Advice on joining the military

[MGW]

Green to gold is something I have looked at and is actually what my current recruiter is pushing at the 2 year mark.

One thing you should know. Every enlistment is an eight year enlistment. It could be four years active and 4 years inactive or how ever you decide to split it up. If you go officer later after joining as an enlisted that is a new eight year enlistment minimum.

I think being enlisted and then becoming an officer is awesome. But if you already have a degree and are thinking about becoming an officer just do it and save yourself some time.

Honestly, if you hate being an officer you can always resign your commission and go to the enlisted side. You're not stuck there for ever if it's not for you. It might sound stupid and very few people do that but it does happen occasionally. It's not a decision you have to live with for the rest of your life if you change your mind.

[Odin Bravo One]

Honestly, if you hate being an officer you can always resign your commission and go to the enlisted side. You're not stuck there for ever if it's not for you. It might sound stupid and very few people do that but it does happen occasionally. It's not a decision you have to live with for the rest of your life if you change your mind.

I've known one USMC Officer who pushed "All in" & resigned his commission to pursue other adventures in the military his officer status prevented him from entering. The military had the best hand in that one. He finished his OBLISERV and life goes on. He didn't regret his decsion. He had to try.

Another who was ready to do the same for the same reason. His bluf worked, and he continued on as an Officer. A well played hand, and a whole lot of luck has him living large, and in charge. Literally & figuratively.

The opposite method is also a solid, and mostly reliable option as well.

I had an instructor during my initial training in my second branch of service who was an AF E-6 CCT. Next time I saw him was a couple of years later and he was wearing gold bars. Many of my friends who came in with degrees elected to do some time in the enlisted ranks, as billets for those coveted HSLD jobs are not as difficult to obtain & it gives them a perspective from experience at that level officers who have only been officers won't ever have. Some elected to apply for a Fork & Knife School commission. Others elected to stay enlisted. It is rare for the types of people who are successful in the most demanding and difficult assignments/jobs to not get selected for a commision, should they apply. I actually cannot think of anyone I know who has applied for any sort of commissioning program, to include those without a BA/BS, and not been selected. (I had one E-6 medic passed over on his first application to PA School due to an admin error, he picked up this year).

[DocGKR]

I think I recall the Marine officer you mention--I seem to recall his time at Coronado didn't work out as well as he would have liked.

I also know another Marine officer who later became a Army NG senior NCO for the rest of his career.

[Odin Bravo One]

Doc, yeah.........one hiccup, and that was that. He was a stud. But the policies of the day had the final say. Wouldn't even warrant a formal performance counseling today. A good beating, sure. No shorage of those to go around......but it would end there.

[JDB]

I'm one of those weirdo unicorns that gave up a commission, went from 0-3 to E-5. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

However, circumstances differ, and I wouldn't recommend it for everybody. Basically, I do the military thing now (guard) for the sheer hell of it....don't need the money, don't figure it will help my career in any way, and can afford the time.

Basically every job I had as an officer on active duty (artillery officer) put me in the back of a vehicle, or in a TOC. They were good jobs that I did fairly well in...but were kind of a waste for a guy who loves to shoot, ski, climb, ruck, hunt, jump, wrestle, and teach, etc. Definitely not what I joined for.

Anyway, joined the guard later (still as an officer), and it was even worse..my destiny was more staff time, and worse yet for jobs I didn't care about at all. No thanks.
So, resigned my commission and have been in LRS basically ever since. And love every minute of it.

If there weren't this LRS gig, there's no way I'd be in the guard...unless maybe I was 10 years younger and went to selection.

I've met a couple guys like me, but its rare. One was kind of my mentor...a guy that was a Div 1 wrestler at an Ivy league school, commissioned into the Quartermaster Corp....hated it. Taught HS science. Then enlisted, went into one of the Ranger BNs. Eventually got out, became a pharmacist, joined the guard, spent many years in LRS, etc.

Having a separate career is kind of liberating, and I've been really lucky to have this little unit to be in that fits my needs. I'll probably cry when the gig is up.

If I had it all to do over again, I'd think really hard about guard SF. I've had some friends in it, not a bad way to go.

Anyway, best of luck.

