Compare Your Plan

Question for Critical Thinkers:

Do any of these terms and definitions apply to yourself and your ability to plan successful outcomes?

Has a guidance counselor, mentor, or influencer ever questioned your plans before? Why not?

Cognitive Dissonance 

• the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
• Example: "I would do anything for the chance of receiving a full-ride scholarship." "I'm not joining the military, even if would pay for 100% of my college education."

Coping Mechanism

•  an adaptation to environmental stress that is based on conscious or unconscious choice and that enhances control over behavior or gives psychological comfort 
• Example: "I will not be able to pay off my student loans for 7-15 years, but now that I have a college degree I can finally start my life." "Those people are in the military because they couldn't get into college anyways."
• https://www.tiktok.com/@fitnesswithalison/video/7280762073712463150
• Example:  "I have a degree, but I am working at a restaurant because the job I want only hires people with relevant work experience." "I would never be a Navy Cook, that job is beneath me!"
• https://www.tiktok.com/@fitnesswithalison/video/7280712734843538734

Belief Perseverance

•  the tendency to maintain one’s beliefs even in the face of evidence that contradicts or disaffirms the basis for those beliefs 
• Example: "People join the military because they aren't intelligent and have nothing else to live for." "I don't care that you can prove that the average sailor has a house, a higher salary than me, free healthcare, a full-ride to college, and has traveled the world."

Hypocrisy

• the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform
• Example: "I live in the United States of America because the U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of personal freedoms in human history, and I would never move anywhere else." "I would never join the military under any circumstance."

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. Can your parents pay for a successful job interview? Can your parents pay for relevant work experience? Can your parents pay for leadership skills in a stressful environment?

2. Carrying on the family business is one thing, but fostering competency is something that you can lose with one generation of complacency. Were your parents successful because your grandparents paid for the solution to every problem, or did they develop the ability to solve problems with mistakes and learned experience?

3. If you change your mind partway through (I don't want to go to college, I don't want to major in this subject) what would your parents say? How much more money are they willing to give if you need to stay there for more than a year? Two? More? Did your parents give you an ultimatum or an opportunity?

4. Is the end goal of college an education or a job that pays a great salary? What are you using that salary to pay for? (a house, a car, a lifestyle, a vacation) If your parents casually had $80,000-$120,000 laying around, could they have cut out the middle man and paid for the outcomes of a good salary before you started?

5. Are the best things in life given or earned? Would any competition have any meaning if the competitors did not experience hardship to win? (Imagine if you were in an Olympic swimming competition, but earned the gold medal without setting a foot in the water. Would you be proud of your accomplishments?)

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. Are you guaranteed a job after graduation? What do most employers find as the most important factor when hiring prospective employees? How many other people across the nation will receive the same degree as yourself the year you graduate; how many of them want the same job as you? Is your career recession proof?

2. If you change your mind partway through like 3 out of 5 students (I don't want to go to college, I don't want to major in this subject), are you willing to pay for the remainder of college out of pocket? Have you put a limit to the amount of debt your may experience?

3. What does the Fine-Print of your full-ride scholarship say if you take a break for a semester? Are you allowed to have a family emergency? Are you allowed to recover from academic burnout? Are you allowed to change majors and add on an additional year? Are you allowed to take less than a "full-time student" in case you need to balance a part time job to afford more for your lifestyle?

4. If you are going to graduate school (law, medical, engineering) does your full-ride scholarship cover these years of education as well? What if you don't like being a lawyer, a doctor, or an engineer after experiencing it for a few years? What job can you immediately go into to pay off the remaining debt? Are you locked in a self-made ultimatum to succeed because you don't have any other escape?

5. How old will you be before you make enough money to buy your first house, travel to several countries, and gain useful job experience in your intended major of choice? If you could have the same opportunities at 25 years old instead of 35 years old, would that be worth it to you?

6. If you could get the exact same job you were pursuing after college with a high school diploma and relevant work experience, what was the point of college? How many jobs can be self-taught, learned with on-the-job training, or have the barrier of entry blocked by nepotism/favoritism?

7. Have you called your future employer and asked them what experience and education they are looking for? If they told you directly "we prefer people that served in the US Navy" would you change your current path?

(DTE Energy (Michigan, Lake Erie) quotes a 98% hiring rate for Nuclear Reactor Operators that come directly from the US Military.)

