need some good advice
#31
02-17-2011, 01:31 AM
I share my opinion with you freely. I ask that you use what you think is useful, but out of something (Blazer Forum loyalty?) I also ask that you do not print this and hold it up to your Recruiter and say, "See? i want this!" Professionaly Courtesy carries a lot of weight in my business, but I also believe in giving people a fair shake. This is your life, but you should know all that you can. Also 
can answer any questions you may have, but be careful of stuff based solely in opinion. Arm yourself with some knowledge...
I am currently serving a 3 year (sentence) tour as a US Army Recruiter. I'll tell you right off the bat that any advice you get should be taken with a grain of salt as the decision is 100% yours to make. There are good experiences to be had and bad. Plenty of each. not to sugar coat anything. Point blank, your Recruiter might be setting you up for disappointment. In order to get a job in the Army, you have to select it. There is no "job fields", and there is no, "oh wait, your a truck driver now, sorry bro."
You pick your job from 150 available. Your list will drop by 16 since you did not mention being concert quality with an instrument, or speaking a desired language (Arabic, mandarin, pashtu, Dari, etc.) So now we have 134 jobs. you can shave down the ones you have no interest in (mortuary affairs anyone?) and you list of things you would like to do will probably be between 3 and 10 jobs.
Here's where it gets fun. Now you have a wish list of jobs to do. Your abilities determine how many of the jobs are available TO you. This is based on available training seat for that day, at that time. PERIOD. Meaning the Army might only need 27 jobs at the time you sit down, and you qualify for 14 of them. now choose your job. Oh and to spice things up, the rest of the world is looking at the SAME POOL AT THE SAME TIME, so um, hurry up and choose...
The whole world? Yes. Every where we are, we Recruit from. People see how good we have it, and want it. They also want citizenship. So you are up against Korea, Japan, Saipan, Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Samoa, Alaska, The entire US, Puerto Rico, Germany, Belguim, Holland, Turkey, Italy, and tons of other places... This means cool jobs go quick (try being a firefighter) and some jobs show up, then fly off the shelf (military police) because of a back-log of people that want them.
If the Reserves is something you are honestly considering, you will have to have a Res unit in the area that has a SLOT OPEN for your particular job. Meaning, some unit with in 50 miles must have the need for a 15R AH-64 (Apache) Attack Helicopter Repairer.
Next, you must QUALIFY for the job. If you do not score high enough to do that job, than you will be shown a new list of the jobs that are available that you qualify for. This can be heart breaking when someone has talked up a particular job, and now you can't do it...
Next you will have to qualify physically, morally, etc. So in a nutshell in order to get what it is you want, you have to be trainable for it (test), capable of doing it (physical = eyes, lungs, joints, counseling, med use, etc not strength), and have the job be available in the local area. <-- there is an exception for this, but you will be traveling.
You should know that you should not be willing to die for your country. At worst you should be willing to make the other guy die for his. You should, however, be willing to risk your life for your buddies, and brothers in arms, if the situation calls for it. If you were taking a job to die, why not just shoot up some draino, and not worry about building a packet for getting the job?
Ultimately there is little reason to have the chopper doc grab a machine gun and clear a building, but your life can and probably will be in danger at various times. Helicopters can be very unforgiving, and highly dangerous. Deployment can be the same way. You will not be on the "front lines" but you can easily be in harms way. Come to terms with that BEFORE moving forward with your decision. A rocket, mortar, or any other form of indirect fire is incredibly demoralizing, highly effective, and devastating when you are on the receiving end. They do not care what your job is, what your dreams are, or how tight your Blazer is.
You should know that things are much calmer now than in say Iraq circa 2004-2006, BUT that can be very dependant on where you are deployed and when. just because it's sun tan, volley ball and combat pay today, doesn't mean Kandahar won't be the wild west again in say June...
You will be deployed. You are considering joining an ALL VOLUNTEER force for a nation that is engaged in the longest sustained "war effort" it has ever faced. There is no real end in sight. You will deploy. Come to terms with that, and the rest will be easier.
