Military recruiters aren’t perfect and it’s not always the most trusted career field. Even an honest recruiter may get accused of saying something not completely true to a recruit.
When you decide you’re interested in joining the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, or even the Coast Guard, you may be wondering if what your military recruiter is telling you is the truth. Here’s a look at some of the top military recruiting lies you might hear, according to the online world.
All to say, here are the top military recruiting lies told by recruiters:
The chances you’ll be sent to a combat zone are slim
This is probably the most common lie you might hear from a military recruiter. The truth completely depends on the branch of service you join and the job you take on.
If you join the Army or the Marines, you will likely go to a combat zone, maybe more than once, regardless of the job you choose. Those seeking the opportunity to see ground combat will want to join the Special Operations program, as this will nearly guarantee you will see ground combat in a hot area.
When you join the Navy or the Air Force, the chances of being sent to a combat zone are less, but it’s still a possibility. This depends more on your job than anything else.
You will certainly get the job listed on your enlistment contract, it’s guaranteed
It’s not a guarantee that you will get the job found on your enlistment contract. What is guaranteed is that you will be trained for those jobs. After the training is done, you could be assigned to a different job. However, in most cases, you will likely get to do the job you were trained for.
The Army is known to enlist too many people for a specific job and reassign more than other branches. In addition, if you do go to a combat zone, you could end up doing other jobs not listed on your contract.
If you decide the military isn’t for you, it’s possible to quit
When it comes to getting discharged, deciding you don’t like the military or it’s not for you isn’t an acceptable reason. You cannot just quit if you decide you don’t like it. Even those deciding to quit trying in basic training, your drill instructors will try to keep you in and they will go to great lengths to keep you in.
Even if you do decide to be discharged, you’ll have to be reassigned to a special unit and wait for the process of discharge. This process can take many weeks, maybe even months.
Those refusing to ship out for basic training will be sent to jail
It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes, a military recruiter will tell an application they cannot change their minds if they sign the Delayed Enlistment Program Contract. Some applicants have been told they would be arrested and forced to go to basic training. They may even be told they could lose their citizenship or the right to apply for citizenship if they quit the DEP.
You do have the right to change your mind at any time before you are shipped out to basic training. This is found in the details of the Delayed Enlistment Program.
You’ll get to go to the location you want when you finish basic training
One of the top military recruiting lies you might hear is that you’ll get to go to the base or location you want to go to. This is simply a lie as the assignments are based on the need of the service. There are some exceptions, however. If you qualify for a humanitarian assignment. However, this type of assignment is very difficult to get.
Most often, when you finish basic training, you’ll go where your service branch needs your skill set the most. If there are multiple bases in need of your skills, you may be able to get the one listed on your dream sheet, but this isn’t guaranteed.
In some cases, the Army will guarantee the first duty assignment, but this is mainly for combat. It’s also only guaranteed for the first year.
After 20 years of service, you can retire and receive 50% of your pay for the rest of your life
This isn’t as blatant a lie as some of the other and it’s pretty close to the truth. However, you will only get 50% of your base pay, which doesn’t include any of the allowances you get used to. Those joining after 1980 will actually get 50% of the highest 36 month average of based pay, not the final base pay they were receiving.
In addition, if you were married during service and you got divorced, some of your retirement pay may actually belong to your ex-spouse. The rules may vary a bit for the Coast Guard and for Reserves, as well.
These are just a few of the many top military recruiting lies you might hear. Some of the lies may simply be due to a recruiter not knowing the truth or not telling you the truth in a way you understand it best. However, military recruiter misconduct does happen.
If you believe you were a victim of recruiter misconduct, you can report the issue to the specific branch of recruitment. This is taken very seriously, even though it does come down to your word against the recruiter’s word.