Question/Input for ALL military people??

False. My cousin is in the guard, getting shipped to Egypt soon.

 

Yea Im going to check with AirForce tomorrow.

 

I retired Army in 2007 & wish you the best in what you want to do.
Already many good suggestions in here.
If things sound to good to be true than believe me it probably is unless you get it in writing. Yeah it probably sounds like a broken record.
You will get looked up and down, poked, prodded, give your dna, tested for HIV, anthrax, vaccinated, given attitude, etc. etc.
Did I say poked and prodded and no privacy?
Again, I hope you are able to join up if it is seriously what you want to do. It was the best decision I ever made. Good luck keep us posted.

 

My guess is-you got a Marine recruiter who was mission complete for this period....He doesn't need/can't process any more accessions into the service.
Your tattoos do sound like they are not in line with Marine Corps policy (as I understand it) so he's not going to go out of his way to get you waivers for that because his job is done for this 6 months/year. If you get them taken off you might get a very different response.
The other half of that is, even is he is not mission complete, he can get mission complete with folks who do not need waivers...Much less work and a more solid bet for him. Sure..Anyone can DOR or get hurt...but requiring a waiver is an extra variable to him.

 

A guranteed duty station is only temporary and if you become a reservist/guard you still can be activated & sent overseas for long periods of time. A new wife might not like that a whole lot.

 

The tattoo policy for the marine corps has gotten very strict over the past few years. Even I might have to have a tattoo lasered off to put in for a warrant officer package. I rarely see students here with tattoos that are visible in a tshirt and shorts. Try another recruiter and see what they say.

 

There is NOT a good reason for that.

 

Wrong. Your cousin is going TDY or deployed...NOT BASED. We all do that. BUT...he chose where he wanted to be BASED in the Guard.

I have been in the Reserves or Guard for 17 years..I know how it works.

 

Hey TacoGunner, nice feet!

Nothing in the military is permanent. You change duty assignments within 2-3 years, sometimes it can be sooner, deployed at moments notice, or you can get the luck of the draw, had a E-6 at Cannon AFB in NM for nearly 14 years...but again that's luck. I've been in for over 6 years myself in the AF, 3 home bases so far and 4 deployments and 3 TDYs, the military will definitely get you well travelled if you want it. If you do get in and with knowing the AF if you find that choice base you want to stay at you have the option of BOP, extending there, but then there are also other options. Security Forces is a decent gig, but you would probably get tired of it real fast, full of a bunch of children really. I'm and operator and we spend most of the time recovering their broke vehicles. But for me the AF was the perfect choice, and good luck to you getting in and getting the job you want, and remember, get EVERYTHING in writing.

And hey, if you don't like the job you get, you can always retrain.

 

I was stationed at Ft Bragg from Feb '91 to Dec '05...BUT the least amount of days deployed I had in a year was 192, most was 294. I never thought to calculate how much actual total time I spent at Bragg, but it wasn't much. LOL Been in more countries than barry o...AND all "57" states.

 

Obama does not go to other countries unless there is a golf course. He has spent a total of about 8 hours..maybe..in Afghanistan since assuming office.

 

OP, good luck with making a decision.
I joined the Army at 25, married, with 3 children. Now 41, with 16 years in and still think joining was the best decision I ever made. But, to each their own.
You need to decide what is most important to you, staying local-providing for your family-staying in LE......
If you join any branch Active Duty, you will not stay local. You might have stability somewhere, but not where you pick, wherever you may be when they let you stay there for a while. If you join Guard/Reserves, you will have stability in your area, but you might still get a deployment overseas. Which, really depends on the type of unit you get in to and what the need is overseas for that particular unit.

I recommend reading all the advice given in this whole thread(GREENGUY). Most of it is pretty good advice. Im sure you are wise enough to know BS when you hear it. Yes, get it in writing. If its not in your contract when you sign up, it is not promised to you. Army and Navy will give you a specific job in writing before you join. Air Force and Marines can do this too, but 95% of the time they talk you into joining their Branch for the pride of their branch, not a specific job, its an "open contract."

Have you considered other options like FBI, ICE, DEA, ATFE.....and the list goes on? Most military options get you away from home for a while. Most of these other GOV agencies can keep you somewhat local for long periods of time(after the first couple of years).

Good Luck!

 

Wat'd I say...I must have missed something...

 

1/3 SFG. ODA 333. Nice to see another Alpo flash wearer on here.

 

I think at this point private contracting is the way to go. Plenty of different routes you can take, training being a hot commodity now. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

That's a deployment or TDY, temporary assignment.

National Guard and Reserve units receive most of their funding from their individual state. I seriously doubt your cousin's state is sending him to Egypt to live because they want that to be his duty assignment.

Please if you do not know what you are talking about sit down.

Carry on!

 

Learn as much about each branch as you possibly can and all the jobs you may be interested in and where those jobs may be located. If you are interested in the Guard/Reserve it can be a good deal IF you have a civilian job to go with it. It can be tough depending on the guard/reserve for a full time job.

I'll never forget the look on my buddies faces when they found out where they would be living for the next 4+ yrs. 3 of my good buddies got Clovis NM, Minot ND, and Valdosta GA. Not good places to be if you're single male, or married and your wife enjoys what big cities have to offer. The look on their faces when the douchebags in our class got Hickam, Aviano, and Eglin was priceless. That was a very rough night for a lot of people.

It can be a great opportunity to do a lot of cool things that most people will never get to do and see a lot of places that most people will never see. Not all of them have sand btw.

 

LOL I'm not talking about since he got elected!

 

Whatever you decide, just don't believe the old recruiter, "They will offer you that after basic" ploy. Make 100% sure everything you are promised is in your contract before signing or you will NOT get it. Recruiter promises are worth zilch and nobody will care when you get to Ft. XXXX when you tell them your recruiter promised you Ft. YYYY. Recruiters have quotas to make and you are just a number to them regardless how much they try to convince you they are your buddy. You can bargain with them most of the time and get on the delayed entry program to wait until there is an opening for what you want. If they can't give you something that works well for you and your family, walk away. It is mud in their face if you go as far as taking the ASVAB and do not follow through with enlistment. That puts the pressure on the recruiter to get you in and they can and will pull strings to get what you want in your contract in order to seal the deal.

 

Just one thing... yes the navy is downsizing but as far as I know it's being limited to the over populated rates like AB, BM and SeaBee rates. I don't think they are downsizing MA (military police)