military question

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Cumiford

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Ive never really thought about the military before. Ive been considering joining to gain skillset and hopefully make a decent career. My only holdback is that i have a child cominf and i dont want it to grow up with me being away alot. If i join will a be away alot or is there something i can do to stay close to my family?
 
Bring the family with you. I grew up on a military base and personally I couldn't have asked for a better childhood. One of the requirements for military housing is that there be kids in the household. Every house in the neighborhood had children of all ages so I was never bored or at a loss for friends and playmates.
 
Well my gf wants to go to college for an education. Would she have to go about like if i werent in the military or would my being in have any influence or help in that area?
 
What branch of the military? And yes she can still go to college. But the military is very strong on marriage and there is a lot of income you can receive and benefit from if you marry.
 
The montgomery GI bill is like $80,000 and can be used to pay for multiple schools and can be used by you or you kid. I think she would have to be your wife for her to get to use it but i dont remember 100%
 
dustinmoran91 said:
The montgomery GI bill is like $80,000 and can be used to pay for multiple schools and can be used by you or you kid. I think she would have to be your wife for her to get to use it but i dont remember 100%
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Not any more Dustin they have changed it. You have to pay into it and if it is not used in 2 years you lose it. My son lost his after not using it 2 years to the day he was discharged from the Army.
 
Sorry i forgot about the having to pay into it part, its been about 3 years since i enlisted and they explained all of it to me lol ive slept since then.

Be sure and ask the recruiter about it, also tell him you have a kid on the way because there is extra paperwork for that lol
as far as what branch, it comes down to what you want to do. When i joined the marines i was kind of a recruiters aide and i watched him turn people away not because they werent qualified but because the marine corps wasnt gonna be right for them. If you only want travel, benefits, skills, a career and college i would look at air force or navy then army in that order. They all provide the same benefits just some have different jobs and amounts of travel
 
Well me being a family man i would like the least amount of travel. My child not even being born yet is extremely important to me. Mostly im looking for something that will have the benefeits and for me to be able to go to school and have a career that will support my family long term
 
Go talk to a recruiter they can cover all that with you.
 
Okay. Thanks for your help cliff.

I know i dont wanna live my life on the backburner. I wanna do something with it.
 
If you really dont want to travel but still want the benefits and things you might look at the national guard. I dont know much amout that branch but it would be good to look into it. You should talk to all of the recruiters even if you dont think you want to join that branch, then take the information you get from them and do research to compare what your told to whats true. I know my recruiter didnt want to persuade anyone to join the marine corps because they want you to join because you want to. However not all recruiters are like that and some will stretch the truth a little.
 
Something else to keep in mind is that you may or may not be able to bring your family with you until you reach a certain rank. I can't speak from experience there, because I was single the whole time I was in the Navy. I know when I was in A-school, some of the people in my class had families but they were not allowed housing on base. They had to get apartments out in town somewhere. They still got their BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) which mostly paid their rent.

If you are not wanting to be away from your family, I do not recommend the Navy, Army, or Marines. The Navy, when you are on sea duty, will send you out on deployments that can last from a couple weeks to as much as ten months or more, depending on what the ship happens to be doing. I know the standard Med-Cruise for East Coast ships, and West-Pacs for West Coast ships are six months at the minimum. If it is an around-the-world cruise, that could easily take ten months to a year. Army and Marine deployments could easily match those, if not surpass them. A friend of mine in the Army just returned from a year long deployment to Afghanistan.

I know there are deployments for the Air Force as well, but I don't think they usually last that long for regular Airmen. Elite forces, like Air Force EOD could rival the other branches for time away.

If you want to serve your country, but don't want to spend that much time away, why not look into the Coast Guard? You'd still be serving your country, get full benefits like the GI Bill, but the odds would be in your favor that you would stay stateside. It's just a thought and something worth looking into. Whatever you choose, good luck!
 
Cumiford said:
Okay. Thanks for your help cliff.

I know i dont wanna live my life on the backburner. I wanna do something with it.
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Good for you for wanting to serve your country. Before you join, be sure to do your homework. Talk to all the vets and active duty members you can. There are quite a few here that are willing to help ya out. I'm pretty sure that for your family to recieve the full benefit of your service, you're gonna have to make an "honest" woman out of that gal of yours.

Oh, and I'm not gonna say that recruiters lie, but, they are fishing for folks to sign up, and we know how fishermen can be.....

Having said that, my time in the Army is still one of my best memories and the lessons learned have served me well in my life. Drive on.
 
No matter what branch of the military you might be leaning towards, you will be at the bottom of the totem pole rank wise, and will be getting low pay for your pay grade.
I wouldn't know what an E1 or E2 (enlisted) pay grade is in modern times, but you won't be getting much.
You won't be getting any extra pay if your just shacked up with your girlfriend, without having that legally married paperwork.

