Service in the US Army: how to get there? Service in the American army for foreigners.

The US Army is fundamentally different from the armies of the CIS; service in it is not mandatory for young men; in addition, the entire group of US troops is recruited on a contract basis. The state is considered the largest employer, providing military personnel with good wages. But in order to join the armed forces, candidates must pass a series of serious tests and meet the requirements set by the state.

How to serve in the US Armed Forces

Military service occurs in two options:

Active Duty is a full-time job, it is similar to a simple job with a certain number of working hours and free time. A soldier who has served 12 months has the right to fourteen days leave.
Army Reserve is a system in which the military conducts the usual civil life, works in a civilian job or studies. But he is required to undergo military exercises once a month and participate in two-week military training camps once every 12 months. But everything changes for military personnel of the Army Reserve system, when hostilities begin, they are mobilized into active army in this case, soldiers automatically transfer to service using the Active system

Requirements for candidates

Those wishing to enroll in armed forces The USA has certain requirements:

having American citizenship or a green card;
age from 17 to 42 years. Moreover, if the youth is under 18 years of age, then parental consent is required;
the candidate must study at high school or you must have a certificate of completion;
absence of any criminal record;
health and physical characteristics. To evaluate physical fitness and health, the candidate is asked to take a test called the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT).
passing the ASVAB test, it is designed to identify the candidate’s level of knowledge and his horizons. This is required to determine the type of troops in which he will serve.

Military service in the US Armed Forces will not be subject to any changes in 2017–2018.

Contract service for foreigners

Every year there are fewer and fewer volunteers to serve in the US Army. Therefore, the government increases bonus payments every year when signing a service contract. In 2011, they amounted to 20 thousand dollars for a contract for a period of 24 months, for 4 years they increased to 30 thousand dollars.

Green card holders have few restrictions in the service. They cannot perform service where state or military secrets are involved, that is, a green card holder cannot be a translator in the army or serve in special forces, but service in a motorized rifle department is not prohibited.

Having a green card gives a person the opportunity to live in America all his life without taking citizenship. But if a person decides to accept citizenship, he must:

submit a petition;
pass an interview;
take an oath of allegiance to the United States.

To obtain citizenship, a resident must live in the country for five years, but if the candidate has completed military service in the US Army, he has the opportunity to obtain citizenship ahead of schedule.

Conditions in the army medical service

According to US laws, a soldier on military service has the opportunity to receive free medical care in any military medical hospitals. In some cases, the US Department of Defense pays for paid clinics.

Military healthcare covers more than 9 million people. The Ministry of Defense spends about 4% of the military budget on medical care.

To strengthen and preserve the health of military personnel, retired military personnel and members of their families, approved and implemented regulations, which provide:

Carrying out planned measures for medical examination of the above categories of citizens.
For military personnel: constant monitoring of physical condition, for compliance with the daily routine and service regulations.
Organization of recreation for all categories in military boarding houses.
Prevention of stress, drug and alcohol use, as well as tobacco smoking.

Military medicine in the United States is a system that includes maintaining the combat readiness of the army. Its functions are described in two programs:

military medical - DHP;
protection against chemical and biological weapons - CBDP.

In turn, this system has three segments:

Medical care program for soldiers and their families, reservists and military retirees. Return to peaceful life psychologically traumatized after combat operations.
Availability of military field medicine. She is engaged in providing first medical care, delivery to military hospitals, preparation of the wounded with severe injuries for evacuation to the USA.
Availability of medical and biological protection. Provides military personnel with protection from nuclear, biological, chemical and other types of weapons.

The military medical care system is important factor, which determines the standard of living of US military personnel.

Fast and in an efficient way Obtaining US citizenship is through military service. But getting it is not as easy as it might seem initially. Let's look at how to become a US citizen with the help of the army.

US Citizenship after Military Service

Every person who has completed military training in the United States Armed Forces has every right to become a citizen of this country. There is a serious difficulty in getting into service in the US Army. Only citizens of a given country or residents are accepted to serve in the army. A contract for service in the US Armed Forces can be concluded for a period of two to six years. Therefore, it is very difficult to call this option of obtaining citizenship simple. Let's find out in more detail how complex it is.

Service in the US Armed Forces: who is worthy?

Moving to the USA for the purpose of permanent residence may seem like a in a simple way, but in reality it is only a myth. Only US citizens or residents (citizens of other states who hold green cards) can become a candidate for service in the Armed Forces.

Not only men, but also women are accepted for service. A candidate for service must meet the following parameters:

— age from 17 to 42 years;

— no criminal record;

— presence of secondary education;

- presence of physical fitness.

