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Thread: What branch should I join?

  1. #11
    I have been in the Airforce for 8 years, alot of it depends on what you want to do for a living. I am a C-130 Mechanic. Regularly working 12 hour shifts, weekends, 4-6 month deployments, which doesn't sound bad but when you leave for 4 months home for 3-4 then gone again it sucks. But I have been around the world, I spent a week in Singapore, Japan, Berlin, Greenland. I have been a Little Rock AFB the whole time. Find a job that you want to do. Good luck

  2. #12
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    I am prior Army, and can sit here and preach to you about the Army all day, but all branches have something that the others dont...it is up to you to decide which one fits your life-style better.

    I saw a recruiter for every branch, and in the end, I chose the Army because I was garanteed the job I wanted (provided I passed all of the schooling for it). I got a 92 (of a possible 99) on my ASVAB which pretty much allowed me to enter into any job I wanted, so that made it a bit easier.

    Airforce tried to sell me on quality of life, Marines tried to sell me on the "cool factor" i.e. the "chicks dig Marines, and we are better than everyone else" mentality. The Navy tried to sell me on the whole traveling the world aspect, and the Coast Guard guy was up front (to my knowledge) but I just didnt really like what they had to offer.

    They all had certain benefits that were nice, but I chose the Army because of what they offered. I got an enlistment bonus, and job of choice (Psychological Operations Specialist) which included 6 months of language school (Arabic) and Airborne school. I did my research and found that the active duty PSYOP group was split into 6 battalions at the time and each covered different regions of the world(Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, middle east, and a tactical battalion) which allowed me to get some traveling. I ofcourse ended up in the tactical batallion which kept me deployed to Iraq both times, but I dont regret it one bit.

    Any way you choose will be awesome. They all have great things about them, but like I said, it is up to you to decide which you like better. All I recommend is that you think about your future when you decide. Which one will offer you the best chance of having a good civilian job if you decide to get out after your enlistment is up? the skills of a glorified killing machine arent what employers are looking for these days. Technical positions are becoming more in demand, especially computer related fields.

    Just think about it, and do your homework before you sign that dotted line.

  3. #13
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    guard, work a couple times a week sounds great to me!

  4. #14
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    plus one on what extreme said very true.
    & a plus one the last paragraph & last line from agfish18.

    plus talk to people in that branch NOW, or at least the last 10yrs or so & alot has changed(& some has stayed the same)with Poltical correctness BS & other aspects in my opinion from when most of our dads or granddads, & older uncles served.

    further more if you enlist in the Air Force make sure you get it writing that your grade is at least an E3 / an airman first class. for better pay & faster way to move up but i think you have to have associate degree or alot college credit or a very good 2yr+ tech school diploma &/or degree &/or some license(s) thats counts as collegecredit. (dont settle for lowest grade unless you have to if your still in or just graduated high school with only a high scool diploma and no college credits)
    also you must have NO drug use too, You can forget it. , other than maybe MJ once older than 6yrs is what I was told , but dont hold me to that, Recruiter said that. but i hope & doubt you have to worry about that.
    last i heard on asvab scores are min of 40 CoastGuard, 31 army, 32 marines, 35 navy, 36 AirForce & on all if you have GED min score is all higher.

    an remember no matter what the recruiter tells you your bonuses are paid over time not in one big lum but several smaller ones, amounts vary i think depending on branch and other variables.

    find a job that you KNOW you will like and ENJOY or it may feel like that crappy dead end job you had as a high schooler.

    in other words,
    RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, & THEN DO MORE RESEARCH.

  5. #15
    Senior Member Miami78's Avatar
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    For Air Force you can get E3 right out of basic by either signing on for 6 years instead of 4 or having a bachelors degree.

    The biggest difference between when I entered the Air Force back in '94 and now are the ops tempo and the "do more with less" attitude.

    On ops tempo, between '94 and sept '01 I never deployed...between sept '01 and now I've deployed 5 times, and getting ready to deploy again sometime in the next year.

    On doing more with less, it used to be that you could just come in, do your job, and go home. Sometimes you would have training that needed to be done, and occasionally you would be tagged with an additional duty (being the safety person for your flight, in charge of equipment, etc.). Now, because of the decrease in manning, everyone has multiple additional duties on top of their assigned job, and there are less people in each career field...but they are doing more work.

    Hope that helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

  6. #16
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    additionally, deployment times will vary with each branch. Airforce typically deploys for 4 month stints (or 6 months if security forces or some other positions) Army can deploy you for up to 18 months at a crack (although typically between 9 and 15 months)...trust me, I know, I spent 18 months in Fallujah that was supposed to be a 9 month deployment. Marines usually get deployed for 6 if I am not mistaken, and Navy is also at least 6 months...(chime in if I am wrong)

    guard, work a couple times a week sounds great to me!
    Most guard positions are only 2-3 days once a month unless you are AGR (Active Guard Reserve), then it is like a full time position. keep in mind that you only get paid for time worked...

  7. #17
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    I spent 26 years in the Army. Retired in 2005 as a Master Sergeant/E8. Do your research and find out what will work best for you. The most important things I got out of my time in army were: 1. The ability to make a decision, 2. To own your screwups and make them right, 3. How to work with people I didn't particularly like for a greater organizational good.
    The military will also help you grow and give you a sense of self confidence and maturity not found in the civilian world. At the very least, the military will teach you how to prioritize tasks and give you organizational skills. Good luck and God speed.

  8. #18
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    prior army here. extreme and agfish said it all.

  9. #19
    Senior Member Miami78's Avatar
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    AF is pretty much all 6 month deployments now.

    The different guard/reserve positions will vary the number of days you can work, depends on what their budget is and how many man days they have. I have a few friends who are reservists but their squadron has so many man days available they can basically work full time if they want.

  10. #20
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    Thank you all for the responses.

    My brother in law served in the Navy for 16 years. Don't know what position but he did travel the world. He's now an Army dentist stationed at Oahu. I'm currently leaning more towards the Navy as well. But, gonna take the general advice of all above ^^ and do more research as well as talk to recruiters.

    Trill .. believe me. There are no decent jobs here in Kona unless you have a lot of experience. Which I don't. And the beaches get tiresome



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