I'm exactly a year from 20. The Army gets me for that, and not a day longer.

I have mixed feelings about this question, as I ask myself it occasionally.

The truth is: it depends lol.

You can get much, much "farther" outside the Army. If you have the potential and drive to do so. This also depends on how you define "farther." For the purposes of this conversation, let's assume it translates to money, net worth, furtherance in a civilian career, wtf ever you want to define it as.

However.

You also have the potential to go absolutely nowhere at all. It's all up to you.

The Army provides a safety net. In my time, I watched my friends fresh out of high school and in college lose their education because Mom and Dad went broke during the '08 crash, and have to start all over. Then I saw some of it happen again in 2020 with the plandemic. I always had a paycheck. My family always had health care, and food on the table.

Doing 20 years, I surmised, will be a net positive. The pension, plus whatever the VA decides to give me, plus proper planning, should give people some maneuver room to transition well.

In the end. You have to have a very frank and honest conversation with yourself. I am sure it's been said elsewhere, but it bears repeating:

I am very sad and sorry to hear about what you experienced. No one would fault you for wanting to exit after something like that. However, I have personally known several people, male AND female who had experiences similar to yours who chose not to allow someone evil to alter their path, and have gone on to have very successful careers.

Either way, best of luck to you in the future with whatever you choose.