Need advice from military guys and civilians about joining the service

[natedog]

so i have been thinking alot lately about joining a branch of the military, i just turned 29, received my undergrad degree in teaching/coaching PE and History here in Texas. The job market is very bad because of major budget cuts in the House and i have thought for some time about going to officer school and joining one of the branches. I have been thinking Navy or Air Force but have not ruled out the other two. I have not contacted a recruiter because i did that about 5 years ago and was sorry i did. I have not given up on teaching, since it is an honorable trade IMHO, but if i do not find a job before the school year starts, I am might lean towards joining the service. Right now i have been working with my father doing residential and commercial irrigation systems for yards, i enjoy being outside ALOT, can't see myself working in an "office space" setting unless the money is good. I have a serious girlfriend of 4 years that i plan to ask to marry within 6 months and she has a great job at the scooter store where we live. i would like to have some active/retired/discharged military guys chime in with ANY opinions. most of the people i have told about this say i should not do it. i love to hunt, workout, play sports be on the water, work on things, be in the water, lead people, i would say i am a type a personality. I guess one of my fears would be to not live around water where we can enjoy my nautique, but i am not opposed to moving and getting out of my comfort zone. I am also worried if i teach that i might not be able to afford the toys i want that guys making 100K+ can afford, not saying i need alot of material things and they do not have to be new at all but it would be nice to go out and buy my girlfriend a new car and nice house in the future and a teacher's budget is capped around 50-60K here in Texas. I know some of you may tell me i should have gotten a different degree or go back to school but with my student loans as they are i do not want to take on any more debt. i know some people that love the military life and others that hate it, so i am looking for opinions. thanks

[BKinSoCal]

Nate,

I am not active, retired or discharged military, but I work with the military every day with my job. In my opinion, the rankings of military branch to pursue would be 1) Air Force 2) Navy 3) Army 4) Marines. The primary reason behind this order is how much opportunity you have to be directly in combat. If combat is what you are looking for, switch that order around.

Whichever branch you choose to go to, that is if you make the decision to enlist, you will be able to choose a new career field to be trained. You will be tested prior to going to Basic Training/Officers School to determine what your career field will be. The better you do, the more choices you have. You're educated so I would imagine you'll have a high number of choices. When you choose, choose wisely as this is where your expertise will be when you get out of the military. You want something that will be marketable when you get out; IT, Communications, Engineering, Project Management, etc. A lot of guys who choose the Army and Marines and are gunnies in their career field are often very limited on jobs when they get out.

The military is a very honorable career. I have great respect for our military and the way of life they preserve for all of us. It can provide you a great deal of experience and knowledge. It will allow you to see the world. However, you will be seeing the world and that could be challenging on a 4-year relationship in which you are planning on proposing in the not too distant future. Aside from being deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, there are times when you'll be stationed someplace like Korea. Typically families do not move there with you. Anywhere state-side or Europe they can go with you because they are typically 4-year assignments. But places like Korea tend to be 1-2 year assignments so you'll be on your own. I have seen first hand how that can be challenging on relationships.

I hope the information I shared is helpful. Whatever you choose to do, please let us know. If you choose to join the military, thank you in advance for your service. We will all owe you a great debt of gratitude! If you decide not to, I wish you the best of luck in finding the career of your dreams!

Brian

[jr49erfan1]

Nate,

I did nearly 10 years active duty in the Air Force (enlisted/firefighter), 1994-2003. I don't regret one minute of my time serving. I was blessed with 2 tours in Europe (Ramstein AB Germany), and at tour at Andrews AFB MD (home of Air Force One), and through personal travel while at each and through military deployments, saw much of the world I might not have ever seen otherwise. I will echo Brian's sentiment in that your branch determination should largely be made, by your intention to handle a weapon and be on the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Me personally, I am right in line with Brian's order, and thats no disrespect to the Marines and Army, god bless those dudes that serve our country in that capacity.

I can't speak to the officer aspects, as I was enlisted, but more or less you will take an aptitude test, go to Officer Training School (OTS) or another commissioning program, and based on how well you do on all that (and what your degree is in), that will determine the pool of jobs you have to choose from. I'd tell you to go where the opportunity is, and if that isn't where you're at, then go for it. Home isn't going anywhere, it will be there when you're done, and hopefully your job prospects will be greatly improved.

[natedog]

BKinSocal, thanks for the advice, in what way do you work with the military? Not very stoked on going to combat but if i was needed i would do my duty, i have talked to some in this area and a few have stayed in the states their whole career without going over seas. they have suggested to go for high security clearance careers in the airforce for marketability. Do you think the majority of service men you encounter have gone over seas, and do you think you could request not to? i probably need to get the info from a recruiter but i have been down that road and they can hound you if you give them your number.

[natedog]

jr49erfan1, thanks for the advice as well, are you familiar with the military helping people with school loans after they enlist? thanks for you service as well i have alot of respect for the military and our service men and woman. would you suggest any certain career directions in the air force that stand above others.