There are cats that never deploy though. It is possible (though more rare now) to go your whole career with out a combat deployment. The Reserves play side by side with the Active Army. You are our back up force. there are enough of us to ruin some country's day, but not enough to keep us there forever with out us burning out. Thats where you come in. To allow for rotations, buying everyone much needed down time.
As a Reservist, you will get part time job experience, part time pay, and part time benifits. You will have part time leadership skills later on, and when you deploy, you will be with a crew that does not fight a war for a living. They sell cars, go to school, teach, turn wrenches, and flip burgers. Something to consider along with everything else.
You will have a steady income, and plenty of $$$ for schooling.
rriddle3 is aboslutely right about after beni's too. You get full time pay, full time health care, full time life insurance, full time fun, full time good times, full time everything WHILE IN TRAINING. After training when most of your new buddies in training go on to work for the Army, you will feel a bit sad, but you will be home. Those full time benis end there. Now the real world and real life come calling again.
Hopefully you have a sweet job already that will help cover the cost of life since the $193-$227 you will be making will cover your internet bill and data plan for your cell phone...
I am (personally) not a fan of the Reserve option, but it fits very well for some people. I am not your Recruiter, I do not know you, and I do not know your situation. The choice is yours to make. Here (finally) is my suggestion...
Go in to the office (have them pick you up after school) on the condition that you get dinner afterwards. Recruiters have $ to cover this, so make sure you use it
Take the Enlistment Screening Test (EST) and see how you do. It is a predicter of how you will do on the test that determins how trainable you are, so ultimately, it shows what should be open to you. You will want a 31 to get in, and anything over a 50 will help get you more. If you seriously want 15R you will want a much higher score on the real ASVAB (fyi). gun for a 70 if you hope to be competative for that job. higher is better...
You should then SEE a comparrison of Active Duty vs. Army Reserves. Seriously... a side by side comparrison! Chances are, the cat you talked to was a Reserve Recruiter, and at the end of the day, is tasked with finding cats for the Reserves... Unless you are 17, and a junior, and hope to do Basic training in the summer time, then you have PLENTY of options over the Reserves, and you should educate yourself on all of them.
Depending on how you do with the EST, take the real test, and get physically qualified. ONCE YOU HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS you will know if you can do what you want to do. Not before. You have commited a lot of government time, some government $, and a lot of some Soldier's effort at this point, BUT, you have commited to NOTHING. Even when I have your birth cert, ss card, and all of the forms filled out in full in my hands, as a Recruiter, I can not PUT you in the Army. Know that. Know that again. Re-read it, and SERIOUSLY know it. Until you sit down, select a job, sign your contract with your biometric data, and swear in, you are still UNCOMMITTED.
You are free to see what is there, but you will **** people off if you walk. It's your life though. DO NOT GET PRESSURED into anything! Don't take a job unless you will be happy doing it. Do not join the Army unless you want to join the Army.
the following is not propoganda, they are verifiable facts. Do not get your feelings hurt if you served in another branch of service. The Air Force, navy, and Marines have a mission. they are very good at what they do, and they do it well, and with pride. The Army is the largest branch of service. It has the best (over all) promotion rate due to size. It give you the choice to pick your JOB (not your field). It also has the best additional bonuses of any branch. Everyone gets the MGIB, but the Reserves only pay $11, 988 ($333 a month when you go to school full time) and certain jobs bing a kicker that can total upto $24,588 ($683 a month). In the end, after 4 years AD brings $49,248, regarless of branch of service, but the Army can give the Army College Fund bring you college cash up to $72, 648 after 4 years of service. <-- if you want college cash, dont have a sweet job, of sweet scholarships, AD pays IMO.
In the end, 4 years is a drop in the bucket. You will float through school, a string of crappy jobs, and some debt in 4 years in the real world. the Reserves can help off-set that. It can't touch AD, but I'm biased (obviously).
