Hey guys I've noticed quite a few people on here have been or are in the military. I'm thinking of joining, after a trade school and one semester at city college I have a general idea of where I want to go in life and I think military may be of some help both financially and with some experience. So whats the good/bad about the military. I'm thinking air force mainly.

thanks for any input

 

Depending on how many college units you have, you can come in with an extra stripe.

I have 4 years active and over a year reserves under my belt with the Air Force as an airframe mechanic. If you're keen on school I strongly recommend joining a ROTC program and getting a commission. But if you enlist, get a medical, personnel, or finance job. That way you'll be able to go to school while you're in, and still get all the benefits.

But here are some general pros and cons from my experience...

Pros:
Security, travel, decent pay, pride, independence, skill, gi bill, can't technically get fired

Cons:
Hard work gets rewarded with more work, they award mediocre(pro or con), may get micro-managed, never really feel free, long hours, working holidays and weekends, marriage/having kids/holidays get downplayed, sometimes you'll feel like you're being babysat, dealing with a lot of idiots from all over the country, there's a sense of being unpatriotic if you vote Democrat, and some other stuff

 

ahhhh where to begin.... well i can say that once i get out of the military, i will be glad that i did it. As of right now i am not so happy. this is coming from an engineer in the navy though. if your considering the air force it could be quite different. i am on deployment right now and i work insane hours, stand late watches and needless to say the sleep i lose does not get taken into consideration lol. I am also a rescue swimmer, which is somewhat fun/challenging.

If i could recommend anything, it would be to become an officer which requires college. You can get the military to pay for it though.

Like i said i dont really know much about the Air force but i have heard that it is a lot better than the navy.

 

The Air Force is the way to go, IMO. They do have a weight/height restrictions. I heard that they also lower down the joining limit? They have the best housing. If you are married, this is by far the best to join. I'm not in it, just my lil search that I know of.

 

I've been active duty Army for a bit, and seperate in less than a month. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or PM me.

 

been in the Air Force for 10 years, everyone is going to have their own pros/cons of the military. You have to figure out what is best for you to be honest. There are a ton of different jobs where you can still go to school with. You just have to know what you want, I would get a job with skills you can take to the outside with you.

I was going to join for 4 and get out, well here I am 10 years later and now Im the big baby sitter.

To the dude up top, the reason you feel baby sat is because some troops need to be watched over. Some do not, though they are usually the smart ones and can get away with murder so you have to watch them to. I understand what I must of put my bosses through back in the day.

 

Well my plan is to major in Mechanical Engineering. I want to do something that will help me with that. I went to an automotive trade school and started taking some general ed courses but I've talked to a few people and some said that having military experience could help me.

 

Well you would need your degree first to do anything Mech Eng related and you will work in CE and end up doing mostly HVAC/Utility design as a mechanincal eng. I work as an engineering assistant so I work with all of the engineers. Google 3e5x1 we are in high demand

so would be easy to become an EA..downfall is our tech school is 4 months in Middle of no where Missouri on an Army post.

 

id say military is a great move, especially with our current economy. Being enlisted the pay isnt GREAT, but its still a guaranteed paycheck which is better than getting laid off and having no paycheck. Ive been in the AF for 3 yrs and have no regrets. Wasnt planning on making it a career, but with the economy getting worse and worse, the military looks better and better. Just my .02

 

ROTC, get a commission, like a few people mentioned.