If you are joining the military, a little homework prior to signing on the dotted line will save you from being disappointed. If you are currently in the Delayed Enlistment Program, it’s not too late to change your mind although your current recruiter will take you off of his Christmas list.
People have different motives for joining the military. Sure people join to get out of their small town or to see the world but bigger motivations such as college money or getting out of a bad situation are what really drives people into their local recruiter’s office. Some people have an idea of which branch they would like to join and others are clueless. No matter how knowledgeable one is about the military, many are sucked in by the first recruiter they see and due to the pressure by the recruiter to join his or her specific branch. Of course this passion is driven by quotas and not the recruit’s best interest. A little homework in the privacy of your own home will remove this pressure so you can decide with a clear head.
First, many people are under the illusion that right out of boot camp they will be promised such special billets as Army Ranger school, Navy Seals school, Marine sniper school, etc. I was a Marine Corps Recriuter’s Aid for eight months and that was long enough to hear all sorts of stories and lies coming from other branches. No matter which branch you join, you are not guaranteed one of these billets right out of boot camp. It just doesn’t happen and many young men are lied to and later on disappointed. This doesn’t mean the recruit won’t ever have these opportunities, but they aren’t handed to anyone out of recruit training. This is a fact. Don’t let recruiters tell you otherwise. Recruiters are sometimes no better than used car salesmen who are terrific closers and sometimes this is one tactic they use to seal the deal. Recruiters can actually get in trouble for lying but some will do or say anything to get that extra body. The war in Iraq makes it harder to recruit so the pressure is on them worse than when I first joined in 1994.
Now that you know what to expect from your recruiter the shock value will hopefully be out of the picture. Special billets aside, you need to decide where your passion lies. For a moment pretend that your parents are loaded and could afford your college tuition. If you could go to school and become anything, what would you want to be? A Doctor or nurse? A lawyer? A Pilot or perhaps a Marine Biologist? If you never wanted to go to college, what would you picture yourself doing? Would you join a police academy or become a mechanic? Would you work as a cook or in a warehouse? Do you love aviation or can you picture yourself being out at sea for months at a time? Do you feel more connected with land-based activities or have you always wanted to be an infantry men and be at the tip of the spear? Do you prefer desk-based work or love to write?
Think about your dreams whether they seem compatible with the military or not and I bet you will be surprised. Here are the basics for those who don’t know. The Army is known for infantry but they also have aviation and medical fields. The Air Force , of course, is all about aviation and aviation support but they also have a small amount of medical options. The Navy is known for its ships and submarines but they also have pilots, aircraft mechanics, air traffic controllers, marine biologists and are the doctors, nurses and specialists for both the Navy and the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is big on infantry and combat support but they too have many pilots and aviation fields. If you want to see the world don’t join the Marine Corps unless all you care about is going to Japan. Naval ships get to see ports all over the world and both the Army and Air Force have bases in Europe and Asia.
If you are interested in aviation, the Air Force is your best bet because while the aviation-related training is the same, the Air Force receives more money so there is a huge difference in the quality of life compared to other branches. When I took a tour of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan every room seemed to have a plasma TV, their equipment was state of the art and the airman lived in nice dorms. In fact when airmen have to stay in Marine Corps barracks they are given a quality of life payment for having to essentially rough it, one reason there is such animosity between the Marines and the Air Force. On the other hand, the Air Force didn’t have the discipline and respect towards officers that I saw in the Marines. The camaraderie wasn’t as visible as in Marine units. I can honestly say as a former Marine air traffic controller that Marines are better controllers than the Navy and the Air Force. Marine Controllers who are not up to par are quickly washed out and what’s left is the best of the best. Marine Controllers tend to be quicker on their feet and have less of a prim donna complex, which is humorous because controllers were in fact the prim donnas of the Marine Corps, pilots aside.
