Considering joining armed forces...which branch?

[510er]

Duke man, Im in the Airforce RESERVE and i have served 5 of my 6 reserve years as active duty! thats just because im in a high intensity career field. If i had a dollar for every time someone told me that they joined so that they would have money for school and they were just going to do 4 years then go back to school. Most of the people saying all of this have all been in for 10+ years. You get stuck man, you either end up married with kids and have to support them so you cant go to school, or you end up getting suckered by a sweet re-enlistment bonus and stay in thinking you can go to school while your in.

My best advice is to finish school while your young because you will have alot more life issues to deal with 4 or 5 years from now.

Im dealing with this right now. Im single and have no bills, my enlisment is up next november and i want to get out and go to school... but the navy is offering me 100 grand to re-enlist with them instead of the the Airforce.. so my decision is getting tough

If you want to check out my job google EOD look up some cool videos on youtube and shit.

Also if you want to use skills you already have, the armed forces isnt the place to go! if you have no skills and want to learn a few then hell yea join up. I have seen your welds in pictures man, you live in california just get hired on for the summers working in the oil fields welding pipes and put a bunch of cash in your pocket every summer and finish your degree

PM me if you want some more info, i have more stupid knowledge about the 4 services in my head than i care to type right now

[datto510]

The gent who just bought my srl311 is a cpt in the merchant marine.

Acta Non Verba and all that. Very nice guy.

 

As he described it, working at home saying hes on the bridge at the time and getting paid, it seemed like a sweet deal to me. lol

 

Yeah, its a wonder more people don't know about it.

[herculesinwyoming]

i did 3 years in the army, i was a m1 tank crew member and we worked with the airforce directly because they provide air support.

 

go air force they get better houseing, better pay and way better food. and way more females are in the airforce :eek:

 

my 2 cents

[510er]

i did 3 years in the army, i was a m1 tank crew member and we worked with the airforce directly because they provide air support.

 

go air force they get better houseing, better pay and way better food. and way more females are in the airforce :eek:

 

my 2 cents

 

pay is the same across the board, the airforce promotes way slower than anyother branch, you can be an E-5 in the army in less than 3 years in the airfoce your lucky if you make it in 4 or 5.

as far as food goes, years ago airforce might have gotten better food but its all the same now same goes with housing the army is really gettign nice stuff for housing.

THe airforce doesnt get as much money as they used to after the war started because the army and everyone else has been fighting most of the war they have been getting all the money

[herculesinwyoming]

the pay may be, but the airforce guys of the same rank got inadequate houseing pay when they were staying with same rank army guys on our army base,

so the airforce has higher standards for how they treat their people.

of course this was almost 20 years ago.

[oregondime]

the army promotes very fast, all depends on the job. i know guys who've been in 5 years who havent been promoted. i know others who got E-5 in 2 1/2 years. ive got a total of 4 years and they still wanna be dicks. lol guess they dont like the fact im a diehard 9-5 guy.

 

the housing still sucks, half my base has pretty nice houses, my house doesnt have a door to the garage, the floor is bulging up allll over the house, and the wiring is setup so my upstairs neighbor gets to use some of my electricity... amazing. plus they take all my $1000 for BAH for this shit hole while another E-4 on the other side of base pays the same $1000 for a brand new house with no one above him and a remote-door-opened 2-car garage. id live off post if the nearest town wasnt 34 miles away.

 

and thats not so true about the air force versus army food! i ate at mcchord's chow hall all the time, i loved it and it was cheap. i ate the army food here for a year, and now i have chronic heartburn. the meat was cold by the time it dumped onto my plate.

 

and the army would have never kicked out a guy for underage drinking. i know 1 guy who went awol 9 times before they kicked him out. another guy gets drunk and fights all the time and is underage. 1 of my friends went awol for 8 months they didnt even de-mote him.

[MikeRL411]

"the housing still sucks, half my base has pretty nice houses, my house doesnt have a door to the garage, the floor is bulging up allll over the house, and the wiring is setup so my upstairs neighbor gets to use some of my electricity... amazing. plus they take all my $1000 for BAH for this shit hole while another E-4 on the other side of base pays the same $1000 for a brand new house with no one above him and a remote-door-opened 2-car garage. id live off post if the nearest town wasnt 34 miles away."

 

Your description of youe quarters definitely qualifies as "inadequate public quarters" and you should not be docked your full quarters allowance for it! Make an appointment with your JAG to discuss your situation and ask how to appeal your quarters situation. Based on your description of the flooring Base Civil Engineering should condemn that building as unfit for human habitation.

