Thinking of joining the military

It might be a good experience but you should think about it first.

 

I know a guy in the Air Force, says it was the smartest decision of his life.

Do some more research.

 

Be aware that being a college graduate doesn't guarantee you get into Officer Candidate School. In addition to the basic requirements for enlisting, you also have to get a certain score on the ASVAB and then pass an interview with an OCS board. They make the final decision assuming you've passed everything else. If they recommend you, you're in. I think that roughly half of the applicants get rejected.

The good news is that civilians and enlisted military who are seeking commisions don't compete against each other for slots. So you'll only be competing for open slots against other civilian college graduates.

 

I was enlisted in the Navy from 2000-2004. It was a great experience. I worked as a recruiter in the San Francisco office for the last 6 months of my enlistment, and I still keep in touch with that office.

To be honest with you, a psychology degree is probably not going to make you a desirable candidate for OCS. They have turned down almost every liberal arts degree candidate so far since 2005. I was surprised that they turned down so many since I always believed that the military really needed bodies. So, unless you have some pertinent work experience, they probably will deny you.

The military is really looking for engineers, science majors, or people with advanced degrees.

 

Coast Guard.

 

I was talking about this with a Cabbie
If I had a son your age. . and he told me this
I would be proud of his willingness to goto the service
but
I would tell him KBR is hiring

I have a friend - her son is a weak student
barely got out of high school
He got on with KBR . . is in Afganistan making 80K
IMO
If you go the same 4 yr commitment there
and be decent with money
you will come out on the other side with at least 200K in the bank
plus an *ss load of experience and world seeing

but
that is just me
and
That is the bug i would put in his ear
Rocket River

 

The best chance you have of being an officer is the USMC. The other you will basically have to gamble that you are accepted to officer training once you enlist. The USMC will (if you are accepted to OCS which is a big freaking if) allow you to leave if you don't pass.


The odds are though that you will just be enlisted no matter what branch you join and get E4 for your degree.

 

Join the Air Force.

 

If you joined ROTC in college are you an office after you graduate?

 

Bilingual which languages? If they're valuable languages, you might ought to check out the State Department, too. I'm dating a girl that used to work for the State Department, and she calls it the best jobs in government.

 

Only join if you are comfortable with giving up complete control over your life for at least four years, or whatever the minimum enlistment term is.

 

Make sure you can live with taking a life. I don't know how you make sure of that, but you know yourself better than anyone, I assume.

 

I don't know if it's what you want, but if you have valuable skills, the Navy has a Direct Commission Officer program, which is more like getting a job in the Navy than joining the Navy and serving at their will. Before I graduated, I looked at it for the Nuclear Officer program (design engineering).

 

My best friend is a recruiter in the Woodlands for the navy. He joined at 18 and is going into his 9th year now. He'll retire at 38 with a pension. He is well taken care of and his benefits are awesome. He's doing very well though. Not a bad choice for a career path. You're not going to make a ton of money but you'll have security and good healthcare. And you won't be killing anybody in the Navy. That's the Army or Marines.

 

The USMC offers a PLC course where you do the traditional OCS during summer sessions. If you pass all of the PLC then when you graduate you get your commission.


Frankly I think the OP should look elsehwere. The whole idea of becoming an officer as a fallback career is a bad idea. Very low chance of it happening.

If you want to go military just go enlisted.

 

Thats no guarantee that you won't kill anyone in the Navy. It is the military. You stand watches with weapons and if your ship is threatened you will have to act. Also people do get sent to fill spots in Iraq, though most aren't in the main action. Lastly, ships carry missiles, guns and torpedoes which have, can and do kill. If this is an issue, don't look to the military.

I am in the Navy currently and for the most part I have enjoyed my time in. I may be getting out this year after serving 7, but it has been a great experience. You can make a decent living, see some amazing places and meet great people. Regardless of which way I go, I'll always be grateful for and proud of the time I put in.

If you have any questions about life in, let me know.

 

It depends on the branch and career field. I want to join the Air Force or Navy as a musician but I have a few medical issues to work through first. In the Air Force I'd start as an E-3. In the Navy, it used to be that if you had a degree, you'd be an E-3 after basic training and you'd get an automatic bump to E-4 upon graduation from "A" School. But this past year they decided that they had too many E-4's and took that automatic promotion away. At least for musicians.

 

It all depends on the contract you negotiate with the recruiter. Whatever you do just get it in writing or it is car salesmen BS.

 

I enlisted in the army (artillery) after 9/11. One week into Basic, I hurt my back, they found arthritis on my spine as well as a degenerative disc, and sent me home. I didn't know a thing about it prior to signing up. I was 26 at the time. I had a degree as well, and they made me an E-4 (Specialist), which is standard in the army for enlistees with a degree, and they were paying off my student loans, which at the time they didn't offer for officers and/or officer candidates.

Now I'm in nursing school and will graduate with a BSN in May of 2010. I'm 33 and will be not-yet 35 when I finish. I'm thinking about trying to get back in because 1) I've always wanted to serve and 2) they now offer student loan repayment for officers and after this degree, I'll have a whole hell of a lot of student loans. They'll also pay for advanced nursing degrees and specialties, assuming I re-up my commitment when my initial time served is over.

With my back, I have some medical hoops to jump through myself, so we'll see.

As an O-1 2LT, figuring in my loan repayment, I'd be making ~$70K.

The military is a wonderful experience, assuming you know what you're getting into, so do your homework. Talk to more than one recruiter. Talk to people who are in or who have been in.

I still have family members trying to tell me one thing or another. None of them were in and they base all their information on an older cousin of mine who was in the army during Vietnam. A LOT has changed since then. In other words, they really have no idea what they're talking about as it pertains to today's military.

So yeah: do your homework, find out information for yourself, and make your decision for yourself.

FWIW, the army and the navy (more so with the army) have more to offer monetarily because they're the biggest re: student loan repayment, guaranteed station, stuff like that. Promotions are also easier to come by because they have FAR more slots to fill.

A psych degree won't get you any special consideration for OCS, though. Maybe they'll select you; maybe they won't. Just like in the civilian world, you can't do a damn thing in psych unless you have an advanced degree. In other words, they don't specifically need psych majors the same way they need nurses, doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc, because you can't do anything with a bachelor's degree in psych. But I will say this: the military DOES need personnel in the mental health fields. An advanced degree in psych, and thus a license to practice, would virtually guarantee a commission.