Military Decisions

[Papahyooie]

Hey guys! First of all I'd like to say I'm definitly not making this decision based on what strangers in an internet forum say, i've talked to friends, family, everyone. But I thought maybe people from different places might bring up something I havent thought about, or at least give me some sarcastic/funny remarks to entertain me. (toast)

So I've decided I'm going to enter the US military. My coworker is also joining, and I think we're probably going to go together. The deal is I cant decide what branch I want to enter. Pros / Cons of each:

Marine corp: This is what I really want to do. Ive wanted to be a marine since I was a kid. I love the gung-ho, hoorah, badass, lets blow some shit up culture. The only problem is, i know its probably a stupid decision. I want to do force recon as a career man, and the question is, am I going to still want to jump into shit up to my neck when i'm 35? 40? Plus, being a combatant, theres not really much you can do once youre done, besides private security, etc. They have very little in the way of paying for college and such as well. So I guess the marines would be the dumb decision, but its really what I have a passion for. Some say "go with your dreams" some say "be smart." What do you think?

Air Force: I dont have any interest in flying planes. Im not scared of them, they just dont really interest me. And if they did i'd join the navy and fly them off aircraft carriers, which is cooler. I suppose I could go into Sat com or something technical (im obviously interested in tech) but I dont know whether I want to do that as a career (as opposed to a hobby as it is now) and I'd rather be out there "in the shit" than hanging back working on security and communications. This is probably where my coworker is going, so its gonna be hard to make myself join up without him (we're good friends too) into another branch, but frankly its the branch I have the least interest in. They have better quality of life (barracks are better, they're considered the "holiday inn" soldiers) so it would be a smart decision... plus if I join the Air Force I can get them to give me a promotion to E3 automatically. In the other branches i'll only get E2 (i'm an eagle scout, so i'll be promoted as soon as i join) So air force will be more money right off the bat.

Army: More signing bonus ($$$) more money for college, they'll pay off the loans I already have, etc. I *might* be able to get E3 in the army but I doubt it. Plus they have all kinds of jobs to do. I could do Army rangers instead of Force Recon (marines) and be almost as badass. So its kind of the "best of both worlds" scenario. The only problem is, if I'm gonna jump into shit up to my neck, I'd really rather do it and be able to call myself a marine, instead of "just army" (no offense to anyone in the army.) In other words, if I do something like that, I want to do it all the way. I know thats just an emotional response and nothing concrete (and therefore probably invalid) but it is nonetheless a large factor in my decision. Also another thing, If i end up NOT going into the air force (with my coworker), my cousin (who is also one of my best friends) may join the army about the same time I want to go in, so i'd still have the benifit of a friend going thru basic with me and such. I *may* be able to convince him to go marines with me, but still working on that one. He's more into army rangers.

If I join another branch, I know i'm always going to say "I wish I would have been a marine". The question is, what would be worth having to say that for the rest of my life? More money? Being with my friend? Quicker promotions?

So what do you guys think? Anyone have any experience, or thoughts? Anythings welcome, but for those who are going to say "you shouldnt be in the military atall" ... youre welcome to voice your opinions, but be prepared to be ignored. I have a totally different philosophy on life than you do, and you should respect my beliefs just as I respect yours. And don't dare turn my thread into a big argument on whether war is good or bad. Thats not what this thread is for. Make your own thread.

Thanks, and look forward to your thoughts!

[FreedomEclipse]

well its a hard decision - but who said you cant be a marine & work in communications like a field operative? its your call anyway - I dunno how they select people for jobs in the US army.

Id say give the airforce ago even though flying jets might not interest you. give it a chance Id say because If i had the oppotunity to go in a F-15/F-16/F-22/F.A-18 i wouldnt miss it.

what im about to say might seem stupid because im lol 'from teh interwebz' but In BF2 ive had 54hrs33mins in a jet + 35hrs54mins in a chopper. I spend more time in the air then getting involved on the ground unless its a map that doesnt have aircraft. but - even though I might not have a ton of points for helping the little dudes on the ground capture bases, I dont fucking care because there is something so awesome about being in the air, being able to come in low & fast for gun runs or bomb runs either as a lone wolf looking for targets of oppotunity or as a cordinated attack/support force for groundforces.

but I suppose - in real life airforce dont get trained nearly half as hard as marines but thats a totally different war.

but id take to the skys any day.

