Considering the Army.

Originally Posted by Red370

Why do these always turn into a "Oh man, join my branch" thread? The guy said hes considering joining the ARMY, and would like to know about it, not the navy, not the Air Force, not the Marines.

I've been a soldier for the last 8 years of my life, and I rose through the ranks pretty quickly. At 25 years old, I make 60k+ and enjoy free medical/dental/college benefits (family qualifies for these too), I'd say i'm much further along than many of my peers in life.

All I can say is, dont join a specific branch because you want to collect a paycheck and not have to see combat, thats the pansy way out. If you want to get paid while serving your nation admirably while getting excellent college benefits, you cant go wrong. If anything, i'd say try your damndest to get on a deployment, quick and easy way to come back with 40K+ sitting in your bank account and knock out an associates degree. I've seen it plenty of times, hell I got 19 year old privates driving 7 series BMW's and a Staff Sergeant like myself driving a GT-R. Dont let others sway your decision on your branch based on "if you dont wanna get shot at" or "you'll find more technical fields in this branch" type of comments, the Army has just the same or better opportunities believe me. PM me if you have any questions man. Did I mention that i'll be retiring at 37 years old and collecting a $3,000 paycheck for the rest of my life for sitting on my ass?

My Advice: Go to the recruiter knowing what you want. DO NOT budge from the job you wanna do, if they give you some BS like "we dont have any openings in that field", it is just that, BS. Some jobs have a specific amount of slots that need filled and if there is a shortage in one certain area, they are nudged, if you will, to present you those MOS's and say thats all thats available and thats not true at all. If they claim they cant give you the job that you want, stand up and walk right out, I GUARANTEE they'll call you the next day and some how mysteriously, a job opening has appeared.

Next, make sure you get the duty assignment of your choosing, dont let them stick you in some shyt town in the middle of kansas without you having some say about it. You can have Germany, Hawaii, Italy, Japan, all included in your contract, depending on the job you choose. Pick one and stick to your guns. You can also have things like Airborne school, Ranger, etc. included in the contract as well.

And lastly, GET PAID. Pick a job that you're comfortable with and make sure it includes a bonus, nothing like joining the military with a nice fat $20,000 enlistment bonus coming along with it. Oh and you said you want to do 6 years, NEVER sign up that long for your first enlistment, you may decide that military life isnt for you and be stuck waiting out 2 or 3 years longer than you want. Do 4 years max the first time. And for the love of god, ask your recruiter what you can do to come in with some rank! You can come in as an E4 depending on your civilian education/accomplishments, crazy as it sounds, if you ever attained the "Eagle Scout" ranking in the scouts, you can come in as a specialist, crazy huh?

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve

That's a great post, especially the last 3 sentences. The only thing I can add is the obvious. You might get killed. Not trying to buzzkill, either. Serving your country is the highest form of dedication to your fellow countrymen. And when you first enlist, really really concentrate on the written exams they give you. Go Navy! Beat Army!

Originally Posted by Red370

alright gentlemen, this thread has gotten way off track, this isnt a comparison of who can make more and what have you, and no, im not a recruiter, I simply outlined the benefits of joining my particular branch of service and why I think he would stand to benefit more in my particular branch. There isnt a single job that the air force offers thats more technically involved than any army job, aside from being a pilot, which might I add, requires a degree (pilots must be officers). And as far as the Navy beating Army.. who cares, academy football is weak. Go BUCKEYES, BEAT EVERYBODY!!!

Originally Posted by Florida_GATOR

HAHA Anybody exept a team in the SEC

Originally Posted by Red370

Coming from a guy who's team wont win another title for 20 years

Our team is returning with 95% of the Rose Bowl winning team, you guys lost your entire team, your figurehead QB, and your head coach

Originally Posted by Florida_GATOR

HAHA wowwww, Im not even sure if i should continue this argument with how misinformed you are. But good, that means you can win a rose bowl again, because with your past record your sure not winning a championship. Didint we have the the #1 recruiting class of all time? Yea i think we did...and oh! look! Urban Meyer is still coaching the Gators! look at that! Next time I think you would be better off googling facts instead of trying to pull them out of you brain.

Originally Posted by Red370

Regardless, i'll be happy watching Alabama and Georgia shyt all over yall next season. And who really gives a shyt about recruiting classes? those players wont be ready for 2 years, and even so, college is a completely different story than high school ball bud. Ya know, I hope we play yall in a bowl next year, it'll be fun watching Pryor run over your undersized linebackers.

Originally Posted by Red370

alright gentlemen, this thread has gotten way off track, this isnt a comparison of who can make more and what have you, and no, im not a recruiter, I simply outlined the benefits of joining my particular branch of service and why I think he would stand to benefit more in my particular branch. There isnt a single job that the air force offers thats more technically involved than any army job, aside from being a pilot, which might I add, requires a degree (pilots must be officers). And as far as the Navy beating Army.. who cares, academy football is weak. Go BUCKEYES, BEAT EVERYBODY!!!

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve

And when you first enlist, really really concentrate on the written exams they give you.