"...Just wanted you guys to know Im thinking of joining up. Ive been talking with the recruiters and have taken the asvab, i scored a 84 and felt pretty good about it. The recruiters talked like it was a fairly good score.
Im preparing to join with a delayed enlistment until this fall. Im looking at combat engineer, and eyeballing special opps. Taking my physical Friday A.M., and well see what i can do.
With a B.A. i start as an E-4, so the pay wont be quite as bad. Any suggestions are welcome, i know quiet a lot of you have served in the various branches of the military.

Thanks

Tony Warren
Nebraska ......."


Congrats on thinking about joining the military. Which branch?
Here's some thoughts to keep in mind:

Positive:

-They provide for most of your needs: food, housing, steady paycheck.
-You get to meet some amazing people and see some amazing places.
-It looks very good on a resume!!!
-They can give ya money for college or furthering your knowledge.
-It helps the immature to mature and learn responsibility.(well it worked on me anyway.)
-There's way more than I have time to list.



Negative:

-You will work with some of the thickest/slowest people, and you will be amazed that they got past the recruiters and tech school.
-You won't always get the assignment location you were hoping for.
-Start learning how to mop, wax and buff floors now! You might be doing quite a bit of housekeeping. (I'm a floor buffin' Guru.)
-There's way more than I have time to list.


Miscellaneous notes:

-Seriously, do as the others have said and get a job that provides skills that you can use in civilian life!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Get the job offer guaranteed in writing from the recruiter before signing up! I heard quite a lot of guys got scr--ed by their recruiters promising positions that did not happen.
-If you've got a family or loved ones to take care of and you get combat duty, I would highly recommend getting extra life insurance, just in case things in Iraq or Korea get real bad.


And lastly, what degree do you have? Isn't BA, Business Administration? or is it for Bachelors? Is it a 2 or 4 year degree. If it's a 4 year degree you could join OTS and come in making a heck of a lot more than E4.


-Ron

USAF, Senior Airman Veteran
Air Force One Satellite Ground Support
Andrews AFB, Maryland.

 

In defense of my friend, and for clarification, Dumbschlitz Steve wasn't dumb in the sense that he wasn't intelligent, he just did stupid things. He's the kind of guy that looks 6 inches in front of his bumper when he drives, but can solve complicated calculus equations. He was struggling to find his place in the civilian world, and all of us told him to try the military. I don't know what his ASVAB score was, but I am sure it was excellent.
Steve used to say stupid things out of nowhere, in the middle of conversations, that made no sense...that's really where he got his name. "Steve, you dumbschlitz!"
But he's gone alot further than any of us have so far...I'm proud of that kid.
BDV

 

Thanks Man!!!!!

 

That's what we called "Book smart and stick stupid". I know a lot of guys like that!

K.

 

Of course you know a lot of them, you're from CLEVELAND.


J/K Ever since I lived in Bedford years ago I love to knock Cleveland.

P.S. I'm still a Brown's fan . . . . . . long live to dog pound !!!!!!

 

Two words... SEMPER FI!!!! 10 years and counting... Would never change a thing.... ok.. ok... more than two words...

 

That's funny! However, I live in Cleveland, WISCONSIN. It's a small town on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Green Bay. But that doesn't mean we don't have idiots here.

Kevin K.

 

It was worth a shot anyway. Most people from Cleveland OH have a great sense of humor regarding their fair city.

 

Tony,
Good luck with the military if you decide to join. I was a Combat Signaller attached to a Combat Engineer unit in Korea 1989-1990. Those guys are hard chargers for sure and except for the occasional moron, they were some pretty squared away guys.

These guys are right. You can find out a lot about yourself and gain an incredible sense of pride for yourself and your country.

Again...good luck and thank you!!

