Posted by Lee Stofer on January 19, 2003 at 00:19:01:
In Reply to: Re: Military Band Question posted by anon on January 18, 2003 at 18:14:31:
Anon,
I would be ashamed to put my name on such a message, too. Your leadership is undoubtedly imperfect, but there are ways and procedures to deal with that, if it is truly bad. Airing such a comment as that in a public forum really smacks of disloyalty, and does nothing to solve the problem.
I've seen plenty of "warm bodies that could hold instruments" not make it in the military. I've also seen musicians that could play, but did not possess the necessary personal qualities to be a dependable professional musician that washed out, too.
Yes, I went to a division band first, learned a lot (time-wasting is a personal choice), then was stationed in some of the Army's best bands for the rest of my career. I had a friend leave the Army Band Field, then come back in as a career premier bandsman. His level of musical satisfaction has been the same, regardless of assignment, according to his comments to me, whether in a division band, post band, assignment in Korea, Washington, DC, etc., so your satisfaction depends much more upon you than any externals. "Hope you like the desert"?!! In my career I knew of very few military musicians that went to the desert, and they were well-decorated and promoted for their efforts. None of them have told me that it was a waste of time, and the majority of them are fine, serious musicians.
Benefits are really good, and far-reaching in scope. As a military retiree, I am paying less per year for full coverage medical insurance than many people pay per month, and I will have a monthly retirement check and PX/commissary privileges for the rest of my life. My family enjoys a range of benefits, too. Is it a perfect system? No, but what job or career is?
Lee A. Stofer, Jr.
Master Sergeant, US Army (ret)