Posted on 06/16/2010 11:34:05 AM PDT by keats5
My 20 year old son has informed us that he intends to enlist in either the Army or Marines, after his first year of college. He did alright in college, but he is not set on any particular civilian job. What he really wants to do is something in the military, and he wants to do that full time without waiting to complete another three years of college.
He was majoring in exercise science with a mild interest in physical therapy down the line, but he's not enthralled with those majors. He would seriously consider being a lifer in the military. He has also expressed interest in Police, FBI, CIA type work.
He is in amazing shape, as he is a gym rat who gets up at 5 AM every morning to work out 2-3 hours before work/ school. (By the way, he did not get this drive from his parents.) He is above average intelligence, fine at math, science and well written. He has talked to an Army recruiter and was told he would have to decide on a job before he began training. So far, he is interested in the pathway to an Army Ranger. He still needs to talk to a Marine recruiter.
Do any of your FReepers have some wisdom to share? He would like to eventually get his degree, ideally while in the military. If he serves his four years, could he gain some college credit in the military? If he switched into the reserves while he got his degree, would that affect his pension? Which civilian jobs could he aim for from a Ranger background?
Anything you could share would be most appreciated. Thanks.
I so agree with you
My dad was a navy man, so I’d have to say Navy :-)
Coast Guard is only recruiting women and minorities at this time due to an 87% retention rate. All the services have theit plues and minuses, Airforce seems to be the slowest in terms of promotions but good living on AFBs. Doesn’t matter a lot how good a shape you are in, bullets are faster so Army rangers and Marines are both about the same in my opinon although it seems the Army gets the best logistics support. Navy is good for training electronics and mechanical stuff but long deployments cause a lot of family hardships, same with all I guess. Kudos to your son for wanting to serve. I wasted 4 years in college before some years of service finally wised me up.
I encouraged him to think about his long-term career and the opportunities provided. All of the branches provide a wider variety of jobs and training than the corps. Forget about what recruiters say about job "guarantees." In the corps you're most likely to be assigned to the infrantry or driving a truck.
He chose the corp for its discipline. He learned he was right when he was sent to some training with the army. The corps was good for him, but they failed to carry out promises about college programs, so he left, even though heas offered a third tour as an MSG.
Conclusion: guess it's what he looking to do and get out of his service.
Your son sounds a lot like me about 40 years ago. I went to college to wrestle, but the Viet Nam war put an end to that. I was going to either have to enlist or be drafted. I enlisted in the Air Force. I loved it. I wish I would have stayed in. My oldest son would not listen to me and went into the Army. He hated it. His barracks room was about half the size mine was and he had to share his room with another person. He may have had a little more reason to hate it though, he came back from Iraq with a piece of shrapnel in his spine that can not be safely removed. I was never injured.
I do not suggest enlisting. I would, however, suggest he look into a ROTC program, as he’s obviously able to do college, and become an officer in the branch of his choosing.
“now you are doing the same thing those liberal wackos did.”
Believe me, I’m not a “liberal wackoo.”
This man is NOT a citizen; and therefore, has no right to command our troops. Nothing wackoo about that!
Any and all commands he gives will be moot. I am a military veteran and know what the chain of command means. The last commander in chief we had was Bush, an honorable man. This current “man” we have is a muslim and an illegal alien. No doubt about it. I would be ashamed to serve under this traitor and impostor.
USMC.
Encourage him to get the best and most advanced training possible. On a continuing basis.
Unless he can go JAG or Medical, which he could do in either case, the choice is Marines, specifically SEALs if he can get in.
Hence, my saying “in a perfect world.” More than likely, over 4 years you can knock out 2 years of college, but from my own experience I’ve seen people do 4 years in 4 years by spreading classes throughout the summer and winter mini-semsesters as well as the traditional spring and fall.
The army has more boats than the navy. :)
The Marines. There is no number two.
USCG is great.
I believe the are part of Homeland Secuirty now. They used to fluctuate between Dept of Transportation and DoD, depending on our state of readiness.
He will do better spending those 8 years getting a Ph.D.
Amen.
Colonel, USAFR
The amount of time off a firefighter-paramedic has off in the civilian world is amazing.
Thank you for your future service! I wish you the best!
It’s very much a matter of his personality. Although one can certainly get a very hard-core experience in the Army (and you did mention the Rangers), the average Army experience isn’t as demanding as an average Marines experience.
My best advice is to have him talk, at length over a beer, with as many current or discharged Army and Marines folks as possible.
If he wants a family, Air Force. There are more requests for interservice transfer from every other service into the Air Force than the other way around. And it’s not because people are lazy, it’s because the Air Force treats its people better. “No brag, just fact”.
Colonel, USAFR
As a coastie vet, i won't argue with you too much, but no matter what branch one chooses, you'll get out of it what you put into it. If you suck, your service will suck. If you do your best, your service will suck. Same holds true for any branch of the military, or anything else inlife.
Our so-called Commander-In-Chief refuses to wear an American flag (unless forced to do so), will not have a press conference in front of an American flag, will not put his hand over his heart nor salute an American flag, has enemies of our country as close friends, is the first so-called American president who hates this country, and has his plane flown into New York and around the Statue of Liberty scaring the hell out of our citizens, and somehow we should want to serve under this illegal alien?????? Not sure how that lines up with wanting to serve “under” him.
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