I know this is an old thread. Not sure if you are located in the US. Been in the (US) military for 6 years. Go ahead call me a recrooter, but I'll give my input.
>>261433Depends where you live, but yes it's probably easy. Boot camp is a shock especially if you've never been ordered around and pestered before. But they rarely kick people out if they try to follow directions. Even room temp IQ moids make it through. Make sure you are in okay shape before shipping out (not obese), preferably work out consistently for like 3 months beforehand. It will reduce your stress a lot to be good at the physical portion.
>>261435Enlisting took me out of a really horrible home situation and taught me to be independent and have a lot of useful skills after being a failure NEET with 0 friends for years. I met a lot of cool people and made lifelong friends, even after I moved bases or other friends got out of the military I still contact them. Has it's issues but been the best period of my life. To be fair, a lot of my coworkers don't feel the same way. Also to sound less like a fed, I don't actually agree with the US mission. Consider the moral issue before enlisting.
Also, your experience will HEAVILY depend on your job. This matters a lot more than your branch even, every branch has the "nerdy" or "cool" jobs and the shit jobs no one wants to do. I won't disclose my job for OPSEC reasons but it is one of the jobs regarded as more challenging and "nerdy", which is probably why I have had such a positive experience.
>>261423>>261430People don't just get raped all the time. Although I'm told sexual assault rate is higher than in the civilian world, I've never personally or second hand heard of it happening in my career field. Again, very heavily career dependent. If you enlist, look VERY CAREFULLY into the job description and don't let the recruiter try to give you something random. I'm referring to the "MOS", called "AFSC" in Air Force and "rate" in Navy. If you're an 11B at Fort Hood, you'll likely encounter a bunch of absolute dregs. Air Force/Space Force have the best quality of life.
Recruiting process isn't too difficult, just go into an office prepared with basic information about yourself and act somewhat professional. The ASVAB is easy but it covers a lot of topics, if you've been out of high school for a while I recommend studying for it, the Kaplan ASVAB study guide is pretty good, $20 on Amazon, but worth it. I used that and got a 99 (highest possible score), and high enough raw scores in all categories to quality for any job. I don't have a high school diploma btw. If you don't score high, you'll be relegated to the shit jobs. Avoid mentioning small medical issues that could be easily hidden/remain unidentified during your enlistment. They may disqualify you or require you to get a waiver. The recruiter's willingness to get you a waiver may also depend on your test scores and whether you look good as a recruit overall.
>>261443Dining hall food is okay. 5x better than the public school cafeteria "food" in my state at least. If you make sergeant/whatever branch equivalent rank of E5 you will usually get a stipend of money to move out of the barracks into your own house, where you can obviously cook for yourself. Air Force and Navy are usually let out of the barracks faster than Army and Marines. It's very base dependent. But keep in mind also, Army and Navy promote a lot faster than Air Force and Marines.
I'm an E5 sergeant and currently live off base in a house I bought with my own saved money solely from my enlistment. I'm not married and have no dependents. Be smart with your money.
>>262003SkillBridge is not just an Air Force program btw, it's open to all services.
>>263733Lol barely anyone is even getting sent to the Middle East right now. 95% of roles are non-combat roles. If you want to avoid combat then just avoid signing up for special forces or infantry. Btw even those guys barely see combat these days. It's all near-peer adversary strategic competition now. Read the National Defense Strategy.
Do NOT enlist if you're unsure of your decision. It's usually a 4 year commitment at the minimum, 3 in special cases. You CAN'T easily get out if you hate it, without purposely getting in huge trouble which will remain on your permanent record and influence your job prospects in the future.
If you're in a Western European country, you probably won't have a horrible experience in the military either. I've worked with Germans and Scandinavians. Their military obviously doesn't get as much funding as the US, but their workload also seems more relaxed (from an outside perspective).
Feel free to ask questions. Don't really check this board much so I may reply late.