Looking Into Joining Some Branch of the Military

[Floppy_D]

Stand by for some of the best times and the best people you will ever meet. It's not all fun and games, but I can't think of a better way to experience life. There's a lot of great options out there. Try to get as much training as you can. It will make you more valuable to both the military and civilian world. I started life in the Navy as a Firecontrolman (what caliber for zombies? Tomahawk!) and decided that I'd like to pursue a commission and a career in aviation... and that option was made available to me.

If you sign up, be positive and open-minded, and make it a point to excel at what you do, and you'll go far. Fair winds and following seas.

 

[fearless leader]

For what it's worth, I was in the Navy, and were it not for volunteering for a special detail, the only weapon I was allowed to touch was a Colt Ace 22 which I got to fire 5 rounds out of during boot camp.

The Navy was full of Gun Bigots when I was in. They acted like something was wrong with me because I liked guns.

When I went to re-enlist to the Marine Corps (where I should have started), they threw a monkey wrench in the works to prevent me from re-enlisting at all.

The Knee Deep Navy, the US Coast Guard offers fun and adventure, if you really need to be on a boat and don't mind being called 'puddle pirate'.

The Navy eats well, and so does the Air Force.

I joined in 1980 when we were planning to go to war with Iran. Which reminds me, if you don't have PERFECT color vision, they won't let you play on elite teams.

 

[tepin]

Navy - better food

 

[Appaloosa]

Marines.

There once was a Marine rowing a boat across a large lake. "From the Halls of Montezuma To the shores of Tripoli" he sang as he rowed.

God was watching in amazement at this wounderful creation of his. "hmm I wonder what would happen if I took 1/4 of his brain away" God said.

God snapped his fingers, and it was so. He watched in amazement as the Marine faltered in his singing, but kept on rowing.

So in curiosity God snapped his fingers again taking another 1/4 of the Marines brain. No longer was the Marine singing, but he kept on rowing that boat.

Now a third time God snapped his fingers. Now the Marine only had 1/4 of his brain left. He was no longer singing, and was now having visable trouble rowing his little boat.

"This is just amizing" said God. "I am going to take away his full brain to see what happens". With a snap of his fingers it was done. The Marine quickly picked up his pace, and started rowing normal again. The only problem was now he was singing "Be all you can be in the Army".

That should stir it up

Also the ladies will be all over you if you are a Marine.

 

[Phoneman]

Well, being an old "anchor clanker" I'd say the Navy. You get one Hell of an education and you will have the opportunity to see more foreign countries than most branches of service. Don't recommend being a "nuke" unless you want to live on subs. Check out what's available and score high on your ASVAB test.

 

[hanno]

I don't care what branch you join, but join. When you get to a ripe old age you,ll be able to say" I did my part, and I'm proud of it."
If you're wanting to be treated good, forget it. The military ain't the place. If you want to grow up under adult supervision, join up.
If you want to go to your grave with the satisfaction of knowing you helped defend this great nation, join up.
If you want to kick in doors, the SEALS, Rangers, Special Forces,Marine RECON, AF Forward Controllers are looking for people, but join up.
If you want to see how many different kinds of people make up this nation, join up.
If you want to bitch and moan about how the higher ups don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, join up.
If your system can take bad food and large quantites of bad booze, join up.
If you want to stand tall, and salute the flag with a tear in your eye, and show the world what a ass whoopin' genuwine Red White and Blue AMERICAN looks like JOIN UP. And all who went before will pray for your safe return.

Very well said and deserves to be posted again.

+1

USAF Retired

 

[JustinL]

I am a physician so my story is a little different.

I tried to join the army while an intern (all my friends had joined the army) but they had my application for over a year and failed to process it. There was one issue after another. Not only that, but they only offered me Captain's pay without the stipend. I go t fed up with them and went to see the Air Force who processed my application in 4 months and, by the way, now pays me a hefty $1600/month stipend for doing nothing!

I relayed my army difficulties to my air force health-care recruiter in detail and he stated he was not at all surprised by my story, stating: "and they wonder why they have trouble recruiting."

That is all I can contribute at this point as I am still in residency. The Air Force just seems to be better organized than the Army so the former may be less frustrating for you than the later.

 

[2nd 41]

Good Luck whatever choice you make. And Thanks. Frank

 

[Chicken-Farmer]

There is always Coast Guard Aviation!

