military worth it?

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I am in Army Reserve, have been for 9 years now. I was deployed to Kuwait for about a year. Air Force has far and away the better facilities than we ever could wish for. I got some buddies that served at Whiteman a few hours from me and it is a 9-5 job.

If you want trigger time go infantry, but I would suggest getting a job skill instead and shooting on your time. Army shooting is no fun to me. I dread their ranges, and enjoy going to private range on my time even if it is my dime.
 
Here's a vote for the Air Force from a former Marine.

I was stationed on an Air Force base in Europe for a year. Here are some of the differences:

In the Air Force you'll be better treated:

The Air Force people we worked with may have been undisciplined by USMC standards, but they did their job, and did their job as well as we did our job. We had a Lieutenant order a PFC to salute a wall because he didn't feel he was being respected enough, and the kid stood there for a half hour saluting the wall until I countermanded the LT's order and sent the kid back to Tent City. Funny, huh? The Air Force treated their people with more respect.

In the Air Force you'll have better housing:

I lived in a tent for a year. I was lucky it was an Air Force tent that they kindly contracted someone to pour a concrete slab for, otherwise I would have been living in a shelter half in a mud puddle. The Air Force personnel lived in hotel rooms. Let me repeat that. Marines = tents, Air Force = hotels. For a year.

In the Air Force you'll receive more money:

My unit received $3.50 a month per diem. I realize per diem stands for "per day", so we were probably actually receiving about 11.3 cents per day. The Air Force personnel received in excess of $700 per month. Of course, I believe some of them had to pay for their hotels and such out of that money.

In the Air Force you'll have more access to school and other resources.

That being said, I still wouldn't trade my time in the Marines for anything.

Weird, huh?
 
I'm retired USAF. Regarding the facilities issue, if an Air Force Base DOESN'T look presentable somebody's probably going to be in trouble.
 
We had a Lieutenant order a PFC to salute a wall because he didn't feel he was being respected enough, and the kid stood there for a half hour saluting the wall until I countermanded the LT's order and sent the kid back to Tent City. Funny, huh? The Air Force treated their people with more respect.
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The USMC-USAF relationship has always baffled me. I remember watching a Marine light colonel loading a bunch of his men into the troop compartment of a C5. He yelled at them from the time they got off the bus until they were buckled into their seats. He was ALL over them, cursing them out like dogs that had just pissed on the carpet. Moving them along, telling them to "Get it done TODAY!" He then sauntered back down the stairs, leaned against the stair truck, and proceeded to light a cigarette.

Smoking within 100 feet of an aircraft is against regulations. The plane's crew chief told me to go tell the colonel he had to put out his cigarette. I was an E3 at the time. After making my peace with God, I went over to the colonel and stood at attention, but didn't salute. (no saluting of officers less than O-6 on the flightline) I told him "Sir, USAF regulations prohibit smoking within 100 feet of an aircraft."

He looked at me, smiled, put out his cigarette and put it in his pocket. He walked back with me to the crew chief, and complimented him on the condition of the aircraft. Then proceeded to shoot the bull with us until take off.

Night and day difference between how he treated us and how he treated his own men. There was good reason for both.
 
Not meaning to hijack the thread, but, I'm vaguely considering military service. However, back in February, I severely broke my leg, requiring surgery to repair. There are now 2 steel plates and 16 screws in my right leg holding the bones together. It's healed over now, but those plates and screws are still there. If they were taken out, I'd be worthless for a looooong time until the voids filled back up with bone.
 
Bezoar,

If your MOS puts you in a desk job, you will not be handling weapons after basic training.

NOT WORTH IT.
 
Best deals are to get into the officers training programs and speciality type careers in the military
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ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ah, so sez the good little officer :neener:

I hated being a puppet with someones hand up my @##, I can only imagine how an Ens. or a 1st Lt feels. It is dog eat dog for those poor bastards, especially academy grads, OCS grads have it a tiny bit better.
 