The US military is divided into five main branches:

- army;

— air defense;

— naval defense;

- Marine Corps;

— coast guard.

Each of these types has its own age restrictions. The army accepts people in the age category from 17 to 42 years, and the air force - no older than 27 years. Students who have graduated from universities do not have to enlist in the army, but will definitely go into the reserves.

Instructions for enlisting in the US military

Step 1. Initially, you need to pass the test and find a recruiter

Anyone can determine their suitability for service in the US Army by passing a preliminary test. After passing the test, you need to download and print the results, and then contact the recruiter with them. You can do without taking tests and immediately contact a recruiter. Each branch of the US military has its own recruiter, so you can find one at this link.

A recruiter is a person who is responsible for selecting candidates to pass military training in the US Armed Forces. It is mandatory to check the candidate’s age, education, criminal record, physical training, and also marital status. After checking all indicators, the recruiter requires the candidate to pass a preliminary computer test, according to which professional suitability is determined.

Step 2. Preparing documentation

The recruiter provides the candidate with the entire list necessary documents, and also provides assistance in their collection. Basic list of required documents:

1) Proof of citizenship (for US residents).

2) Social Security Card.

3) Printing of bank accounts.

4) Driver license and ID.

5) Copies or originals of documents on marriages, divorces, court orders.

6) Copies or originals of documents indicating the presence of children under 18 summer age, as well as documents on alimony payments.

7) If married to a US military member, you must provide his information, name, social security number and military address.

8) Copies of lease agreement documents (optional).

9) Documents evidencing completion of ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps).

10) Education documents.

Step 3: Must take the ASVAB test

This ASVAB test, which stands for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, must be taken by a candidate to identify his strengths. The test results will help you choose the right specialty for the candidate to pass. military service. The test includes answers to questions on such sciences as mathematics, mechanics, and electronics.

Step 4. Passing a medical examination

To undergo a medical examination, you need to contact a recruiter. The candidate needs to know that there are certain requirements for height, weight, and the presence of fat deposits in the body. To find out right now whether you are medically qualified to serve in the US forces, you can use this calculator.

Step 5. Choosing a specialization

After the candidate undergoes a medical examination and passes the appropriate test, he will need to select an army specialty. Once selected, it is necessary to enter into a contract with the US Armed Forces for a specified period. How long you need to serve in the US Army depends on the following factors:

— chosen specialty;

- type of armed forces.

Step 6. Training course and start of service

After signing the contract, the candidate becomes a cadet who will be required to take an oath before studying combat training. After taking the oath, cadets are sent to Basic Combat Training. The duration of the course is about 10 weeks, depending on the type of US military. The cadet then goes to his immediate base, where he begins military duties. Accommodation and food for US military personnel is provided by the armed forces. In addition, military personnel receive wages for their service.

Obtaining citizenship through the army

After serving in the army you will need to apply necessary list documents to the relevant authority for obtaining citizenship. Immediately after submitting all the necessary documents, they are forwarded to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, where they will be verified. After this, the applicant receives US citizenship in 6-8 months if the documents are confirmed.

Subject US Army and serving in the United States Army is very interesting - there are a lot of privileges that I will tell you about!

Unlike “our” army, Americans are called up to serve their homeland from the age of 17 (with parental permission) until the age of 42. The armed forces have been working under contract terms since the 70s.

In other words, you are “hired” to work for a certain period of time, and you, in turn, undertake to serve faithfully for a period of 2 to 6 years.

They give you a contract, you read it, ask any questions and then sign. From now on, you are the property of the state.

The US Army invites citizens and Green Card holders to serve under contract.

US Army service

Every year it is becoming more and more difficult to recruit contract workers, which is why cash bonuses are growing every year. In 2011, a new soldier received a $20,000 bonus if he signed up for a minimum of 2 years. For 4 years – already $30,000.

A private's salary is small, $1,800, plus a bonus, but he will receive it not all, but in parts every year of service under the contract.
If the soldier is married, then in addition he receives at least $1,000 per month for living expenses.

If he is not married, then the soldier can live in dormitories, it’s like a small hotel for 2 people, there is a shower, toilet, microwave, air conditioning, beds and furniture. They don’t take money for this - it’s all included in the social package!

Conditions of military service for US citizens and Green Card holders

Ordinary Green Card holders (not US citizens) have some restrictions, well, in terms of what job to choose, because, for example, to work as a translator, you need to be a US citizen, but to be in a motorized rifle unit - it makes no difference, to serve in special forces - again you have to be a US citizen...

