Questions for US military servicemen, current or prior.

[T Bone]

My oldest is planning on graduating high school early in December at the age of 17. He is considering military which we support. He is getting bombarded with info and high pressure from recruiters. Please provide sanity checks to the following if possible.

1. He is considering going Reserves (Naval, MC, AF?) to allow him serve a 2 year LDS mission at age 18 or 19. The understanding is that only Reserves allow a 2 year religious hiatus. Is that correct?

2. Upon returning from the mission he would have the option of fulfilling the reserve obligation or going active duty. True or False?

3. His test scores and aptitude scores are very high and I believe he could qualify for about any MOS. Recruiters have told him that the days of picking and choosing MOS are over due to military downsizing. You basically take what is open. True or False?

4. By chance is anyone here in armor? That is one area he's expressed interest in. What specific MOS's are there with armor? He's leaning heavily towards the USMC Reserve Armor out of Boise. Anyone have a contact there?

5. Is there any truth to GI Bill benefits being limited or ending due to budget constraints?

6. He has also considered waiting until after the 2 year LDS mission to enlist. Recruiters have told him that would be foolish because graduating high school seniors get priority over the older enlistees, even if test scores don't support it. True or False?

Any help to these questions would greatly be appreciated. The kid has great angst. His Mom cries every time we talk about it.

 

[Redwood]

Military is a great way to receive an education. Have you explored the ROTC programs. Commitments are based on a number of things. Get to go to college like a normal kid, just have a little extra on the side. Big benefit is they hit the ground running as an officer.

 

[EODRay]

TBone, I am currently in my 17th year of sevice in the Army. I don't have any answers about the Guard or Reserves. I would say not to take anyone's word for anything. If it's not in writing, it probably won't happen. I can't stress enough......IT MUST BE WRITTEN IN THE CONTRACT!
I can answer this question:

3. His test scores and aptitude scores are very high and I believe he could qualify for about any MOS. Recruiters have told him that the days of picking and choosing MOS are over due to military downsizing. You basically take what is open. True or False?

The most important score is the GT score from the ASVAB. If he has a score above 110 (preferably in the 120-130range), he will have extra options. MOS's have whats called "In & Out" codes. For instance, I'm in EOD (for the Army it's 89D); we have "In=Yes Out= Yes". In=Yes means that we are not fully manned and new recruits can come into this MOS as well as current Soldiers from other MOS's can come over to EOD. Out=Yes means that a current EOD Soldier can also leave EOD.

Usually if an MOS has an "In=Yes", they have an "Out=NO". The reason EOD is different is because EOD is voluntary only MOS......you can't make someone walk down on an IED. If a Soldier decides he can't/won't do it, they are allowed out of the field and will be re-classified to another MOS.

I would reccomend that he talks to someone in the Armor field if that's what he's interested in. I came in as Field Artillery but would not have stayed in the Army if I had to stay in that field. It's a lot of doing dumb/grunt stuff and very little doing anything remotely interesting.

Switching to EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) was the best decision I ever made (carreer wise). I could go on and on about why, but I will just say, if you want to know more, PM me. I'll give you my phone #. All 4 branches of the Military (enlisted and comissioned) go to the same school (1year long) at Eglin AFB in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

 

[YoungNVHunter]

I second what EODRay said, GET IT IN WRITING! I spent 7 years in the NAVY, 4 on the blue side and 3 on the green side and the one absolute truth I know is that recruiters lie! They will tell you whatever you want to hear or whatever they think you need to hear to fill that monthly quota. I told my recruiter that I wanted to be a fire fighter (crash, fire, rescue) and sure enough he signed me up to be a Fireman (FN) little did this 18 year old punk kid know was that a Fireman on a ship was the name given to the guy that scooped up coal and threw it into the boiler to make fire!

Don't get me wrong, the military was the best decision I ever made, I just wish I had done the proper research before enlisting. My advice to your son is that he picks a career field that will offer opportunity in the civilian world when he is done. Armor may sound cool right now, but probably not much call for a tank driver outside of the Marine Corps.

Also, check out every branch and see what they have to offer, up front most kids are sold on the Marine Corps because, lets face it, Marines are tough and their uniforms look the best. But after the first year in, nobody really cares what branch you are in, every role in the military is just as important and just as honorable.

As for the Reserves, I would say complete his 2 year mission and enlist full time, out of the 3 years I spent in the reserves 10 months were in Iraq and the rest was an absolute waste of one weekend a month. The schools I went to were rushed and it seemed as though they were obligatory so that they could say I was qualified. Luckily I had experience in the field I chose so the school wasn't all that important to me but if I was actually trying to learn my field I would have been cheated. IMHO he should look at the full time gig to get the most out of the military.

 

[SFC B]

T-Bone, I agree wth EOD Ray and have a few more things to add. I am at 19 years total service ( 13 active, 6 in the Reserves).

