whos all in the military?

[DerrtyRanger]

do yourself a really BIG, BIG favor... get your degree BEFORE going into service!!! then go in as an officer. the benefits to that are more than worth the wait, imho.

i always thought of services this way:

Navy... electronics and aircraft mechanics training/careers

Air Force... electronics and medical training/careers

Army... medical, aircraft/vehicle mechanics, and management training/careers

Marines... vehicle/aircraft mechanics

Enlisted get WAY more respect then straight up Officers .. Cross-overs get even More than that .. But it might not even be an issue, if its all about the money ..

 

[cowboy701]

GO NAVY !! SEALS ROCK I retired after 25 years loved every minute, except for first six months. Hee Hee; Master Chief

 

[bilzy7]

Hey guys looking at joining up. Wanna know any insights y'all might have if you've beenthrough the enlistment process? Mostly looking at either the marines or busting my ass to get to be a ranger in the army.

Never noticed this thread. Here's my .25 cents. F the marines. Rangers lead the way. Hope you like 5 min mile sprints and ruck running cause guy leading ruck march won best ranger that year and walks so f in fast you gotta run to keep up. I never checked... Watch this thread be like 10 yrs old...

 

[bilzy7]

The problem with the enlistment process is, that your recruiters went through basic training and AIT at a minimum of 6 years ago, and they come up with new rules and new ways to train almost daily. Thats the curse of TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command) bases (the ones where you do Basic and AIT at). So if you really want to get a better idea of the recruitment process and what happens afterwards, ask your recruiters if they have someone there thats doing the "Hometown Recruiting Program", and tell them you'd like to speak to them if there is one. Chances are they have one or two Privates that just got out of AIT somewhere nearby thats in the program.

I just recently got out of the Army myself, so I know how it is.

If your aiming to be a ranger, thats gonna be tough. You *MIGHT* get EXTREMELY lucky and get attached to a ranger unit, and if that happens they'll almost definitely send you to Ranger school. But if not, then you'll have to really haul balls at your job and show them that your high speed and can handle yourself....then you'll have to talk to your senior NCO's to get the ball rolling to get you into Ranger school.

Its a long road, and if you go Ranger... be ready to re-enlist. You may not be able to get it until you re-up. Its not uncommon for "schools", such as Ranger School/Airborne/Air Assault, to be part of a reenlistment bonus.

Ok first first. Don't go infantry if u want a possible push through, infantry is what regiment is full of. They usually need the other mos's. Obviously depending numbers... But generally mos's like radio and computer people get pushed through rip. There's a diff between being in a pogue unit with a tab, and being scrolled. Depending your MOS depends if you'll be washed out purposely out of rip everytime(rip=ranger indoctrination program). You want a tan beret? Or a black/maroon and a tab? When you go through AIT and you see those sh!t bags and you hate them. Ask yourself if you'd want them watching your back? If the answer is Bo which it better be, go to rip.

 

[Jason]

Todays army in vietnams situation would have been worthless.

This bugs me. What makes you think the soldiers in vietnam were so bad ass? Let's face it, since WWII the military has developed softie syndrome. I was in Kosovo and saw so many guys cryig like bitches that it wasn't funny. Guys back from Vietnam were/are all messed up mentally. Yet our WWII vets were just tough, hard working people that actually put this country in the boom that the later generations wasted.

 

[bilzy7]

I know, imagine if we didn't have opium to smoke WTF would we do. Being forced to join compared to choosing must make you one badass soldier. Specially with weapons we actually have the kits to clean. I guess I'd rather lug 80 lbs of radio compared to today's 20.

 

[bilzy7]

Ohh and don't take away a specific generations toughness. People think everyone in ww2 era was so perfect. Your lucky we didn't have the media we have today, you'd hear people complain, and you wouldn't like topics all the same. What because we didn't treat mental problems? Because they said suck it up so people went home beat their wives z d children and it was ok, because they were ww2 vets. You think rape didn't happen? You can just thank the media for only publicizing the bad to give a bad image. One bad apple x 2mil is what the camera does. Its not ok to kick some Iraqis ass after your forced to work with him and he keeps flagging you, yet it was ok to do alot worse. There are reasons for everything, not everyone likea the answer.

 

[hoosier1104]

i'd think about trying to be a Paramedic in the Air Force. badazz as they come. one of the toughest schools in any branch. and you get the added bonus of being trained to help your fellow soldiers/airmen/marines when they need help the most. just a thought.