[Duke2424]

Because his specific job is to recruit enlistees (typically 17 & 18 year olds) into a "here's how you tie your boots" level of job responsibility. While he may be an honest guy that doesn't mean he knows (or will recommend if it's counter to his best interests) the career option that is best for both your and the military's best use of you.

Recruiters are sales men, I get that. Everything he says gets taken with a grain of salt. While I think he's a pretty decent guy, I'm not buyin alot of what he's sellin............ I truly appreciate your concern though but trust me that any decision I make will be my own based on my wants, needs, research, and the great advise that you and everyone else here has posted.

[JHC]

Recruiters are sales men, I get that. Everything he says gets taken with a grain of salt. While I think he's a pretty decent guy, I'm not buyin alot of what he's sellin............ I truly appreciate your concern though but trust me that any decision I make will be my own based on my wants, needs, research, and the great advise that you and everyone else here has posted.

My younger son's recruiters (Army) did a great job for him. And while in their office I saw them working through options with another young person who was a friend of our family. I was impressed how they laid out various MOS descriptions she was eligible for. She ended up with a Signal MOS that is fairly high end technically and is by all accounts from her family quite happy with it.

For him, he desperately wanted 11-series and the fiscal year's slots for them were all tapped out. But they said some would from time to time open up as someone else holding a contract would become disqualified. They checked daily and would call him with updates. Then weeks later he got the call at 0900 one day they had an 11 slot and if he wanted it - get his ass over there and sign for it. Which he did. I had occasion to shoot the shit with them a few times. They were good NCOs.

[Drang]

...If there weren't this LRS gig, there's no way I'd be in the guard....

Ladies and gentleman, the MI Grunt...

I don't know which surprised me more at JBLM Armed Forces Day last year, that the LRSD is still in the MI Bde, or that they reactivated the 109th MI.

Y'know, during the Airing of Grievances the suggestion was made, and shot down, to have a .mil forum like the LE forum. Maybe we should have a "War Stories" forum. The title would be obvious...

/digression

[Duke2424]

Gregg, Doc, Sean, and JDB - Would it not hurt your career and reputation to resign a commission? From an outside perspective, that sounds like military career suicide.

Here's my hang up on the officer route if I go active duty. I'm alot like JDB, I love the outdoors, shooting, horseback riding, working on cars, carpentry, etc. Basically anything that is physical but at the same time challenges my mind and allows me to hone or learn a new skill. As an officer (from what I know) there is only one branch that could give me this, Infantry. Problem is, Infantry is a pipe dream through OCS unless you know someone in the right place. Being an artillery officer or ALO in the TOC does not sound like what I'm looking for just as being a civil engineer in the military sounds terrible to me. If I choose to go AD, those HSLD units are my goal. Even if I were able to branch Infantry, all of those units are years away and I have no guarantee that I would even get a tryout for them. If I go AD, I will be putting my family and relationship through considerably more hardship than NG would. I think they would be okay with that but its my duty to them to be damn sure I live my dream. My dream isn't to just wear the uniform, it's to put foot to ass for my country in the name of those that came before me. I think those HSLD units give me the best opportunity to do this and is why they are my goal if I go AD.

I think the ARNG is a different animal as branching Infantry as an officer is attainable. On the other hand, I think enlisted TACP is still the way to go in the ANG at the moment. Either way, at some point my body will wear down and I will be much more effective using my mind; I fully accept this reality. That means I will use my mind either as an officer in the ARNG or a senior NCO/ALO in the TOC as a member of the ANG. This is all based on what I know right now, which is ever changing.

So lets have it guys, am I an idiot, watch to many movies as a kid, or am I on the right track?

[Drang]

Recruiters are sales men, I get that.

My younger son's recruiters (Army) did a great job for him.

As noted, recruiters are salesmen. I've known a few NCOs who did that job, although not many, as my career field was not conducive to letting someone go hustle recruits for a few years. Depending on where the recruiting station is, the job may be so easy no lies may be necessary. Incomplete or even misleading answers are common. Outright fraud, if proven, is hammered. Doing your due diligence here or at LF is a good idea. In 1980, in Detroit, the only bad info I got from my recruiter had to do with how the army managed languages, and it was highly probably no one in the entire area had a clue about that.