Military Life vs. Civilian Life
Introduction:
Here in the following essay we shall be discussing and distinguishing between a civilian life and military life of individuals. Just to have a comparison of life of both people and see which shall be better and having been discussing the advantages and disadvantages of both.
A civilian is a person which is considered under the international humanitarian law which in the world is also known as laws of war. According to this law a person who is not under the membership of the country’s armed forces or the military of that country is a civilian. There is another part which is known as combatant, a civilian is different from a combatant. Combatants are those who are a part of the hostilities of the armed forces. The civilians are those who are offered protection legally from the effects that happen due to war and also from the military occupation. In basic words a civilian is someone who is not on any active duty in consideration of armed forces, the police services or the fire fighting force as said in the rules of United States.
On the other hand we have the people who are a part of the military. A military is an organisation which is formed by the government for the protection of the people living in the country from the people who are the enemies or create wars in a particular company to rule over it. It is organisations who use lethal force which includes usage of the weapons to defend the country from the perceived threats.
A blanket term which is used for the military people is Military Personnel; it refers to the armed forces. The personnel’s are divided in many branches – the people serving the ground forces are called soldiers which form an army, the men serving the seagoing force are called seamen or sailors with the head branch name as Navy, the people serving the army by air are the air forces of the country called the airmen.
These are the categorization and the explanation of the words individually to understand the depth of it; we shall now see the comparison of a civilian’s life and a military life.
Having a consideration of life’s of both people we can say that there are quite a common things and a life of a civilian is almost same as a military life as one has a regular job in both sides in order to have your life going for oneself and its family, to keep things in order relating to bills of the house, housing and other necessities and luxuries as required. In all manner one has to work having a boss over him/her and has to work under the rules and regulations of the organisation whether a civilian in a company or the soldier in the army. In the world today a large number of families are a part of the military or in other words the world is populated by military families.
There are misconceptions about the military life in huge manner amongst the people that the military people get paid very well then what is actually paid, some people also have a conception that military life is a horrible life and it is better and safer to be away from it.
There are also many differences along with similarities which include pay, the health benefits, beliefs and political life and more which we shall be discussing in details. Studies in the near future and the trends have shown that a military job outweighs or has greater weight in demand compared to a civilian sector in comparison to increase in pay year by year and allowances as such which cover advantage to a great extent of housing, health, educational fees, special quotas in various places, added tax advantages to oneself and family members. It is just to be on papers and comparisons if one wants to prove the benefits of civilian and a military member. Being a part of the military is said to be a defining moment in a person’s life and has long-term effects in his and the family’s life.
A lifestyle of a military person is full of responsibilities much more than that of a civilian, the military person is always in threat zone or approaching towards combat zone and risking his life and putting at stake indirectly life’s of his family. A soldier or the military person has to sacrifice a lot of being away from the family for a long time which might be for a year or even more, not being with families in any occasions or for any reason. Deployment at dangerous places with uncertainty of personal life is military life all about. The military organizations have special schools and institutes to educate the people about the same and show them the right path to choose in the field on being specific which is an extra advantage.
They provide education, specialised training and healthcare; it creates job opportunities and offer which include working for the military by travelling to various places in the world. A military person has to be on time in all due manners of the rules there shall be no reasons of getting late or shall face severe punishments. Being well groomed, have living proper standards and presentation standards and talk to people keeping in mind proper rules. A military person in no way say “no” for any specific thing one is charged in protecting the country and if he fails to do so the country shall be at stake.
The job market in the United States is scarce to those who do not have good education or specialised training, in case of civilians choosing for a new career they are forced to pay for training as compared to the military counterparts. The (MOS) Military occupational specialities section under the military act states that any person at any time during his career life has a provision in choosing and opting to be a part of military, unlike normal civilians who are forced to maintain a job to have regular and proper income for his daily life. The military personnel’s are also paid while in training and school for their occupational skills.
