Posted by Tom Bratten on July 18, 2000 at 22:30:02:
In Reply to: Service Bands posted by Dustin Moburg on July 18, 2000 at 10:04:26:
One thing that many of these posts have overlooked are many of the perks that go along with military service. If you join the Army, for example, you can receive a rather generous enlistment bonus (yes, even if you join the band). Several of us newer guys have received enlistment bonuses of some amount. I think that some of the other services offer some sort of enlistment bonuses as well. Another perk for the Army is the College Loan Repayment program. This will pay off up to something like $50-60k (that's right - thousand) of college student loans. If you don't have a college background, military service (any branch) will qualify you for the GI Bill, which pays money for college after you get out. The Army (sorry, but that's all I really know about) also has the Army College Fund, which supplements the GI Bill - I'm not sure how it exactly works - and tuition assistance while you are active duty. You can even get some of these benefits by joining the Reserve or National Guard bands.
DC bands do not go through as much of the military rigors (marksmanship, road marches, AIT etc.) as some of the base bands do, but we are still in the military. Each of the Washington bands deals with this to differing degrees, and in different manners.
Sean brought up a good point. Overall, it is the quality of the people you work with that goes towards making the job enjoyable. Luckily for me, Sean has a somewhat bearable personality. Unfortuntaley he smells bad :) There is a lot of time when you are not playing, and just "hanging out". After all, each of the bands experience the greatest of all military truths - hurry up and wait.