Thinking of enlisting in the army

[dgee]

I've been seriously considering enlisting into the army. I'm 19 years old and currently in college. However, I really do not know what I want to do in college. I've been thinking of taking some time off from school and I guess enlisting in the Army since it'll allow me to go to school for free after my active duty period. What are your opinions on enlisting in the army currently?

thanks

 

[229]

Be all you can be.

 

[simple_gifts]

Are you resigned to not going to school at this time?

Reserves (Army Reserve, CT NG, or CT Air National Guard) will keep you in school with some good benefits while still being in a deployable unit.

 

[wallyuwl]

Don't go into the Army (or any other service branch) simply because you don't know what else you want to do right now. Being in the Army is serious business. It is hard work. You might be shipped off to war. You need to want to do it for the right reasons, not because you don't know what else to do right now.

 

[gathermewool]

How are your grades, now and in high school? If they're high, then I'd suggest you look into one of the federal service academies. My second choice would be ROTC, so you'll be in the branch of your choice as an officer.

If you decide to enlist, then make sure to know what you want and how to get it. If you want to be an accountant/doctor/lawyer/engineer or anything else, than enlisting in the infantry or letting the Army decide your job for you may not end as well as you think. You'll also be a different man by the time you're able to take advantage of the free education, and may not have the same drive you do now, much less a direction to go in.

What I did, is chose something and stuck with it, even though I hated it at first. Just get something on a piece of paper that begins with B.S. (or whatever) and THEN figure out what you want. IMO, unless you're a soldier/sailor/airmen/etc at heart, then going in with out a plan is a terrible plan.

 

[FowVay]

Take your asvab. Get your results and go to every branch and see what is available to you. Study your options, consider that best and worst case scenarios that could occur during your enlistment.

There's a a bazillion things to do in the armed forces so pick something that you'd enjoy. You'll be very proud of yourself after you've served your country. It's something that the current commander-in-chief can never claim to have done and nobody can ever take it from you.

 

[hattaresguy]

If you do it, go in as an officer. That's the difference between a Canadian standard of living and a Mexican.

If you insist on enlisting I'd join the Navy, you get 3 squares a day and sometimes a decent bed. Heck of a lot better than killing scorpions and snakes in the fox hole you live in.

 

[Hemi426]

I would stay in college and get a Bachelors or Masters in something.

 

[dgee]

My current school does not offer ROTC.
I've been at my local community college for 2 years however because I screwed up my first year i only have 21 credits. I honestly don't think school is for me as of now. I've been thinking of selecting 31b (military police) as my MOS after I enlist into the army. Then possibly going into Police academy after active duty.

I feel as if I need the discipline the Army has to offer me. I feel that it'll be good for me. And since I can learn a career while I'm in the Army and also provide me with money if I do decide to go back to school, I think it's a reasonable choice.

I've been really stressed out these past few weeks trying to think all my options through. I posted on here to get some outside opinions.

 

[Mr Nice]

I would stay in college but I would consider the Air Force Reserve or the Air National Guard. There are many jobs in the Reserves and Guard that has the exact same training as active duty yet you will still be in college working towards that degree. Some career fields offer a sign on bonus depending on the amount of years and the specialty. ROTC is a good path on becoming an officer.

I would try and go into a career field that I would be able to use that training in the civilian world. I got my electronics training from the Air Force and was offered a very good paying job with GE Medical Systems (Healthcare) even before I had finished tech school in Texas. I was not offered a sign on bonus, but if they offered me $5000 bonus to be a bomb loader on the F-16 I would of said no thanks. You can earn an Associates Degree in the military and you training counts as credits.

Swing by a recruiter, take the ASVAB to see what jobs you qualify for.

BTW, getting a civilian Police job is very difficult after you get out of the service now or days with so many cities having budget cuts and layoffs.

 

[javacontour]

I was commissioned via Army ROTC. I got a scholarship that paid full tuition and was given an allowance each semester for books as well as $100/month walking around money. In the 1980's that went a lot further than it would go today.

If you are willing to go Army, or any other branch, then going to a different school shouldn't be a big deal.

But it's hard to go ROTC if you don't have an idea of what degree you are seeking.

The advice to take the ASVAB is good. Then you know what the recruiters can offer. I had many soldiers in my company that got a rude awakening in the first Gulf War. They signed up for "college money" and didn't give much thought to what happens if the balloon goes up. When they got picked to fill shortages in the VII Corps when they deployed from Germany to the Gulf, it wasn't what they expected. But they had to go.