[Papahyooie]

I could go into the marines and work in communications, but I dont want to. If im gonna be a marine i'm going to be Force Recon (if I qualify of course) The point of communications work would be that thats the only thing in the air force i would be interested in, eg, I dont want to do communications, but thats looking like my only choice for the air force because i'm not interested in piloting. As for BF2, thanks for that lol. Its not stupid really, i get what youre saying. But thats the whole point. I dont even like flying planes in video games. My dad absolutely loves flight sims but they just dont interest me. Don't know why. I guess what I'm saying is, i dont want to fly a plane no matter where I go... so air force would be communications, tech, etc. I've even flown a C-130 flight simulator (the military kind, like a massive huge box that moves up and down and has a full cockpit inside... got to do it while in Boy scouts) and been in helicopters plenty of times... its fun, i'll admit. But to me its just novelty. Nothing i'd want to do for a living.

[JC316]

I will tell you this much, I have done jobs before that I wasn't passionate about and it's hell. I had an opportunity to make over 60K a year starting out while working 5 hour days, but I flat out couldn't stand the work. The job that I had an inside on was running title for oil companies, the pay was unreal and the work was easy, but I couldn't stand spending all day in a courthouse doing research on shit that had little meaning for me. I mean an hour feels like a day when you are doing something that you hate. Same way working for an electrical company, I was making $10 an hour for cleaning up the floors, but I fucking hated the work. I couldn't wait for the end of the day.

That was simple enough for me, I just quit and went on to doing something else. If you are going to make the commitment to join the military, you better damn well pick what you love, cause there is no quitting.

[FreedomEclipse]

bleh - Im not really a huge flightsim fan myself - but I started my gaming life play M$ combat flightsim WWII flying spitfires, hurricanes, P47's thunderbolts, P51 mustangs & BF-109G E's & F's & really thats the only real flightsim ive played to date - but In general I love vehicles.

If I was to join military service - Id want to join the part that was above the standard army sorta like special forces compared to regular grunts etc etc. but thats only as an example - id be a grunt, yes but im a grunt above other grunts because thats how the unit is & not because of the rank you hold. so recon might be a good idea - always the first group into the shit!

[Papahyooie]

Thank you JC. That is exactly my thoughts... but I just cant seem to convince myself that I'm not going to "grow up" and realize that it was a dumb decision. My whole family (besides my parents) all say "Man, be smart and let the military educate you and train you to do something like computers or communication, and get paid while doing it. Then you can get out and get a job doing it." They're all about the "computers are the way of the future" (LOL) and "be smart and do something easy for the same amount of money, and dont get shot at." But the truth is, thats not what I want.
@Freedom, yea I am fairly certain I will easily qualify for special forces. If I decide on marines I'll be Force Recon (scout snipers, special ops, that sort of thing) or if its the Army I'd do rangers (pretty much the same thing, just less "hoorah!") My ultimate goal as a marine would be to eventually be a Navy SEAL if I can cut out for it.

[JC316]

Thank you JC. That is exactly my thoughts... but I just cant seem to convince myself that I'm not going to "grow up" and realize that it was a dumb decision. My whole family (besides my parents) all say "Man, be smart and let the military educate you and train you to do something like computers or communication, and get paid while doing it. Then you can get out and get a job doing it." They're all about the "computers are the way of the future" (LOL) and "be smart and do something easy for the same amount of money, and dont get shot at." But the truth is, thats not what I want.
@Freedom, yea I am fairly certain I will easily qualify for special forces. If I decide on marines I'll be Force Recon (scout snipers, special ops, that sort of thing) or if its the Army I'd do rangers (pretty much the same thing, just less "hoorah!") My ultimate goal as a marine would be to eventually be a Navy SEAL if I can cut out for it.

There are going to be decisions that you will think back on and wonder what it would have been like, that is just life. Now lets be honest here, if you wanted to be in communications or computers, there are better ways to do it than going into the military. If you haven't done it already, it's pretty clear to me that it's not what you are interested in it and being in communications in the military isnt' going to change anything. You still won't be interested in it, but you will be obligated to do it. Besides, the computers and communications market is flooded with over qualified techs.

Edit:

Oh and one other thing, make damn sure that you don't have any romantic notions about the service before going into special ops. You are going to be in the thick of shit killing people and have people trying to kill you. Just make sure that it's not a "Oh noes, my girl left me, I want to kill people and I dont' care if I live or die" sort of thing. You seem like you have your head on straight and have thought about this, but still.