Expenses of the training are there but along with that a civilian has to seek for employment in the country and has to choose a place where he wants to be employed in which field etc. But military personnel have no option of choosing as where they want to work and they also have to comply to the orders of working in a specifies location no matter if they like it or not and shall have to stay in any condition of the place.
This is one of the biggest drawback of the military personnel of having change MOS. A major important drawback of all things for military personnel are that the training given to the people is not national recognised or in other words has no recognition apart from the military organisation. On the other hand a civilian having a high education and training can be beneficial to join the army or the military with the point to be accomplished and get a higher ranking and pay as compared to others.
Discussing the benefits:
Health Benefits:
Firstly of all the major factors the main factor of a military job is the Health care factor. A family of a military person is fully and highly secured means is covered under any medical circumstances. There are certain expenses which are definitely not covered but may or may not be available at special rates – plastic surgery. Dental cover is available at lower cost; sterilization is available on meeting certain procedures. In the United States an average for a dental cover is around 30 dollars a month.
Talking about the civilians, most life of a civilian pays on the medical bills for oneself and the family which are not covered or taken care of by anyone except the earning members of the family. Civilians often take loans and are under debt of others for the medical treatments of their family people. There are no extra benefits and special quotas for the civilians for medical treatments as compared to the military people. Civilians have an option of getting their life’s insured through companies but for them they have to pay certain amount of money every year for which they get tax benefits. But many people do not afford to pay premiums for the entire family so they do not get everyone insured. There are a number of exception and conditions under these insurance claims which a civilian has to face which turns down the coverage. This is something which does not exist in the military world as the organisation guarantees the health of not only the soldier but also the well being of their families.
TRICARE is an organisation which is formed known as Civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services. This is a health programme in the United States who provides the benefits of a civilian for military personnel, the retired soldiers and he family dependents.
Pay or the salary:
The salary or the CTC of a military person is low than a civilian as such as it is under the government rules and not as per private company the military person has basic pay, special pay and all these pays have special tax advantages under various section numbers of the income tax act of the country. In certain cases a take home salary of a military officer is higher than that of a civilian after paying the taxes. The civilians have no tax advantages in fact every extra income which a civilian gets from other sources are also taxable being it over and above such as rewards for their work from the company and the same of a military person is exempted.
In normal consideration a research showed that there is also much safe and job security as said by the parents and family of many military person as it’s a government job and same for a civilian there is always a fear of losing the job and there is no security for them. The pay check every month of a soldier never depends on the number of days or hours being on duty there is a guarantee of pay to be received and for a civilian in spite being the best in the company there are chances of not being paid by the company for any reason as mentioned.
But at the same side a army officer shall not have the freedom of leaving the job when he wants to but a civilian is free to resign from the job and choose someplace else to work.
Housing Benefits:
The military people are always with housing benefits like they are off base the organization provides with basic allowance for house which is tax free and they also have army head quarters in certain metropolitan cities where the family of the military can stay and they also have schools, hospitals in within for their children and other benefits are also available. Well in a civilians life he has to arrange for his accommodation and look for the family for the same. All costs of the house have to be borne by the civilian and maintenance of the same has to be given every month for the same.
Education Benefits:
In the United States there are special school and colleges which are managed by the government and the children of the military people are free to study there at no cost and use basic amenities available in there. There are also special quotas available in other colleges for higher or different studies with certain sponsorship by the government if one chooses to. But for a civilian he has to fight for every school admission sometimes even bribe and get rejections, the whole education responsibility is to be borne along with the fees and even take education loans if required for the child and pay interest on the same which is not deductible form tax point of view.
Travel all round:
A civilian need to think where he needs to travel either for work or for pleasure and need to spend on its own for the same i.e. one needs to pay out from his own pocket for the leisure of the family and himself. A military person needs to travel as per instructions through deployment. Other than that a military in his holiday time can travel to specified places with family on the cost by the organisation where they have special links and greater deals for the military. The best part of being a military is they travel to various places which are new and different where they have their postings and they get to see the best and the inner parts of the country be it on mountain peaks or edges of the country where they have the best of the climate, the finest sun rise and sunsets and much more, which a civilian dream of but can never visit those places.
