Barring outside commitments, at what age is it impractical to join the Armed Forces?

[91TTZ]

nm

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

USMC > *
(Guess which one I served in? )

I went ahead and fixed that for you to reflect reality.

 

[datalink7]

Do you have a college degree? If so, the Officer option is another possiblitiy instead of enlisting. Different kind of job altogether (so you'd have to look at what you want to do). And the base pay starts at around $2,400/month instead of $1,200.

 

[sonambulo]

I do not.

I do get mailings about officer candidate school about once a month though. I don't really know if that's worth anything though.

 

[gamepad]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
get a degree first.

If you plan on staying in the military, a degree is a must; especially if you want that private room.

Your college will be payed for if you join ROTC.

 

[datalink7]

Originally posted by: gamepad

Your college will be payed for if you join ROTC.

Not necessarily true. My college wasn't paid for and I went though ROTC. However, because I didn't get a scholarship, I qualified for the GI bill so I'll get money when I go back to school in my future.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: everman
I don't suppose anyone here is a JAG officer?

one or two members were, iirc DonVito was (now DonVitoCorleone) but i could be thinking of the wrong member

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
Just one last question, if I may.

After basic is over and you're living on a base do you have free time at the end of the work day or is it sun up to sun down work? Also what are the chances of getting a private room?

Kind of, but remember you have to get thoruhg AIT first and while in training you are under training rules. Training usually means no car, no off-base privelages, no tobacco, and nightly curfew. Sometime AIT is the same as basic as living under the same extreme rules.

After AIT and you are assigned to your new permanant duty station, you will be assigned to a nice 300 sq ft apartment type of barracks with one room-mate. Within that 300sq ft you will have two small closets, two night stands, two twin besds two very small entertainment centers that can hold a 20" TV and your mini-fridge on the bottome, two desks/dressers, and a very small bathroom with sink, shower, and toilet. AC, heat, and cable TV is standard and all free. On your firt floor there will be laundry rooms for free and on each floor there is a small common area that may have a larger TV, couches, pool table, vending machine or the like. A short walk away from your barracks/apartments will be your mail room, chow hall, shopette (think 7-11 - beer, cigs, food, DVD's) and your parking lot.

Once assigned to your permanant duty station your work hours will generally be 5:30 or 6am for 1-hour of phyical training. Then you go back to your barracks, shit, shower, shave, dress, eat and report for work at 8:30am. Lunch is another hour or so where you go back to your barracks as that is where your Chow Hall is located. It's fun to eat at others chow halls rather than your assigned one to see how the other side of the base lives.

Around 5pm or 5:30pm you are released from work for the day. From that time period until 5:30am the next day you are on your own. That includes going off-base provided you have a car to drive yourself off base. We used to date the local women, go to bars off-base, go grocery shopping or clothes shopping off base. You can sleep off base, just make sure you are at formation the next day. Some guys who had poor money management skills even got part-time jobs on the weekends and evenings at off-base places like Taco Bell.

You may have to work till 8pm if a deadline is coming up, you may have to go to the field and play war-games for 5 days or more and not shower while living in a freakin tent at 110 degrees. During those outings you will not see your barracks or get your mail or use your phone.

Work week is Friday to Monday generally. If you are a cook you will need to cook on the weekends and nights or early in the morning. The armed services is just like society, there are those who work nights, weekends, and day shifts to make the base run smoothly.

Military like any Govt. job gets lots of holidays and you will ned up with lots of 3-4 day weekends. Sometimes you may need to work and stick around but other times you can disappear for three-four days and no one cares.

Formation times at 5:30am and 8:30am are damn important. You can not be late, not even 30-seconds late! You will be called out by your squad leader and your platoon sargent as out of ranks, that means if you dfo that 3-times within about a 6-month time period your ass is theres. They will give you an Article 15 of the UCMJ, garnish about 1/3 of your pay for the month and make you work 18hr days for 2-weeks straight, including weekends.


Even with a college degree and no ROTC training you will not be an officer. You may be offered to go to Officer Candidate School but the drop-out rate is really high as it makes boot camp look pathetically easy.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
Just one last question, if I may.

After basic is over and you're living on a base do you have free time at the end of the work day or is it sun up to sun down work? Also what are the chances of getting a private room?

For me, after basic, it was three months of fairly restricted time in training. Always had to wear a uniform, PT in the morning, details (cleaning the barracks/base and such). Then the next few months you could wear civvies after training, but still had morning PT. After six months, you could get a car and do more or less what you liked once classes were over.
Then after being assigned to the first base, sometimes you'd get a roommate, sometimes you wouldn't, and had base details for the first couple weeks (whatever they needed you to do).
After that, not too much different than a civilian job. At a certain point, depending on assignment, you'd be eligible for BAQ (basic allowance for quarters, rent money) and could move off base if you filed the necessary paperwork.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

USMC > *
(Guess which one I served in? )

I went ahead and fixed that for you to reflect reality.

AF combat controllers/pararescue > USMC.*