-7. Overall pay is very good and when its time to get out you have an employment and social wedge on probably over 90% of the NT workforce.

do you know what FTA stands for? if not, read up on your Vietnam era history and then decide. listen to the winter soldier tapes as well. miliatary is a closed society and they keep the news about the s**t that happens in the baracks from getting out. just of the toop of my head military has high rates of smoking, alcoholism, rape (yes homosecual rape if you can belive it), emtional and verbal abuse. like this story from National Public Radio. this marine in iraq had severe depression. he did not want to wake up and go on patrol. his superior yelled at him "pick up your rifle and go on patron or you are going to jail to be someone's butt buddy" this poor marine then shot hismelf.

I'm currently in the Coast Guard, about to finish my last year and transit as a full time college student. I managed to get some free college credits take care of. As an aspie, I'll admit that bootcamp was really one of the toughest in terms of mental thinking and social interaction. Since I was just diagnosed with AS a couple months back, I have been questioning myself lately and other things surrounding me and asking myself how made it so far in the military. I do remember having social issues at times with coworkers and supervisors from my previous 2 jobs there, such as giving a puzzled look and trying to perceive the facial expressions of others. But I think what was good about military life was perhaps the structure that has improved my social interaction skills. I also learned some other helpful things like being organized and prioritizing. I look at myself now and compare myself back to my years in High school when I was alot worse. Even though I still have some problems like trying to make friends and talking to girls. And coworkers still say I may be a bit goofy at times.

My current position in the military is the Human resources and admin division. Though I have had some problems recently, I would say this position would be probably be much easier for an aspie than doing law enforcement or rescue swimming.

on both sides of my family were Air Force pilots in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. My great grandpa was german but he fought for the allied powers in WWI. My Dad's side of the family fought for the Union in the Civil War. I want to carry on the legacy...and who says an aspie girl cant?

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'' Do you think Aspies in the military is a good idea? ''
well, kathleen, i actually applied twice for the navy, during a time when i was suffering job losses and went undiagnosed. I basically was desperate to join up and thought it was a good idea- at the time. First day i tried the exams, which were timed math papers including a literacy paper but i didnt do too bad, with just two marks out. Second time i tried i was a bit further out, if i was to try again now, id be third ranked. seems though that now, everything you try and do to 'get in', your subjected to these trials and tests. if you ask me, your better just applying for a social degree, at least it would top off that dilema altogether.

I hate everything to do with war and killing people which has accomplished absolutely nothing, and I hate the everything about the military (except those sexy black tank tops and jungle fatigues ). I have a cousin who is in the army who may have Asperger's. He is now working as security at a local grocery store and I met and spoke to him there just last week. He was pretty down due to our grandmother just passing away, but said he was pretty numb to death from seeing it all around him.
That is something no human being should have to experience. And I don't even want to think about my cousin, who has been one of my best friends since we were small, actually having to kill. This whole thing is because of ignorance, stupidity, racism and religious intolerance (by Americans), and if 9/11 was committed by white people no one would be "all white people are terrorists".