The college experience without the Forever G/I Bill

• Money - Part Time Job or Parental Assistance
• Age - Limited on 21+ activities for 2-3 years unless you want to put your future at risk
• Living - Dorm Room with Roommate
• Social - You went to high school just like everyone else, and your stories and experience will reflect that

The college experience with the Forever G/I Bill

• Money - Savings from your time in the Navy as a cushion, up to $4000/month ($2200/month at UofM, $1800/month at Purdue, $4000/month at MIT). Whatever you don't spend on housing/apartment costs you keep the rest.
• Age - You are at a minimum 22 years old. You can do every activity on day one.
• Living - Apartment Life with optional roommates. The more roommates, the more you keep from your monthly payments ($2200/month + 1 roommate = $1100 income)
• Social - You have seen several countries, made lifelong friends in several working and learning environments, and you have interesting stories to talk about

From ETN1 Ortiz, a prior full-ride scholarship recipient with a 4.0 GPA that attended a 4-year out of state university known for it's exciting campus activities and events:

I dream about what my life would be like if I showed up to college in a nice car, commuted daily from my house near the campus, had 6 years of social skill practice, interesting stories and experiences, and a slush fund of over $100,000 in case I wanted to have fun. I was always mature about my academic performance, but after going to Nuclear Power School for 2 years, college would have been an absolute joke in comparison in reference to the "academic challenge" compared to the knowledge necessary to operate a Nuclear Reactor and it's support systems. I had fun at college with no money and resources. What would life had been like with near infinite resources?

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. If the company trying to recruit you claims you can make 6-Figures or more, why are most of the workers with less than 5-10 years of experience not making that amount? Do the 6-Figure salaries belong to the people with years of experience in the company? Can you ask to see the paystub of a person at the company with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of experience?

2. Is the money promised with or without overtime? How many extra hours until you get to the amount promised? If you could earn the same money for less time spent, would you do it?

3. If it was so easy to make 6-Figures, why aren't more people doing it once they drop-out of college? Why aren't more people doing it instead of working at a warehouse or factory?

4. What if you find out that you don't like your job anymore? Is it easy to transition to college, to another trade, or somewhere else?

5. If you have no intention of going to college and using the Navy Forever G/I Bill, but your future son/daughter wants to go to college, would you like to be in a job that will allow you to give your child a full-ride education grant for free?

6. If working in a "dangerous" trade (welding fumes, electrical shock, workplace injury), what is your backup plan in the event that you are forced to medically retire? Does your future trade union have a program to ensure you receive the equivalent of your original paycheck for the rest of your life (separate from your 401k)?

7. How many trades persons do you know that weld in Spain, perform plumbing in Japan, solder in Bahrain, or replace circuit breakers in Greece?

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. If you are saving money for school, how much money did you miss out on from the lost earnings from not getting the job you actually wanted in the future? (A Gas Station Worker will get paid 2-4 times less than an Electrical Engineer.) Did you really "save money" by not getting paid what you should have made a full year less?

2. By waiting a year, what problems are different from when you started? Are you any closer to a degree or trade skill? Do you have any more relevant work experience for the job you actually wanted?

3. If high school was so stressful that you needed to take a break for a full year, is 4 years of an even more difficult education (college) the right fit for you? How long of a gap period will you need after you get an Associate's Degree? A Bachelor's?

4. If an employer told you that you will earn a full-ride education grant while working a low-stress job, would you take that job instead? (cleaning, retail, administration)

5. Does your "Gap Year" include world travel plans? What if you could take the time to travel abroad, but get paid to earn a full-ride scholarship at the same time? What if that world travel included free hotel stays and food expenses?

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

Hypothetical Scenario: WWIII breaks out and the US institutes a draft.

1. Are you allowed to choose a branch? What if you don't want to be "boots on the ground/front line" infantry? Do you think you will be able to walk into a recruiting office and say "actually, I prefer the Navy"? If the alternative to saying no to infantry is at worst death, and at best a lengthy jail sentence, does it matter if you don't want to be in the military because USA will demand qualified people for a war anyways?

2. If the USA has a Navy that is uncontested in power compared to the next 5 countries combined, how likely is it that we will lose ships and personnel? (China's 100+ "3-Man Missile Boats" doesn't match well with one US Navy Cruiser over 100+ long range missiles)

3. In the last 70 years in the US Navy History, how many personnel and vessels were lost due to war, conflict, suicide (PTSD) compared to all other military branches? Would you be surprised to know that the US Navy does not engage in gun/land combat unless you expressly volunteer for that experience (SEALS/SPECWAR)? Would you be surprised to know that the US Air Force experienced a higher rate (15%) of self-inflicted casualties compared to the US Navy?