OR,
I have a friend that had serious medical issues as a child. Which included scar tissue removal from his lungs. He recieved a couple of medical waivers, went active duty USAF, is now in the USANG and trying to get a commision. Cruise down to the recruiter and ask if your condition will make you ineligible. Different branches have different standards.
 
Dude. Don't.

If you're contemplating joining the military as a "solution" to a perceived problem, then just don't.

If you're thinking of joining because you feel a sense of duty, that's fine.

If you're thinking of joining because you want to carry on a family tradition (a different kind of duty), that's fine.

If you're thinking of joining because you just love all things military, and you know what life there will be like, then that too is fine.

If joining is a "solution" then no, don't do it.

If the problem is employment, then solve that directly, not through the "well, the military IS a job" kind of thinking.

The military is NOT a job. It is a commitment, a trust, to some it's a calling, but it's NOT a job.

You can quit a job if you discover you've made a horrible mistake.

You might like the military. Hell, you might love the military. Only, make sure you do it for its own sake.

Don't do it to solve something else.
 
The different branches of military service all have different incentives to offer. If you're young, healthy, intelligent and looking for something other than a dead end job. then check it out. An eligible candidate willl become a hooker, selling their little butt to Uncle Sam for whatever he desires (within the confines of your enlistment agreement). Uncle Sam don't want you for life, just a short while and then get the hell out. Career soldiers (like me) are an expensive liability. In return for 'offering your services', it will amaze you what carrots are tied to the end of the string. If you've got a good job future, and an education, or a piss poor attitude, military service ain't for you. But...if $oo,ooo.oo bonuses, training of choice, wads of college money, and the opportunity to travel to foreign lands, meet strange different types of people and kill them appeals to you, tell your recruiter that I sent you!
 
I'm active duty Air Force and I haven't shot or even touched a service weapon in 3 years. The only shooting I do is when I hit up my local range every week. :)

I agree, being in the AF will probably get you treated better than some of the other services. Although, in my opinion, the Navy facilities are better. Atleast around here. They send a lot of our guys to the Naval hospital because they can do a lot more there than they can at the Air Force hospital. But that may just be here in VA.
 
Bezoar, really think about what you're doing. You might end up shooting a lot, in Iraq...you may find you hate it, and there's no way out until your contract is fulfilled. My attitudes towards the government and to being ordered around, and towards being around other people, would make joining any part of the military a very bad idea for me. I respect those who do, but it's just not for me. And you better decide carefully if it's for you, shooting guns is a bad reason to join, really think carefully about if you would like it.

What state are you in? Does your state have a state guard? State guard, as opposed to the national guard, is more of a state militia than the national guard, might be your best option if you are set on trying out being in a military...would keep you closer to home, more than likely, than the federal military would.

If all you want is to shoot big guns/machine guns/artillery/etc., go out and get a civilian job and get plenty of money. Pick your state correctly and you could get almost any weapon you want, if you can afford it, and follow all the NFA rules. Will be expensive but you could do it. Don't join the military just to shoot this stuff.
 
I havethe utmost respect for ALL services

I was always baffled by inter service rivalry. I went Air Force, back in '66, because of a fascination with aircraft going back to when I was a toddler. Anyone I knew was treated with respect and effort was rewarded with responsibility. With few exceptions, troops had very positive attitudes. Not a bad trait to take back to civillian life. Before making any choice. Talk to as many G.I.'s as you can........Good Luck to You. Essex
 
I say go Navy and pursue a technical field. You don't have to do a 20 year but at the minimum to asure a good post-service job, do 6 to 8 and get some college.
 
Bezoar, really think about what you're doing. You might end up shooting a lot, in Iraq.

He could also end up shooting alot right here in America if the Government doesn't stop messing around with these Islamic freaks.
 
Hey Floppy D what Tin Can did you do time on? My last is now a reef. The former USS John Young DD-973. FC1 (ret). Oh and as for the OP question lots of range time and a desk job are usually mutually exclusive terms, or were when I was in the Navy.:neener:
 
I have a cousin and a nephew in the Airforce. Neither one of them likes it much. They have basically 9-5 jobs and are basically stuck at a base and don't get very much "adventure".

