Life in the Military
Meaningful Connections
The bonds you’ll form with friends and colleagues in the Military can last a lifetime. In their own words, service members reveal why personal and professional relationships become lasting ones.
Finding Your Fit
Visit any military base and the incredible sense of camaraderie that exists there becomes obvious. This community mindset is an integral part of service member success. In this video, you’ll hear from service members about the amenities that help acclimate them to life on base and make them feel welcome.
Length :47 View TranscriptTranscription
I love being a part of a military community and all the resources that we have here. All of these different amenities that they offer on base. The bowling alley, arts and crafts Center, the base library, really brings the base together. As a community it's just that sense of a fellowship that comes from being on a base that really kind of draws us to it, you know. After work or something we could go out kind of solidify our relationship even though we are different branches. We all do have similar goals we all have similar experiences. You're coming into it together and having a base and the mid-eighties that provides is just another tool that can be utilized to kind of build that fellowship, build that friendship with one another and that just means a lot to us.
Finding Your Fit
When Friends Become Family
There's a reason service members sometimes refer to each other as brothers and sisters.
“I’ve made some of my best friends in this world through the Military — people I know I will be friends with for life. It’s a totally different friendship built, and it’s so strong. That’s probably one of the best things.”
“One of my best friends in the Air Force took my spot in a recent deployment so I wouldn’t have to miss the first seven months of my child’s life … It speaks volumes to the level of camaraderie in the Military.”
“Another great thing about the Army Reserve is the friends. We’re all friends outside of the Military. They’re like family. The friends that you make in the Military become your everyday friends.”
“If you join the Army, you’ve got a family. Every Sunday, my family and neighbors (who also live on post) come over, and we cook and eat and spend time together.”
Lean on Me
Whether you're in the field, on the job or back on base, you'll find that friendships in the Military can develop under a variety of circumstances.
“Military friendships happen in the funniest ways. You’re just kind of thrown together with a bunch of people you know nothing about, but those one or two similarities that you come across — you can be instant friends.”
“The biggest benefit of the Military really is the relationships. Even if I didn’t do this job anymore, if I stepped away from it tomorrow … I don’t feel like these relationships are something that will wither away, because there’s so much intentionality behind them.”
“I feel like they’re like family. … You build a bond and a connection that you can’t get anywhere else.”
Together We Thrive
Opportunities for service members to connect with one another are found throughout the Military.
“The bonds and relationships we make with each other are amazing. We all embrace the same experiences, and we have each other. It really motivates us to want to be better and challenge each other. These are bonds that last a lifetime, seriously.”
“You all have different backgrounds, and you might be there for different reasons, but for the most part, you’re all there together.”
“The Military is very similar to sports, where you have that camaraderie, you train together and you win together.”
“The friendships I’ve made in the Military are great, they’re amazing. You just connect quicker. You meet somebody that has the same lifestyle as you, it’s just a connection that you can relate to automatically.”
“[The Camp Pendleton Female Committee is] a group of female Marines, and it’s an opportunity for us to talk, get to know each other and network. We talk about opportunities that you could have and things we don’t usually talk about. That moment gets us together and builds that camaraderie even tighter.”