Holy friggen Bible! Dude, I love the Army. It's a good gig. If you want to know more, hit me up on skype. Otherwise if you want to read another book, send me a PM
It's you decision.
can answer any questions you may have, but be careful of stuff based solely in opinion. Arm yourself with some knowledge...I am currently serving a 3 year (sentence) tour as a US Army Recruiter. I'll tell you right off the bat that any advice you get should be taken with a grain of salt as the decision is 100% yours to make. There are good experiences to be had and bad. Plenty of each. not to sugar coat anything. Point blank, your Recruiter might be setting you up for disappointment. In order to get a job in the Army, you have to select it. There is no "job fields", and there is no, "oh wait, your a truck driver now, sorry bro."
You pick your job from 150 available. Your list will drop by 16 since you did not mention being concert quality with an instrument, or speaking a desired language (Arabic, mandarin, pashtu, Dari, etc.) So now we have 134 jobs. you can shave down the ones you have no interest in (mortuary affairs anyone?) and you list of things you would like to do will probably be between 3 and 10 jobs.
Here's where it gets fun. Now you have a wish list of jobs to do. Your abilities determine how many of the jobs are available TO you. This is based on available training seat for that day, at that time. PERIOD. Meaning the Army might only need 27 jobs at the time you sit down, and you qualify for 14 of them. now choose your job. Oh and to spice things up, the rest of the world is looking at the SAME POOL AT THE SAME TIME, so um, hurry up and choose...
The whole world? Yes. Every where we are, we Recruit from. People see how good we have it, and want it. They also want citizenship. So you are up against Korea, Japan, Saipan, Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Samoa, Alaska, The entire US, Puerto Rico, Germany, Belguim, Holland, Turkey, Italy, and tons of other places... This means cool jobs go quick (try being a firefighter) and some jobs show up, then fly off the shelf (military police) because of a back-log of people that want them.
If the Reserves is something you are honestly considering, you will have to have a Res unit in the area that has a SLOT OPEN for your particular job. Meaning, some unit with in 50 miles must have the need for a 15R AH-64 (Apache) Attack Helicopter Repairer.
Next, you must QUALIFY for the job. If you do not score high enough to do that job, than you will be shown a new list of the jobs that are available that you qualify for. This can be heart breaking when someone has talked up a particular job, and now you can't do it...
Next you will have to qualify physically, morally, etc. So in a nutshell in order to get what it is you want, you have to be trainable for it (test), capable of doing it (physical = eyes, lungs, joints, counseling, med use, etc not strength), and have the job be available in the local area. <-- there is an exception for this, but you will be traveling.
You should know that you should not be willing to die for your country. At worst you should be willing to make the other guy die for his. You should, however, be willing to risk your life for your buddies, and brothers in arms, if the situation calls for it. If you were taking a job to die, why not just shoot up some draino, and not worry about building a packet for getting the job?
Ultimately there is little reason to have the chopper doc grab a machine gun and clear a building, but your life can and probably will be in danger at various times. Helicopters can be very unforgiving, and highly dangerous. Deployment can be the same way. You will not be on the "front lines" but you can easily be in harms way. Come to terms with that BEFORE moving forward with your decision. A rocket, mortar, or any other form of indirect fire is incredibly demoralizing, highly effective, and devastating when you are on the receiving end. They do not care what your job is, what your dreams are, or how tight your Blazer is.
You should know that things are much calmer now than in say Iraq circa 2004-2006, BUT that can be very dependant on where you are deployed and when. just because it's sun tan, volley ball and combat pay today, doesn't mean Kandahar won't be the wild west again in say June...
You will be deployed. You are considering joining an ALL VOLUNTEER force for a nation that is engaged in the longest sustained "war effort" it has ever faced. There is no real end in sight. You will deploy. Come to terms with that, and the rest will be easier.
There are cats that never deploy though. It is possible (though more rare now) to go your whole career with out a combat deployment. The Reserves play side by side with the Active Army. You are our back up force. there are enough of us to ruin some country's day, but not enough to keep us there forever with out us burning out. Thats where you come in. To allow for rotations, buying everyone much needed down time.
As a Reservist, you will get part time job experience, part time pay, and part time benifits. You will have part time leadership skills later on, and when you deploy, you will be with a crew that does not fight a war for a living. They sell cars, go to school, teach, turn wrenches, and flip burgers. Something to consider along with everything else.