Joining the American Army is like getting a job

The US military consists of several main components.
This ground forces, called the US Army, is the largest branch of the American military. Next comes the US Navy.
Then the US Marine Corps, which reports to the Department of the Navy.
They are followed Air Force. Next is the US Coast Guard.
The land border is guarded not by the army, but by a specialized border guard unit under the Department of National Security.

How much do American soldiers get paid in the US Army?

It is also interesting to serve in the American army because they pay good money for service! It would be nice for the heads of many states to take the salaries of the military in the United States into what is called “arms”!

If Russian military registration and enlistment offices paid $10,000-$30,000 for enlistment, as in the United States, then the word “mow” would disappear from our everyday life in a matter of days.

This would also be facilitated by the salary, which for ordinary workers is now $1,294, and after 4 months it will increase to $1,399.

Having received the rank of private 1st class, you will be able to put $1,649 in your pocket with a monthly addition of hundreds more.

The maximum you can count on for this title is $1,860.

US Army corporals receive $1,827 for the first 5 years of service, and then the amount rises to $2,218, where it stops. But sergeants get an annual increase of $100 or more.

Slightly higher salaries for officers. A general earns $153,000 a year; if he tries on the shoulder straps of a brigadier general, he will increase the amount by $20,000, and becoming an army general will receive $215,000.

System of special “bonuses” and compensation in the US Army

Salaries for American military personnel depend on length of service, and it is clear that such a system increases the desire for promotion.

This is also facilitated by a system of special army “bonuses” - compensation for money spent on food if a soldier prefers home-cooked food to the canteen and free service housing.

If an employee rents a house, the army will reimburse him for expenses.

A separate line goes to compensation for participation in hostilities - $225 a month is received by everyone who is on military territory, another $100 is added to the military who serve on the “front line”.

In addition - $250 monthly for the fact that the soldier is forced to be away from his family and $4 daily for the lack of comfort, which, of course, one can only dream of in field conditions.

All payments occur automatically and go to special accounts of military personnel. By the way, this is another item of income for an American soldier, since 10% is charged on an amount that can be up to $10,000, which significantly increases it.

An important fact is that this money is not subject to taxes.

The number of salary bonuses in the American army is incredible - for service in submarines, parachute jumping and diving, and even for such “combat” actions as duty on a day off.

Expenses for uniforms, for a car (albeit with the caveat that it is used for official purposes) and even for a personal plane are paid!

"Pentagon Social Package"

Generally, social package provided - these are more than 140 benefits, which include - insurance, which is 5 times cheaper for a military personnel than for an ordinary citizen, medical care, which even includes payment plastic surgery, expenses for education, transportation, the opportunity to make purchases in special stores.

But since this will continue forever good life cannot and the time comes to retire, then the state has taken care of its veterans.

Upon leaving the army, each employee, depending on the length of service and rank, receives from $13,390 to $161,857 severance pay, the pension ranges from $664 to $18,061, depending on the rank and length of service, and multiple benefits provided to veterans are preserved.

According to the US Department of Defense:

The average annual salary for a private or sergeant serving in the military is $32,195 (an officer earns $64,125)
US Air Force soldiers and sergeants earn an average of $33,095, officers - $66,883
Navy sailors - $33,744, US Navy officers - $65,940
Marine Corps soldiers and sergeants - $29,355 (officers - $62,161)

The American dream in the American army seems quite feasible!

Social and legal status of US military personnel

The social and legal status of military personnel covers 3 areas: general civil rights and freedoms of military personnel, military service rights, as well as their organization, military service duties and associated legal liability.

American law is sacred about the basic rights of military personnel:

Suffrage (role in political parties, public organizations and mass movements, role in rallies, marches and demonstrations)
Freedom of speech and press
The right to rest (vacation no more than 60 days, on account of future service up to 45 days)
The right to housing (single military personnel are located in barracks or free hotel-type dormitories, privates and non-commissioned officers receive free space on site)
Right to education
The right to medical care and health protection (constant control over health status)
The right to compensation for harm caused to the person of a military personnel or personal belongings during the performance of official duties
Right to pension provision (service in the regular armed forces for at least 20 years, as well as disability)
The right to burial (military personnel can be buried in either a state military or private cemetery)
Right to military rank
The right to wear military uniform ( military uniform not worn during civil work)
Right to material support
The right to dismissal from actual military service ( mandatory dismissal persons who have reached 62 years of age are subject to this; officers also have the right to resign at their own request)

Successful fight against hazing in the army

In the US Army, a new recruit's first assignment is to a distribution center. It's not easy there, but sergeants - professional warriors - begin to educate him. In the US Army, sergeants are a whole layer...

