Learning the facts is exactly why I posted here. I will be ready to accept the good and bad of any decision I make. Thank you for the advise.Originally Posted by LSP552
Learning the facts is exactly why I posted here. I will be ready to accept the good and bad of any decision I make. Thank you for the advise.
I don't know if I can add anything that hasn't all ready been said but I'll add my perspective.
I'm a 20+ year military guy. I have active duty time and army national guard time. 3 deployments, two with the guard. I'm enlisted, senior NCO, and have a masters degree. I had multiple opportunities to go officer or warrant officer and passed on all of them. I like what I do now, engineer platoon sergeant, but if I had it to do again I would have gone officer as soon as possible.
Better pay is just part of it. As an officer you will be given the chance to build leadership skills much quicker than you will as an enlisted. You will be given a much more diverse range of duties and responsibilities as an officer. You will learn skills that transfer very well to the civilian side and more importantly look very good on a resume. I know you said 4 years but if you happen to stay in and retire you will have a very good pension and still be pretty young. A full second career of your choice plus military retirement will give you a comfortable lifestyle.
As an enlisted you learn your job. Then you learn how to train people to do your job. Then you learn how to develop leaders. Finally, toward the end of a career you might have the opportunity to have a command position as a first sergeant. As an officer you'll most likely have the chance at a command in half that time. Maybe faster if you stay active.
The NCO corp is awesome. Being a squad leader is one of the highlights of my time in the military. I don't regret any of the choices I've made but hind sight is 20/20. Good officers are hard to find. Good officers with good perspective are even harder to find. No matter what direction you go it will be the right decision for you. Make the most of it and once that decision is made don't dwell on it or doubt yourself.
Look at the military as a way to develop and push yourself. Find out what you can do and what you can handle mentally and physically. No matter what direction you decide to go put in for every school you can when you get in. Be a sponge and study hard. Learn as much as possible about everything you can. Choose who you listen to carefully. Maintain perspective and try to think big picture but remember how your decisions effect the little guy too.
Oh, one last thing. Save as much money as possible while you're in. Don't buy a bunch of toys just so you can fit in. Live cheap and get out with zero debt.
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi
Awesome Gregg.
BTW as recently as just a couple months ago, up in my E4 's rifle platoon, their RTO just got a Green to Gold gig.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
You dentists and your elitist attitudes.
LOL
I struggled with a very similar situation to your own both in mindset, feeling an obligation to serve, and balancing out the rest of my 'life wants'. I chose to enlist directly into the Reserve, where I've been for about 6.5 years at this point.
In the time since then, my perspective has changed quite drastically. I will spare you the song and verse and all I truly want to say here, in part because of the other military in attendance (they're literally giving ARCOMs to Female NCO's that tattle-tale on SM's saying non-PC things on the internet) and also in part because I don't want to imply that my experience is truly indicative of what you could expect - but I do suspect that my experience is far more current and relevant to the Army into which you'll really be enlisting.
Given your situation, being a 23 year old degreed engineer with a 10yr+ relationship that you truly value, it is my opinion that enlisting into any branch of the military today, regardless of MOS or hi-speed future is asymptotically close to being one of the most truly fucking stupid things you could possibly do to yourself. The area under that curve that is somehow stupider is only filled with stuff like taking up meth or heroin.
As for your marriage/relationship, as strong as it may be right now, and despite saying this without knowing you or your S.O., I would bet a hefty sum that your relationship has less than a 1 in 10 chance of surviving a 4 year hitch as an enlisted active duty SM, regardless of MOS.
If you really need to check that box and wear a uniform for awhile, I could not more emphatically or strongly recommend going for the shortest stint you can find as an Officer in whatever slot is available that you can tolerate. If you're as good as you are dedicated, perhaps you can get close to that TACP game you're looking for, but the surge is over, the downdraw is real, and until the next big thing pops off everything is in a shit-show holding pattern.
If there's any way you can find happiness and fulfillment in the civilian side of things, I wouldaskBEG you to consider that choice instead. You have a myriad of options available to you now.
If you truly want to honor those who have served before you, and fought for your ability to CHOOSE to serve - don't fuck up a good life for yourself if you don't have to. If something goes pear-shaped on a global scale in the next ten years or so, you'll have every ability to join that proper effort so long as you keep yourself in decent physical health. That's more like how it should work anyway, if you ask me.
I apologize for my vulgarity but when it comes to this topic I simply cannot find a way to censor myself.
JRB, are you a bit bitter about something or what?
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi
There is alot of advise/information in your post Gregg. I appreciate it.
Thats one thing I'm proud to say I already have covered. Zero debt from college thanks to some amazing parents. Right now I save half of every paycheck I earn. If they paid me hourly vs salary I'd be saving alot more than that........ Cant complain though, I've got a job.
Green to gold is something I have looked at and is actually what my current recruiter is pushing at the 2 year mark.
Thank you for your response. Not sure how exactly to take it but I defiantly appreciate the honesty from your perspective.
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.
As an example one of my friends who joined had two bachelors and a masters in computer science/computer engineering nerd type stuff (way over my head), maxed out the PFT (300+) and scored in the high 90's on the ASVAB and the recruiter was going to send this guy in as an E-4. Saved him from that painful hell and he served honorably as an officer for 5 years before moving to the fed contractor side and tripling his pay.
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