I haven't been to Iraq yet, but I've been in the army for over 6 years. Actually, I think I just went over 7. I'm married, I have 3 kids with my wife and I have a kid who I pay child support for who lives with his mom in Philly. I live in a brand new 2 story, 4 bedroom, 2100 (or so) square feet house for free on base. There's a military hospital on base that I can take my kids to 24/7 for anything......even a little fever at 3:00 in the morning and I don't pay a thing for it. My dental is free, but I pay a small co-pay for my family since the army doesn't do dental work on civilians. I have more than enough money to live on, so I bought myself a new 2007 Chevy Impala. The army paid me about $3,000 to go to school in Fort Jackson, SC for 2 months because I was away from my family and all the out of pocket expenses it cost me. I've got to experience a whole different culture when I was stationed in Germany for 3 years. When I'm not at work I can do whatever I please and go where ever I want. I also get 30 days paid leave every year.....and if I don't use them up, they carry over to the next year. I use the free gym on post (we have 3 of them on post here) to work out or play basketball. It also has an indoor pool. I can now use my army experience to get a job in human resources since I'm in retention. If I don't like where I'm at, there are ways to move to a different base if its available. When I deploy (looking like May) I will get hazard pay, separation pay, and all kinds of other pay that will nearly double my current salary. When I get into Iraq, I will be sitting in an office most of the time working on reenlistments of all the Soldiers working hard to keep our country free. Their reenlistment bonuses are averaging around $20,000 and if they reenlist in Iraq, its tax free. Their normal pay in Iraq is tax free also. The army also offers 100% tuition assistance for accredited colleges so I can go to school for free. I can go on and on, but I can't really think of anymore right now

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