I have been enlisted in the Coast Guard for 10 years. The first 2 years i was stationed on a Buoy Tender in Sitka, AK. I then went to A-School as an Avionics Tech. Basically repairing electrical systems on aircraft. The Coast Guard is unique in that we both fix aircraft and fly on them as our everyday job. We refer to ourselves at fixers and flyers. Other services only fix or only fly the aircraft. The coast guard has several different airframes both rotor wing and fixed wing. We currently use HH-60 and HH-65 helicopters. For fixed wing we use the HC-130 Hercules, HU-25 Falcon, and the new Casa aircraft from Spain.
I chose the Coast Guard for several reasons. We are a small under appreciated branch of the Military with only about 35000 members. Being such a small service, I know at least someone when i transfer to a new station and the majority of enlisted are on a first name basis. We enjoy the same benefits of the other military branches ie; retirement plans, full medical for member and dependents, and commesary and exchange privileges. Our missions include drug interdiction, search and rescue, fisheries regulation, law enforcement, aids to navigation, and oil spill response to just name a few. Not every member of the Coast guard is a Sailor, just like not every member of the Air Force is a fighter pilot.
According to our new recruiting advertisements I ams a defender of the Homeland, the line in the sand, the port in the storm, the rescuer in the dark, the enforcer of the seas, and the shield of freedom.

 

[plexreticle]

Not that this topics has anything to do with firearms, if I were thinking of joining I would wait to see the outcome of the next election first.

 

[Sato Ord]

Okay, this will most likely make me unpopular, but, so be it. Remember that this comes from someone who is former army.

I don't have a lot of experience with the Air Force or Navy. I can tell you that if you do something like medic in the Navy you just might find yourself running with the Marines. I have a good friend who is a Lt. Colonel in the special forces. He's Recon, and he has been back up, and now he's primary special forces. When he needs a medic for his unit, front line, he usually gets some poor guy from the Navy who "didn't sign up for this".

As far as the difference between the Army and Marines, I'll try and explain how I feel.

If a Marine straight out of Boot Camp screws up and does something that makes a mess, he doesn't wait for some sergeant or officer to tell him to do push ups, he drops down and does it. It's a matter of pride with him to take responsibility for himself. Then, he cleans up his mess and fixes whatever he broke, or some such. Then he goes about his business. It doesn't matter who was there to see him, or if no one was there.

If an Army private has a similar mishap he first looks to see if any one saw. If not, he scoots out quick thinking he got over. If he's caught he will most likely do the minimum to correct whatever the mistake is. Remember, I'm talking average here, if you are different that's great.

You don't see the same level of commitment and esprit de corps as the Marines until you start looking at Rangers. Rangers are an elite group and are special forces.

As far as I'm concerned, the Marines are special forces coming right out of Boot Camp. They are elite and the average grunt Marine is on par with the average guy in the Rangers.

Told you this reply wouldn't make me popular. If you don't like the message, change it, go Ranger!

Now back to the original question. Look at all branches and see what is best for you. The Coast Guard is good, but it's tough and harder to get into from what I understand.

Good luck.

 

[jjduller1946]

I mostly want to get some info what it's lke in the military, Specifically the Coast Guard, Navy or Air Force when you enter as an officer.

Jcook5003,

I am former Army SF. I loved my life in the Army. Started out enlisted, went to OCS, SF School and then overseas and back and forth. 17 moves in 24 years. Hard on family (2 divorces).

I presently work with the CG and I have been very impressed with them in general and especially with the young officers and enlisted men. They are always OPERATIONAL. Either counter-terror, counter-drug, counter-illegal immigration, counter-oil spill, counter-illegal fishing.

You are on a good track. I would definitely contact some young officers and get their perspective.

One thing to keep in mind for all Services is 20 years is not guaranteed. You have to make promotion or you will be let go. So you have to shoot to be top of your class at every step. Not a bad thing if you like to compete!

 

[jkingrph]

The Air Force is a great service, they send thier officers out to get shot at.

They do sleep and eat well though.

 

[sgtdevildog]

Marines. As a former Marine (many years ago) they instill a sense of pride and espirit de corps that the other services can't match. It used to be that the Corps was the only service that didn't have minimum time in grade requirements for enlisted advancement. If you had your crap squared away you could be put up for meritorious promotion as often as the boards were held (don't know if it's still like this or not). Rank can come quickly - if that's important. The other thing is that becoming a Marine is a life changing event. You become a permanent member of a band of brothers that will never change. I can lose my job, house, car, family, etc. - but they can never take away the fact that I am a Marine (old, grey and fat, but in my heart I'm still a warrior). Good luck in your decision. Semper Fidelis

 

[icebones]

USAF
cross into the blue

goodluck and goodspeed

play your cards right, talk to your recruiter, pick the right job and you will never see the sands of iraq.

for reference, i am a munitions specialast apprentince, and i am going to stay in the states for my entire enlistment.

