I'll be graduating from high school in May this year, and I still have no idea what I want to do when I get out. I'm a pretty smart kid I think, I have a 4.5 GPA and I'm in the top 10-15% of a class of about 1000 kids. For a while I wanted to be a firefighter, but with so many people pursuing that around here job openings are REALLY rare, and my parents want me to go to college. Never really thought the military would be my thing, but the more I think about it the more I like the thought of having my college paid for, and having a job when I get outa school. But I have a few questions...mainly though, what are my options? I figure I could enlist in the reserves, and still go to college. Would that still allow me to pursue a government/military position after college? What kind of officer programs are there? I've heard some people talk about going to college for 4 years and have an officer position waiting for them.

Also, I do still have asthma, but it's nothing thats ever bothered me. I've had it since I was 4, and have played club and high school soccer my entire life without any problems. I just havn't grown out of it all together yet. Someone told me this would make uneligable to enlist? Are there ways around this?

And yes, I know I could find all the answers by asking a recruit or something, but I know there are a lot of military guys on here and I like to hear from first hand experience.

Thanks for any help in advance

Cody

 

whats your asvab score? i scored a 85 on it.

im going into the coast guard in 3 days!!

but my buddy is in trainning right now for the army, hes getting a 30K sign on bonus because he doing electronic engineer or something. like fixing night vision goggles and stuff.


but the asthma could really be a hinderance to you. i dont know.

 

SSGT

You might want to have that asthma condition checked out with a Doctor and see what he says. Military training is no walk in the park more so in the U.S Army and USMC. What do you think you would like to do in the military? Plenty of jobs offered. I admire your courage to serve. Go talk to a recruiter to see how's life in the military wether its active or reserve. Remember if you enlist they will pay for your college. If you get Commisoned as an Officer coming out of college you will have to pay for it on your own. But Officer pay is good. I served 8 years and on my 2nd year of college. I'll will get commisioned when I finish up my career. : )

 

That is great that you would serve at this time, but it would need to be in a support roll. An Asthma attack in a hot LZ could get one of your Buds killed.
I'm sure there are plenty of opperatunities there. I'll just about bet you there is a rucruiter here on this forum. But watch those guys, they'll lie to ya!

 

Congrats!

I've been in for 19 years with no regrets...only one more to go!

 

Str8t six, whenever you're going to the galley in your 8wk stay, look over to the right, and you'll see my F150. It almost always there.

Good luck, and I'll see you out here. PS. I hope you like the wind.

 

I wouldn't join the army or marines in any forum. (active, reserves, or guard) you'll be gone more often than at home. So getting any college during those times is pretty hard. I'm active duty air force and if you have asthma I doubt they would let you join since they are kicking people out that have any medical condition.

 

I seen plenty of guys who had asthma related conditions or at least a period of time in life with it. I went in in 03-06 I enlisted within 2 months after high school. I had flat feet, I was overweight at the time by about 4lbs but still they will stretch the limits. What you need to think about is when they stretch it for you to enter, and you have a incident there gonna put it on you. There has been a issue with asthma, in your past so lets say 4,5 or 10 years into your career you begin to suffer from asthma. Theres a good possiblity your going to run into trouble with getting the proper compensation. Theres so many things you could be doing with those statistics on your side and the fact you want to serve the for the US Military is awesome and I support you. But you should understand something you will be treated just like someone who made straight D's through school. I worked side by side with a fellow Combat Engineer who had his Masters Degree in Nuclear Science, and they kicked our buts all the time lol. Cleaning all the tools in the tanks blah!. No by all means if they tell you, you need to join up by this date to get this thing dont worry about that man. Spend the time and research everything, dont go in without knowledge of what your getting into, as far as jobs go. I wish I had.

 

The'll evaluate you and your asthma condition and certainly let you know if you're not qualified to enter. I would have gone 100% Marine Corps...no other branch was even considered when I was getting out of high school. I even considered going to Officer Candidacy School (OCS) after I graduated college but chose grad school instead...and here I am still thinking about OCS after I graduate in May...

