Pros
Mediocre health and dental care, but coverage nonetheless. If enlisted, you're average salary is better than no salary. Amount of paid leave and sick days is almost unbeatable in civilian sector. Working in Intel is mostly behind a desk which for some people is great, others hate it. Opportunities to work/travel abroad during TDY on the governments expense is awesome depending on opportunity and country. Overall, the Army and the Intel field definitely has its highlights among the swamp of downsides.
Cons
The Army is the most inefficient machine that somehow keeps moving forward. Multiple points of failure on a daily and weekly basis is easily the norm. Expect 40% of any tasks to be done in a highly inefficient and backwards manner. Simple administrative paperwork that should take a day, takes between 2-6 weeks for leaderships signature. Being constantly pulled in countless directions at the same time for both Intel mission and soldier tasks means whatever does get accomplished is poorly accomplished. I spent 3 years developing Intel products that nobody even looked at, it was all check-the-box type of work. Good luck if you submit a trouble ticket for a small-medium issue; maybe it'll be fixed in 5 months. You realize how much money the government wastes for little return on its investment. If, after this small snapshot of cons, you still love the Army; you either have nothing else going for you career-wise or you are truly a special type of hero.