If you are interested in medical fields, The Navy is the branch to join. I would put the Army in second place. If you were with the Air Force and had a real medical issue, you would normally be transported to the nearest Naval or Army facility. To become a doctor you would have to join as an officer, either active duty or as a reservist. Nurses are also officers in the Navy for sure but corpsman are enlisted. They are like nurses or technicians and Navy Corpsman go out on the front lines with Marine Troops to act as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) until the injured individual can be sent to a hospital. Back stateside they do everything from initially assessing patients to assisting in operating rooms. Probably the big difference between Army and Navy medical fields again has to do with the standard of living. Navy living conditions are above the Marines but still under the Air Force. If you join the Navy you will be treated nicer in general but some see this as not having as much discipline.
If you are interested in Infantry you are already a special breed. You might not be concerned with standard of living or material goods. Your two choices here are Army and Marine Corps. Army boot camp is shorter and much easier than Marine Corps recruit training. There are no breaks during USMC recruit training where army recruits get days off here and there. Once again Soldiers are treated a little better than Marines. There is a stigma that the dumb ones go into the Marine Corps because no one else will have them. While it’s true that individuals can score under a 50 and still get into Marine Infantry, many people choose Infantry because they are passionate about it, not because they weren’t intelligent enough to do anything else. As far as deployments go, Army Soldiers have been staying in Iraq for at least a year at a time where Marines are over there for 6 months at a time unless they request to stay longer and even then it doesn’t always get approved. If you have family you might get the better deal if you join the Marines. The Army has relatively better living conditions in Iraq. If you still can’t make up your mind, it’s been my experience that the Army has the ability to offer higher initial enlistment bonuses and higher college bonuses than the Marines. These amounts change from time to time but you can lock in one of these bonuses when you first join the Delayed Enlistment Program. This extra money is the deciding factor for some people.
In most of the branches you can work in administration, supply, legal and options under combat support. You can also be a cook, a police officer or a photographer or journalist with the public affairs office. Some talented individuals can join bands or even orchestras. With the Coast Guard you can be the ultimate life guard and specialize in rescues out at sea. In the Navy you could work on submarines. Most branches take their best members and place them in historical and public billets such as Green Berets, Naval Yard guards, Marine Corps Silent Drill Team, Air Force Thunderbirds, Navy Blue Angels and the Navy Seals just to name a few. The possibilities are endless but most of these billets require you to be a certain rank or pass a physical, written and psychological test.
Some occupational specialties such as pilots, doctors and lawyers require you to join as an officer. If you don’t already have a degree you can sign up for however many years your branch requires and they send you to officer training school to make sure you qualify physically and then send you to college for free. Once you complete your schooling you have to finish your service obligation. These billets also offer large reenlistment bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars to help even out military pay with comparable pay in the civilian world. You also have the choice of being active duty or a reservist.
If you join as an enlisted member, once boot camp is completed you will be sent to an “A” school for your specific specialty. Depending on how technical the job is the school can last from about a month to almost a year. Usually if your training lasts a year you have to sign up for at least a 5 year tour instead of four or less. Between your A school and other required training throughout your enlistment you can rack up a good number of college credits. Besides from the use of your Montgomery G.I. Bill (up to 36 months of education payments once you leave the military) active duty members are also eligible for tuition assistance and the amount can vary from 75% paid Stateside to 100% free schooling while stationed overseas. Courses can be taken online, at base education offices or local campuses. This way enlisted personal have every opportunity to receive his or her degree prior to leaving the service.
No matter which branch you decide to join, the key to getting the job you want is to score well on the ASVAB test. The higher the score the more leverage you will have as some specialties don’t allow scores under 50, a GT score under 100, etc. Before taking the test invest in an ASVAB study guide and score yourself on the pre-test. If you don’t do well you are allowed to retest although you might have to wait up to six months to take the test again.
Despite having a Marine Corps background, I don’t look down on any single branch. Any choice is a good one especially if getting on your feet is the biggest motive. If you have a passion for a specific career field, have certain standard of living requirements or are looking for a job that’s well-suited for the civilian work force it’s best to think about what I mentioned above and then do some research online to find the most compatible military branch for you.