Communication between a soldier and his superiors is strictly regulated. For example, even the places on the body that the sergeant can touch are specified. And if the sergeant intends to do this, he warns about it.

If he does not warn, the soldier may complain to the chaplain. The chaplain will be required to take disciplinary action against the sergeant.

A chaplain is an officer endowed with serious powers. He knows the main religions, and soldiers of different faiths turn to him for help.

If a soldier declares that he wishes to meet and talk with the chaplain, no one has the right to interfere with his desire. When a chaplain sees that a person is not up to the job in the army, that he and military service are incompatible, he can go to the commander and ask the soldier to be discharged. And he gets commissioned!

To become a sergeant in the American army, you must serve for 2-3 years. They get paid well, so they value their reputation and work very much.

If an officer or sergeant takes a bribe, they will not only condemn him, they will stop greeting him, they will not shake hands, they will turn away from him. If the recruits are fighting among themselves, and the sergeant does not intervene, this is unnatural.

The sergeant must stop this immediately kindergarten and report it to higher authorities. And if an incident does occur and the soldier is injured, then treatment and rehabilitation will be carried out at the expense of the sergeant.

There are exceptions where sergeants may exceed their authority. For example, a grenade range. There is a special situation there, quite dangerous, and the sergeant can hit a soldier if he does something wrong.

In general, a sergeant has the right to shout at a recruit and insult him, but he has no right to engage in assault. But the insult should not be based on religion or gender.

The “young fighter” course in the US Army lasts 2-3 months. They are allowed to sleep 2-3 hours a day and are regularly exhausted by continuous training.

A senior in rank can force a recruit to do push-ups, pull-ups, and run in circles. There is mutual responsibility in the American army.

If you do something wrong, the whole platoon is punished. And this, naturally, outrages colleagues who may show dissatisfaction with different forms. And they have the right to do so.

Fights in the American army are as frequent as in Russia. But it doesn’t come to torture...

In America people are not so cruel. The Americans have an institute of military police. The very last captain of this police force is not subordinate to the general who commands the army.

The police respond to any signal from any soldier. You can also contact doctors. The doctors will also take you where you need to go.

We would call this a denunciation. And with them it’s in the order of things. Unlike Russian army, where the system is designed to destroy a person completely, in the American army the tests are hardened.

If someone decides to mock the recruit, others will not remain silent. In addition, there is a wild cycle in the US Army.

You serve in one place for no more than 2 months. And if your relationship doesn’t work out in one place, it will work out in another.

We came to the conclusion that in the American army there are fights, but no hazing...

If you want to legally live and work in America, find out about this and get a free consultation with an immigration lawyer.

Article from the site http://qwester.ru

Service in the armed forces of the United States of America differs significantly from Russian realities. You can enter the service from 17 to 42 years old. Moreover, since the 70s, American soldiers serve only under a contract agreement. The service life of the contract is 4–8 years. In addition to US citizens, holders of a residence permit (Green Card) also have the right to serve in the US army.

A number of restrictions have been introduced for Green Card holders compared to US citizens. For example, they cannot serve in special forces or work as a military translator. However, such branches of the military as infantry, naval and air force open to new Americans.

Features of the American Army

Each contract soldier upon joining the US Army receives a bonus amount of $20,000–30,000 dollars. The monthly itself wages private is in the range of $2,000 dollars. At the same time, the soldier is provided with a free dormitory, as they say, with all the amenities and furniture.

American soldiers also have a number of civil rights, which are enshrined in legislative framework United States of America:

- “the right to be elected and to be elected” (participation in political life countries, various movements and organizations);

— freedom of the press and speech;

- right to vacation (up to 60 calendar days);

— the right to receive free housing (we have already written about the hostel earlier);

— the right to receive education;

— medical insurance and health monitoring of the military personnel;

— guaranteed pension;

- as well as a number of other rights and privileges.

How does the moment of “enrolment” work?

However, with all this, from the moment the contract is signed, the recruit is the “property” of the United States of America, and the army leadership can send him to serve anywhere globe, including “hot”.

The process of service itself begins with centers for recruits (exactly the kind you are used to seeing in American films). In distribution centers, newly minted soldiers undergo professional training, where they are strictly trained by sergeants. Preparation lasts for 2-3 months, and this time is associated with continuous training. Young fighters sleep on average 2-4 hours a day.

Hazing, as such, is not observed in the American army. Strictly monitors everything military police, so sergeants are afraid to exceed their authority. However, it is worth understanding that there is no hazing on paper in the Russian army either. That's why this question cannot be fully revealed, and each American part in this matter is individual.

