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  #1  
Old 01-19-2006, 06:40 PM
TheDon's Avatar
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Air Force called

i just got off the phone with a recruiter with the air force.. he didnt make urge me to join or anything very nice ya know trying to get my trust .. he thought i was a senior .. but then i told him im not im a junior so i have a year until i can deploy and one month until i can sign

im very patriotic but a little confused about what to do. i want to serve my country but also want to have a job that can allow me to keep my hobbies and life. i would join the airforce above the other branches . navy is second choice for me .. i excelled in the mechanical and electrical part of the test and did well in the math and excellent in the reading.

what i need is some advice.. my parents werent in the service my grandpa and uncles were.. grandpa and one uncle marines and the other navy. all of them told me if im going to join dont join the marines unless your stupid and if you are going to join go air force since im smart enough. the recruiter is going to call me back in april when i can start looking into it more and stuff..

anyone here join the air force have some advice etc etc.. id like to go in for something engineering oriented or air craft maintence work since we are going to need people to fix our robot overlords in the future

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  #2  
Old 01-19-2006, 06:50 PM
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First of all, believe very little of what they tell you about the job they will place you in; there are no guarantees. Anything they promise, ask to see it in writing, as in an official government regulation, not hand writtten note by some recruiter who is under extreme presure to recruit.

Unless you are a colege grad, and have tons of stick time, then you'd probably fly something for them.

Other than that, it could be a nice career if you can work your way up. And you would retire at 40 or so.
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  #3  
Old 01-19-2006, 06:53 PM
TheDon's Avatar
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yea.. i dont want to fly .. dont like it...

i know about the guranteeing thing.. the army is the only one that does that in writing.. my grandpa did tell me if they do gurantee me something make sure its signed and documented by the govt.. but the rectruiter said that the air force has a program that you can enter like if i would do in april that lines me up for the job id like and by a years time it will be available.. which is documented on paper work and all.. i would like to go to a recruiter and see all the paper work so im guranteed but im still weary of what to do
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  #4  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:10 PM
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Just helped interview a guy who was in the USN 6 years as a fire control technician followed by an MS in biology. He's very focused...intense. We needed a guy who new radars and biology and there he was. He said he never thought anybody would have a need for radar targeting but hey, ya never know. He's going to be pretty much in charge of a new radar lab developing airport doppler records to track bird migration patterns by species and habitat over time.

I was in the USN 4 years as a boiler technician--worked in the fireroom and also in fuel & water testing etc ("Oil King"). I haven't used any of that, though at one time I toyed with the idea of becoming a merchant seaman. I fell in love instead. Girl left so I went to college instead of to sea. One
of those major forks in the road one blunders past when young. I got a lot out of military service and highly recommend it for people how have a sense of adventure and a call to duty.

The downside is that it is your butt on somebody else's platter. It is a one-way street and if you have trouble adjusting to that overwhelming reality, you're screwed.

There are different forms of discipline in the different services. The USAF is the most laid-back, IMO. Most don't know where the nearest firearm is. It's very much a techie thing with a military flavor. Unless you get involved iwth their police or special forces types. That's almost a different outfit.

The most overwhelming discipline that I witnessed was USMC. You're assimilated into the green death machine. Even their techie types are riflemen first.

Army has something for everybody, it's just getting there that's a problem. The bureaucracy is a work of diabolical art.

The Navy has discipline that varies by duty station. Small ships and subs are generally a very tight community. Land bases and large ships are more like the Army--bureaucracy beyond imagination. The best duty in the navy (IMO) is on a small surface combat vessel like a destroyer. The crew is small enough that you can visit some great, little-known ports and really sort of dissappear. When a carrier comes to town everybody knows it. Subs are a whole different mindset. Lots of travel, you just don't get to leave the boat.

B
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  #5  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:13 PM
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Be very leary - just because they have an official US Government issued uniform on with lotsa stripes and bars and medals does not mean they are honest.

They are like used car salesman - they are selling.