PJ's, Pararescue, are mentally unstable but I would want them to in grab my ass out of a danger zone for sure. They have their shit together at all times except when they are partying. They know how to out party the partyers.

I am baised on branches due to I am ex AF. I am not saying they are better but the skills you gain in the AF translate better into the civilian world after the fact. I was telephone maintenance and now I work on cell phone equipment on the Sprint network. I love what I do all thanks to the AF.

Justin D. Carlton, SSgt, USAF AD, Honorable Discharge

 

[bilzy7]

Ya I guess depending your job in any branch affects your civilian transition. I was radio communications install/repair/mainter I guess you could call it and a little computer. In the civilian world they only care about a bachelors. So I have to get 3 free years of 22k a year schooling and third year out of pocket. So 3 yrs of school and a fourth putting me into 22k debt. Ridiculous. I have a 22 year old in our a+ class showing us how to fix printers... I did that for a living. I have a hard time being thought of as below someone when I am better at every aspect of life except subnetting and some other computer networking. I laughed as he took the paper tray out of printer to carry it for it wa too heavy with paper. I do 160 on tricep pulley. I only weigh 160, so I hate that no matter how hard I fight in the civilian world, I'd excel 10x more in the army where I could go to schools where people enjoyed being better then the rest and knowing it. Transitioning to civilian world sucks. I wanna punch mouth breathing Motha ****as in the face...

 

[straycat]

GO NAVY !! SEALS ROCK I retired after 25 years loved every minute, except for first six months. Hee Hee; Master Chief

So, you say you were a Seal? What team were you on and what was your class number?

 

[bilzy7]

He's callin you out! Let's see that dd-214!!!

 

[straycat]

This bugs me. What makes you think the soldiers in vietnam were so bad ass? Let's face it, since WWII the military has developed softie syndrome. I was in Kosovo and saw so many guys cryig like bitches that it wasn't funny. Guys back from Vietnam were/are all messed up mentally. Yet our WWII vets were just tough, hard working people that actually put this country in the boom that the later generations wasted.

Unfortunately or troops in WWI and WWII who had PSTD shell shock (now known as PSTD) were taken out and shot as cowards at various occasions and locations. 'Nam was a lot different since we did not know who was the good guys...(VC) since nobody wore uniforms. Little kids approached GI's in the market places and restaurants and tossed a grenade at us or a approached with a bomb strapped to their bodies.
A bit of confusion on your part, Bro!!! It used to be that every country fighting back in the old days had uniforms on so you could tell who to shoot at and who not to shoot at. I was in Afghanistan and these Taliban fighters dress as women and hide in among women running with them or blending in with women in the market place. About the same situation as 'Nam.
Why don't you walk up to a Vietnam veteran and tell him what you fell about them? I Was in 'Nam, Cambodia and Thailand in 72-74. We were fighting a loosing war...none of us gave up!! You got food right? You got water, right. Try not getting it for days at a time and we had to kill somebody to eat or drink to stay alive when you are bedded down for months at a time in a rainforest hunting VC and Khmer Rouge fighters who don't were a uniform to say...we are the enemy. We were cut off form months at a time from home base...nobody knew if we were dead or alive until we were allowed to communicate!!

 

[straycat]

He's callin you out! Let's see that dd-214!!!

^^^What my fellow Vet buddy said, Bro!!!!

 

[sbsrlewis]

I read most of this last night and the only advise I have would be to get your degree first OR make sure it is one of the first things you do after bootcamp and AIT/Tech School.

I spent 6 years AD and 20 years in the AF and it has gotten to the point that you will not be able to make rank without your degree. I was lucky enough that I made it to E-8, SMSgt, without one. I was constantly asked what type of degree I had or when I will have mine in hand. Funny thing is when I went in (1984) if you had a degree you were an officer then in the 90's they started pushing for degrees and now as far as I concerned if everyone has degrees then they should all be as officers. Before long a masters degree will be as common as a HS diploma!

You do realize that this great country was built by our great grandfathers and most had less than an 8th grade education!


Steve

 

[bilzy7]

People do understand the price tag a masters carries? Most will not be able to pay off those student loans in one lifetime. My job field(computer networking) requires a bachelors at min, and 3 yrs of exp... You have to magically find a way to get experience as most jobs in IT require prior experience and degrees that put you in debt. After talking to my wife I'm almost assured I'm gonna hafta reenlist at some point to support us.