Joining the US Military Beware!

Back in the 70s I joined the US Army. Proud to serve my country I had no idea what I was getting into. I decided that the military would be a great option for me
to get an education. Work in a profession that could support my family and I after I finished my tour of duty. I joined under the guaranteed enlistment program. I enrolled early so I could take advantage of the GI bill that was being fazed out.

My contract stated that if I passed all my schooling that I would have a guaranteed duty station in the USA for one year. It seemed like a great deal. I worked and studied very hard and graduated in the top 10 of all my schools. I also maintained a top military profile as I had the top physical fitness score on our base, this was no small accomplishment as we had over 30,000 troops on our base. While in basic training I was to be a part of experimental immunization program against my will. This almost killed me and I ended up in the infirmary for several weeks. Three of the people n my battalion died from the shots. I believe it was the swine flu shot that killed them and almost killed me. This was only the start of my experience in the Army. When I got to the end of my training, I was told that I would not pass even though I was 4th in my class therefore they would not honor my contract and I would be shipped to Germany. I had no desire to go to Germany and I would be assigned to a field unit where I would get no experience in my field. So when would get discharged I would be in the same boat as when I started the Army.

Needless to say I was very disappointed. My family had been in almost every USA conflict since the Spanish America War. Many of my relatives had given their life's for the USA. Well when I found out that the military was not going to honor my contract which was the general rule for many of my friends also. I wrote the pentagon and asked why was my contract not being honored and if they expected me to serve in the Army that they should keep their end of the bargain.

My orders were changed and I was assigned to a state side military hospital. But they already had plans for me. The first surgery I assisted on, the doctor left a clamp in the patient. I was told by the doctor that if I reported him he would be charged with an article 15. Which means I would be insubordinate , fined my whole months pay and demoted. It was worth it to me!

I felt more of an obligation to the patient than I did to the doctor. I turned him in for leaving a clamp in the patient. I was fined and demoted. The patient was brought back to the operating room , the clamp removed and all was well . Except for the fact that I could not get my article 15 off my record. Yes that is how the US military works. They don't honor their contracts , they experiment on the troops and they do not support the troops after they are ill.

So before you join the military beware that you will not be honored for your service and when you get ill from their experiments they will not help you. Just ask around their are thousands of people that the US Government will not take care of even though they fought for their country.