But again, if you can get the right deal, it is probably not a bad gig. My nephew went into the Navy as a SeaBee. He's been in Oxnard, Guam, Some other island I can't remember, then back to Oxnard, and now off to Africa. He builds buildings. And he has matured fantastically in the last two years. He's growing up to be a fine young man.
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  #6  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:14 PM
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my uncle in the navy was a boiler tech and is now a boiler tech for wrigleys gum .. he almost died when a boiler blew.. good thing he left the room to use the john.. always keeps a letter in his pocket telling his family he loves them



i need to talk to the recruiter more.. i should try and get to his office so i can see what they do have to offer.. free education guranteed some for of a job and college money after i serve a 4 year hitch ..
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  #7  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:18 PM
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Read very carefully on what the new rules on free education after the service. I believe you now have to put up around $100 of your month into an account, and you have to finish a minimum amount of time, or you lose the money. Don't know that is all a fact, but I did read it somewhere.

Do a net search for articles from ex-mil-types.
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  #8  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:33 PM
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Don't forget the Coast Guard...not bad duty and you won't get your as* blown off in Tikrit.






Their boats have nice paint jobs too....

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  #9  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:36 PM
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ive been tempted to look into the coast guard.. they do have some interesting things.. just dont stick me in the air or under water firm ground is a plus
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  #10  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:38 PM
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Oh Ya! Coast Guard Drug duty along the Gulf Coast would be kick ass. Driving stepped Fountains all day long and getting paid for it. Oh Ya!
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  #11  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDon
ive been tempted to look into the coast guard.. they do have some interesting things.. just dont stick me in the air or under water firm ground is a plus
No submarines in the USCG. In the air is a different matter....his friend from Kodiak days, Ian is a rescue swimmer at AirstaNOLA. During Katrina, he lost count after saving well over 250 souls. Ian is my hero.

My son was a Boatswain in the Coast Guard...which means that you get to do just about everything except fix the engines and the radios.
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Last edited by R Leo; 01-19-2006 at 07:46 PM.
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  #12  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:39 PM
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Colleague of mine is in the USCGR. He's headed back to the Persian Gulf for his 3rd tour running armed small boat patrols. Before the current excersizes began in 2003 his yearly drill consisted of boarding suspected drug trafficking vessels at sea.

Yeah, you can get your butt shot-off in the CG real quick.

B
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  #13  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Botnst
Yeah, you can get your butt shot-off in the CG real quick.

B
...and, being a ground pounder in today's Army is a sure ticket to get your ass wasted by an IED. I'd take my chances in the CG first.
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  #14  
Old 01-19-2006, 08:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R Leo
...and, being a ground pounder in today's Army is a sure ticket to get your ass wasted by an IED. I'd take my chances in the CG first.
There are 120k soldiers in Iraq at a given time. Just under 2 million have been to Iraq. Of that total just over 2,000 have been KIA. That's a 1/1,000 chance of death. Perhaps 10x that have been injured to varyin degrees. That's a 1.1% chance of being killed or injured. Is it a cakewalk? No. But it isn't as big a danger as lots of civilian occupations and past times. It's a lot more dramatic, though.

But of course you're right, getting killed or injured in the AF, CG or USN is pretty unlikely. The Army has a higher risk. USMC is greater risk and then when you move into the special forces arena, your risks climb appreciably.

I'll bet if they took SF and USMC out of the killed and injured in Iraq and Afghanistan that the over-all injury rate would drop significantly. That's uncorroborated supposition, folks.

B
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  #15  
Old 01-19-2006, 09:13 PM
nkowi
 
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While I would never "undo" my years in the Marine Corps, I fear for my oldest son who now serves with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines - the first US military unit to complete 3 full combat tours in Iraq. Of course, he doesn't fear for his safety - any more than I feared for mine - only for that of his fireteam members. I also have a high-schooler who is dead-set that he's going to enlist in The Corps as soon as he graduates. I encouraged my oldest son, and now my middle one, to talk earnestly to the other services' recruiters - particularly the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. Pretty much always safer in the rear. If you're going to be where the action is, clearly the Marine Corps is superior to the Army (no disrespect intended to my Army bretheren, but truth is truth). Neither son ever showed any inclination to do consider what the other services have to offer. The high-schooler's grades are such that he might be able to at least be considered for one of our military acadamies (and if grades aren't enough, some well-placed old family friends could surely help). Now if I can just get him to understand the value of attending one of these fine institutions... USNA would be Dad's first choice, not that that matters much to him. Bottom line Don, your service to your country will be important and appreciated no matter which service you might select. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the very best.
Semper Fi.

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