Service in the American army is considered prestigious and highly paid. And although fewer and fewer people want to serve in the US military every year, getting into the service is difficult, and you must meet many very high requirements. And most importantly, you should understand that the army is difficult hardships and labor, so any American will think several times before deciding to join the ranks of recruits.

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How to join the US Army? Part 1

Time: 4 hours 10 minutes.

Location: Army Barracks, US Army Training Center, South Carolina, Fort Jackson.

Where: lower tier.

I was 42 years old then, and by army standards I was a dinosaur; people don’t live that long, and later I’ll explain why.

When I woke up, I realized that the time had come, and I couldn’t waste a second, because the drill sergeant wouldn’t bring me a cake, and no one around would dance with joy and sing the traditional: “Hyappi berstdaey tu yu!” Which, as you understand, means “Happy birthday to you!”

There is no place for calf tenderness or even such simple and seemingly normal expressions of human feelings as a simple smile, like the words: sorry, excuse me, thank you, etc.

You can’t smile, because a fierce drill sergeant will understand this as a challenge, a manifestation of weakness and other civilian nonsense that is not inherent in a warrior, macho, commando. He can “drop” you, “smoke you” or, in Russian, force you to do push-ups from the floor, press your abs and do other things until you are exhausted and the floor around you is flooded with sweat. And at the same time he will yell right at your face, screaming about how he had sex with your mother, sister and you, and that you are an insignificant piece of trash and should die here, and in general you are not a soldier at all, but a civilian bastard and, naturally, all this on a three-story mat, which , however, the Russian twenty-story building is as far away as from Beijing to Moscow...

Well, okay, somehow I got distracted from the main and joyful topic for me: my birthday, which not a single living soul knew about.

I threw back the green army blanket and looked up at the mattress frame of the second tier, all covered inside with black felt-tip pen. The soldier who slept in my place many weeks ago wrote about a certain Susan, whom he loved and perhaps still loves. About the fact that she is the most beautiful in the world, and apparently she is dark-skinned, as I understood from the inscription: he mentioned some kind of “chocolate”.

59 people from our 4th platoon, 179th motorized rifle division, second battalion were sleeping peacefully, and only a couple of people got up early in order, apparently, to wash early and get their uniforms in order.

I thought to myself: “Maybe I’m dreaming all this? Well, anyway, happy birthday, Ilya Sharapov! Be healthy and pain-free, happiness and prosperity to you, and thank God that you are alive.”
My celebration lasted 3-4 minutes, and then the head of our barracks began to wake everyone up: “Get up! Rise! Get up, fagots."

The last time I was in the army was in Soviet times, or, as they say here, in the years cold war. Namely, in 1983-85, I think that some of those reading my note were not yet born then.
They even gave me the nickname “Russian Ninja”, but more on that later.
Of course, it is difficult to compare two armies: one from the times of the defunct USSR, and the other from the present: the American army.

They are separated by more than 20 years of time and era, language, political system and culture, but: the most interesting thing is that I found that there are a lot of similarities. Namely: the majority of young people are not physically prepared for service in the armed forces, there is a lot of whining, complaints about hardships and deprivations.

You meet the same types who grew up in criminal circles, and in the army they look for those who are physically weaker, and humiliate them, beat them, and so on.

Although physical violence is a bit strict here, you can, as they say, get punched in the face for it.

But you can’t assign a sergeant to everyone, and after lights out and on weekends we often had fights. There was this guy here, his name was Lee, and he was a former bodyguard for all sorts of celebrities. He had good money, but somehow over time he began to become an alcoholic and fell downhill. I decided to use the army to get in shape and earn money for college. Yes, the army, by the way, pays for any educational institution, up to 73 thousand dollars.

So, this Lee was able to fight with almost everyone except me. He respected and treated me. I remember once I went into the barracks on Saturday, when, naturally, all the bosses were at home, and I saw that a couple of guys were standing on the rack, and inside everyone was standing in a circle, and in the center two were rolling on the floor, hitting each other with their fists.

True, they tried to bludgeon in such a way that there was as little blood as possible, otherwise they would have to answer to the sergeants.

Lee was fighting with Mike, another black ghetto muscleman. Mike is a good boxer, and his fists fly like bullets, he is respected here for that. Lee is not such a good boxer, and so he missed a few punches and had a bloody brow, but he has no equal on the floor. The spectacle was worthy of television shows on the theme “Fightings without rules.”

Professional techniques, grabs, and this “Muhammad Ali” was powerless on the floor, and Lee calmly threw his fists at Mike’s black face.

True, after all this, the rivals patted each other on the shoulders with respect, although both received a severe slap in the face. As a result, both had dislocated fingers, broken eyebrows and noses.

