ok so ive been talking to this army recruiter at school and he was telling me about working on apache helecopters, thought it sounded cool so i got more info. we've been talking about the reserve, and just talking about cars and stuff and he seems pretty cool. i also have a friend in the army reserves and he said he loves it. im trying to decide if i want to join, my mom is scared to death that ill be sent to iraq, while im not 100% willing to die for my country, i want the benefits. i need a way to pay for college and 4 years in the army might not be so bad. i need advice on some issues from those in the military or those who want to tell me their opinion. i want to make money and have time to work on cars and live a good life, and this recruiter makes good money and restores all kinds of cars, which is awesome. but am i joining the army for the wrong reasons? i know i should join to serve my country, but im not totally willing to cut my life short if im deployed, forgive me for saying. BTW i respect every single service man and woman who has the ***** to die for our freedom.

 

my cousin just graduated the marines and he seems to like it, he plans on driving tanks or artillery strikes, I wouldn't think you're life would be at too much of a risk if you work on helicopters, plus I think most army reserve guys stay in the country to work on that kind of stuff. you get a lot of life experience from working in the army. there are a few guys on here that are serving or had served maybe their opinion is a little better than mine

 

I thought about joining the National Guard but for the wrong reasons. I already have my bachelors in Exercise Science (glorified name for a P.E. teacher) and health. I currently can not find a teaching job and have been working at Wells Fargo for the last three years. Anyway, I liked the idea of getting part of my student loans paid for and liked the idea of making extra money and good benefits. I ultimately decided against because I have a 9 month old son and couldn't be away that long. Obviously my situation is different than yours.

I can tell you I have a friend in the National Guard who is a helicopter mechanic and he has been deployed twice. Was not really ever in danger of anything but did say that the base would get mortars shot at it every now and again. He sat in a concrete airplane hangar so he had nothing to worry about though.

I have another friend who joined the Army a year ago and he is active duty. At first he hated it being away from family and friends and wondered if he made the right decision. He has adjusted to it now and I think he likes it much better. He is a mechanic of some sort as well.

My advice is to make sure it is something you really want to do. Family and friends will support you no matter what. Good luck on what you decide man.

 

Well I was in Active duty and now Im joining the guard but Im infantry and will only be infantry. As a chopper mechanic overseas you wont be going outside the wire (youll stay on a main airfield) so you dont have so much to worry about there. 4 years of your like for pretty much 4 years of school. My advice is tho take college classes while in if you go active. Im wanting to deploy agian to Afghanistan myself but thats my choice. Its a great experience and a great oppertunity to learn things, do things, and see places you might not of otherwise. Also youll meet some great folks along the way. But in the end its up to you

 

thanks for the info everyone, it should ease the mind of my mom if she knows that once over seas i will stay on base.

 

In this day and age if you get deployed on active duty in a war zone you are putting your life at risk, no matter where you are stationed, no matter what anybody says. Be ready to accept that possibility or stay out.
Also, if you go into the reserves and never get called to active duty, you will have zero health benefits available from the Department of Veterans Affairs after discharge, so you might want to consider a straight enlistment and get every benefit you can.

 

The join the military for the benefits that are offered is not a wrong reason if fact it is a very good reason. The best thing about the military is that you get to really expand your horizons with knowing people and going places that you would never have experienced by staying in your home. You will mature very quickly and people will be depending on you to do your job. Going in the reserves is a good way to get money for your education along with technical training. I did 5 years in the Navy became a Navy Diver the last 2 years but I got out and used my education fund to get a Mechanical Engineering Degree. Granted it is not for everyone but if you go in with an open mind and look at their web pages for preparing for basic training you can go in with a realistic expection and realize that basic training is just a very short time frame compared to the total enlistment. I have a niece who was in her 30's with 3 kids at home and joined the National Guard. She was able to make it through basic training just fine. Good Luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

i have the same opinion as Rich,

because some guys friend says he has only had a few mortors fired towards the base, doesn't mean that those nut bars won't up their game any.

@ Longer02: bon't get me wrong, i'm not taking anything away from your friend, i'm just saying, it could've be worse.


since that was one of the reasons for joining that you mentioned, you may want to look further into that.


well, whatever you decide, the best of luck, and be sure to have no regrets about your decission. personally, i wish i had of followed my grandfather's in serving my country.

not the right flag (for me) but it applies to all that serve their country in the fight against terrorisim.

 

When I graduated high school my parents did not have any money to send me to college the jobs I was able to get were entry level jobs with no future. I worked as a laborer in construction for 3 years and got laid off, worked on a printing press and hated it and my last job before the navy was making tractor parts out of ureathane. Going in the Navy was the best thing I ever did. Even though I did not make a career out of the Navy it set me on the path that allowed me the determination to get an ME degree. I have been working for Department of the Navy since I graduated college and have over 25 years with them now. The Navy has been very good to me as an enlisted and as a civilian employee. I have two brothers that entered the Air Force, one is retired and one got out and now works for the Dept of the Air Force in the Pentagon. You never know what opportunities you will have. People worry about being in harms way while in the military at least you are armed and not defenseless. How many people are murdered each year and never had a chance or killed in car wrecks. If the media concentrated how many people are killed on the highways every year it would dwarf the number of deaths that happen in the war zones. Get all the facts you can and make the right decision for you.

 

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.