right on your pretty smart about this stuff

 

If you have any doubts about what your recruiter says email me. If you want to know anything email me. Don't go in open general. Get a guaranteed job. If you want to know the codes for a particular job email me. I have been in the Air Force for 6 years. I love it. Its not for everybody though.

 

Take it from an ex Enlisted Navy Guy. DO NOT JOIN THE NAVY !!! The Navy sucked !! The enlisted people got treated like crap compared to the Officers. There are enlisted bathrooms and then there are Officer bathrooms. I never did understand that crap. Talk about separating groups !!
For you gung ho lifers thinking I was a non conformist then think again.................Started out E1 and made E6 in 5.5 years. And yes...............I treated the JOB as if I was in the civilian world as often as I could. I didnt get caught up in all the after work hangouts, and yes I was somewhat labeled as the guy that did his own thing. I hung with more civilian friends then Military. You get what you put into it plain and simple. I served 9 years and was so happy to get out I couldn't think straight. It was like Christmas morning as a kid all over again. I had 2 kids, a mortgage payment and NO job. My motto was...............I'll go on welfare before I reenlist.

If I were to do it all over again, I would have joined the Air Force. Being on an Aircraft Carrier took the wind out of my sail. That way of life out at sea SUCKED !!! It truly was terrible. Who in there right mind likes that crap. They dont pay someone enough to live like that for 6 months at a time.
What ever you do..................do not waste your enlistment, your life, your time away from college doing a job that doesn't convert to something on the outside.....civilian world. I new guys that were Torpedo's Mate's, Store Keeper's, Boatsmans Mates, Gunners Mates, Navy Corpsman and I'm thinking..............what are you thinking....... ............... you cant take that job with you to the outside and make anything !! A Navy Corpsman after 20 years in the Navy and then gets out isn't qualified to be a nurse..................the best they could do is work in an Old folks home wiping butt's. All's I'm saying is think about your career path before you sign on the dotted line. Recruiters dont give a hoot about you after you sign that dotted line. Your best interest is not in his plan !! Trust me. Also, after 20 years in the Military the average take home retirement check is only about $1250.00 a month. Thats freaking poverty. What are you going to do with that kinda money......................your going to have to go back to work. Sure would suck at age 40 going out to find a job in a tough job market when the market wants young energetic kids that they can pay less !! Want a Job that is great and pays 6 figures........................................... .become an Air Traffic Controller. After your first enlistment then get out and work for the FAA. I'll step off my soap box now.

 

Recruiters are what turned me OFF to the military. Every one of them I met was a conniving weasel.
Looking back, and after talking to a couple of buddies in the Navy, I should have done it, but that's hindsight, and I am in a different place these days.
The military will definately give you back what you put into it if you're smart about it. And these guys are right; pick your job wisely and bargain like hell with the recruiter. If you don't get what you want, show up the next week with a Marines hat on and an "Army of One" T-shirt, and get what you want.
I am at the Air Force Academy at least once a month taking my grandmother to get prescriptions, and I have noticed that there are alot of clerical positions in the Air Force. I have been on several Air Force bases, and, at least on the facade, there are lots of pencil-pushers. Get into engineering or commuinications...
BDV

 

Going along with the general theme off this thread, the military is a good decent place, but is not for everyone. I like my job, even if I might complain about it at times, I am there right now. Yes, at 0208 in the morning, (I do not like this shift, today is my first day on graves.) I normally work swings. I will be working 12 hour shifts all this week. But it is part of the job right? I was told friday to come in monday night at 2245 and I will be working 12s for a week. Oh Well.....And yes as I have said before I am at work, typing this on a government computer.

I was originally maintnance, still am this is just a maint related job, not really a carrer field per-say. And this is only temporary, this fall I will be back on the flightline, wehre I work anywhere from 8 to 16 hour shifts, weekends, I come home dirty greasy, and bleeding (yes even more than you are after a day under the Ford) But that is what I signed up for, I do not care for sitting behind a desk all day. I like fixing airplanes, but we do have jobs that will work. You want to be a medic, or finance, a schedular. We have alot of diff. jobs. The quistion is, are you ready to be called upon 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Are you ready to have someone inspect your room in the dorms? make sure you are keeping it up to par. Granted, there are reasons, it teaches you responsibility to keep things straight for whenever you move out.