[a.d._510_n_ok]

I'm in the middle of a degree in Manufacturing Technology (I like to call it hand on engineering) right now at Chico State. It is just not working out. I would plan on finishing once I am out of the military. It would be nice to be able to support myself through school and not have to burden my parents with tuition and such.

 

 

While you are on active duty you can go to school for free or very nearly free. One of active duty military's best benefits is free/cheap higher education :).

[a100addict]

you need to take the asvab test to see how you score. that will determine what mos you qualify for. welding skills don't mean jack unless you are certified. they can promise all they want but after you sign the line they can do anything they want.my son Zach went into the marines.he wanted to be a sniper? they told him all they had available was a ammunition tech job. he took the asvabs and basically aced them. next thing you know the ammo job is not available and he in an avionics program. he had to sign up for a longer term of service bec ause his school was so long.he works on uav's and has been to iraq 4 times.he will be a staff sargent in feb. the more education you have the better off you will be in any branch.if you want to use your mechanical ability the only ont to be guaranteed is the merchant marine IMHO

[slodat]

Duke - If you want to go in the military, you should consider the Navy's Nuclear program. You go to school for two years. You make rank ridiculously fast (I was an E-5 in under a year). Nukes are the best of the best in all regards. In my 11 years in the Navy, I got $66,000 in cash bonuses - for being a nuke. I was a submariner. I'm happy to honestly answer questions.

 

In my post Navy life I have never had a problem finding work. I make more than many of the degreed engineers I work with because my experience is valuable.

[freekwonder]

Did 4 years in the Marine Corps. It isn't for everybody, but I still love the Corps.

 

It all really depends on what YOU want to do, figure that out then decide on the service and what they offer you.

[haubstr]

I've been in the Air force for 23 years as a supply guy and supply systems analyst. While I was stationed in Heidelberg Germany with the Army I saw how they treated the troops. I was in Army base housing and also received a substandard housing allowance because the housing sucked. I have yet to still be deployed to the desert(lucky). That usually doesn't happen. My son is also Air Force for the last 3 years and he is getting ready to deploy for the second time and drive on convoys with the Army for 8 months.

 

Take your time picking which one fits you

 

Good luck

[sanitys]

While you are on active duty you can go to school for free or very nearly free. One of active duty military's best benefits is free/cheap higher education :).

 

Its called tution assistance. You get 4500 per year for college. there is a cap on much per credit hour your can spend. I forget the cap. Last semster I paid 1500 out of pocket (taking 12 credit hrs). Semster before I paid around 4k out of pocket. There is also a program called MGBI bill top up. You use your GI bill to pay the rest (granted all your paperwork is right). You can also activate your GIbill and recieve those benefits. This is all while on active duty.

 

Been in the army 5 years. There are goods and bads about being in the army. Personally I cant wait to get out. My particular job makes it so I have about 10 different bosses, and its a tug of war between my job, and the "soldier" part of being in the army. Let alone once your in charge of people you become a baby sitter.

 

Airforce definately has a better quality of living, atleast in the job field i work in. Every service and every job deploys. Its based on where your stationed and what unit you are with. Your unit might not deploy, however you can be voluntold to fill a team of say 10 guys that will deploy, do your job, and be attached to another unit in the desert.

 

Lastly if your joining the service when your older it is a big change. It doesnt matter what experience you have, both life experience, and job experience. Your rank is what matters, and as you start you are treated as a child. Not married and no kids, expect to have to live in the barracks. Atleast in the army.

 

If you have any specific questions feel free to shoot a PM. Ill anwser the best I can.

[nudime]

well, there are a lot of opinions out there (many of which are highly unqualified.) If you want any info, the good, the bad, and the ugly I am more than happy to answer any questions you have or tell you about my time in the navy. Been in for about 8.5 years now and I fully agree its not for everyone but definitely no regrets here. good luck with your decision. oh yea, the nuke field has wicked fast advancement too, many make e6 by 6 years and e7 by 10 years. reenlistment bonuses capped at $90k, but its challenging work. hard to qualify for too though but most people move on to jobs with GE, samsung, westinghouse, not to mention the obvious power generation industry (one of the most stable job markets.)

Edited July 13, 2009 by nudime

[Capital15]

Been in the Navy for 13 yrs now, and I will tell you to stay in school and make it work. The truth is not even close to what you hear. Stay in school man.