Still joining the service...but I need guidance. I'm not sure which one.

[MascaraSnake]

Just so you can use this as a guide of what job would suit me best, I'm mainly a music geek but since I want to teach choir and not necessarily play in a military band, I'm falling back on my second passion -- language. I'd love to work overseas somewhere.

Here's my thoughts so far on the military services:

Marines: My initial choice. They're awesome and I never fail to be impressed; the recruiters that I've spoken to really blew me away. The only thing keeping me back is that (from what I've gathered) Marines are trained to be fighters/riflemen first and use their specialties second. Not that I wouldn't fight, but I think I'd be happier in a position where I was doing something like reconstruction work first and fighting second.

I have no knowledge of their special forces or if any of my interests would apply there.

Navy: This one looks like it would have a LOT of travel, which would probably suit my interests, but the only part of the Navy I know a lot about are the SEALs, which really earn my respect (obviously). I've read that they do a lot of work with linguistics, and that piquest my interest...of course before I would work to become a SEAL I'd have to make sure I wanted it 100%.

Army: Oddly enough, my dad's in this service and I know next to nothing about it.

Air Force No interest at all; I couldn't be a pilot with my vision and I'm bad at math/technical stuff.

Thanks in advance guys; I've only got about a year until I enlist.

[VincenteFox]

The Marines are trained as riflemen first because of their (relative) small size and independance in operations. They are quite self-sustained and train all of their men and women to be that way. They take strength in their unity.

A fair number of my friends are in the US Army and they really seem to put more emphasis your chosen skills (after basic training, of course). They're quite opposite of the Marines in that they get their strength from utilizing the different talents that their men and women possess.

IMHO, it seems that the Army, with a much larger talent pool to choose from (they also rely quite heavily on the air force and navy), is free to use it's specialists more exclusively in their area of expertise. The Marines, with a smaller size and greater self-sufficiency, simply don't have that luxury.

Whatever your decision, good luck and God bless.

[Teninx]

Military service to our country is not a job training corps. Your decision to enlist in any branch should be motivated by your love of America and your desire to protect her against her enemies. While you certainly will learn skills that will serve you well throughout your life, your military job, whatever it may be, will first be to keep the safety and security of America.

If you're not willing to committ yourself fully to the defense of America, against all enemies foriegn and domestic (you'll swear to that), consider another avenue to advance your personal goals.

[bc3po]

Being a former marine, I have to say that you'll get out of it what you put into it. I'd imagine thats true in any branch.
That being said, if I was 18 again and had it to do over, I'd give the 5th branch(the Coast Guard) a serious look.
Good luck with whichever branch you choose!

[maddman]

Originally Posted by bc3po

Being a former marine,

What is your malfunction son once a Marine always a Marines, and always Capitalize Marine....well at least that is what my dad says.

Going to enlist as soon as i drop the rest of this weight.

[garilla]

Elisted in the Air Force back in '92, and despite the rumors from Grandma regarding me being a pilot, there's more to it. Air Force probably ranks #1 as far as their emphasis on your skills. Linguistics specialist is available.

Here's the real kicker though. I was "true-blue", working for the Air Force for about 6 months out of my 7-year stint. The rest of the time, I was in joint units. Perhaps it was the type of work I did (computer support for Intel), but my point is the forces are becoming more and more blended every day. Chances are you'll be working with Air Force/Army/Navy/Marines quite a bit, especially if you're looking to get into Linguistics.

Keep your nose clean, because chances are you'll need quite a security clearance for most decent jobs, and that can be worth some good money both with the Military (bonuses), and when you get out. I've seen companies hire someone with NO skills for a new position, BUT they had the security clearance already. Was cheaper to train them from the ground up than find someone who's an expert but no clearance.



- Garilla

[j6ppc]

Talk to the army recruiter... reference MOS 37F.

[Anthony]

With an interest in linguistics, you'd probably do well in the Navy. Try to get in to Crypto or Intel. You'd be serving your country, travelling the world, and working in a field that interests you. With both Cryptology and Intelligence, you can also be attached to an aviation wing, a ship or carrier battle group, or even be ground based. So they both offer quite a wide range of options, and also a great opportunity for advancement.