(Source: US Department of Defense; Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010)

4. What is the likelihood of injury in everyday life compared to life on a US Navy Vessel in the following scenarios:

• Commuting to work via the highway
• Walking from your office to your vehicle in a city after work
• Working in a hospital
• Working in an office building
• Working in an industrial environment

Quick Answer: There has been about 160 combat losses in the US Navy in the last 30 years (to include 6 major conflicts). Combat roles are not forced upon sailors, they are volunteer (SEALS). Statistically, you are 5 times more likely to pass away from working in a hospital compared to being a Navy SEAL.

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. Why is the rate of home ownership "8 out of 10" for military veterans compared to "6 out of 10" for the entire US Population (veterans included)? (4 out of 10 for College Graduates, 7 out of 10 for Trade Skill workers)

2. If about 200,000 individuals leave the military every year, and 2.69% leave due to bad conduct in the service (crimes or other reasons), about 5,000 people leave each year with a resume equivalent to a history of a prison sentence. Do you think that the "homeless veteran" you see on the street could potentially be an individual that does not have access to services reserved for veterans in good standing because of their own actions? (VA Hospitals, VA Home Loans (0% money down required for a home), the Forever G/I Bill (money for tuition/room/board)_

• The rate of Honorable Discharge is 78.29% (Qualified for VA Home Loan and G/I Bill)
• The rate of General Discharge is 6.39% (Qualified for VA Home Loan and G/I Bill)
• The rate of "Other than Honorable, Bad Conduct, and Dishonorable" Discharge is 2.69%. These are normally reserved for individuals that offenses against the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). (NOT Qualified for VA Home Loan and G/I Bill)
• Statistics obtained from 2014-2015

3. If the rate of "Honorable Discharge" is about 8 out of 10, and the rate of military home ownership is 8 out of 10 for veterans, does it stand to reason that about 8 out of 10 people that succeed in the US Military go on to succeed in life AFTER the military?

4. What is your likelihood of becoming a "homeless veteran"? If there are about 20,000 homeless veterans in the USA (about 400 per year after Vietnam) and about 20,000 cities/towns/villages in the USA, that means you will see a rate of about 1-2 per town, but higher concentrations in cities due easier access to shelters and services. There are over 16 million veterans in the USA. For every "homeless veteran" you see, there are about 800 veterans that are not.

5. Are there more homeless Veterans or homeless Americans?

• Veterans - 11 out of 10,000 are homeless
• Americans - 18 out of 10,000 are homeless
• You have a 60% higher chance of being homeless if you are NOT a veteran in the USA

Neither do we! We chose a branch of service (Navy) that asks you three questions after you pass a medical physical that verifies you are qualified for military service:

• What are you qualified for? (Your ASVAB score results vs. our job requirements)
• What is available? (Our jobs with schoolhouse openings remaining this year)
• When do you want to leave? (If you don't want to leave when the job school is in session, pick another job that fits your intended timeline to leave home)

Questions (and answers!) for Critical Thinkers:

1. What is the consequence for saying "NO" after being asked those three questions?

Nothing. You go home and don't get a job in the US Navy. If you don't want to be in, we don't want you in.

2. What is the consequence of saying "NO" after I took the Oath of Enlistment and selected a job with a ship date in the US Navy?

Nothing. You go home and don't get a job in the US Navy. We don't hand-cuff you and force you in. If you don't want to be in, we don't want you in.

3. How do other branches select jobs?

ASK THEM YOURSELF. Actually speak to the recruiters and let them explain their process. If you find that it was more transparent than ours, join their program!

4. What jobs are guaranteed in the Navy?

If you are qualified, Enlisted Nuclear Engineering (a class seat at Nuke School) and SPECWAR (a spot at BUDS). The jobs with the strictest requirements for the best in the nation (academically and physically) receive the guarantee to try out for them. ***But you must be qualified***

5. What if I still got a job I don't want?

We recommend getting paid to earn a full-ride education grant (The Forever G/I Bill) after 3 years of service and going to college/trade school for any other job you want to do. At least it was free.