Paul

 

Do it! If you have a BA, why don't you get a commission as an officer??? Your ASVAB sounds low to me,( taking your degree into account) unless the test has changed since 1980. But don't worry, there were guys in my outfit with a 24 ASVAB, and they made it through some how. If you are wise you will join the Navy, become an Avionics tech, or Anti-submarine warfare operator and try to get on an S-3Viking or P-3 Orion Aircrew. P3 units are on solid land!!!! That is good duty.
If you go the Avionics route you will be able to get a good job in electronics when you leave. There are always good jobs available in the defense electronics fields. If you have a clean criminal record, and don't admit to smoking pot, you can get a good security clearance which will help your career a little also. Don't lie to the military, they will interview people in your hometown, if your clearance warrants it. As you get past the half way point to retiring, don't tell the doctors too much during your yearly physical exam, a bad disc in your back could ruin a good career.
Good Luck!!! Defend your country!!!!

 

I'm retiring from the Navy in about 6 months (maybe?) In any event--I would not change a thing regarding my choice to join the armed forces. I noticed that you mention you have a BA, why not look at going in as an Officer?? I'm an enlisted man myslef, and after you advance and the like, it's fine, but the pay disparity when you are starting is substantial. Recruiters will tell you anything to keep you, it's a quota for them. At least talk to the Officer recruiter and explore all of the possibilities. The Enlisted recruiter will tell you anything to keep you from doing it, but it's your life.

Being an Enlisted man is fine, I wouldn't change anything about it. There are several options for "converting" to an officer status after your in, so that is an option also.

What ever branch you plan to join, try to speak with someone (not recruiter) that is in the service regarding what to ask for and the like.

Kevin

 

Recruiters are the crookedest people I have ever met! They go to high schools and tell kids that they get to choose what they want to do. YEAH RIGHT. They will tell you anything to get you to sign that enlistment paper. I used to have this Army recruiter that would HOUND me, he even came to my house one afternoon after school to give me t-shirts and posters and tried to barge his way in.
Me and my buddies were doing the "twist" in the living room...once he got a good whiff of that he never talked to me again.
Do it for your reasons and ignore 98% of what a recruiter tells you.
BDV

 

BDV-
I am with you on that one.... well not the "twist" part but the hounding part. The Army has been calling me for over five years now trying to get me to join. Apparently they do not teach them boys what no means. I was polite the first few times but now I just hang up on them. Maybe one day they will get the point.

 

I take offense to the last two posts. I was a Navy recruiter from 1969-1972 ( Viet Nam era). There were no specific guarantees made to anyone. What you got when you enlisted depended on your AFQT test scores and the length of time you enlisted for. If you qualified to a school training program, you went if, you had no disiplinary problems during basic training and you were physically qualified. After all, the services do not need for example mechanics that have absolutly no mechanical aptitude at all, even if that is what the enlistee wants! That is counter-productive. An aptitude cannot be instilled into a person through schooling or anything else. I casually visited all of the high schools in the area that I was in and had an excellent relationship with all of them. Any recruiter that is out there that is telling outright lies to prospective candidates should not be there! I was stationed in the Duluth, Minnesota office and covered the area from there to the Canadian border.

 

Larry,

My recruiter for instance, never "lied" to me--he just didn't tell the "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would say. And by that I mean he never mentioned the TAD time to the Mess Decks, Berthing, roving patrol watches on the flight line in Januaray, etc.... If this young man is seriously thinking of joining, then I would suggest speaking to someone in the branch he is thinking of joining that is not a recruiter and has no vested interest in his enlistment. Had I done this, I probably would have chosen a different rating. There are so many jobs in the Navy that I never even heard of. I was qualified to do any job in the Navy when I joined but the way I see it, the placement folks at the MEPS station only presented the jobs that they needed or wanted to fill--or they were too lazy to spend a little time with me and present EVERY job availible. I'm sure you know that the thumbnail discription of ratings given to recruits is not the best discription of everything a job entails. Speaking to someone that is in, or recently in could give you the ammo to ask the right questions and get what you really want.

Kevin