 

I had a "family history" of asthma when I joined. I had been prescribed an inhaler but was never officially diagnosed with asthma that they could find. So I had to take a methocolin (sp?) challenge. Basically they test your lung capacity, then slowly give you a drug that induces asthma attacks, all while still testing lung capacity. I barely passed and still required a waiver to join. I was like you, very active in sports. But for the most part playing a sport is no where near as challenging as going to boot camp. Well.... I went through both Army and Navy boot camps. Pretty much anybody can pass Navy... And I've heard they've softened up Army boot camp as well from when I went through, but it was much harder back then.

 

Your options are limitless in the military. There are literally thousands of jobs you can do between the branches. If you want to be an MP, door gunner, loadmaster, grunt, medic, gosh, anything. Options are a bit more limited as an officer. If I were you though, I'd go to college, and join an ROTC unit. Or if you want to go into the corps, join a PLC program. Officers get paid a lot more, the perks are better, all sorts of thing. However, the process to get a commission is far more rigorous and demending than to simpy enlist.

Most of the info here seems right on. Asthma is no joke, that could be a deal breaker before you walk through the door. With that being said, its the military, there are waivers for everything. I would avoid the Marines unless you can get a doctor to say in writing that your asthma is not an issure, and even then you'll be lucky to get that waiver from the Corps.

What you want to do is all about what you want your life style to be like. Please don't join any service to get your college paid for, you'll be miserable for 4 years. Join because you want to serve, you want to fight, and you want to put your life on the line for others who can't fight for themselves. The reserves deploy more than anybody, if you go active duty , you can count on being gone about 25-50% right now. I would say that the Air Force offers the best "quality of life" and the Navy the worst. I don't say that because I like one more than the other, but when the Navy delpoys, ship board life will get cramped to say the least. Deployments will suck for all branches. That being said, correct me if I'm wrong coasties, but I don't think that the coast guard deploys at all, you get a peremenent duty station and your there.?

I have a really good idea what a lot of the officer programs entail (especially the USMC) so PM me if you want.

 

One thing to think about is with your academic background you could look into going to college on an ROTC program. You'll have a leg up with that option.

 

[QUOTE=FX41;3525437]Your options are limitless in the military. There are literally thousands of jobs you can do between the branches. If you want to be an MP, BULLET SPONGE, loadmaster, grunt, medic, gosh, anything. Options are a bit more limited as an officer. If I were you though, I'd go to college, and join an ROTC unit. Or if you want to go into the corps, join a PLC program. Officers get paid a lot more, the perks are better, all sorts of thing. However, the process to get a commission is far more rigorous and demending than to simpy enlist.QUOTE]

There fixed that for ya. Put in a high school to flight school packet with your recruiter and join the ARMY to be a helo pilot. That's what I did after serving 4 years enlisted and getting out for 6. Although I had prior service I was still considered street to seat. It's fun. Oh and the pay isn't so bad either after your first 2 years once you make it past W01.

 

im not military or anything, but my cousin's bf was a recruiter for a few months while he had broken his arm, but he said alot of recruiters will tell you what you want to hear so they can meet their qouta for the month. so IMO if your serious about joining, talk to as many people in the military or served in the military before talking to a recruiter so you know if your being bs'd or not

 

I was active duty in the navy for 7 years.
The advice i would give you is when picking a job in the service try to find one you have interest in and that will convert back to a civilian job. i.e. becoming a tank driver in the military=not many tanks drivers needed in the real world, electrician on a ships power system=a lot of electrician's in the civilian world.
I would recommend th Navy nuclear program that I went through, it provides training that a lot of employers look for, there are people who enlist in this program and then get pick up for officer programs.
Being an officer just for the reason it pays more is not the right reason. Officers are like managers in civilian life, they have pretty tuff jobs a lot of people hate them and few like them. This is because the military has people from all walks of life. There are a lot of people think they know everything but are actually dumb as a box of rocks which they will feel like they are better than you because they are older or more time of service. They will also complain about and hate every order that you give. (these are the ones who hate officers) Then there are the educated ones who will respect you and understand why you do everything you have to do. These are far and few because most of the good ones get out of the service because the have work ethic and can find an excellent career. But, some stay in and do 20 or more, they become excellent leaders and great people to work with and to work for.