I was in the Navy on submarines and it was nothing but adventure. I didn't join to learn a trade that I'd do for the rest of my life (I'm a computer animator for video games now). I went subs because I wanted to go on Top Secret missions, do something interesting, and see the world - which I did. Glad I went in, glad I got out - it was a great experience.

Now, if I could do it all over again, I'd probably go Coast Guard if I didn't go subs. The reason I'd want to go Coast Guard is because I would want to be stationed on a rescue vessel of some sort. The Coast Guard, first of all, gets stationed in a coastal town somewhere (obviously)- on the ocean or one of the great lakes. Every day they are out there saving people and actually using all of their skills.

Myself and some friends overturned our catamaran once in big swells in Lake Michigan. It was very cold and we couldn't right the boat, and didn't know what we were going to do so far out from shore. All of a sudden, a big CG cutter pulled up and tossed a line down to us. We tied it to the opposite side of the boat, then they backed up and pulled our boat upright and "saved" us. They then went on their way, looking for more people in trouble. My Dad was sailing alone one day and got saved by that same cutter. :)

I think the CG is the branch that gets the least respect, for whatever reason, yet they are absolutely as important as any other branch. Maybe you'll be chasing drug runners in Florida or something fun like that. Maybe a rescue swimmer. Maybe a radar operator on an aircraft. The better you do on the ASVAB, the more choices you have. When you get off work, you are in a nice coastal city and not in some desert somewhere getting shelled, or stuck on some AF base in Wyoming or somewhere like that in the middle of nowhere.

I consider it one of the more "honorable" professions: Every single day they are saving people.

There's plenty of guns in the Coast Guard, also.
 
Bezoar,

no offense, but joining the army just to shoot guns is possibly the worst idea I have ever heard. I have no idea what your job skill-set is, but guns don't cost that much. Have you considered working for a gun store? That might be a good idea. Then you get to handle all sorts of guns.

The armed forces are one of those occupations where you basically have to conform to a set lifestyle. Are you willing to get maimed or killed? Because that's what the armed forces entails.

If your heart's not into it, don't join. If you don't want to live the lifestyle, don't join. Don't Romanticize anything. Think about crappy situations... you're stuck in the middle of Iraq in the sweltering heat, you're dehydrated, you haven't showered in a week, you're currently pinned down under enemy fire, and on top of that, you really need to take a crap. Sound pleasant? To some that probably sounds like a dream come true. Those would probably be the people who should join the armed forces.

"I wanna shoot more guns" is not a reason to join the armed forces.
 
A high school buddy and I both enlisted in the Spring of '73. We both retired in '94. I went Army, he went Coast Guard. All totalled, I spent less than 24 month's working "Live" missions (Nam, Grenada, Panama).
I volunteered for Desert Storm, and was told I was "too valuable in your present assignment". (I was the housing NCO at Huachuca, working these grueling 1 hour days, Go figure!).
My buddy in the Coast Guard was assigned to a cutter. He spent most of his career in smuggling intervention. Got a heckofa lot more trigger time, with live missions to boot, in an average year than I did during my entire career.
To add insult to injury, he spent most of his time working in the Carib.
I tried to talk my boys into going CG, but I think stupid must be hereditary:)
 
some good comments here. Just the follwoing:

my titanium plate joined a 2 inch gap where the bone was turned to cornmush when a tree fell on me. Sure its all healed up years ago if i break that plate or a screw, im on the cripple list for good. And my surgeon also gave me great advice: if anyone but her tries to dink with the plate orscrews, i should feel free to stick a screwdriver in their eye socket to escape.

im not big on army or anything, im just enemployed and everyone is trying to tell me that jobs are everywhere for anyone with a degree. my degrees are in drafting and design, architecture and construction. I can even get a job pushing a broom at a work site or a job that lets me swab urinals.

and I live in michigan. no use for a drafting or construction related degree. and thats were all my mental processes do the best at.
 