[BKinSoCal]

BKinSocal, thanks for the advice, in what way do you work with the military? Not very stoked on going to combat but if i was needed i would do my duty, i have talked to some in this area and a few have stayed in the states their whole career without going over seas. they have suggested to go for high security clearance careers in the airforce for marketability. Do you think the majority of service men you encounter have gone over seas, and do you think you could request not to? i probably need to get the info from a recruiter but i have been down that road and they can hound you if you give them your number.

Nate, I provide the military back-up power to ensure their missions do not go down. So I deal with many different ranks within the military. I agree with the people who suggested getting as high a clearance as possible. That certainly will open up significantly more opportunities for you when you get out.

I do know some guys who have been in the states for their entire service time and others who have jumped around the globe. For "career" guys, they tend to go to other int'l locations (OCONUS) because it helps them get promoted. But for a guy who wants to serve his four years and get out, most I know try t stay in the US. By no means am I an expert on the process, but my understanding of how you get to certain bases/locations is as follows: You get to choose three destinations and you end up with one of them. I do not know exactly how they determine which one. Jason/jr49fan1 should be able to answer that portion of the question better than I can since he was in the AF for 10 years.

I respect that you would be willing to go into combat if needed. I have friends who have served multiple tours in combat zones in Iraq. Some of the stories they share are crazy. I know some come back with some ghosts, so to speak.

The bottom line is you need to do what is going to be best for you. Asking questions and thinking long and hard about the military is the way to go because once you sign on the dotted line, you're in for four year.

[Shooter]

I'm not in the military, but also have a lot of friends and coworkers who are. I have noticed the military is not that great for someone who wants to get in and get out. They don't normally give the valuable assignments unless you re-up or sign a long term contract. That being said, I have friends that have got a lot out of the military. You have a education so you are valuable to them. I would research what type of assignment or field you want to work in and go for it. If the recruiter doesn't give you want you want, move on...I work in aviation and wish I would have pursued a helicopter fly job with the army. At this point, I'm too old and could never leave my family.

[jr49erfan1]

You fill out a "dream sheet" as far as locations go. Ultimately though, you have 0% control over where they assign you. Basically you'll fill out a sheet with the bases you'd prefer, both stateside and abroad, and hope for the best. Both times I got orders to Germany they were EXACTLY where I wanted to go, when I got orders to MD, I was trying to come back to the west coast, didn't really work out for me lol.

As far as you school loans, my understanding is they will pay off you loans for an agreed number of years of service. Feels like 6 or 8 years depending on the amount, but I could be completely wrong. A recruiter would be the best person to explain that to you. Best part though is, they would pay your loans, while paying you a salary, while giving you experience in a career field, and an opportunity to see the world. No I am not a recruiter,but I did enjoy the time I served, and Im thankful for the opportunity its given me currently.

The only career field I can speak on in the AF is firefighting. It's one of the few ALL ENLISTED jobs out there, so that might eliminate your consideration. I love my job, I get to help people, manage sketchy situations and the comraderie is awesome. I would just suggest you pursue a job that would directly translate to something in the civilian sector. For me, my job enables me to own a home, a really nice boat, and plenty of time off (18 days a month + leave/vacation), Im truly blessed.

[mnwild2]

Natedog, I was active duty Navy (IM3) from 86-90 stationed in San Diego on the USS McKee (AS-41). Find a recruiter you like, become a Naval Officer and you'll be able to enjoy quite a few material things in life.

http://www.navy.com/navy/careers/?ca...=naval+officer

[natedog]

thanks alot for the advice guys, have not had too many people around me with much advice so this is great! i have a huge job fair next week at a texas coaches convention so this is likely my last chance at a teaching job for this next school year, and my father has told me if i don't get a teaching job he wants me to take over the irrigation company and he would help me so i have some things to think about. i will be weighing all of the pros and cons and doing alot of praying, again thanks very much, hope you guys enjoy the rest of the summer

[AirTool]

Have you considered on checked on jobs at junior colleges?

[Socbum]

10 years of dedicated Army service as an enlisted. I loved every minute of it and would make the same decision again. I also agree with order with one exception, if you want to work around water put Navy first. I would also recommend going through the jobs to find what you might be interested in learning. I was in the Military Police for 6 years and than did 4 years as a mainframe programmer. I choose the MP field because I thought I was going to be in law enforcement when I got out but things changed and I ended up learning computers. OCS would be a great option for you because you already have a degree.

Good luck on your decision.

[EarlyRiser]

@ 29yo u have ur whole life in front of u. Based upon my experience (4yrs med corpsman) i would encourage you to either 1)forget the teaching job 4 now, u can always come back to it in 6-8 yrs. Join the Navy or AF. It's been mucho yrs 4 me but i still look upon those 4 as the greatest - education, comaraderie, excitement, learning... OR 2)check out the DOD site for education system(not sure of title). You & the misses could travel to a military base to teach for a couple of yrs. My wife & I are looking into it; me - teaching, her - nurse practioner. GOOD LUK!