I am curious to hear this perspective because I know that the military does a good job of taking care of people who serve. With BAH, BAS, healthcare, and other perks do you guys feel like you guys had a better quality of life in the military or better in the civilian world/private sector?
I am curious to hear this perspective from all sorts of people whether you are commissioned or NCO, retired or currently active duty who worked in the private sector prior to being a servicemember, or etc. I would love to hear various points of views since I am genuinely interested in hearing these perspectives.
Thank you to those that consider replying or sharing their perspective! 🙂
Do you guys feel that quality of life was better in the military or in civilian life?
byu/jazilzaim inMilitaryFinance
Posted by jazilzaim
5 Comments
Depends a ton on branch, location, unit, family situation, and whether you actually like your job. Tricare is awesome and cheap.
Did a single tour in the AF. Loved it. I was deployed/tdy half of that time. But I was single. I’d give it 10/10. But I was in during a time between the Gulf War and 9-11. That time (and gi bill and steady check) allowed me to set my life up now to a 20/10. I owe that time almost everything good I’ve achieved.
I think a better way of saying it is quality of lifetime, not life. I used the AF as a stepping stone. Most say they will do that but many don’t.
I think it depends on what your values are. Could be better either way for a gazillion different reasons. Imma do my 20 though don’t worry. Lol
Definitely way more time off when I was active. 1.5-2 hour paid lunch, tons of holidays off, 4 weeks of PTO a year basically you could get probably 2 months out of the year off. No bills and not having to cook had its benefits but also it’s downsides. Not know wtf was ever going on kinda sucked though, I couldn’t imagine having a family in that situation tbh.
Civilian is much more isolated, if you’re off, you’re off unless you have on-call. I get paid way more(YMMV). You have more autonomy which can be great if you have your shit together, terrible if you don’t. I have way less time off with only 3 weeks and 11 holidays but you can put weekends, holidays and PTO together unlike leave.
The biggest change is that you’ll need to make an effort to go out and see your friends now since you’re not working and living with them. Much much less spontaneous shit will probably happen since everyone has their own shit going on, if you plan on doing something you gotta let people know probably a week or two in advance.
Honestly if I could get the AD life but without having to PCS, I would probably love it aka AGR.
Civilian if you set yourself up correctly after service. I didn’t but there wasn’t a single moment where I thought being in the military was better. In any way.