Callie Parrish/The Daily Cougar
James Wang
In last week’s issue, the article “Graduates Go To Basic” detailed the growing trend of recent college graduates favoring enlistment in our great nation’s armed forces over chancing it out in the still unsteady job market.
Financially, it just makes sense. You get great benefits, an instant pay grade boost and scholarships down the road — what’s the downside?
The downside is that you’re taking opportunities and jobs away from people who have wanted to join since day one.
It’s one thing to go to college and get a degree with the intention of signing up, but it’s selfish to go to school and look to the military as your fallback option when the civilian job market doesn’t look stable.
The U.S. military is the world’s most rightfully respected fighting force, not some babysitter for a yuppie with a college degree too scared to branch out into the real world and fight it out in the trenches at home; the same kids who as wide-eyed Freshman, looked at the military and said, “Gosh, we ought to slash their budget.”
There are people who join the Army because they honestly love this country and want to honor a tradition of service to it.
The pay, the scholarships and all the other benefits come second for those people.
The perks are a well-deserved reward, and it just doesn’t sit well that those rewards can be grabbed by a college graduate who chose to take on the expenses associated with higher education and then decided, at the last minute, to shirk all the financial responsibility by enlisting and letting the military pay it all off.
If you’re going to enlist, join to serve, not to be served at the taxpayers’ expense.
James Wang is a history junior and may be reached at [email protected].
Nick Bell
College graduates are no different in joining the military out of fear of an uncertain job market than those who enlist straight out of high school or with a GED.
There seems to be a consensus in certain conservative factions that higher education is coupled with some sort of snobbery and anti-working man, as if only those pursuing the military out of high school or who earned their GEDs are gung-ho enough about their country to serve.
Try and find any person in the upper ranks of the military or those that went through the military and into government positions that don’t have a degree from an institution of higher education.
Plenty of college graduates genuinely want to join the military. The idea that you should have to surrender vertical mobility in the career you would like to have to make way for those who “truly” want it and the idea that anyone who “truly” wants it would’ve been the fastest horse out of the gate — high school — is preposterous.
As far as an uneasy market is concerned, where does the U.S. invest the majority of its federal tax dollars? In its military and defense. That’s a safe bet for just about any profession nowadays, regardless of their college degree or lack thereof.
Some European countries’ universities are tuition free. If the same were applied to the U.S., it would lose a percentage of military who are using it to pay for college after they serve. Thanks to the GI Bill, it works both ways.
To try and curb the military’s college graduates would be a form of anti-intellectualism, which shouldn’t be a running ideology in an institution that’s meant to protect our well-being as a nation.
Nick Bell is a media production senior and may be reached at [email protected].
I trust the military makes proper judgement when assessing candidates for positions. The military cares about intelligence, skills, and dedication – most people believe a four-year degree is proof that candidates have met a minimum of the above three criteria. I’m sure the military is thrilled that they are able to choose from a more educated and mature population than available in the past. Sounds like a good investment of my tax dollars.
NO ONE should consider joining the military unless you have worked out the fact in your mind that you will be required to shoot and kill the enemies of this country, when called to do so. You are defending this country!
“The U.S. military is the world’s most rightfully respected fighting force, not some babysitter for a yuppie with a college degree too scared to branch out into the real world and fight it out in the trenches at home”
Really? So what sets those “yuppies” apart from the people who enlisted right out of high school in order to get money for college? A degree? What is the downside of having a better educated fighting force?
“There are people who join the Army because they honestly love this country and want to honor a tradition of service to it.”
There are also those that join for financial reasons as well – such is the nature of an all volunteer fighting force. Granted, these two reasons aren’t the only reasons people join, and that comes with a military as diverse as ours. If you really want to be in the military from “day one” then you can, as long as you have the skill and heart to do so. If you have that drive then getting into the military shouldn’t be a problem.
It seems Wang is just grasping at straws here. As with most of his published editorials this argument is flimsy, and comes across as emotional ranting rather than a well thought out argument.
Props on the cartoon!
Joining the military takes courage. My deepest admiration for anyone that enlists and serves.
Does Mr. Wang know how the military is structured? Most college graduates will go on to become commissioned officers in the military, starting at the rank of 2nd Lieutenant (Ensign in the Navy). This is not necessarily taking away opportunities for others to enlist. Commissioned officers can only come from the ranks of college graduates. Those who want to join out of high school still have the same opportunities as they had before the trend started.