So, speaking about the similarities of both armies, I would note that negative human sides manifest themselves in a negative environment, regardless of time, era and political-economic system.

Most people will live like spiders in a jar if you put a little pressure on them, don't give them enough sleep and freedom, and if they are constantly smothered, figuratively speaking.

It was the same with us: dark-skinned people, or, as they say in America, blacks, grouped in groups and stood up for themselves. Well, not all of course, but many. Also, I remember it was in Soviet Army, when the Armenians huddled in one group, the Azerbaijanis in another, and after lights out they constantly found out something, and then fought wall to wall.

Part 2

Of course, I am often asked: how did it get me there? And this question deserves an answer, because my wife, whom I met back in 1987, was the first to ask me.

Firstly: I ask myself, why was I drawn to adventure? My wife was 100% right when she said that sometimes men after 40 have glitches, or brain surges. In short, if you look at it from a technical and legal point of view, this is how it happened.

The US Army invites US citizens and green card holders to serve under contract. At the same time, the latter, and I am one of them, have some restrictions, well, in terms of what job to choose, because, for example, to work as a translator, you need to be a US citizen, but, for example, to be in a motorized rifle unit - it doesn’t matter .

To be in special forces means again you have to be a US citizen.

By age: from 17 (with parental permission) to 42.

So, I went through a full medical examination with checks of my heart, my eyesight and everything else. To my surprise, everything was up to standard, which surprised the doctors too.

Yes, actually, I eat exclusively healthy food, as environmentally friendly as possible. I exercise every morning, run, and exercise. I take the best environmentally friendly vitamins and dietary supplements from Amway and am always positive. In a word, apparently, together this led to the fact that now I am in the best physical fitness than when I was 20.

How do I know this?

In terms of indicators: running, push-ups and other things - in terms of scores I stand at the level of 20-year-old guys, and, by the way, I do all this much better than most of them. I generally have better stamina and get less tired.

I’ll add right away - I’m not a superman, I’m an ordinary guy from Ufa.

(Yes, by the way, my sex life is also constantly full, which cannot but please my wife, just for the record.)

On average, guys from 20 to 25: 250 points on the army scale. I have 270.

By the way, I have not yet met a single man at my age in the US Army who would be on an equal footing with me. Cause?

Poor nutrition, lack of natural vitamins and a passive lifestyle.

What do I mean? This is excessive consumption of fried, sweet, processed (frozen, packaged for microwave) and food in large portions, a lot of TV and Coca Cola, beer, and not enough sports.

Well, as a result, they look older, their stomachs, flabby muscles, and wrinkles have already appeared.

But they could be like me – run and enjoy life.

So, a year ago they accepted into the army only up to 38, but, apparently, it became difficult to recruit people, so they began to lower the standards.

Although, in general, physical training in the US Army is not bad.

Everyone is required to run in the morning, from privates to generals.

Have you seen running generals anywhere in the Russian army? I don't. Well, maybe there are a couple. Maybe I'm wrong.

But here in the USA, I have seen colonels and generals running, and they look smart.

By the way, the requirements for excess weight are strict if overweight– then it is difficult to get a promotion, and you can even get fired.

So I decided to test myself: can a man my age run like a young man in a training camp along with everyone else?

Maybe I'm fooling myself.

He proved that if you do everything I said above, you will not only run as well. And even faster and better. Well, then, I set several personal records. For example, I now run 3.2 kilometers in 14 minutes 50 seconds.

Previously, this took 17 minutes.

Secondly, I didn’t set any plans for a military career. I am a free person and cannot tolerate commanding tone.

So, for the sake of experiment.

I won’t hide it, even I had a hard time in the training camp.

Sometimes the sweat filled my eyes so that it was hard to see, and the heat was intense, and the dampness was indescribable. And there was no shower for 5 days, and this was all part of the training...

Part 3

Today we had blacks fighting with blacks, because some were from the south, others from the north, and I still don’t understand what they found out there. Then, after lights out, they got together in the toilet and sang rap, tapping the toilet lid with their palms for rhythm. It was such a complete joke...

We had one such black guy, small in stature, sinewy and with a very cunning face. His name was Michael. He bullied almost everyone, and later I found out that he was convicted of petty theft, but was “rehabilitated” with the condition of serving in the army. His parents were imprisoned, his brothers were imprisoned, and he himself is from the south, it seems from Alabama, where the concentration of the black population is higher than in the north or west of the country.

By the way, I'm not a racist and I don't care if you are black, white, yellow or blue. If only the person was good.