You will have a steady income, and plenty of $$$ for schooling.
rriddle3 is aboslutely right about after beni's too. You get full time pay, full time health care, full time life insurance, full time fun, full time good times, full time everything WHILE IN TRAINING. After training when most of your new buddies in training go on to work for the Army, you will feel a bit sad, but you will be home. Those full time benis end there. Now the real world and real life come calling again.
Hopefully you have a sweet job already that will help cover the cost of life since the $193-$227 you will be making will cover your internet bill and data plan for your cell phone...
I am (personally) not a fan of the Reserve option, but it fits very well for some people. I am not your Recruiter, I do not know you, and I do not know your situation. The choice is yours to make. Here (finally) is my suggestion...
Go in to the office (have them pick you up after school) on the condition that you get dinner afterwards. Recruiters have $ to cover this, so make sure you use it
Take the Enlistment Screening Test (EST) and see how you do. It is a predicter of how you will do on the test that determins how trainable you are, so ultimately, it shows what should be open to you. You will want a 31 to get in, and anything over a 50 will help get you more. If you seriously want 15R you will want a much higher score on the real ASVAB (fyi). gun for a 70 if you hope to be competative for that job. higher is better... You should then SEE a comparrison of Active Duty vs. Army Reserves. Seriously... a side by side comparrison! Chances are, the cat you talked to was a Reserve Recruiter, and at the end of the day, is tasked with finding cats for the Reserves... Unless you are 17, and a junior, and hope to do Basic training in the summer time, then you have PLENTY of options over the Reserves, and you should educate yourself on all of them.
Depending on how you do with the EST, take the real test, and get physically qualified. ONCE YOU HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS you will know if you can do what you want to do. Not before. You have commited a lot of government time, some government $, and a lot of some Soldier's effort at this point, BUT, you have commited to NOTHING. Even when I have your birth cert, ss card, and all of the forms filled out in full in my hands, as a Recruiter, I can not PUT you in the Army. Know that. Know that again. Re-read it, and SERIOUSLY know it. Until you sit down, select a job, sign your contract with your biometric data, and swear in, you are still UNCOMMITTED.
You are free to see what is there, but you will **** people off if you walk. It's your life though. DO NOT GET PRESSURED into anything! Don't take a job unless you will be happy doing it. Do not join the Army unless you want to join the Army.
the following is not propoganda, they are verifiable facts. Do not get your feelings hurt if you served in another branch of service. The Air Force, navy, and Marines have a mission. they are very good at what they do, and they do it well, and with pride. The Army is the largest branch of service. It has the best (over all) promotion rate due to size. It give you the choice to pick your JOB (not your field). It also has the best additional bonuses of any branch. Everyone gets the MGIB, but the Reserves only pay $11, 988 ($333 a month when you go to school full time) and certain jobs bing a kicker that can total upto $24,588 ($683 a month). In the end, after 4 years AD brings $49,248, regarless of branch of service, but the Army can give the Army College Fund bring you college cash up to $72, 648 after 4 years of service. <-- if you want college cash, dont have a sweet job, of sweet scholarships, AD pays IMO.
In the end, 4 years is a drop in the bucket. You will float through school, a string of crappy jobs, and some debt in 4 years in the real world. the Reserves can help off-set that. It can't touch AD, but I'm biased (obviously).
Holy friggen Bible! Dude, I love the Army. It's a good gig. If you want to know more, hit me up on skype. Otherwise if you want to read another book, send me a PM
It's you decision.
I just went through the ENTIRE process for the Air Force. He's not bs'ing at all. IMO you cant do this for the money you gotta do it because its what you want to do. I make PLENTY of money sitting at home running my home business but its boring and I'd rather put my skills to serving my country.
...
#36
02-18-2011, 10:35 AM
Stevo, sounds like you have a very good head on your shoulders. A lot of good information was presented to you. Gathering as much information as possible and weighing all your options and making an informed decision will go a long way to suceeding in whatever you choose. I like the saying "Forewarned is being Forearmed" means knowledge is power. Good luck with whatever you decide to do! It took me 4 years of working entry level jobs after high school to decide to go in the Navy and turned out to be the best decission I ever made.
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