[Papahyooie]

Yea I know there are always going to be questions about what might have been, thats a given. But I KNOW for sure i'm going to always wish I had been a marine if I do something else. As for satcom and computer stuff, I really do love working with them (obviously, being on TPU lol). But... as a hobby. I've tried to work in a computer shop and it just made it less fun. Having to work on them every day just ruined the hobby. And I know there are better ways of going about getting educated, but the appeal of doing it for the military is that they'll pay me to be trained to do it.

And good thoughts on romantic notions. Rest assured that's not the case lol. Oddly enough my girl did just leave me (well we left each other) but that has nothing to do with it. If anything, I was glad to have ended the relationship because now I can go and follow my dream without any baggage back home. (i've passed up going into the military twice now for girls because they didnt want me to, and getting tired of it frankly) I will admit I do have romantic notions of the military, but its more along the lines of "i'll fear no evil in the valley of the shadow of death, because i'll be the baddest mutherfucker in the valley" kind of romantic notions lol. And I guess thats one thing I like about the marines: They embrace that. They want you to be all Hoorah! gung-ho. That being said, I am quite the realist and I fully realize the dangers of side affects of being a soldier, like death for instance. Personally tho, i'm the kind of person who does not LOOK for death, but if it came I would welcome it as a natural part of life, and believe I should do something worthwhile with my life, or even my death if need be (i'd prefer it being my life tho lol.)

[JC316]

Yea I know there are always going to be questions about what might have been, thats a given. But I KNOW for sure i'm going to always wish I had been a marine if I do something else. As for satcom and computer stuff, I really do love working with them (obviously, being on TPU lol). But... as a hobby. I've tried to work in a computer shop and it just made it less fun. Having to work on them every day just ruined the hobby. And I know there are better ways of going about getting educated, but the appeal of doing it for the military is that they'll pay me to be trained to do it.

And good thoughts on romantic notions. Rest assured that's not the case lol. Oddly enough my girl did just leave me (well we left each other) but that has nothing to do with it. If anything, I was glad to have ended the relationship because now I can go and follow my dream without any baggage back home. (i've passed up going into the military twice now for girls because they didnt want me to, and getting tired of it frankly) I will admit I do have romantic notions of the military, but its more along the lines of "i'll fear no evil in the valley of the shadow of death, because i'll be the baddest mutherfucker in the valley" kind of romantic notions lol. And I guess thats one thing I like about the marines: They embrace that. They want you to be all Hoorah! gung-ho. That being said, I am quite the realist and I fully realize the dangers of side affects of being a soldier, like death for instance. Personally tho, i'm the kind of person who does not LOOK for death, but if it came I would welcome it as a natural part of life, and believe I should do something worthwhile with my life, or even my death if need be (i'd prefer it being my life tho lol.)

Ya know, you remind me a lot of me. I too loved computers and tech stuff, but when I tried to do it for a living, it sucked balls. Seems like you have a fire in your belly and you want to embrace that fire. Do what you love man, do what that instinctual fire tells you to do, cause if you don't, you are probably going to be miserable. You clearly don't want an ordinary life. You don't want the 2 story with the white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and a beer gut. I say go big or go home.

[Papahyooie]

You nailed me on the head bro. I'm 21 years old working in front of a desk right now, making way more money than I should for the work I do and the education I have (none to speak of, only 3 semesters of pre-law school, and I surf TPU at work...) And I hate it. Not like its some burning desire that I'm gonna go crazy if I dont get out of here (i'm fairly passive when it comes to such things. I do what i have to do) But I just know I should be doing something with more... scope I guess. Something bigger. Not to mention since I started this job nearly two years ago I've gained 30 pounds and developed back problems (which i have NEVER had, and which go away whenever I do something active for awhile) and I feel like I'm just slowly degrading. "Use it or lose it" you know? I used to be very athletic and active. Now, I'm not fat by any means, I actually like my weight (i used to be way too skinny) but I know that its not what its meant to be. If I could keep my weight like it is (maybe lose 10 pounds or so) and turn it into mostly muscle, i'd be golden. The marines will definitely do that for me lol.