So please, understand that to the Army, or any other branch, you are viewed as a soldier, sailor, marine or airman first, and someone in for an education, second or third down the list.

 

[SrDriver]

No matter the location in the Army you are stationed at you can attend college part time.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
I feel as if I need the discipline the Army has to offer me.


If you think you need discipline then why half step?
Join the USMC.

 

[PandaBear]

I recommend talking to some of the people who have done this before and whether they recommend the path that they take and whether what they face are what you want to do. Like others said, going into any military branch is serious business and is not just rushing for a fraternity. You have to be mentally prepare to die and for a cause you believe in. The bonus of free college and career paths are nice, but it is still a risky and noble business.

 

[FowVay]

I spent years sitting atop a hill in Berlin, Germany, (google Teufelsberg) listening to taxi cab dispatchers being sent to the Kremlin in Moscow. It was without a doubt the most educational experience and eye opening event I have ever experienced in my life.

I was there with Ronald Reagan when he gave his "Tear down this Wall" speech in Berlin in 1987. I was there on that Saturday morning in April, 1986, when the LaBelle disco got bombed (again in Berlin) and I was "On Watch" the morning that we retalliated and bombed Tripoli in operation Eldorado Canyon (THANK YOU, NAVY!!!).

You can't experience this stuff from a text book. And what came out after the East German collapse and the Stasi files that surfaced proved that our presence in this divided city was of far more value than ever imagined.

Only you can decided if military service is for you. It certainly isn't for everyone. Whatever you do,, DON'T GO INTO THIS WITHOUT GIVING IT THOUGHT.. MONTHS OF THOUGHT. We're at war remember. And there's absolutely NOTHING glamorous about war.

 

[pbm]

I'd join the Air Force if I wanted to be an MP.
The standard of living is higher and you have a better chance of coming home to become a police officer.
If you can get into the dog training school at Lackland Air Force Base you'll have a nice resume when you get out.
All branches have their dogs trained at Lackland.

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: pbm
I'd join the Air Force if I wanted to be an MP.
The standard of living is higher and you have a better chance of coming home to become a police officer.
If you can get into the dog training school at Lackland Air Force Base you'll have a nice resume when you get out.
All branches have their dogs trained at Lackland.



And it's the officers who fly into combat.

 

[tom slick]

From what I've read being an MP (in any branch) does not improve your chances of being recruited as a civilian cop, all that helps is being able to check the box "Veteran". Don't join the USAF Security Forces (MP) unless standing next to an airplane all day or driving a Humvee in circles around a perimeter fence sounds like a great job. That's what you'll do during your first enlistment.

If you decide to join (any branch) sign up for a job that you think would be enjoyable and interesting, don't worry about being practical. After 10 years as an aircraft engine mechanic (practical) in the USAF and Air National Guard I knew I didn't want to be a mechanic and should've been in some type of enlisted air crew position.

 

[Spazdog]

What do you want to do?

I was a 19K10 (M1 Abrams) and crosstrained as a 19E20B8 in the National Guard (M60A3TTS Patton...don't laugh too much! The TTS gunned better than the original M1 TIS)

I tell you this because my MOS is worthless in the civillian sector.

Sure, I got to mob around in a 1500 hp turbine powered off-road death machine and later in a V12 turbocharged diesel death machine. But it translates to 0 jobs outside the Army.

Get something with civillian applicability. Even with Uncle Sam footing the bill, there is sometimes just not enough money to live comfortably in college. It would have been nice to fall back on a decent paying job.

My first wife was in the Navy. This has no civillian applicability but they ate a LOT better than we did. I liked eating in their DFAC or chow hall or whatever the swabbies call it way better than any Army DFAC. She said that when they were underway that the lettuce was yellow and the food had to be drowned in Texas Pete to be made edible but I don't believe her. Plus the Navy has a lot of good civillian applicable jobs. Roadside bomb danger is much lessened...of course you do have a couple of idiots in a dinghy loaded with explosives running up on you. but we are better prepared for that now.

 

[Carbon]

Originally Posted By: dgee
My current school does not offer ROTC.
I've been at my local community college for 2 years however because I screwed up my first year i only have 21 credits. I honestly don't think school is for me as of now. I've been thinking of selecting 31b (military police) as my MOS after I enlist into the army. Then possibly going into Police academy after active duty.

I feel as if I need the discipline the Army has to offer me. I feel that it'll be good for me. And since I can learn a career while I'm in the Army and also provide me with money if I do decide to go back to school, I think it's a reasonable choice.

I've been really stressed out these past few weeks trying to think all my options through. I posted on here to get some outside opinions.


It sounds like a good choice to me.