Advice on joining the military

[Duke2424]

Look into an Army 18X contract. Pm me if you have any questions, I'll talk you ear off on the subject.

Thanks for the offer. I'll PM you about it this afternoon but feel free to unload the information here. Hopefully someone else like me will learn from this thread in the future.

[Duke2424]

Note about SF etc in ARNG. There is a fine line between part time and full time in NG. If you join a high speed low drag NG unit, there is great satisfaction but also great challenge to balance family, civilian job, and military career.

Excellent point sir. That brings me this question, how is that balance as an officer in the ARNG?

[Drang]

...At age 60 can fall under TRICARE...

Which, to answer a question Duke asked me earlier, is NOT free.
The coverage is pretty good, compared to the other options I have through work, but it is still health insurance, and you pay for it.
A lot of retirees choose to take the money instead of having the cost of Tricare deducted from their check, because "I can go to the clinic on post", 30 miles from home, because "I never get sick."
Then they discover that a retiree is the lowest priority at the medical center on post, and 30 miles is a long way to go to sit all day waiting for a PFC to diagnose their symptoms from a flow chart and issue them a cold pack. (And still, I believe, have to pay a co-pay. I could be wrong.)
(NOTE: There was a period in the 50s where re-enlistment documents actually included a phrase that amounted to "free health care for life." My father-in-law gt that, couldn't understand why I was down on the VA. Because I once spent all day at the VA hospital in Seattle waiting to see a civilian PFC-equivalent to get a cold pack. Went home and signed up for Tricare...)

[Suvorov]

Excellent point sir. That brings me this question, how is that balance as an officer in the ARNG?

It is far from "part time." With "peace" breaking out all over the world and us drawing down, the operational tempo may be relaxed - but as an officer and you are expected to do more. On staff you can kind of slide by with marginal effort unless you are trying to be an overachiever and get noticed or you are one of the actual staff officers (S1,S2,S3,S4). If you are in command, then it is pretty much a job that requires your attention every day. Platoon Leader jobs are typically less demanding than command positions (mostly because you have fewer soldiers and are spoon fed a lot from your commander) but still require more than your "weekend a month/two weeks a year" recruiting pitch. During my 2 years as CO, I spent upwards of 140 days on TDY/ADT a year, but we were ramping up for a deployment it that may not be typical. I'm sure you could "skate" along somewhere, but you are doing a disservice to your soldiers if you are not giving 100%. This is probably the primary reason I popped smoke 8 years short of retirement as I just couldn't balance my military, airline, and personal life to any degree of success.

All that said, I would wager guys in the SF units work harder (especially early on when they are trying to get all their schools done).

[TGS]

It is far from "part time." With "peace" breaking out all over the world and us drawing down, the operational tempo may be relaxed - but as an officer and you are expected to do more. On staff you can kind of slide by with marginal effort unless you are trying to be an overachiever and get noticed or you are one of the actual staff officers (S1,S2,S3,S4). If you are in command, then it is pretty much a job that requires your attention every day. Platoon Leader jobs are typically less demanding than command positions (mostly because you have fewer soldiers and are spoon fed a lot from your commander) but still require more than your "weekend a month/two weeks a year" recruiting pitch. During my 2 years as CO, I spent upwards of 140 days on TDY/ADT a year, but we were ramping up for a deployment it that may not be typical. I'm sure you could "skate" along somewhere, but you are doing a disservice to your soldiers if you are not giving 100%. This is probably the primary reason I popped smoke 8 years short of retirement as I just couldn't balance my military, airline, and personal life to any degree of success.

All that said, I would wager guys in the SF units work harder (especially early on when they are trying to get all their schools done).

Everyday job?

Just to be clear, you're not talking about I&I duty?

[Suvorov]

Everyday job?

Just to be clear, you're not talking about I&I duty?

By "Everyday job" I mean that I was making phone calls, doing paperwork, or doing something related to military just about every day between drills.

[ranger]

Excellent point sir. That brings me this question, how is that balance as an officer in the ARNG?

I carry a civilian work iPhone and a mil issue Blackberry. I am on mil BB every few hours. I am on mil issue laptop every night. I work multiple weekends per month. That is common for BN S3, BN XO, BN CDR, and same for BDES S3, BDE XO, BDE CDR. Same for BN CSM and BDE CSM. I am blessed with understanding wife (she pinned my 2LT bars on me a very long time ago) and a supportive civilian employer.

[ranger]

Which, to answer a question Duke asked me earlier, is NOT free.
The coverage is pretty good, compared to the other options I have through work, but it is still health insurance, and you pay for it.
A lot of retirees choose to take the money instead of having the cost of Tricare deducted from their check, because "I can go to the clinic on post", 30 miles from home, because "I never get sick."
Then they discover that a retiree is the lowest priority at the medical center on post, and 30 miles is a long way to go to sit all day waiting for a PFC to diagnose their symptoms from a flow chart and issue them a cold pack. (And still, I believe, have to pay a co-pay. I could be wrong.)
(NOTE: There was a period in the 50s where re-enlistment documents actually included a phrase that amounted to "free health care for life." My father-in-law gt that, couldn't understand why I was down on the VA. Because I once spent all day at the VA hospital in Seattle waiting to see a civilian PFC-equivalent to get a cold pack. Went home and signed up for Tricare...)

TRICARE is not free but is damn cheap and good luck paying for medical insurance on your own at 60. The ability to draw my NG pension and TRICARE at age 60 gives me the option to retire at age 60. Yes, I was promised free health care when I joined the Army but apparently no one remembers that commitment.

[BWT]

Let me ask a hard question. Let's say you're part of the large percentage of guys that get injured in Ranger school; re-cycling is normal. But let's say it's a debilitating injury or you wash out of the school. I have to ask a question that was put to me. Would you still want to be in the Army?

I've seen both sides of that coin in regards to Ranger school (one failing and one passing); they were brothers.

Also, we're headed towards peace time; would you want to be stateside for years? There are SEALs that retired as SEALs but never went to combat (or "did what they trained to do"). Are you okay with that?

Both of those are possibilities.

I'd say heavily consider those things.

I was in similar circumstances at one point in life. I decided to wait, get a job and take a year of college and see what I wanted to do after high school. See the real world.

I was happy. Part of me wishes I'd have served because I love our country and many men in this thread have my absolute respect for it. Part of me is also happy with how my life has gone.

I still want to serve society and give back but; that doesn't seem to be the military for me.

I'll keep you in my prayers, your heart is noble. But, I want you to know what this is.

[Duke2424]

Which, to answer a question Duke asked me earlier, is NOT free.
The coverage is pretty good, compared to the other options I have through work, but it is still health insurance, and you pay for it.

TRICARE is not free but is damn cheap and good luck paying for medical insurance on your own at 60. The ability to draw my NG pension and TRICARE at age 60 gives me the option to retire at age 60.

I've researched TRICARE some more, I'm gathering that its basically a low cost health insurance that reservists are eligible for at age 60 (with a few exceptions). From what I can tell, it completely gives you the option of either going to a civilian provider or the VA. Do I have that straight or am I missing the catch?

Yes, I was promised free health care when I joined the Army but apparently no one remembers that commitment.

I find the talk of broken promises to our service members very disheartening. By the time I'm eligible for retirement, everyone may have "free" healthcare without actually earning it. But I digress, don't want to turn this thread political.