1. Just like EOD Ray said ...WRITING!!! I would also go along and say, just to be safe, he should probably do his mission first. Once they get you to sign, Uncle Sugar OWNS you.
2. If you are in the Reserves you can get what is called a "conditional release" which allows you to go AD. This is what I did. HOWEVER....given the current environment I would not bank on any of these pemissive programs being available all the time.
3. What MOSs are open depends on the ASVAB scores AND what recruiters call "misson". They all have goals and quotas (both in sheer numbers and specific MOSs) which they need to fill. These missions vary from area to area and from time period to period (fiscal year and quarter). Think of recruiters like used car salesmen at a buy-here-pay-here lot. The scores EODR spoke of are right on. 110 is a treshold for the more highly technical/cerebral MOSs as a qualificaton usually but it still goes back to mission and those jobs go more quickly. Also, remember that the Army is much larger (more jobs) than the other services.
4. I am not Armor but was assigned to an Armor BN for 3.5 years and have a few thoughts. The MOS in the Army is19K (M1 Armor Cewman). What he should be prepared for is that being in Armor means A LOT of time in the "track park" motorpool. Tons of maint. and upkeep. Not much actual shooting and a lot of Armor units are being used much like INF folks downrange. Also, our Armor units on post here (Ft Carson, CO) are hardly even driving around now due budget issue. Those turbines burn some fuel
5. GI Bill cuts have been threatened, but nothing tangible as or yet. They have cut some fringe family member pograms.
6. This one...hhmm....I have never heard of that. Now, a first term enlistee (non-prior service) will get extras, but as long as qualifications are the same I cannot see a differance. I can check on this with our retention guy if you would like, send me a pm if you want. He goes to bible study with me and our unit is in a different situation so no "hard sale" from our guys.
7. This one is just opinion but here it goes....If your boy wants to learn a marketable skill I would rank the services this way due to the types of MOS needed by each 1. AF (lots of tech and many MOSs translate straight into Fed jobs) 2. Navy (also lots of tech) 3. Army (so big that if you are careful you can find a good one) 4. Marines (least "real world" application). Also, for quality of life I would rank them similarly. I have been stationed on an AF base, live right outside the AF Academy and can tell you that they live very well comparatively. On the other end, if you want to be a Marine....you better REALLY want to be a Marine. Not what I would want for my kids given a choice.
Hope this helps and feel free to PM me and I will surely field calls. Tell your boy that it takes a special person to serve and whichever he chooses we will all call him brother.

SFC B

 

[kansasdad]

My personal experience regarding "quality of life" is similar to SFC B in that it seems the USAF seems a little more careful regarding housing, educational opportunities and allowance for a life other than 24/7 on duty. The USA and MC priorities tended to sway towards things, (tanks, artillery helicopters, etc) rather than people comforts such as base housing, hospital updating and offices/creature comforts.

A significant change of philosphy regarding frequent moves ("Change of Station") started back in the day when I was active duty. Gone are the days of moving EVERY TWO YEARS or less.

Would totally agree with those that have said get it in writing......and read the fine print!!

I ended up resigning my commission on the same day that then President Clinton used the words "invade" and "Haiti" in the same sentence.

 

[jlmatthew]

I did my active duty time in the Army and now am a DoD Civilian working for the Air Force. Now that I have truly seen both services up close I can honestly say for me the Army was the right choice for my personality.

The Air Force is just a "job" for their enlisted members. They show up at 7:30 and go home at 4:30, sit behind a computer all day and that's about it. Sure they have pretty bases and live in dormitories instead of barracks, but that's about all I can say. In the Army I was always pushed to move up, go to school, apply to OCS. In the USAF they take their promotion test once a year, stress over a little PT test twice a year, and write their Airman of the Quarter packets four times a year.

If your son wants a little adventure and see what he's made of I would suggest the Army or Marines, if he just wants the GI Bill and nothing more from the military go Air Force.

Same info I gave my son with the added nod towards Army aviation

 

[T Bone]

Thankyou for your service and advise fellas.

 

[Gunner46]

I did a stint on MC recruiter duty. YES, they have a quota they better fill and there are some who are more concerned about their own backside than they are your sons. Some are pretty good guys. If the recruiter is the least bit hesitant about providing a written contract which details exactly what you're looking for....then go to another recruiter, in a different city.

But from personal experience, life a an Officer has far more advantages, in service & later in life. I went from enlisted to Warrant Officer, so I had the opportunity to live both sides.

Why not look into an ROTC program ? (it comes with financial assistance !)

 

[Jwill]

Full disclosure here, I am not a veteran, but have done some military contracting and have several close friends and family that are current and former military. I agree with the other folks mentioning ROTC. If you think your son will succeed in college and he knows he will go into the military afterwards, the ROTC, with his mission being a 2 year break from school seems like a really good option. He would have a 4yr degree (hopefully mostly paid for), his mission served, and will go in as an officer.