Vacation and the working pattern:
A civilian has to work in the norms of the company and in an average gets 10-14 vacation in a year with conditions in certain companies that the vacation has to be utilised in a 2 parts and cannot be redeemed at once, because of this many civilians do not get the opportunity to go for a long vacation with the family but a military person gets an vacation of 30 days in a year which is guaranteed and paid with holiday benefits, this is the time when the military person can be with the family and spend time with them. This advantage of a civilian is one can stay with the family and work in the same place whereas a military person can meet only once in a year.
In consideration of working hours in a week a civilian normally works for 30-35 hours a week but a military has to be ready on call for 24 hours a day all days a week without excuses or reasons.
Retirement from work:
Every person has a particular age when one retires from work being it a civilian or a military person. In a military the retirement of the officer is after 20 years of active duty and in special cases just after 15 years of duty. There are many benefits that the people get after retirement, they have pension plan in which they get money paid by the military. Coverage of medical is still available for the soldier and his family till death and all the exemptions under the income tax act are also in effect and applicable for them. For a civilian the retirement is after 35 years of service and shall have no benefits except the pension which is paid which is less than what shall be required to the civilian. Normally a civilian is to retire at the age of 60 or opt for voluntary retirement scheme if retirement is required before that.
The extra benefit what shall be considered is that pension is available to the family of the military person if he dies in a war or in general till the death of the wife, and being a civilian no such money is paid to the family if the employee of the company dies.
The above given aspects are the prime talk about comparing a military life and a civilian life. One more factors that can be discussed are:
Fitness of the individual:
There are obvious physical and mental factor and requirement in being a civilian as well as a military person. Being in the military has certain rules of the physical appearance; the soldiers are to report or be on the ground for physical activities on daily basis as a routine and exercise for having a active body to fight the enemy, and to be fit to support the needy. Being a civilian is also important to be fit and active physically and mental but it is not compulsory from their point on daily basis, some civilians follow it on daily basis to be active and other might not at all. One can bring out its best by such trainings.
Towards the end of this essay we shall talk about the most important factor of military life – War. War is one of the reasons why family members do not want their loved ones to join the military as they love them and do not want to lose them. There are few families who encourage their children for such initiatives and are ready to sacrifice the life of their children for the country. Civilians have a life no matter how much tougher but they find it safe and better to be with their loved one and be safe with them. Being on the military face there are soldiers coming home, there is continuing funeral, being home one gets to hear that the neighbours husband or son or father will not be returning anymore which is horrifying. So it is a tough call on to join the military or to be a civilian from my point of view.
Conclusion:
As we see in the essay above there are many advantages of being a military person. We can conclude that being a military person is much better than a civilian as per from many aspects of life, but there are also disadvantages at the same time. The biggest disadvantage is that the life of a person is always at risk being at the military and their family might not even know about the relatives far away from them. But being a civilian one is with the loved ones. The issues of health care, job security, freedoms, travelling with beautiful nights and mornings are addressed but the reality is that life is at the tip of an iceberg. George Orwell an author said “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
The world should be proud of these men who are ready to lose their life for the country and the country people.
References:
Civilian life vs Military Life | Local News | Westman Journal, Brandon, MB. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://www.westmanjournal.com/article/20110829/BRANDON0101/110829968/-1/BRANDON/civilian-life-vs-military-life
Comparing Military Pay and Benefits To Civilian Jobs | Military.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/military-vs-civilian-benefits-overview.html
Home. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://www.tricare.mil/
Military Health Care: Army Health Care Benefits | goarmy.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/health-care-vacation.html
Military Medical Benefits Overview | Military.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/military-medical-benefits-overview.html
TRICARE | Military.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://www.military.com/benefits/tricare
