Is the military for me?

I would agree the services would all be better off if O's had to do an enlistment before being eligible to put on butter bars.

 

If you are a gamer or have issues stay out. If you are weird and can’t connect with people, stay out.

If you give a shit about America, join. The fact you have to ask the internet worries me. There are SO many people who DO NOT have the qualifications to join, who which in my eyes would be better fit. DO NOT ask anyone if you should.

when choosing a branch, choose what you what YOU can handle. Can you handle physical sketchy situations? No? Navy, airforce.

sketchy situations? Army, marine

physically fit? Army marine airforce

Smart and fit? Army airforce marine

next tier- smart and fit- PJ(airforce), army(sf,ranger), marine (Marsoc “raider”)

do what YOU can handle, don’t ask anyone. I’ll tell you now. There is NO limit on anything in the military only YOUR mental/physical capacity+ DO NOT LIE on your past.

 

My experience was the opposite. The few former enlisted officers I met were uniformly unhappy and took it out on anyone of lower rank. I think it might have been because they would likely top out as an O-3 or O-4.

 

More likely they were just dicks to begin with. Most OE's know they are likely going to top out at O-4 or O-5, and that's just because they hit their 20 and retire long before they get the opportunity to go higher. Several people I served with went to OCS and had good careers. One is an O-5 and even became my commander for my last couple of years, another is an O-4 and just got her first command this month. She has at least 5 more years to go, so I think she has a good chance to make O-5.

 

Unless it's different in the other branches lateraling from e to o resets the clock. I had a captain (o6) that did 40 years between e,w, and o.

 

It was a different time in the very early 70's. Promotions were few and far between after Viet Nam started shutting down.

 

A few of my humble thoughts on joining the service after 4 years of active duty Army..............
1) Take your advice from those who have served. Others often have an axe to grind and will use excuses to psychologically absovle themselves from the duties of securing a nation. How many posts here make the passive-aggressive allusion that they are or were "too smart" to be a bullet catcher? Military service is no more a scam against the young and inexperienced than college is, except when you leave the latter, you are often tens of thousands of dollars in debt and still have no job prospects.
2) Understand that military service is not for everybody. Ever heard of the 3 percenters? While not a completely accurate figure, most Americans do not serve. Currently only about 1/3 of 1% of Americans are actively serving. It is easy to follow the crowd away from service because the vast majority do not serve. The decision is huge and is not a "normal" course of action.
3) Do it while you are young. Your body will be better able to handle the punishment and if you decide that it is not a career or lifestyle for you, you will have plenty of time to pivot into a civilian career.
4) Do your research regarding branch and MOS. If you do decide to pursue the military, find a mentor who has served (not your recruiter) to help you make the best decision and don't sign on the dotted line until you get what you want!
5) The benefits of service are excellent. You will know what hard work looks like, you will know what real sacrifice looks like, and you will develop a sense of perspective that so many in our world lack.
6) Some of the more tangible benefits of service for me have been the use of the GI bill and VA home loans. I have completed 3 degrees, an associates, a bachelor, and a master's degree at no cost to me. I have purchased 2 homes at low rates and little money down. All of these things have had a positive impact on my finances.

And before anybody thinks I'm a slappy for the military or a recruiter.......my 4 years in the Army mostly sucked and the final day of my enlistment was one of the greatest days of my life. That being said, I would not trade that experience for the world.

 

Your service time towards retirement doesn't reset when you go E-O. Nor does getting to 20 years, mean you have to retire at 20 for most people, it's usually rank dependent, and that changes with the needs of each service at that time. I've known two E-9's to go 40 years, but an E-6 in the AF could only go to 20 when I retired. Most people retire at 20 and a few go to 30 years of military service, but very few go beyond that.

 

Fortunately and unfortunately things change as the times change.

 

It does in the Coast Guard. Time in service as enlisted does not count toward mandatory retirement for warrant or commissioned officers.

 

Mandatory retirement would be different from voluntary retirement. If you do 20 years of service as an E or O or a combination of both. You would be eligible for voluntary retirement in all the service branches. The mandatory retirement is going to vary from service to service and paygrade to paygrade, and sometimes job to job depending on the needs of that service. The AF changed its mandatory retirement limits several times while I was in, it all depended on the force requirements at the time.

 

Not sure if OP is still reading this thread but if you haven't noticed, individual experience of the military varies dramatically not only branch to branch, but jobs within whatever branch you choose. I'm simply a computer guy in the Air Force going on 9 years. When I get to experience other career fields (through helping them or in an exercise or traveling around them), like intel, PJ's, flight crew... it's easy to see our perceptions and experiences of the military/Air Force are vastly different. It's hard for anyone to say what you will make of the military while you are in until you choose a branch and get a job assigned to you. Then people can start telling you what to expect much more accurately.

If you're looking for a 9 to 5 type of job experience with great benefits, I'm sure no one would argue the Air Force is the one for you. The education benefits of the Air Force are better than any other branch as far as I know as well. Since the Air Force has an accredited community college, almost every training you go through you get college credits. You don't even need your GI bill to get a degree. Air Force tuition assistance gives you $4,500 a year. I almost have my bachelor's in Cybersecurity and I haven't even touched my GI bill. Which is great because if I end up married I could pass on my GI bill to my spouse or even better, one of my kids if I end up having one.

Regardless of what you choose, you do have to accept that you could die if some sort of conflict were to happen. But I can say, almost 9 years of being in the Air Force I haven't feared for my life once. But like I said, I'm a computer guy. I'm actually deployed right now. The only real worry where I am is Iran. If stuff pops off with them, because of where I work, I'm most likely dead. But it's not something people stress about because if Iran were to strike where I work, we're going to war.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. Most military folk have discipline and respect in various aspects of life that the vast majority of kids who have not joined don't even understand. This would be a positive step forward in the direction of our youth.

 

Amen to that. But the way basic is going even snowflakes could sail through.

Heaven forbid anyone is singled out for harsh language even though their actions would have killed the entire squad.

Perhaps they’ll need a division of bubble wrappers most of today’s kids could handle. Otherwise they might get a boo boo

 

Hate to say it, but I don't want snowflakes in the military. You would have to lower the standards too far to get them into military service, and standards have been dropping across the board the last decade or two...

Maybe change that to mandatory government service. Let those idiots join the Peace Corps.