military reserve for startup owners?
tdavis: I am an Army Reservist since 2003 and an Entrepreneur (YC Summer this year, too).Here are some random points, but PLEASE CONTACT ME if you are looking into the Army (I know jack about Coast Guard) because I simply can't write out all I could say about it.- Most people don't get a bonus, at all, when joining the military. Bonuses are generally for jobs where there is a high demand and these jobs usually blow. Maybe that has changed though; I joined during a different time.- You'll meet new people, but most of them will be idiots. I am in Psychological Operations, pretty much in the top 5 of military communities as far as intelligence goes, and I still take orders from morons once in a while.- Being a reservist doesn't give you the flexibility you think it does. After my deployment I started TicketStumbler with my co-founder and moved to Boston to take part in YC. Since then I have had to skip two months worth of drills because working on our business is more important than sitting on my ass in a drill hall for two days. The military doesn't like when you do this. Furthermore, moving is a giant pain because you have to find a new Unit; I imagine this would be even harder for Coast Guard. Let's put it this way: They will probably kick me out before I can find a suitable way to integrate the military with my new life.I don't know anything about the Coast Guard, but from what I've heard it's not "serious" enough to waste your time with. After serving 5 years I am of only one opinion when it comes to joining the military:Go all in or don't go at all. Eight years is a long time to be tethered to what amounts to an inconvenience (attending drill, so forth) because chances are you will spend most of your time doing... bullshit. I have been on a combat deployment (which was a perspective-changing event) and have traveled many places, but it's not like the commercials. Most of your time is spent doing what equates to nothing.We say the military is 95% bullshit, but the 5% makes up for it. That isn't always true. So, if you are going to join, hell, try to get into SF or Delta or SEAL or... something. Something where you have the opportunity to sit on your ass less. If the average is 5% of time spent doing something worthwhile, maybe the more "hardcore" branches and services can bump you to 15%.Oh, and if you take no other advice, take this: Don't join the Marines. Before you know it, you'll have bumper stickers that say "shoot everything that moves" and Semper Fi tattoos and an IQ of 5. To any Marines who read this: You know the stereotype exists for a good reason.