The military is designed to make you grow up really, that is the way the whole system is structured individually. To teach responsibility in your first 3 years. The military does not cater to everyone. They do not flex for anyone. And it is pointless to bick against the system, trust me I know. But if you can stay in the lines, you will learn alot, about teamwork, about leadership, about your own finances, about resposibilities, on top of your own job, they will help you out when your time is up, and if you help them by doing your job correctly, they will help you should things go astray, should finances go out of hand, an emergency, anything, they will try to help out as long as you are showing the willingness to correct the situation.

There is no other employer that can offer you ALL the benefits, and I am not talking about the ins, or medical, or a steady paycheck. No other can offer you the job training, ot the way to deal with people. You will meet people form all over the country, or from other countries. You will travel abroad. You will meet people who behave differantly than anyone you have ever known. You will have to work beside them, They will be your boss, or you may be theirs. They will have differnat ways of interaction or doing things or diff ways of talking. And they will think the same of you, you will have diff. and likenesses. The military will teach (read "force") you to learn to cope with every new situation or person.

If you can hack it, do it. May not be much pay but it is a helluva expieriance.

AIM HIGH

 

I know several people in the navy who are enlisted and they love it. One of my best friends is a recruiter and he hates his job. If anybody understood the kind of pressure put on recruiters it would make you understand why they are so pushy. Most recruiters will not lie to you but they will only point out the good things. Every job/lifestyle has its ups and downs. I am working 12 hour shifts in Korea right now. I will be here for one year and do not get to see my family except for once at my expense. Its a hard life sometimes but it does have a lot to offer. In the Air Force they will pay 75% of your college tuition. CLEP tests are free. They are pushing real hard for 100% tuition and I do believe they will get it. The re-enlistment bonuses are getting bigger all the time. They will pay me $40,000+ right now if I were to reenlist and I am only an E-5. If you take advantage of everything that is offered you will make out like a bandit. If you can handle leadership, followership and self-discipline then you are a shoe in. Life in the military now is not like the movie "Full Metal Jacket" anymore. Basic training is a good 6 weeks of pure hell but once you are through that. I find that if people just do what they are supposed to do they really don't have to worry about somebody getting on their case. Kind of like civilian jobs. They just have a little more authority in the military. You will see the whole world if you choose to do so. I have found it to be very interesting. The pay isn't really that bad. Here is how my pay breaks down at a U.S. Base.

Base Pay for E-5 = $1903 (taxed)
Housing Allowance = $580 (tax free) (minimum, varies with location)
Food Allowance = $242 (tax free)

Total: $2725

It's definitely not a get rich quick type scenario but the education is worth even more.

The Air Force is the hardest service to make rank but also the hardest to loose it. If I were in the navy I would easily be an E-6 by now.

As for the retirement I joined at age 17. I plan on making E-9 before I get out. The Pay for an E-9 is about $4,000. That is only $2,000 before taxes but I do not plan on stopping work when I get out of the service. I will only be 37 years old! I will be well educated when I do end up separating.

 

Jetta,

I pretty new to this forum and I don't reply to many posts but I can't pass this one up.

I did four years (94-97) in the Marines as a lav repairman(2147) and a mimms clerk as a 2nd MOS. I don't regret a min of it. I didn't save any money, like I should have, but I do have more life experience than most 28 yr olds do.
If I had to do it all over again I would have waited at least the summer after graduateing high school before I went in and I would have joined the Army. Haha.. .
Don't be fooled by your recruiter, there is NOTHING glamorus about combat or supporting troops in combat.
BUT, what you do get for all your hard work, sweat and tears is the right to be a free spirited civillian, somthing you probably take for granted right now or just don't understand.
If you want a SERIOUS reality check, on what the military is all about, go to the VA appeals page. Your recruiter isn't telling you about this I'm sure.

http://www.va.gov/vbs/bva/

Spend a few days looking at the final decision on these veteran's appeals. Some of it's humorous, some so sad it brings tears to my eyes. These appeals tell the story's veterans are either too ashamed, angery or embaressed to talk about.

Chad

 

O.K. I feel the need to put my $.02 forward. I served as USMC infantry in the '90's. I served on Navy and Marine bases around the world, floated 6 months on a ship, and trained the Army and the Air Force to actually use thier weapons correctly. No one here has said one good thing about the Corps and they are leaving several things out of the whole picture.

The Air Force is generally known to be easier to deal with. Boot camp is shorter, bases are nicer, very little combat (except pilots), more relaxed atmosphere. Lots of job opportunites/experience that you can take to the civilian world.