 

[icebones]

one more piece of advice, start running or joging several weeks before you go into basic training, it helps A LOT.

what were you wanting to do? communications, electronics, machine work?

 

[RustyShackelford]

ASVAB, US Air Force or US Coast Guard

The first step in a US military career is to take the ASVAB. It will test your knowledge skills and abilities. I took the old format many years ago but worked briefly for a DoD contract with new applicants/recruits in 2006.

After you take the ASVAB you will get a score then based on the ASVAB and other factors you can see what career fields you can choose from.
If you are in good shape, have a good background( no drug/alcohol problems, criminal records, major credit issues) and meet the entry requirements, I'd go into the USAF. The US Air Force takes good care of it's service members and you can learn many great job skills. The demand is strong to enlist by many young people now so the USAF can be selective. Re-enlistment and retention is highest too for the USAF. That should be a good sign about what service branch is the best to enlist in.
The US Coast Guard would be a good choice if you like the sea/water. Close quarters and/or high risk working conditions are issues you really need to consider before enlisting in the USCG or USCG reserves. The same goes for the US Navy.
You may also want to think about being a warrant officer. They work in the fields that require highly skilled officers but are not directly in charge of enlisted troops. The warrant officers do not make as much pay as 0-1 to 0-6 either but you can be well paid with time/increases.

Rusty
PS: I served in the US Army on active duty for over 4 years.

 

[Cosmoline]

I can tell you next to jack squat about the Coast Guard except word on the street is that they are severely Bad Arse.

This deserves to be said again. Particularly up here in AK waters, but everywhere else as well they don't get enough credit. Some of the conditions they face on a regular basis would make any normal, sane person crawl into some corner of the ship or aircraft and pray to multiple religious figures. They brave the one thing the USN runs from--terrible storms close to shore.

 

[Good Shot Group]

Go Coast Guard. They have an extremely high speed and active counter drug mission that sees lots of action boarding and clearing boats. They send their folks to some pretty high speed CQB schools.

 

[truone16]

i'm trying to get in the coast guard. I took the asvab last tuesday and have not received my score. I've left 2 messages with the recruiter and he has not called me back. i'm starting to think i didn't score good because he would always return my calls. How long does it typically take to get scores? i took the paper test

 

[Hatterasguy]

IMHO try to join them as an officer in this order:

Coast Guard
Navy
Air Force
Army

Coast Guard is the hardest to get into, but they offer the best lifestyle. Army is easy to get into, but you will be living in a ditch. Either way you want to go in as an officer.

 

[Yoda]

You don't want to go to Iraq?

Few people do, but if you sign up, then you better understand that you'll go where they send you.

I had little patience for some Lieutenants who said they'd stay in, as long as they got the assignments they wanted. It is just not realistic to expect that everything will always go your way. No one respects someone who bails outwhen the going gets rough.

When you sign up for the service, you sign up to SERVE. The personal satisfaction you will reap from that noble cause will either outweigh any transitory hardships you go through along the way, or this is not the career choice you should make.

You may not believe this, but some of the very best times I ever had in my entire life were during the "hard tours," and some of the worst times were at those "dream assignments" that I thought I really wanted.

Recommend you check out the "Oath of Office" and the "Code of Conduct." Be sure you're ready to take them before you make this decision.

- - - Yoda

 

[PH/CIB]

I highly recommend the Air Force. On the AF Bases I have been on the facilities and food were great and I never saw so many good looking women.

Dad was in the Navy, his cruiser the U.S.S. Savannah, in WWII, off the coast of Salerno, took a bomb from a German Dive Bomber, out of a crew of almost 800 men, almost 200 men were dead in a heartbeat. I never saw anything that bad in a year as a Paratrooper Grunt pushing a rifle in Viet Nam. No women aboard ship.

I have nothing but the highest respect for the Army and the Marines, why because they spend the night in a muddy hole half full of water, getting shot at and shooting at people and eating food and drinking water a dog would not eat or drink. No women on the front lines.

I have no experience with the Coast Guard.

Definitely go in as an Officer, not an Enlisted Man, that way instead of complaining about the idiots in charge, you can be one of them.

Try to get an MOS you can use in civilian life and use that GI Bill when you get out.

 

[hso]

Zombie thread revival and revived OT.