PROGRAMMERS IN THE MILITARY

Are you a programmer who wants to serve his / her country? You are not the only one. There are a plenty of guys out there who are just not built for the infantry. And that is okay.

All of us have different goals in life, different ambitions. All of us are different, but it doesn’t stop us from serving our countries and the greater good.

Programmers are a valuable bunch within the walls of the armed forces. They are sought after, well paid and are given the ability to develop, design and maintain programs of great importance to the military.

They work with sensitive information and carry great responsibility for keeping that information safe. Their prime focus was, is and will always be to provide the necessary software that aids the mission at hand to the armed forces.

You have to be a professional in your field as this is no joke. The military can be a great opportunity for programmers to truly make a difference and save countless lives.

WHAT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES DO THEY USE?

You might not have heard of this very programming language as it is not as mainstream as your average Python or JavaScript. Its lack of popularity doesn’t translate to the amount of things this language is truly capable of.

Enough of the chit-chat. The language that you must master to land a job in the armed forces is Ada. Ada is a programming language which was specifically designed to be as “bug proof” as possible.

Ada is the programming language that you are most likely going to encounter on any military grade ( mil — spec ) equipment. It was created in the 1970’s with security and efficiency in mind.

The US Department of Defence was trying to create one single programming language specifically for embedded systems. As you might have already guessed — they succeeded.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ADA

For those of you who are more tech-savvy and have programmed before, let me tell what the language is all about.

Ada is a:

• Statically Typed
• Structured
• Object — Orientated
• Imperative

high level programming language. This language was based on Pascal and many other programming languages to form this beast.

This language is definitely not easy to learn, but mastering it can open some doors for within the military. Simply put, if you want a programming career in the military — learn Ada!

SALARY

Serving your country is great and all, but you wouldn’t want to starve to death would you? We need to acknowledge the fact that a reasonable salary is a must for everyone of us.

Let me put this straight. As I’ve stated earlier, programmers are sought after and are incredibly valuable to the military. Therefore there is only one possible conclusion that we can take out from this very biased statement.

Programmers are paid reasonably better than their infantry counterparts. Sadly, this is a fact. The salary of software engineers within the military can go from $75.000 all the way up to $120.000.

Maybe you’d make more money working as software engineer as a civilian, but nothing feels better than serving your own country and its people.

You have to think about what it is that you are after. Is it money, or is it your pride in serving your country?

WHO IS IT FOR?

Being a programmer is extremely tough in and of itself. Add the additional stress of strict deadlines and knowing that lives are on the line and you will soon realise how tough it can get.

It is hard work, but this hard work will definitely pay off.

As a software engineer in the armed forces you will have long shifts where you sit for hours upon hours infant of a computer screen.

This is completely normal for some, while for others this can be a totally unbearable torture session.This specific job is not for all, but long work hours should not discourage you to take this route.

Do what you love, and don’t let anybody discourage you on your long, devastating and definitely painful way. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be close to as fun or rewarding in the end!

CONCLUSION

Ada is the main programming language that the armed forces use, but it does not mean that you can get away with only knowing it.

You need to be proficient in other mainstream programming languages to land the job. It is very demanding, but the reward is high.

This type of work is definitely not for everyone as only a select few can withstand the immense pressure and responsibility that will be put on them!

Would you want to be a software engineer in the military?