[MT Alex]

Don't rule the Air Force out. Forward controllers are some of the most elite soldiers of any branch. Check them out. They accompany spec ops from all branches and call in their air support. Talk about bad asses. Your love of computers would also go hand in hand, since they carry the most advanced notebooks/hand helds in the world. And guns, lots of guns and ammo. They don't just watch the fighting, since spec ops teams are so small, they can't afford to take along someone who can't hold their own. The satellite experience, navigation, etc. are better skills to use later in life. Unless you don't want to jump out of planes at 35,000 feet, carry advanced navigation and weaponry, and rain unimaginable hell down on the enemy while hanging out with the worlds finest warriors. Makes me wish I was 19 again.

[jmcslob]

My brother did 20 years in the Navy 4 years Seaside 16 Landside and is now retired + he got a Job working for a Gov subcontractor doing something about Pacific Communications He makes $200,000 a year

[Papahyooie]

Thanks MT I was actually looking into that!

[dcf-joe]

I considered joining the army, before I got accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I took the ASVAB, scored 90 on the AFQT score, got the GT score of 124, and I wanted to do the 25 Bravo job description. That is the Army's IT guy, if you will call if that.

The other thing is, don't ever believe recruiters are telling you the complete picture. One recruiter told me to join the SMP program so that I could be in college and in the Army Reserves at the same time, sounds good doesn't it, especially getting paid to go to college. Not true, if I would have went SMP, I would have forfeited half of my sign-up bonus, some of my original college money from the reserves, and still would have had to do my 6+ years.

Moral of the story, verify what recruiters tell you. I was lucky, because both of my parents were in the military, and I live right next to Fort Hood, largest military base in the free world. They were able to tell me what was the truth, and when the recruiters were trying to "blow sunshine up my ass."

[JC316]

I considered joining the army, before I got accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I took the ASVAB, scored 90 on the AFQT score, got the GT score of 124, and I wanted to do the 25 Bravo job description. That is the Army's IT guy, if you will call if that.

The other thing is, don't ever believe recruiters are telling you the complete picture. One recruiter told me to join the SMP program so that I could be in college and in the Army Reserves at the same time, sounds good doesn't it, especially getting paid to go to college. Not true, if I would have went SMP, I would have forfeited half of my sign-up bonus, some of my original college money from the reserves, and still would have had to do my 6+ years.

Moral of the story, verify what recruiters tell you. I was lucky, because both of my parents were in the military, and I live right next to Fort Hood, largest military base in the free world. They were able to tell me what was the truth, and when the recruiters were trying to "blow sunshine up my ass."

Yeah, that too. Had a friend that joined up to be in communications, he wound up in the field. Hell, my granddad signed up back in Korea, he was a mechanic, but they put him in as a medic. They tend to put you where they want you.

[WhiteNoise]

You should join the Marines. It's the only correct choice considering how passionate you are about them.

You better score high on your entrance exam if you want to pick and choose what you do in the military.

My buddy is in the Army. He went in after HS graduationa nd is still active. He was a Ranger for 5 or 6 years and then became a Green Beret. he's 39 now and has been all over... He's seen a lot of combat.

[Papahyooie]

Thanks for all your thoughts guys! I'm now thinking about a different course of action. My coworker is probably going to end up going to the air force. Since I dont really want to do that, i'm probably going alone anyway, so why not wait a bit? In May I'll turn 22, and will be eligable for federal aid for school again. (until I turn 22, i'm still considered "dependant" of my parents, even though i live alone and am independant for tax purposes) My parents make lots of money on paper, because essentially my dad owns his own business (he's an owner operator truck driver) but of course half of that ends up going back into his "business," so actual income is quite different from whats on paper, and they cant really help with school. (nor would they if they could. They're really big on us kids making our own way). So what I think i'm going to do is wait until I turn 22, see if I can get some scholorships to help me go back to school, and take at least a semester in whatever computer classes the university has. That way I can find out if I really like it enough to do it for a living (I dont actually have any experience with actual programming and such yet, just hardware and troubleshooting, etc) If I get a degree and certs, then I pretty much have a guaranteed job in IT here where I work already, as I already have experience working WITH thier software (they use an AS400 system with a custom operating system if that means anything to anybody) so transitioning to working ON the software would be easier than having to start from scratch.
So, go to school for awhile and see what happens there... if it turns out I still want to take the military route, I can make a better educated decision of whether I want to do IT stuff in the military, or whether I want to go infantry in the marines. Worst case scenario, i've only wasted a semester, and I have at least a little more experience in something I indeed do like doing (as a hobby at least).

Sound like a smart plan?