The Navy is unique. They travel the most, see more country. Also many job opps. Lots of attitude problems from subordinates, lots of crappy leadership. Nice bases and facilities if you are on shore duty.

The Army is a little over-rated. They are having no trouble recruiting enough people to fill thier quotas. Combat and non-combat jobs. Some civilian world skills. Fairly nice bases. Little travel.

The USMC is not for everybody. Few can do it if they want to. Their bases are not the best but very livable and they are making improvements. Some civilian world skills, but fewer than the others. The thing here is the pride factor. The recruiter will try to sell you on it. Unless you can deal with high stress, fast moving situations all the time, join the other services. USMC travels more than the others except the Navy. It will change you more than the other services.

I dont know much about the Coast Guard except that they are pretty hard core (not as much as the Marines though).

Overall, the services are all pretty much the same when it comes to benefits. Some offer more jobs than others, some have better enlistment bonuses, etc. Do yourself a favor and check them all out before you make a final decision. If you dont think a service is for you then dont join it. Dont get in over your head and make someone else work harder because you cant hack it.

Feel free to email me anytime with more questions. I did alot of things in the Corps and my wife is a 10 year Navy vet who just finished 4 years of recruiting duty. She can answer anything that I cant (and she is honest, which is more than can be said for most recruiters.)

racinghoss

 

Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. Had the pleasure of working with a few Marines while I was in the Army. Thank God they're on our side. If I could do it over it would definately be the crotch.

 

My first post and its about something I know about. I've been in the Air Force for 11 years as an enlisted man. My wife has been in 3 years as an officer. Any military service for 4 years is a good way to start off life.
The original post mentioned "studio apartments" which is a true statement. All the single airman at the last two bases live in apartments with a common kitchen/dining room set up and on each side is 2 bedrooms with their own bathroom and living room.
My career field is Intelligence and the people that reenlist after 4 years are getting $60,000 reenlistment bonuses.
The biggest benefit is you get to be apart of something that is bigger than yourself. You gain a whole new perspective on America and freedom that will last a lifetime.
My only regret is that I didn't come in right out of high school. Wasted a bunch of years working jobs while going to college off and on.
Starting in October there is supposed to be a new 2-year enlistment. Worth asking the recruiter about.

 

Well, I don't know where the last two Bases you have been at but I can assure you that those kind of living quarters are rare. Been in for nineteen years and have never seen that!
You have been givin some good advice in this forum and I hope it helps. The real skinny on things is that depending on your career field some of the things you can expect.... 12 hr shifts are not uncommon. we have exercises to prepare for doing our jobs in combat. that means chemical suits, long shifts, eating mre's, but that is our job. It means long tdy's away from family to the crotch of the world and living in tents. you can go on about the bad but there are alot of good and thats what you have to look at. Education is now FREE in the A.F. and we do push it hard. you can see alot of the world and that my friend is an experience. the medical and dental isn't always free but almost, of course you get what you pay for. the experience you gain is unmeasurable. You have to make up your own mind but I can tell you and I think most would agree.. it's what you make of it and it's up to you whether your time in is good or not!

 

gburkett, I don't know were you were stationed but when we have excersizes, we do not do MOP levels we do not eat MREs or anything, the excersizes here are more of a nuisance.

And our dorms are how EXPY described them, but I live off base now so it does notmatter to me anymore.

 

Only in the Air Force can a guy say that training is a nuisance and that they never eat MRE's. I lived on MRE's for 2 months during a training evolution in the California desert and longer than that at other times/places. We did not even have tents to live in. Man, you guys in the Air Force got it good, just too bad every other service makes fun of you! Many nights I sat out in the open air wishing I had joined the A.F. Then I would come to my senses when I woke up and went to work.

racinghoss

USMC 1994-1998

 

I hate MOPP gear! We do CBR drills (NBC to the rest of the military) all the time. I can't complain though, at least we don't have to trot around the dessert with full MOPP suits like the Army and Marines!

And I actually like MRE's, if you pick the good packets you get a great meal out of it. I lived on them for about a month when I was on the Visit, Board Search and Seizure team. We were boarding and searching about 4-5 ships a day comming into and out of Iraq, and going back to the ship durring meal hours wasn't an option!

 

Basemodel, Where are you stationed at?? I need to go there. Here at Mountian Home we are a fighter wing and the exercises are two weeks long AND THEY SUCK!! same for every other base I have been to. Do you guys even deploy?