Thinking about joining the military...

[teengeek88]

well i have got to make descisions about my career and what im going to do..... just looking for some opinions

i am thinking about joining the military before or after college....but i dont know which is the better choice because i am a (not to toot my own horn here) smart kid. just looking for people who know about or people who have done it. which is the better route to take?

also, what service should i join and waht should i do?

i love electronics and computers (obviously), im athletic, im pretty open to ideass!!

id really like to fly helicopters actually, but im brainstorming some other things too

[super gerbil]

cool

we are all cheering for you.

Before probably. It will pay for college doesn't it?

[Mike]

They pay a certain amount, and if you join as an Officer (or ROTC) they also pay portions of it.

[jman01pa]

I am an Air Force Veteran.

People join the military for many different reasons. What are yours?

Applying for Officers Training School or a ROTC program would definitly allow paying for school much easier.

You need to go talk to job counselors and recruiters and see your options in life. Dont allow yourself to get taken by the recruiters sales pitch though. If you do decide to join up dont settle for anything less than you want to do. They are salesman and will try to recruit you into what they need. Get as much information as you can and think hard on it. Make sure that is for you.

Ask questions to us. Many of us here are in the military and / or are Vets.

[geeraff]

There's a lot of resources on the web you can check out.

If you're joining up to get school paid for through the G.I. Bill, do some thorough research on it. From what I understand it rarely amounts to what you're led to believe it's worth.

Don't join up expecting to get a bitchin' job like you see in recruitment commercials. Everybody wants to be a pilot or something like that, but obviously very few actually make it.

Also, really, really, really consider that when you sign up, you're signing your life away. You will no longer be in charge of your own life.

Ask yourself why they have to advertise.
There's a reason the military has a big help wanted sign up.
It'll be sold to you as an opportunity to see the world, and make a difference, and make something of yourself.
Seriously, things that are that great don't have to advertise.

[jmebonner]

Never joined myself, but my brother enlisted in the Navy last year. Wnet through boot camp in IL, from there to Pensacola, then to Norfolk and will be driving from Norfolk, VA to San Diego tomorrow.

GeeRaff is right on the money w/ the promises tho. They make a lot of promises but fall a bit short. Still, Jeff is doing well. It's very admirable to see the transformation they go through. The graduation ceremony is one of the more impressive things I've ever witnessed.

I've heard that you should try to get the recruiter to put things in writing. I believe they get incentives for how many they can get to sign up, so they'll promise tohe world to get you in

[geeraff]

That's exactly right, the recruiters get some kind of bonus per recruit.

I used to wait on a recruiter for the Army, he'd come in with three or four prospects every week or so and have dinner (I imagine he was treating, to show how well it pays) and show them snapshots of him all over the world, to illustrate the travelling you get to do.

And really, research people getting screwed on the G.I. Bill. You can get something like "up to" thirty grand for college. So you know it means that you actually get some ridiculously small amount.

For school, there's Federal Student Aid. There are loans that you can't be turned down for, with payments and interest you don't have to start paying back until you're out of college. Please don't think the military is the only way you'll get an education.

[daveleau]

YGPM.
Dave

[Warthog]

All I gotta say, don't join just to repay your loans (if you go after college) or just to get money for college...have more of a reason than that.

I'm an MP out of Ft. Myer, VA. Been in for 15 months - any questions, PM or email me.

John

[Spook01]

Its a given that you do not believe everything your recruiter tells you. Naturally, his job is to enlist you, exagerting the pros and "forgetting" the cons is very common. Unless you are in ROTC, you can forget about becomming an officer. A line recruiters often use is that they will tell you you have a good chance of going to OCS (Officer Canidate School) after completing Basic. Well, that never happens. Don't go for the 2 year route, it disqualifies you from a lot of benefits.

The most important thing you an do for yourself is to STUDY for the ASVAB. This test determines what options you will have; halfassing it will come back to haunt you. Theyll try and get you to take it at a MEPS; take it on your own time if you can. Less pressure that way.

The worst job you can sign up for is "undesignated." The recruiter will tell you its a really good deal, "you get to move around doing differant jobs to see what you like doing before settling down on one." The stuff they make you do is basically the stuff nobody else wants to do.