It just so happened in America that many blacks who grew up in disadvantaged areas for some reason decided for themselves that all their failures in life were connected with their dark skin color, and the army for some provides an opportunity to get out of this disadvantaged environment, get an education and see the world, that it is not the same as it was in their ghetto, where they locked themselves.

Okay, back to my birthday topic.

I put on my flip flops and go to my locker where I have my personal items and equipment.

The locker, of course, is locked - this is an order from the command. If after formation it turns out that someone forgot to close his locker, then things will be on the floor, and in addition the drill sergeant will definitely “drop” him or her.

Yes, if I already mentioned the female gender, let me explain.

So, women can serve in the army on an equal basis with men, with the exception of special special forces.

They sleep in their women's barracks, and do everything else in mixed platoons and companies and do the same as everyone else.

Any contacts of a non-business nature during the training courses of a young fighter are strictly suppressed, and the punishments are severe. Well then, in regular army, - do what you want. There are, of course, some restrictions, but commanders turn a blind eye to this.

Speaking of commanders, I’ll say right away who rules the army in the United States. These are sergeants.

There are about 10 levels of them, that is, sergeant, then sergeant, then sergeant first class, etc.

Well, and, accordingly, their salaries are different. The starting salary for a sergeant is almost $3,000 a month with all benefits. True, they spend a lot of time plowing and fill out a lot of all sorts of paperwork.

One of the highest sergeant levels is sergeant major. They tend to work with colonels and generals.

Officers plan, develop strategies and draw, as they say, plans for the future, and then transfer their decisions to sergeants majors for execution.

And they already have their adepts, and they, like construction site foremen, monitor the decision and manage the process. For some reason, sergeants do not like officers and vice versa. It's like two different castes in India.

To become an officer or sergeant, it makes no difference, you need to go through this same training course for a young soldier for 10 weeks.

And then you just go to officer school. And the minimum contract there is for 5 years. As for sergeants, you can serve less, however, you must first have the rank of corporal in order to be accepted into the sergeant academy.

I got this title from day one based on what I have higher education at a Russian university, and moreover, I already served in the Soviet Army. And usually, if you start from a private, it takes about 3 years to become just a corporal. I’ll say right away that serving as a private is not a sweet job, they don’t consider you a person and they do whatever they want with you...

Part 4

It’s interesting that most Americans have in their heads a mythical image of a fearless, extravagant Russian who will enter a burning hut and stop a galloping horse, and they think that all Russians, without exception, are like that.

I didn’t correct them, let them continue to think like that, it’s beneficial for me. Although, of course, in terms of physical fitness, I was among the 10% of those who ran the fastest, did push-ups, knew hand-to-hand fighting techniques and did all this better than others.

I ran at the same level as those who were between 20 and 25 years old. I had the nickname “Russian mercenary”.

They looked up to me because I was old enough to be their father and constantly encouraged them.

The drill sergeants treated me with respect and never humiliated me, apparently out of respect for my past service in the Soviet Army.

Sometimes I asked myself again: why, why am I here?

Well, I proved to myself, well, yes, healthy image life works, everyone already understands.

I thought for a long time and realized that nothing happens by chance, and God turns our own mistakes into very good life lessons, and it's all up to us if we want to learn from them and help other people.

I personally think there will be a lot I will process in the future, but there is one thing I did as soon as I had the opportunity to go home to my family.

I invited my son Robert to dinner (he is finishing high school; he was thinking about joining the Marines for a few years and training to be a sniper).

Well, a Marine is a special breed, these guys will bite your head off and not choke. They are desperate daredevils, there are legends about them and songs are written about them. But what they show in the movies is one thing, but real life– this is completely different.

Of course, in the armed forces of both the United States and Russia there are decent people, dedicated to their work, who love their homeland. But like everywhere else, they have a hard time, because everywhere they are ruled by people who are thick-headed, dishonest and, so to speak, not always decent.

As in any corporate society, there career ladder and there are constant office wars for chairs and promotions. But I will go into more detail about this at the end of my article...

In a word, after I opened my son’s eyes to the realities of life and to this whole office war, he immediately lost the desire to go to serve anywhere at all.

Well, that's right. I would be glad to serve, as one great Russian thinker said, but serving is sickening.

So, where does service in the US Army begin? I think that I still need to enlighten you, dear readers, before I start writing about the top-secret Pentagon bunkers that I visited.

First, the US military consists of several main components. These are ground forces called the US Army - the largest branch of the American armed forces. Next comes the US Navy. Then the US Marine Corps, which reports to the Department of the Navy. They are followed by the Air Force. Next comes the US Coast Guard, this is the equivalent of the Russian border troops, but only of an exclusively water nature. The land border is guarded not by the army, but by a specialized border guard unit under the Department of National Security.