Is the Military worth it? That is kind of like saying is our Country and Way of Life Worth it? I have nothing but Gratitute and Respect for the Veterans who have Served.

I believe we should keep our All Volunteer Service and Pay Scale for Soldiers who re enlist or make it a Career. However I also believe EVERYONE should have to Serve our Country for at least a year or two. We have way too many FREERIDERS in this Country.

You will probably not see too much Trigger Time outside of Boot Camp unless you go Combat Arms, however even as a REMF, Remington Raider you can be killed by a mortar round or sniper or I.E.D.. But you will have hot chow, showers, flush toilets and not sleep in the mud.

There were some Officers and Sergeants and Enlisted Men in Viet Nam I would have followed anywhere and back. They realized we had to accomplish a mission but they tried to do it with minimal loss of life. It was a tragedy to die due to stupidity you wanted to kill and wound as many of the enemy as you could before they finally got you.

There were also a few Officers and Sergeants and Enlisted Men who were stupid or incompetent or egotistical or with agendas that could get you wounded or killed.

In Jungle School they told us to look at the man to your right and the man to your left, then they said only one of you is going to come home not wounded or killed. When Troopers could not make the hump, we left them sitting alone in the Jungle saying that Charlie would be along in a little bit to help them carry their rucksack, that worked in 95% of the cases, the ones who did not catch up we went back and helped carry their rucksacks or had a Medivac/Dustoff helicopter helo them out.

This is not a job where you can refuse an order or tell your employer to shove it, if you do you will be court martialed and in prison.

Is it Worth it? Hell, Yes it is!
 
I have been contemplating joining the military also, most likely the Marines. I never had the grades for the Air Force. Mostly the reason I wanna join is to do something with my life, because at the moment my life is mind numbingly boring. I have a sense of commitment to my country. Hell I love it enough to die for it. My family has a tradition of joining the millitary ( 6 of my uncles served in vietnam, 1 Navy 1 Marines and 4 Army.) All of them lived through it with out getting wounded to, well if you don't count mental problems :neener:. But as of this moment I am un decieded.
 
A high school buddy and I both enlisted in the Spring of '73. We both retired in '94. I went Army, he went Coast Guard. All totalled, I spent less than 24 month's working "Live" missions (Nam, Grenada, Panama).
I volunteered for Desert Storm, and was told I was "too valuable in your present assignment". (I was the housing NCO at Huachuca, working these grueling 1 hour days, Go figure!).
My buddy in the Coast Guard was assigned to a cutter. He spent most of his career in smuggling intervention. Got a heckofa lot more trigger time, with live missions to boot, in an average year than I did during my entire career.
To add insult to injury, he spent most of his time working in the Carib.
I tried to talk my boys into going CG, but I think stupid must be hereditary:)
Click to expand...

That scenario is repeated time, and time again. :) I think you came to the same realization that I did concerning the CG.

Unfortunately, most people don't even consider the CG even for a second, because it isn't as "cool" to tell your friends that you are going to the CG as compared to the Marines or Army (for whatever reason).

I was watching a show on Discovery HD about the CG in Florida. I was totally impressed and it confirmed what I had always thought about them. One morning, as the cameraman rode along, they chased down a high speed boat that wouldn't stop when ordered, and they opened fire on his engine to make him stop. They then boarded with weaps drawn and found he was smuggling a family. It was just a typical day at work for them. They are saving people, stopping smugglers, drug runners, etc. They go home to nice living conditions, and are actually using all the skills they have been trained for every single day.
 
Bezoar -


GET OUT OF MICHIGAN!!!!! that will fix your problem quickly!!! i left when an associate & a bachelors degree(s), and YEARS of experience couldn't get me a (literally) $7/hour crap job.

that state is shot. leave, and be amazed at what is available elsewhere.


good luck!
 
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