When i was in the Air Force during the 1970's i was getting $400.00 a month in the low pay grades.
Yes you read that right, "a Month".

You gotta really ask yourself honestly, why you wan't to join the military, in the first place.
There is no draft, and i really don't think it's to serve your country.
The service is something that you can't get out of when you sign the papers, and take the oath.

I joined for three reasons.
1. To get away from a factory job that i was doing at the time, that i really didn't like, and didn't see myself doing the rest of my life.
2. I hated the factory, smokestack, town that i was born, and raised in. Couldn't see myself staying around there any longer.
3. I had to get away from a parent that was a very verbably abusive parent in my upbringing in my childhood.

So my way out at the time was the Air Force.
The military can station you at some pretty shitty places, so ask yourself if your well enough where your at, or if you can last with them for 3, 4, 6, years.

Just my .02 cents.
JV.
 
One other thing to keep in mind that is their need comes first. They will give you a wish list of locations to sign up for, but if there is no need for your skill in those areas they will assign you elsewhere and your family (whether your married or not) may not always be able to accompany you.

I'm not saying this to dissuade you, but thought it needed to be said. My advice would be to write down all of your questions or concerns and bring that list with you when you go to speak with the recruiters. This way you don't miss anything and can make sure ahead of time to have all yours concerns/questions answered. And as someone else has mentioned, you can't change your mind once the process is complete. So make sure you are informed about everything on your list.

And as other have mentioned, definitely check out the national guard and coastguard as well.

Like a lot of people I was a military brat. My father was in the air force for 23 years. Yes there were times when I was younger that I had to stay stateside with my mother while he was stationed overseas, but I got to see some of the world with him. I spent 5 years in Turkey, time in Russia, and Germany as well. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
 
Good words from DroVal and hemi71x. Like hemi, I also was in Air Force late 70's. My job was not done anywhere else but five states. No where else. I did not go overseas. But those jobs are few as far as I know. Pay for lower grades is not the best. Just make sure it's what you want to do. You might be able to get a guarenteed job, hopefully something in demand outside of service. Good luck.
 
I spend four years in the military and its great for the family. Now you said gf first thing would be get married before you go in other wise she cant live on base with you. Now for her school you can give her your gi-bill. You have to pay for so long before you can use it but it is a killer deal once you are able to use it. Now for the Military and family its self is great. Now I was Army but you get all weekends off and a ton of Holidays off. Pretty must you can add on two days off per holiday. You also get leave which is two or three weeks off and that is happens twice summer and christmas time. There is a ton of family orintated things that go on the base to.
 
I have been serving for over 22 years now. Remember when you get opinions from people who have served, some of those things that were factual then, may not be now. I will say this, if your intent is to always be at home, you may want to look elsewhere. I know things are winding down overseas, but things are still happening elsewhere. When I left Fort Campbell a few years ago, you were gone for 12 months, back for around 14 months and gone again.Yes, you get paid more if you are married, but if you think that it will actually be more than a single guy gets paid think again. The money you are given for rent varies based on rank. You will also receive money for food-again, it will not cover everything you need. Bottom line, talk to a recruiter. Things are changing in the military as far as funding. If I can give one piece of advice, get a real skill, talk to people already in. The real world doesn't have a need for tankers or artillery men etc. Questions?

Jason
 
national guard you can stay at home and still be in. thats what i am in and love it/hate it

i think anyone whos served can say its a love/hate ordeal

but, dont join just because they can pay for college or youll regret it
 
duster wonder said:
national guard you can stay at home and still be in. thats what i am in and love it/hate it

i think anyone whos served can say its a love/hate ordeal

but, dont join just because they can pay for college or youll regret it
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Oh the stories I have of kids who were crying over this one.
 
Oh, and I'm not gonna say that recruiters lie, but, they are fishing for folks to sign up, and we know how fishermen can be.....
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And the same thing can be said for the re-enlistment officer once your in.
The one that i had lied to me, told me half truths, deceived me, to get me to re-enlist.
And i fell for it.
I was flat out told that i wouldn't have to serve another two year long tour overseas, as others in my career field were never overseas, were at the same stateside base for the past 5-8 years, and those would be the ones to get overseas orders.
Ya, i re-enlisted, and then some time into my re-enlistment they gave me orders for a long tour to Okinawa.
Boy, did it go downhill from there fast.
As others have stated previously, its a love it, hate it relationship.
I did like the responsibility of working on, and being a crew chief on the F-4 Phantom's, and my stateside base at Mather was good, but after that, when they start screwing you over, they got you by the balls, and you can't wait to get out, when it turns to schlitz.
They own you once your in.
Your just a little indian in the world of a lot of chiefs, in the military.
Choose your options very well.
It can become a big mistake, or work out well.
 
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