Good on you. Sounds like you had great leadership.
I've met a lot of smart Soldiers during my time in the Army. SSGs with PhDs, Specialists in law school, etc. It helps being in a branch that has a higher ASVAB requirement but there are smart guys in all of the branches. The military (especially the reserve forces) needs the skills that talented civilians like the folks here on HN have. The military also has a lot to give back in return. Besides the leadership skills and the usual GI Bill stuff, there are some pretty solid technical skills to be acquired. My previous employer, Rackspace, has network engineering teams that are heavily populated by former enlisted signal personnel who got Cisco and Juniper training in the military and left to make some very attractive salaries on the civilian side. If you are young and smart but lacking in the big iron skills, it's not a bad way to jump-start a great career.
+1 on the leadership count. I feel like that is the biggest benefit I have gotten from my experience as an infantry Marine. It also helps with humility - I feel it can become very easy to become egotistic in the money-fueled world of tech, and it's a humbling experience when you're working with people who don't care one iota about that.
Being in the military does suck for various reasons also though, but even that experience gives you lessons & motivation to take away from it.
Thanks! Yeah, I was definitely helped out by my leadership. They all kinda knew I was good with computers and so I was kind of the unofficial "tech support" for the company as well.
I also know a few of my friends who were in signals who came out of the military to get some pretty good jobs. Another good thing is that the Army encourages you to take courses online while you are deployed or even when you are serving. So you can get credits which you can transfer to a university when you try to get a real degree.
I've met a lot of smart Soldiers during my time in the Army. SSGs with PhDs, Specialists in law school, etc. It helps being in a branch that has a higher ASVAB requirement but there are smart guys in all of the branches. The military (especially the reserve forces) needs the skills that talented civilians like the folks here on HN have. The military also has a lot to give back in return. Besides the leadership skills and the usual GI Bill stuff, there are some pretty solid technical skills to be acquired. My previous employer, Rackspace, has network engineering teams that are heavily populated by former enlisted signal personnel who got Cisco and Juniper training in the military and left to make some very attractive salaries on the civilian side. If you are young and smart but lacking in the big iron skills, it's not a bad way to jump-start a great career.