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. If a college gave you a full-ride scholarship but was 200+ miles away, would you go to that college? What if they also gave you the ability to pay for a house move into a house the day you graduate college? (VA Home Loan 0% Down)

2. If a job offered you a 6-Figure Salary (if you included the benefits, free education after working for a few years, free room/board, and work experience) but was 200+ miles away, would you take that job?

3. Do you want to stay in your hometown because you want to live there forever? Or do you choose to stay out of fear for change?

4. Looking around your hometown, how would you describe the level of success of the everyone else that refused to leave after high school graduation? How about the level of success of people that graduated from the local community college?

5. After you graduate college or trade school, do you think the exact job you want will be immediately available in your hometown? How long are you willing to be unemployed until the actual job in the right location is able to employ you (with zero job experience)?

6. How many years will it be before you spend the money to travel outside of the country? If you won a contest were offered a free trip on a cruise across the Pacific Ocean stopping at over 10 countries for 1 week each, would you do it if the living quarters was shared with several other people? What if those people were your best friends that you met in college?

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. If the military after college was your intended goal, why aren't you using academic scholarships that would achieve this outcome? The Naval Academy and the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) will pay for your college tuition and degree then give you a job in the military after. There is no officer program that offers college loan repayment.

2. Why would you wait for 4 years to see if you are qualified for military service? What if you aren't accepted due to a medical condition you did not know was disqualifying? Couldn't you have had an interview with a recruiter to verify if there are any medical problems prior to this 4 year ultimatum?

3. What qualifies you to lead an individual with 10+ years of experience in the Navy now that you have a college degree? With zero/minimal leadership experience, zero technical experience, and no cultural experience of the history and traditions of the US Navy, are you in the best position to lead a team of sailors? Do sailors respect those with prior Navy Enlisted experience or those that came directly from college? If you don't care about the respect of sailors, why do you want to be an Officer?

Imagine the following path:

• Enlisted in the US Navy with 3-6 years of experience
• Earn the Forever G/I Bill, attend a 4-year university with zero stress from the US Naval Academy or College ROTC because you already know how to be in the Navy
• Earn a 4-year degree, apply to Navy OCS.

Benefits:

1. You know what kind of officer specialty you want to be prior to your OCS application after seeing a few officers in action.

2. You know that you actually want to be an officer because you have seen first hand what they actually do.

3. You finished your college degree comfortably without extra time or energy dedicated to early mornings and required weekend tasks (Academy/OCS).

4. Being the few members with prior enlisted experience, you are now one of the few officers that sailors respect on sight due to your silver warfare pin (also known as a MUSTANG in the Navy).

We take harassment/assault very seriously in the United States Navy. We train in Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) at a minimum yearly (often quarterly), clearly identifying victim advocates and the consequences of this heinous action against other sailors.

We train tirelessly to all sailors the options a victim has in reference to how to resolve and manage this tragic event via the use of Restricted Reports and Unrestricted Reports

Restricted Report - for adult victims of sexual assault who wish to confidentially report the crime to specifically identified individuals without triggering the official investigative process or notification to command.

Restricted reporting allows a sexual assault victim to confidentially disclose the details of his or her assault to specified individuals and receive medical treatment and counseling, without triggering the official investigative process. The victim is the most important factor in our training. If the victim chooses privacy over action, we respect their wish.

Unrestricted Report –for adult victims who desire a law enforcement investigation, enlists the support of the chain of command, and provides a victim with access to ALL supportive service options:

• Advocacy Services (support, information, referral, and accompaniment)
• Medical/Counseling Services
• Victims' Legal Counsel
• Military Protective Order
• Civilian Protective Order
• Expedited Transfer
• CATCH Program when the name of suspect is not known by law enforcement

With Unrestricted Report, knowledge of the sexual assault is limited to those with an official need-to-know.

What happens to those convicted? Under Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ):

• A Dishonorable Discharge
• Forfeiture of All Pay and Veteran Benefits
• Confinement for 20 Years (or more)

Questions for Critical Thinkers:

1. Do college campuses have a system in place that MANDATES an official investigation from law enforcement in the event a harassment/assault charge is filed, even if there is no evidence?

2. Do workplaces have a system in place that MANDATES an official investigation from law enforcement in the event a harassment/assault charge is filed, even if there is no evidence?

3. Would the rate of harassment/assault convictions be higher if law enforcement services are required to officially investigate in the event of every unrestricted report (evidence or not)?

4. Would the rate of harassment/assault reporting be higher if a college/workplace offered counseling and medical services for every restricted report to every victim (evidence or not)?