I come seeking advice

As a pharmacist in the military you will make great money. You will make whatever your pay grade's base pay, plus doctors and specialty fields make extra money "special incentive pay" any where from 20K to 36 K dependent on your field. I hope whoever you are speaking to is telling you all this. Get board certified and you make even more. You can find all this information @ http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/mili...PayTable34.pdf . I hope you are talking to an Officer recruiter, most recruitment stations have one or should direct you towards one. Regular recruiters will not be steering you in the right direction.

From my personal experience, I love the military. The quality of people that I work with is amazing. You will never meet a more dedicated, and motivated group of people.

When it comes down to it, if money is your biggest concern don't go military. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I have never used anything I studied once since I graduated, and I make between 20K-30K less than my peers with similar degrees. However, like you said "it has always been a dream of mine to serve", if you don't you may very quickly find yourself regretting not doing so. I have never regret joining the military, and look forward going into work and training with my guys every day.\

Ultimately it is going to be a tough decision, but a noble one. If you have any more questions about military service, commissioning etc. shoot me a PM. Thanks for even considering joining the team, and oh yeah don't go chair force come to the Army!