FYI for those interested: (I am a military OD)
Positives of Military service:
-Great scholarships
-decent pay (take home ~$3500 to 4500 per month or more after taxes first 1 to 3 years) translates to approx 60 to 70 thousand dollars net in an "average" location. Could be a little lower or a little higher.
-Full benefits
-3 to 3 1/2 weeks vacation (recruiters won't highlight the fact that weekends have to be taken off as vacation days also so the 30 days claim is VERY misleading. Still, this is very good vacation time for someone just out of school IMHO)
-Holidays off
-Did I mention the vacation and holidays? Best part of deal in my opinion.
-"full scope" practice in my location and in fact in many locations. I see all ages from 2 to 90 with all kinds of problems, including many many emergent problems/acute care. I don't see how this is any different than doing residency, especially with a good senior doc working with you. But you won't get that paper...
-chance to travel around the country/world before you settle down for the next 20 to 30 years in civilian practice. A big positive if you're single or you have an adventurous spouse.
-work m-f with relatively stable hours. Usually no weekends except under extraordinary circumstances. I put in from 45 to 50 hrs/week (doing admin work after hours, etc). That's probably less than I should, but probably equivalent or less than private practice/commercial lease in many cases.
-"respected as doctor" by patients. Most don't care whether you are OD, EyeMD, whatever; just want you to solve their problem or find someone who can. That aspect is extremely rewarding. Very, very few will question your credentials or knowledge (at least openly). This is in stark contrast to my colleagues in commercial optometry (and some quacks in private practice)-according to many of my friends.
Disadvantages:
-lack of control over where you live. Less of a problem for Navy than for Air Force or especially Army, b/c living on ocean beats Where am I, Texas.
-Possibility (relatively low) of being deployed overseas for 6 to 12 months, but CAN happen, especially these past few years.
-Work within large bureaucracy
-Not your own boss
-Expectation of taking on some leadership roles as junior officer. This can be a positive, but I put this in disadvantage category b/c it means extra work beyond clinic. This is work completely unrelated to optometry. Some will revel in this.
-Possibilitiy of being on-call in remote locations. Bases without ophthalmology within local area will rely on you for emergency care. Therefore, that means no leaving the area, drinking, going on that camping trip a big chunk of the time (depending how many ODs at your base). Probably the most underrated negative of optometry, and medical care in general. I don't think people realize how much of a burden being on call (often) truly is. I don't know for a fact how common this is in military optometry - depends completely on where stationed.
Just a heads up.