Thinking of joining the military

[911paramedic]

Just wondering, why not the Navy. The Navy has some of the best technology jobs going and, for the most part, you will be out of harms way.

I am currently working on going from blue to brown, reenlisting in the Army. (medic of course)

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Just wondering, why not the Navy. The Navy has some of the best technology jobs going and, for the most part, you will be out of harms way.

I am currently working on going from blue to brown, reenlisting in the Army. (medic of course)

Any particular reason?

...if you don't mind me asking

 

[veggz]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: savoyboy
1) 00-05 13F 1/145th FA
05-06 97B GSC 19th Special Forces Group(airborne)

Well how fun of us to meet this way

2) let's say if you are a company commander of a unit in Iraq and this is something you have to say to your men "I don't like Bush and his administration. I don't like this war and this is how i really feel...."

Tell me if that doesn't bring morale down because of your political opinion. Especially coming from someone in a leadership position.

I'll go say it right now to the next 3 soldiers I see that I'm in charge of, and then ask how they feel. Stand by...

Reactions:
Me I don't like Bush and his administration. I don't like this war. This is how I really feel.
Soldier 1 [Stare] [Awkward pause] Ok [Awkward pause]
Me Yes, yes. But how do you feel?
Soldier 1 Same way
Me Oh...I meant morale-wise, but...You know, you don't have to agree with me
Soldier 1 I know
Me How's your morale?
Soldier1 Doin' alright sir...

Me I don't like Bush and his administration. I don't like this war. This is how I really feel.
Soldier 2 Ok sir [Awkward pause]
Me Yes, yes. But how do you feel?
Soldier 2 Agree
Me Ok...but how's your morale?
Soldier 2 Fine, nothing gets my morale down
Me Good
Soldier 2 [Starts talking about unrelated topic]

Me How's your morale?
Soldier 3 Alright
Me I don't like Bush and his administration. I don't like this war. This is how I really feel.
Soldier 3 Ok...
Me How's your morale now?
Soldier 3 Same

Hahaha pwned

 

[Mo0o]

Thats quite a lot of weight.. gl with that

 

[onemo]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict

Originally posted by: chowmein

i heard one time an officer got extra pay because he stayed at an army base which had "sub-standard living conditions."

Because anything less than silk sheets is considered substandard to the Air Force..

The Air Force are the pu$$ies of the entire military force.

As for the sub-standard living conditions, it's true. For the most part Air Force personnel are alloted a certain amount of personal space. Until recently, most army housing did not meet the standard... therefore a little compensation did take place.


As for the Air Force being pu$$ies, tell that to a combat controller, or para-rescue, or a decent SP/LE. The Air Force is made up of tradesmen, technicians, security, pilots, and support personnel. They keep planes flying and the folks that fly them comfortable, they maintain bases, etc... The majority (excludiing pilots) are not an offensive force like the army or the marines.

What branch are/were you in hero?

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
you have to have a degree for OCS

Go Navy!

officers are like managers, they manage/supervise people (the enlisted people)
unless you are a pilot or surgeon, those types of specialties are restricted to officers, but they don't necessarily supervise anyone

QFT.. 10 years vet here with Navy... and havign been around Marines and Air Farce.. and how they backward ass do things.. I'd never join any other branch than the Navy..

 

[Wapp]

Originally posted by: onemo

Originally posted by: jlbenedict

Originally posted by: chowmein

i heard one time an officer got extra pay because he stayed at an army base which had "sub-standard living conditions."

Because anything less than silk sheets is considered substandard to the Air Force..

The Air Force are the pu$$ies of the entire military force.

As for the sub-standard living conditions, it's true. For the most part Air Force personnel are alloted a certain amount of personal space. Until recently, most army housing did not meet the standard... therefore a little compensation did take place.


As for the Air Force being pu$$ies, tell that to a combat controller, or para-rescue, or a decent SP/LE. The Air Force is made up of tradesmen, technicians, security, pilots, and support personnel. They keep planes flying and the folks that fly them comfortable, they maintain bases, etc... The majority (excludiing pilots) are not an offensive force like the army or the marines.

What branch are/were you in hero?

I finished a four year enlistment last year in the AF. The AF is in the process of trimming a lot of the fat. They are moving towards a more "war-fighter" status than support. We were doing 6AM formations followed by two hours of PT(none of that dodgeball BS, formation runs, wind sprints, pushups, pullups, the full nine). Like others have said officers are expected to exceed the abilities of their troops, don't expect the AF to be so easy.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Wapp

Originally posted by: onemo

Originally posted by: jlbenedict

Originally posted by: chowmein

i heard one time an officer got extra pay because he stayed at an army base which had "sub-standard living conditions."

