I am enlisted in the Army as a 21W which is a civil engineer pretty much, I just graduated AIT and I initially had the plan to go through ROTC and become an officer even though I am trained already as an enlisted soldier. I thought it would be better for me to start from the ground up and then go through school to become an officer so I myself could have that extra satisfaction that I went through the same crap as those that are under my command, maybe it would help me be a better leader vs. some wanna be Ranger straight out of high school thinking they were elite because they went through ROTC. I have since contemplated where I would like to take my career with the Army, there are alot of things I do not like and alot I do like. I was reading through the Army Times and saw an add for the Air Force Reserve taking prior or current enlisted personel with the conditional release form DD-368 signed by my current reserve unit and I would just transfer my job over to the Air Force. I'm not quite sure if the Army is for me, I was far from an Army slacker in fact I did rather well, I was an honor graduate, recieved PT awards, qualified sharp shooter and recieved a very flattering letter of recommendation from my AIT company commander for enrollment in Army ROTC. I am on the ropes between switching to the Air Force Reserve vs. the Army Reserve, it just seems as if they treat you better and there is a better quality of life so I can go to school, have my family down the road and so forth.

It's not like I punked out of the hard stuff because I did it I just feel as if there is something more my style out there, I have an uncle who is a retired warrant officer and he even told me to go Air Force before I enlisted in the Army, he told me that Hooah only gets you so far and the Army really could give two craps about you, also with all the desperation they have for personel they are drawing in alot of douche bag losers who are hard to work with and I have seen that first hand. Could it be better once I get a commission and choose my own job in the Army as an officer? I would be going reserve, my unit is comming on there two year ann. of comming home as of january and I am told that our unit is very small, and for my job alone (carpentry masonry) there are still 25 slots to fill in my unit alone, I am hoping we won't get deployed so I could finish my ROTC if I chose to do that or go to the AF Reserve or Guard as a civil engineer. What should I do I need help this is a big decision.

 

easy. go to the air force, same pay and you live to see another day.

 

Good plan to go enlisted before ROTC. The guys that seemed to do the best in ROTC generally had prior service. They already knew all the soldiering basics and for the most part, those without any prior service looked to those who had prior service.

From someone who was in the Army, unless you want to go and be a killer, stick with the AF. It's more laid back, same pay scale, lots of high-tech jobs, and for the most part, they sleep in buildings, not foxholes (except JTAC's).

 

My nephew originally enlisted with the Army but changed his mind and went with Air Force (traffic controller).

 

Isn't there a program in place where you can SMP, which makes you undeployable for 2.5 years. If your unit deployed in that time and came back then you could probably avoid being deployed before you finish school. I'm a little biased but I say stick with the Army...

 

That is what I would be doing with the Reserves, I am pending ROTC acceptance at the moment however there are little fine print issues such as if you fail or do not meet the standard in the program they reserve the right to throw you on active duty as an E-1... PFF! How about no.

 

this subject can be delicate if discussion gets any further.

Do what you think is best for you and not worry about pleasing anyone.

 

Those fine print issues are a joke. If you can't maintain a C average or better and pass the record APFTs, you don't deserve to be an officer in any branch. The last thing they want to do is lose the money they invested tryin to turn you into an officer. A prior service guy like you shouldn't have any problem meeting the standards.