Pros
Benefits are GREAT. Lots of time off (when in garrison). Healthcare/Dental and BAH are probably the best thing the military provides.
Cons
Promotions, demotions, awards, recognition is arbitrary. Information flow is slow and inconsistent. Speaking out is frowned upon. There are very few official channels to vent. It'd better be a big event, with lots of evidence, other wise, expect to be blown off. To do ANYTHING, there is huge, HUGE hurdles to get anything done. If you have a finance issue, you have to go through your squad leader to talk to your platoon sergeant so you can talk to the person in the company who handles paperwork... who then sends you to battalion with a slip that says you can talk to personnel (S-1) in battalion. who then sends a request to finance (who btw, is down the street). YOU can't go to finance, because then finance gets indunnated with requests. if, for example, the request comes back, and it's only something the finance down the street can fix, you gotta go through the whole process to go back to battalion S-1 so they can give you a permission slip to go to finance down the street. ridiculous. why can't i just go down the street to fix MY finance issue?