Search Results: joining the military

When I was in high school, I was planning on joining the military after graduation and becoming a real estate investor during or after my service. But things happened in my personal life that caused me to drop out of high school and lock myself away for the last 5 years, and it kills me.
So I've decided that it's better to regret joining late than regret not joining at all. I'm going to spend the next year or two losing weight and getting in the best shape of my life. I want to join the military to better myself as a man, do something extraordinary in my life, meet new people, and enjoy my younger years to make up for my missed childhood. But I don't know if I should join the Army or the Marines.

About the Army. They have better equipment and better living quarters. They have more free time so I can take real estate classes, get my license and maybe even invest while I'm serving. I also feel like I would be able to socially adapt better in the Army as an older recruit since I'll be 23 or 24 when I enlist.
The big downside of the Army is how their standards have tanked. They got rid of the shark attack in BCT and I've heard that trainees can have stress cards. I see people in the Army who are fat, dumb or both, and I wonder if they're just letting ANYONE enlist. I often wonder why the Army can't be held to the same standards as the Marines.

About the Marines. I like how absolutely badass they are and I want that challenge. They do what they're afraid of because they're afraid of it, and they're the first ones into battle. I also like how they use land and water, I've been swimming for as long as I can remember. The Marines can really help me better myself as a man.
The downsides of the Marines are they have less free time even working on weekends, so I probably won't have time to work on my real estate career. I might not be able to join the Marines with a GED anyways.

This is just what I see from the outside looking in.

This question is for Americans only since I'm talking about the American Armed Forces and I don't know how other countries' military works.

I'm very much considering joining the Army National Guard once I lose weight. I want to join because I want a bigger meaning in my life and have a better sense of duty and responsibility. I also can serve my country while working on my investing career.

I've been doing a lot of research on it and some people look down on Guardsmen and Reservists because they're part-timers and weekend warriors. I don't get why because from what I know, Guardsmen and Reservists aren't dicking around during the rest of the year, they still work full-time civilian jobs and still willingly signed up to be in the military.
They get the same training and get deployed like everyone else. They get deployed to places in the U. S. and overseas and work a full-time civilian job.

There are plenty of reasons why people would choose a part-time military career over active duty.
They want a better sense of purpose in their lives.
They want to excel in their civilian jobs and serve their country.
They joined to make some extra money to make ends meet and get benefits for their family
They use the money to pay their way through college.

As long as they're doing their part in the military I see them as soldiers.

Hello, everyone! I'm 18 and joining the air force as enlisted. I already have done 2 years of college and my weighted GPA is a 3.8. Not only that, I was in ROTC. When I had an interest in the military, at first, I wanted to do ROTC. But, my recruiter to do enlisted because it takes a long time to get accepted and go to college to take the classes to become an officer. Within that year, I'm able to do my job and get job experience in that field. He told me that I can always apply for rotc later. Not only that, I'm able to apply for ROTC as soon as I get in. Not only that, tech school classes count as college credits completely free. So, did I make the right decision going enlisted first then doing rotc later.