Because anything less than silk sheets is considered substandard to the Air Force..

The Air Force are the pu$$ies of the entire military force.

As for the sub-standard living conditions, it's true. For the most part Air Force personnel are alloted a certain amount of personal space. Until recently, most army housing did not meet the standard... therefore a little compensation did take place.


As for the Air Force being pu$$ies, tell that to a combat controller, or para-rescue, or a decent SP/LE. The Air Force is made up of tradesmen, technicians, security, pilots, and support personnel. They keep planes flying and the folks that fly them comfortable, they maintain bases, etc... The majority (excludiing pilots) are not an offensive force like the army or the marines.

What branch are/were you in hero?

I finished a four year enlistment last year in the AF. The AF is in the process of trimming a lot of the fat. They are moving towards a more "war-fighter" status than support. We were doing 6AM formations followed by two hours of PT(none of that dodgeball BS, formation runs, wind sprints, pushups, pullups, the full nine). Like others have said officers are expected to exceed the abilities of their troops, don't expect the AF to be so easy.

Dang....Daily 2-hour PT? I understand how hard it can be to keep a group focused and motivated on physical fitness for that long because I had trouble squeezing 1 1/2 hours out of my guys (before the deployment, of course) so kudos to the Air Force :thumbsup:

Sadly, we haven't had the opportunity to do organized PT for about 8 months. Of course, some people do it on their own free time...

 

[ThaGrandCow]

I could only read through about a page and a half of this thread before I couldn't stand the BS being flung around here by people who claim they know about the military and are actually talking out of their asses.

Disclosure: I am a reservist in the Marines. I've been at multiple duty stations after doing my active duty time, dealt with 6 different "activations", and know people both in the enlisted and officer side of the branch.

1. As long as you have a degree, you can go to OCS. You do not need to go through enlisted boot camp to be an officer. There are specific Marine Corps recruiters that look for potential officers. Those that actually choose to go through enlisted boot camp are respected by the enlisted personnel about 20 times more than those that go to OCS right out of college. Enlisted boot camp vs officer boot camp is completely different, to the point where they can't even be compared. Officer boot camp is mainly about the physical side of training... getting bigger muscles, faster run times, more sit-ups, etc... Enlisted boot camp is mainly about the mental fvckery. They change the way you think so that you will follow any order at any given time without considering the consequences. An officer says to do it, you do it. Period.

2. Officers don't really get "in the sh!t". There are a few exceptions: tankers, pilots, the new AAAV's... basically stuff with the REALLY big guns. .50 caliber machine guns and belt-fed grenade launchers aren't cool enough for officer intervention, you need either nuke capability or tank caliber ammunition to require an officer onboard to make decisions. Anything less is left to the enlisted personnel to decide when to shoot, while the officers stay way, WAY back in the safety of the rear.

3. Red Dawn: Shut the hell up. Very few in the military care about politics. We signed up to do a job. We were told from the very beginning that war was a possibility. Considering the legnth of military contracts, most people in the military now either knew about the war in Iraq or at least had the equivalent of someone tackling them and saying "HEY!!! If you join up now you're going to war!" Most of us just want to do our job and go home. You're either someone who has never been in the military, or were in the military in a different time. Either way, you have no idea what's going on currently and have no business making any kind of informed statement pretending you know how the active duty personnel are doing.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: ThaGrandCow
Officer boot camp is mainly about the physical side of training... getting bigger muscles, faster run times, more sit-ups, etc

You're talking about the basic training OCS candidates go through, right? The Officer Basic Course is branch skills focused

2. Officers don't really get "in the sh!t". There are a few exceptions: tankers, pilots, the new AAAV's... basically stuff with the REALLY big guns. .50 caliber machine guns and belt-fed grenade launchers aren't cool enough for officer intervention, you need either nuke capability or tank caliber ammunition to require an officer onboard to make decisions. Anything less is left to the enlisted personnel to decide when to shoot, while the officers stay way, WAY back in the safety of the rear.

I disagree. Look at my unit, for example.

In general, note that among all soldiers, there exist officers in combat branches and there exist enlisted soldiers in support MOSs.

Branch, MOS, and duty position are much more indicative of how "in the ******" a soldier will be