I’ve already given away so many secrets that I think the FBI and CIA are probably following me. I'll take a look and check my wardrobe just in case.

There is no one... Strange... Well, okay, back to the topic. It is clear that the Marines believe that they are the best, the Army men curse at everyone and believe that they are the best, and so on.

So, the armed forces have been working under contract terms since the 70s. Every year it becomes more and more difficult to recruit contract workers, which is why cash bonuses grow every year in order to attract new “victims”. In 2008, a new soldier receives a $20,000 bonus if he signs up for a minimum of 2 years. For 4 years, it seems, 30,000 thousand.

The salary of a private without any rank is small, $1,800. Plus a bonus, but he will not receive all of it, but in parts every year, so that he doesn’t immediately drink it and waste it on girls (this is my personal opinion). If the soldier is married, then in addition he receives at least 1000 per month for living expenses. If he is not married, then the soldier can live in dormitories, it’s like a small hotel for 2 people, there is a shower, toilet, microwave, air conditioning, beds and furniture. They don't charge money for this.

How does the candidate selection process begin?

Recruitment centers for contract soldiers are scattered throughout the country. There they sit in different offices and represent different branches of the armed forces, and each has its own lure: somewhere higher college bonuses, like in the army.

There you can get, as I said, up to $73,000 for education in addition to other bonuses and salary.

In aviation there are better living conditions and drills are not as strict as in Marine Corps. Well, everywhere they give you free T-shirts, pens, souvenirs - just come to us. They are not free, of course, but paid for by us, taxpayers, and collected in China, dear to our hearts.

The specialists working with candidates, for the most part, have been through Iraq and are trained in sales skills, like auto sales managers. Now I will explain how it works, it is a clever technology. (By the way, by the word “cunning” I do not necessarily mean a fact of a negative nature.)

So, in the United States, service in the armed forces since the 70s has been carried out on a contract basis. In other words, you are hired for a job for a certain period of time, and you, in turn, undertake to sell your body and soul to the employer for 2 years or 6 years. They give you a contract, you read it, ask any questions and then sign. From now on, you are the property of the state. You could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, regardless of your profession. It is clear that if you are in the Navy or Air Force, or serve in the Coast Guard, the chances of ending up in the Middle East are almost zero.

Why do young people go to serve? 99% of them do this for a very simple reason - they need money, mainly for education, and then, some just need to break out of the vicious circle of communication. For example, I met former street drug dealers from Los Angeles, prostitutes or dancers from, so to speak, gentleman's nightclubs. I remember former drug dealer Dylan and former prostitute from Philadelphia Susan. And they are not bad people in themselves, it just so happened that they got into this mess, they sold their bodies for money, and the money was not bad, but the atmosphere and life itself ate them up, and they decided to break out of this vicious circle.

So, you come to this contract hiring place and they ask you how they can help.

They ask questions about health, education, getting along with the law, and so on.

If you have passed the first interview, then you are asked to fill out an application form and undergo a preliminary interview.

Then, based on this, take a short ASVAB exam, where at the 10th grade level you need to briefly take tests in the main subjects and score points, and based on this you may be offered a profession.

For example, if you have 40 points, then you are unlikely to be offered a job in intelligence; they need about 100.

For 40 points you will be offered a job as a mechanic, cook, driver or infantryman.

If you have a higher education, then you are immediately given the rank of corporal. After the corporal comes the sergeant.

A corporal, accordingly, earns more than a private.

My diploma from a Russian university was accepted and counted equally with the American one. It is necessary for the university to send you a printout of the hours or credits for each subject. Then the recruiting sergeant usually takes upon himself the responsibility of equating your diploma with an American one. A copy of the diploma is sent to an American university where there is a foreign department, and usually some Russian works there. The diploma is translated, certified and sent back. You can do it yourself, but it will cost about 200 dollars.

Then your copies of documents: identification, for example, a green card, marriage certificates, etc. are sent to the FBI department, where they check that you are not a spy, not a terrorist or a swindler.

It is clear that it is not so easy to do a thorough check with papers from another country.

Federal departments themselves rarely check documents, their work is backlogged, and they don’t have enough personnel.

How is this done?

The Army, Navy, FBI and even the CIA often use private defense firms to do their work for them on behalf of the feds.

Even in Iraq, most of the investigators who interrogate terrorists or Iraqis are civilians working as contractors through private defense firms.

I won’t talk about the fact that all the weapons and equipment in the army, planes and ships are manufactured by private companies, everyone knows about this...