Military Experience?

[SeriouslyKidding]

This is more of a general question about personal history, and less about a specific SoP, but maybe some people here can help me out. Is there any general consensus on military experience and its possible benefit (or detriment) to one’s application? In my case, I graduated from a service academy several years ago and served the active duty commitment required of me after graduation, and am now applying for graduate programs in the hopes of leaving the military for civilian life. My graduate ambitions are to study philosophy and focus in ethics, applied ethics and moral epistemology, and while they’ve arisen in part due to my experiences I’m reluctant to make this aspect of myself a central part of my application. I think I have a application that is competitive enough in its own right: 1400+ GRE, solid recommendations, and a good writing sample, so should I bother mentioning the military outside the boxes of applications entitled ‘work experience?’

[kiddo]

I think so - absolutely. You mentioned yourself that:

"​while they’ve arisen in part due to my experiences"

I'm no expert but if the military was responsible for you wanting to study this, then it should be in there. Furthermore, being in the military is prestigious in its own regard, why not talk it??

[fuzzylogician]

It's up to you but I don't think it's necessary to mention your military experience. If your proposed studies are directly related to your service then it's important to mention it. Otherwise you don't have to explain how your interests originally developed, just what they are now. In either case, your service shouldn't play a central role in your application. You may be able to use something like that, which is different and potentially eye catching, as a "hook" in the opening sentence of your SOP (although unless done right it can go horribly wrong and I generally recommend against using hooks) - other than that the SOP should be about your current interests and future research plans, not about your past.

[Sigaba]

Furthermore, being in the [armed forces] is prestigious in its own regard, why not talk it??

Unfortunately, this statement does not characterize every quadrant of American society.

@SK Given the controversial nature of GWOT, the outright hostility that members of the armed services encounter in some hallways of the Ivory Tower, the overall ignorance that we civilians have regarding the armed services, I would recommend that you be very careful how you incorporate your experiences in the armed services in your SOP.

Do what you can to know your audience. Will people reading your materials be able to put two and two together? Or will they privilege their own feelings about GWOT, the previous administration, and their preconceived notions? If they're prone towards projecting, will that exercise help or hinder your candidacy? (Will they assume that you just want to get your ticket punched so you can advance your career? Will they assume that you're going to be an Andrew Bacevich or a James Webb or a James Stockdale?)

Do what you can to know the institutions to which you're applying. Do they have ROTC battalions? Do they have veterans' affairs offices? (If the answer to either is yes, you may be able to get usable information.)