[joesnuffy]

I got two words for you as well...

Coast Guard (if she is good enough to get in)

[lonster]

ASVAB-ASVAB-ASVAB!!! tell her to do well on the asvab test. they will try to tell her that it's not important but it really is. this is the test they give you to determine what jobs your loved one with be qualifed to obtain. get as high a score on every part of it that you can.

[Alberta's Child]

Ask the recruiter why the U.S. government can station hundreds of thousands of military personnel all over the world but can't keep thousands of Mexicans from crossing our southern border every day.

[is_is]

"What questions should we ask the RECRUITER"

sir....do you have the address for the Marines Recruiting office

[Wristpin]

Lot's of great advice here. I have to echo the importance of getting a guaranteed MOS. It could be the most important decision in your daughters lifetime. It should be listed on the Enlistment contract as that is the OFFICIAL DOCUMENT which will be recognized once your daughter is in the Army and the Recruiter is out of the picture. If anything promised is not on the contract it is a worthless promise.

Having just retired from the military, and seeing my own career as well as others, there are some questions that need to be researched before deciding on an MOS.

1. Test scores permitting, a highly technical field is preferred. The Recruiter should have access to information which shows what each training pipeline is worth in college credits.
2. Ask the Recruiter about the advancement opportunities in each field as they differ. An overmanned MOS will result in slower advancement times. That means less money throughout her service in the Army. I saw some folks languish in the lower pay grades waiting for someone to retire so that they could advance.

3. Along the same lines ask about Reenlistment bonuses for each MOS. You never now...I planned to do one enlistment and ended up doing five!

4. Where can she be stationed in certain MOS'? Europe? Tropics? Biloxi, Mississippi only?

All that being said, I would strongly recommend the Cryptologic fields if she qualifies. They do interesting work in good conditions and are highly sought after on the outside. They can be stationed in great places too. Just my two cents...Good luck!

[Eagle Eye]

Seven year military recruiter here with top production awards.

I have no interest in giving you bad advice but by the first dozen or so responses I saw that the 'well meaning' freepers have no clue about this.

First off, she/you need to determine what it is that you really want to gain from an enlistment.

Is it money for college? Is it skill training? Is it just to get the hell away from mom and dad?!!

Each service has something to offer.

Obviously I have some biases, but I'm not on a quota any more so it doesn't matter to me which service you choose.

If you have questions, you can freemail me.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

The Army Reserves guy is here right now. I am taking a break for a sec to tell you guys.
4,500 at year for college sounds great.

BTW, she is taking her Practice test right now..

I'll let you know how it goes.

[CodeToad]

"Can I get all that in writing?"

[Libloather]

Take your time but DON'T SIGN ANYTHING! This decision can take months. Listen to everyone's talking points and come back to this forum later with some details...

[RavenATB]

I strongly recommend that you ask your daughter to think carefully about what sort of work she'd like to do if she ever decided to get out of the military. Some career fields in the service can really help her get a great job when she gets out, should she decide to do so. Some career fields really don't "translate" into the civilian world very well.

Additionally, as someone with 25 years in the Air Force, I would take those comments about the AF being the "best bet" with a grain of salt. Each force has its strong and weaker points.

[Supernatural]

Ping!

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

My head is swimming with information that I won't fully process until I get some rest I am sure, but here goes some stuff that stuck out during the talk with the Army Reserves guy.

1st my daughter is 17 years old and is in 11th grade. She is thinking of being a nurse, but is not sure.

-The prgram that the recruiter talked to my daughter about in school, and on the phone was a SPLIT ENLISTEMNT.
The means that she would go to basic training this summer for 9 weeks then return a week before school starts and next year after she graduates from high school she would be in the Army Reserves. 1 year out of six down with doing nothing, but basic training.
Not a bad deal

-The recruiter said that her MOS would be based on what is available at the time, and how well she does on her ASVAB.
When I asked him if she has any guarentee on what she would be offered he said no. He said there is no way to tell what will be open until the day she sits down with that paticular person who helps her pick her MOS from the list that's open at that moment. Then he went into talking about it being only 1 weekend a month and would it be so bad not to get the best MOS as long as she gets the money to attend college.
**That scares me.**

-It also worries me that she does not have much time to make up her mind since she would be going to basic in June if she picks this branch.
Now I have to get to the other branches quicker in order for her to weigh her options before time runs out on this one.

-Right now she really likes everything the recruiter had to say. Actually, my husband & I were inpressed as well, but like I said before she will be talking to all branches before she makes up her mind.

I can't think of the other things I wanted to bring up right now because like I said my head is full. As I think of them I'll post them.

BTW, you guys have been great! You really helped us out a lot and I am sure I will have more questions as I can think of them.
Thank you, thank you for your help!

[Drango]

Get it in writing, that if Hillary Clinton is elected POTUS, your daughter gets an early out.

[Old_Mil]

Out of curiousity, does she know what she wants to do with her life? If she's a motivated enough and has clear goals, ROTC + college might be a better option.

Does she have a preference as to which branch of the military she wants to go in to?

[TomServo]

Ya know - the Air Force ain't as safe and cozy as some of you paint it. Some of us actually serve(d) behind enemy lines in war. Some of us served in the Arctic where it gets to -125. And some of us were mistaken for Marines by (and I'm not pulling your leg)...Marines. Some of us dug our foxholes, put the warpaint on, grabbed an M-16 and did our job.

Just something to ponder.

[SShultz460]

Go Navy!

[Libloather]

So? What do you have? A Seaperson, a Grunt, a Jireen, or yet another fine addition to the Air Force? (You didn't sign anything - DIDJA?)

[Porterville]

Do you get to level villages are our we still pussy-footing around?