Cause and Effectof Joining the Military Essay

The U.S. Army is the oldest, most established branch of the military. â€Å"The U.S. Army traces it’s heritage back to the 1600’s and the period of colonization.†(Historcal Dictionary of the US Army) Since then, the Army has changed. The Army has a lot more to offer now than it did Two Hundred and Thirty eight years ago. There are many benefits to joining the Army from medical to bonus pays. College tuition costs are rising faster than ever. Not only do college students have to take out student loans after student loans, most have to work part time or even full time jobs to go to college, which delays their education, sometimes taking an associates four years to complete. Joining the Army, upon entry you are able to choose a GI Bill option. There are different versions of the GI Bill, but all allow you to attend college without having to worry about tuition costs. I am using my Post 9/11 GI Bill and for 36 months, my GI Bill pays full tuition, a book stipend, and a monthly housing allowance. Not only is there the GI Bill option, but while active duty or reserve, you can take advantage of their tuition assistance program. The program covers one hundred percent of tuition costs. As both of these programs are wonderful, there are effects to it. The GI Bill only covers everythign one hundred percent for thirty six months. If you are wanting to get a Bachelor’s Degree, you would need to take at least fifteen credit hours per semester, without taking any semesters off, in order to get your Bachelor’s using your GI Bill with no out of pocket expenses. If using the tuition assistance program, you are working full-time. You have your soldier-duties as well as going to school. There are days that you may need to miss class because you need to pull a twenty four hour watch, which may take a toll on your grade. The Army provides free healthcare to soldiers and their family. The cost of healthcare insurance is expensive, and you still have to pay out of pocket expenses from co-pays to half of a bill from the hospital. With the Army, everything is covered. Even though the healthcare is free, it is for soldiers and their families. There are a small amounts of doctors for a large amount of people. So even though the healthcare is free, you often have to wait longer periods of time for an appointment and when you really need an appointment fast, it doesn’t always work out. If you were to need to go to an urgent care clinic, you need to get permission from the military insurance company. When joining the military, you take a test in order to see what skills you are strongest. You are given a score and depending on your score, determines what job in the Army you can choose. Jobs in the Army range from infantryman to LPN’s. (http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/browse-career-and-job-categories/combat.html) The higher the score, the more options of jobs there are available to you. Right now there are roughly one hundred and ninety jobs in the Army. Some jobs are in higher demand than others. When joining the Army, if you choose one of the high demand jobs, you might get a bonus for choosing the job. After receiving the bonus money, usually given in a lump sum, if you were to have to get out of the Army during a certain time period after receiving the bonus, you would have to pay the bonus money back. Sometimes the bonus could be up to teh thousand dollars. Even though the Army offers the benefits mentioned, plus many more, you also have to think of the toll it takes on your family. In the Army, you move around roughly every three years. If you were to deploy, you would be gone for 9 months plus, without seeing your family. Some deployments are easier than others, as some let you skype with your family daily to a few times weekly, and others maybe once a month. For children is is hard moving around, making friends and then leaving them, making new friends all over again, and it takesa a toll on them academically. Some children may even have to stay back a year depending on the time of the year they move. With all the benefits available to you and that the military offers, there are many effects to consider. They are all great, but the effects don’t only effect you, but also your family and loved ones. You would have to consider what you choose, how it effects others lives as well. From personal experience, the Army is wonderful and offers a lot to not only myself, but my family as well. It allowed me to provide for my family and also set me up for my future. Flow & Rhythm (Sentence Fluency) All sentences sound natural and are easy-on-the-ear when read aloud. Each sentence is clear and has an obvious emphasis. Almost all sentences sound natural and are easy-on-the-ear when read aloud, but 1 or 2 are stiff and awkward or difficult to understand. Most sentences sound natural and are easy-on-the-ear when read aloud, but several are stiff and awkward or are difficult to understand. The sentences are difficult to read aloud because they sound awkward, are distractingly repetitive, or difficult to  understand. Sequencing (Organization) Details are placed in a logical order and the way they are presented effectively keeps the interest of the reader. Details are placed in a logical order, but the way in which they are presented/introduced sometimes makes the writing less interesting. Some details are not in a logical or expected order, and this distracts the reader. Many details are not in a logical or expected order. There is little sense that the writing is organized. Introduction (Organization) The introduction is inviting, states the main topic and previews the structure of the paper. The introduction clearly states the main topic and previews the structure of the paper, but is not particularly inviting to the reader. The introduction states the main topic, but does not adequately preview the structure of the paper nor is it particularly inviting to the reader. There is no clear introduction of the main topic or structure of the paper. Commitment (Voice) The writer successfully uses several reasons/appeals to try to show why the reader should care or want to know more about the topic. The writer successfully uses one or two reasons/appeals to try to show why the reader should care or want to know more about the topic. The writer attempts to make the reader care about the topic, but is not really successful. The writer made no attempt to make the reader care about the topic. Transitions (Organization) A variety of thoughtful transitions are used. They clearly show how ideas are connected. Transitions clearly show how ideas are connected, but there is little variety. Some transitions work well; but connections between other ideas are fuzzy. The transitions between ideas are unclear or nonexistent. Works Cited Brown, Jerold E. Historical Dictionary of the US Army. Westport, CT, USA : Greenwood Press, Dec 2000. 15 Nov 2004. 4 Nov 2013 .