Military Career Suggestions

Might be helpful to know what your life situation is (i.e. age, education). I'm no expert in the military, but I do know that enlisting is worlds apart from the officer track.

One thing I do always hear military people say is not to trust anything the recruiter tells you unless it is in writing. Be wary of promises that you will get a specific position or be placed on a specific base.

Too true! Remember that once you take the oath, your mortal body is the property of the US military. Before you do that, be sure to read General Smedley Butler's book War is a Racket.

You'll gain more from the life lessons learned in the military than from any skills they teach you.

Another thing to know is until you actually raise your hand and take the oath, you can get out of it. Think long and hard about what you are doing. Spent 3 years in the USMC and it was a long 3 years.

I can contest to that. Did four years in the NAVY (never again volunteer yourself) enlisted and came out as an E5 while working on network and computer systems. Left because my term was up at the height of the dot.com madness and the money was just too damn good.

Looking back, it was a great experience and I have no regrets. Before joining, I suggest thinking long and hard and your decision, other options, and what you really want to get out of the military because they will definately get what they want out of you since you'll technically become government property and the military life and bearing can be a culture shock for some.

All that being said, I was luckly and got to work in high demand and great paying field, and I did pay for my 4 year Business degree with the GI Bill.

If you have a 4 year degree, I suggest going the officer route. You'll make a lot more money and have better priveledges. If you're into the power thing, you'll get a kick of getting saluted regardless how the enlisted folks may really think about you.

There are good things that come from joining the military. It's one of the few places that you can technically still receive a pension after serving 20 years. Believe me, time flies. It's been a while since I was active, but had I stayed, I would be able to retire in 4 years.

Good luck with your decision and don't lef the recruiter tell you things different because they have a job to do and for you to sign the dotted line, so get everything in writing and never take verbal promises.

If you do decide, but haven't decided which service and you do plan or already have a family, the Navy is the most demanding.

Frontline infantry.

Did one year here in Finland, mandatory. I hated it. The whole atmosphere just didn't work for me.

Curious. In all honesty, despite you hating the experience, can you say that it made you a better person or a little more disciplined?

I live in canada and i want to go into the Royal Canadian Mountian Police. I too want a job that will get me far in life so im thinking of taking a specialized course. I am currently thinking about being a Microbiologist for the RCMP. That way you make hella lot of money and you have the pride and experience of a Police officer. Im sure there are other different positions in america available for you. Try a Computer specialty or Science if you are good at those. In canada im lucky they have some biology related jobs in the RCMP.

I've actually thought about that myself. I don't know if there are any long term effects, but I know how to take orders very well (don't know if the army had anything to do with this), which is very suitable to my career (cook). I also think that I 'grew up', but I did start at the age of 19, so I'm not sure whether the army actually had anything to do with it.

I've also learned to see what the human body is really capable of enduring (in terms of cold, hunger, sleeplessness and complete lack of hygiene).

I was never really a "camping" guy, and that was basically all we did. I'm also a pacifist, and basically have zero interest in guns or the likes. During all this I must admit there were some cool moments;

I was a driver, so we were trained to drive those huge 6x6 army vechicles:





Those things would literally go anywhere in the forest as long as you had a chainsaw with you. I've driven over 1m stones like they didn't exist. The training track we had was completely unbelievable.

This clip is from easier parts of the track (I wasn't personally in this group):
YouTube - 1/09 PANSION KUSKIEN AJOLEIRI

~40 secs in it gets a bit more interesting, as well as ~1:20

I did four years Air Force and eighteen Army, with a stint as an Army Recruiter for three years...three LONG years.

If you want, you can PM me with any questions.

I'm biased based on almost 24 years in the Air Force and seeing how Army and Marines were often treated but I wouldn't recommend a military branch other than the AF. I know all services have positives and negatives but imo, the +'s outweigh the -'s in the AF. If you are a mechanical type of person I would look at aircraft avionics. If you want to go into something computer related look for operator as opposed to repair. There are several medical fields that are great for enlisted types. Radiology, physical therapy assistant, and dental tech to name a few.

There are even jobs like chaplains assistant, paralegal, and of course lots of personnel jobs. If you decide to go the officer route I don't know about jobs but I do know they move much more frequently, they get paid inordinately more (an O-3 Captain with less than 5 years of service makes more than an E-7 Master Sergeant with 20+ years of service) but they are usually the ones to take the hit if their flight/squadron/whatever screws up or even if one person screws up even though they have no control over what happens. They can't speak their mind as freely because of their promotion system and even if they have family members who get in trouble it can reflect badly on their career.

I highly recommend it if for no other reason than to build character and discipline although there are many other reasons to join.

Take the practice ASVAB tests before you take the actual one.. You want the highest score possible. That will help dictate what choices you have.

100% agree. Simple as that. It just so happens loss of life may result from military actions because two big shots can't see eye to eye. It's a sad fact that from the beginning of time, if there is such a thing, wars/battles shape pretty much everything we see and experience. But back to the real point of this thread, the military can be a good option in one's life. If I had to group the difference branches by the percentage of possible mortality it would be the following. Based on my personal experience working at a joint command with all the branches listed below except for the US Coast Guard, the Air Force appeared to be the most laid back with the best living quarters and chow halls, especially for the enlisted folks.

1) Army
2) Marines
3) Navy
4) Air Force
5) Coast Guard