Best of luck with your decision.

[rbcarmy]

Curently in the Army as an x-ray tech. Joined to be part of something bigger than my self but wanted to have a fall back if i didnt want to stay for 20 years. Thats why i picked a med support job.
If you have any questions on jobs daily life or anything in regards to the Army send me a pm and i will hook you up. Dont go to any recruiter untill you do you homework

[Hawk6815]

I'm not trying to scare you off from the Army, but with the new policy we are the only ones who spend 15 months in Iraq. With a year or less between deployments, that is equates out to be a great deal of your life spent over here.

Don't get me wrong, the Army has given me almost everything I've asked from it. But as the only service serving a year or more, I think it's something to seriously consider.

Will

[Fresh50]

Air Force, Air Force, Air Force!!

Ask anyone who has served in any of the branches and they will tell you that the USAF has the best quality of life hands down. We get treated like human beings, not a tool to get a job done.

As for Language the AF is giving away boatloads of cash for Linguist jobs:



Like the other services, the Air Force offers monetary reenlistment bonuses to individuals who agree to reenlist in certain, designated AFSCs (jobs).

Reenlistment Bonus Cap is $60,000.

The amount awarded for an SRB is computed as follows:

The member's base pay multiplied by the indicated bonus multiplier, times number of years (or fraction of year) reenlisting for.


Your yearly base pay for a brand new 6 year enlistie would be $18,410.40.
You multiply $18,410.40 x 5 bonus x you 6 year enlistment = $55,231.20.

Then you get 50% up front and the other half is divided up over you next 5 years so $27,616 up front and $5,523.10 every year after.

Romance Crypto Linguist - 4.5
Slavic Crypto Linguist - 4.5
Chinese Crypto Linguist - 5
Korean Crypto Linguist - 5
MidEast Crypto Linguist - 5
African Crypto Linguist - 5
Turkic Crypto Linguist - 5
Polynesian Crypto Linguist - 5
Indo-Iranian Crypto Linguist - 5



The schooling for these jobs is about a year long so you first year all you have to do is go to school, how easy was that $46,026 your first year??

I retrained from Aircraft Maint into Computer Systems Administrator and got a 6 SRB for 6 years. My bonus topped out at $60,000.


p.s. Oh yeah if you got to the war we only go for 3-4 months. I've been in 9 years since 98 and have not Deploied once. My wife has 8 years in and she only went once for 3 months. Its all about the job you pick.

Full SRB listing can be downloaded to excel HERE.

[12stones]

To be honest, based on your descriptions of the services, it really looks like you know nothing about any of them. I don't say that to be insulting, but your generalizations don't suit any of their realities.

What you need to do is decide what you want to get out of the service. If you want a good job and an easier environment after training, then Air Force or Navy are the way to go; if you're looking for discipline and comeraderie along with intense training and adventure, Marines or Army. If you don't really care, then look at who's going to give you the most to go to them, i.e. signing bonus, college funding, etc. But, first, you need to decide what kind of direction you want to go in.

Don't just talk to recruiters. It's their job to sell their service. Find people who are in or have been in. Talk to them. See what they say. Get yourself some real knowledge about the services.

BTW, the Marines ARE the best, you know?

[floydp]

Originally Posted by 12stones

To be honest, based on your descriptions of the services, it really looks like you know nothing about any of them. I don't say that to be insulting, but your generalizations don't suit any of their realities.

What you need to do is decide what you want to get out of the service. If you want a good job and an easier environment after training, then Air Force or Navy are the way to go; if you're looking for discipline and comeraderie along with intense training and adventure, Marines or Army. If you don't really care, then look at who's going to give you the most to go to them, i.e. signing bonus, college funding, etc. But, first, you need to decide what kind of direction you want to go in.

Don't just talk to recruiters. It's their job to sell their service. Find people who are in or have been in. Talk to them. See what they say. Get yourself some real knowledge about the services.

BTW, the Marines ARE the best, you know?

OOH RAH!

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by 12stones

BTW, the Marines ARE the best, you know?

Originally Posted by floydp

OOH RAH!

You mean there are other branches of service?

[zonedar]

Don't listen to Dave, his helmet was screwed on too tight.