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navy or airforce

dpm802

dpm802

I'm a Veteran of the US Navy, and back in 1975, when I was looking at which branch to join, there was no other choice for me.

BUT ... if I had it to do all over again ... I wish I would have been a Coastie. The Coast Guard enjoys better living conditions, better pay, and a more prestigious mission.

No matter which branch of service you choose, its not a bad choice. Even though I hated being in the military when I was Active, looking back on it with 35 years of hindsight, I have to admit that it was the best job I ever had. No other employer even comes close in terms of intangible benefits like job security, training, benefits and satisfaction. The pay is competitive to the Private Sector now ... even more so since so much is provided to you free.

Good Luck to you.
 
pyrrhusmj

pyrrhusmj

dpm802 said:
I'm a Veteran of the US Navy, and back in 1975, when I was looking at which branch to join, there was no other choice for me.

BUT ... if I had it to do all over again ... I wish I would have been a Coastie. The Coast Guard enjoys better living conditions, better pay, and a more prestigious mission.


Good Luck to you.
Click to expand...

You don't hear alot of people complaining that the Coast Guard are just pawns in a rich man's war.
 
Greyfox

Greyfox

I can only answer in the context of my own experience. I served in the US Navy for 6 years in the Nuclear Propulsion Program as a Reactor Operator. That training and experience prepared me for what is now going on 34 years in the commercial nuclear power industry. It has been an exceedingly rewarding and satisfying career.
 
shavervinnie

shavervinnie

You really would benefit greatly from service in either the Navy or the Air Force,
therefore, I'd say


Join the Marines !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's what I did :scared::scared::scared:
 
brianw

brianw

6 years in the Navy here... 90 day under 90 days port... looking back would have done the same thing... with that being said Navy all the way
 
citizensoldierny

citizensoldierny

While your young and can take a beating I say go Infantry, unluckily this MOS is only offered by the Army or Marines. Get to work with a real tight knit bunch, shoot a lot of guns , work outdoors, get in awesome shape, have stories that will last a lifetime , the list could go on. Didn't do Infantry but I wish I did, and have heard that from a lot of people. Though my first MOS as a cannon crew-member was combat arms, still wasn't Infantry. If you don't like it after your first enlistment, you can always reclass and have soldier skills that you can use throughout your career. Plus you can always try for the Rangers, Marine Recon, Special Forces etc..
 
T

tet6t8

Marine Corps or Navy.Both have 200+ years of tradition behind them.
Marine Corps is a band of brothers that is forever. A hard life but the best of the best.
Navy is hard with ship deployments but a great tradition and history and many job opportunities
All depends on what you want out of the experience..
 
dpm802

dpm802

brianw said:
Yup, Boomer... article.... Whooboy going to be tough...space is too small as it is
Click to expand...

Yeah ... I'm all for being politically correct, gender neutral, equal-opportunity and so forth ... but something like this takes it too far just to prove a point.

Instead of spending billions to retro-fit the existing fleet, I wonder if it might not be better to have ships and subs with an ALL-Female crew?

proxy.php
 
ddaley212

ddaley212

toddsmith7378 said:
I did 4 years in the Air Force.

I was a crewchief on the C-5 Galaxy.

Most Navy guys have to do long tours out at sea. I didn't like that part of the navy, and neither do most Navy guys that I have known.

I wouldn't try to sell the Air Force to anyone, but I pretty much know it's more comfortable than the other branches of the service. Chow halls are pretty close to restaurant caliber and once you get through the training phase of your time the rigidness of military life calms down significantly more than other branches. I know this because many other branches service members came to our base for assignments and couldn't believe how good we had it.

However, in retrospect there are some significant things I would have done different job/career wise in the military.

I don't care how long you have to wait, go into medical for a medical job, or medical administrative.

Here's why. In Aircraft maintenance or any acft service related career field, it will be dominated by men, and usually more strict from a disciplinary standpoint....which just kind of gets old.....the med and admin med guys have the best military experience by far I ever saw.

My buddies who were nurses loved their training periods and in general the hospital dining facilities and woman to guy ratio makes your time in service so much better. Most of my nurse buddies decided on making a career of it, most maintenance and other type careers have nowhere near the retention rate as medical mainly due to the lifestyle factors. Dr's are typically less rigid on the military rules and hospital/medical situations typically service lots of civillians. You actually get days off and get along with your supervisor's much better than in the myriad of other AF positions related to Aircraft.

Same thing pretty much goes for Administrative. I'd still go medical administrative though. Work in Air conditioned office with decent hours. Lot's more of a female presence in your social environment.

Working on or in an Aircraft related career position may seem cool, and the recruiters will try to sell you that way because there's always more of a need there, but I assure you on your 5th weekend shift in a row, when your back is killing you and you can't remember the last time you actually worked an 8 hr shift because you've been pulling 12 hour shifts for months, those guys who are in medical getting off early and living in dorms full of chicks seem to really have it good. My buddies who went medical are still in after 10 years and love it.

I got out and went to college and really never looked back. It was a decent experience, but I'd have probably never got out if I'd had the experience my medical and med admin buddies did.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

wow thanks for the info i have alot of ppl telling me that airforce is the way to go. also i looked at job ops in the airforce and the xray tech is something im studying for in college and since they have it in the airforce i think im going to do that
 
bald1

bald1

Well I did 6 as an enlisted man in the Army and then took a Naval commission and retired as an officer. Went civil service and did my last 13 years with the Air Force. Knew a lot of Marines and Coasties too. So I guess one could say I got a real good taste of both enlisted and officer life as well as the different services. Got to see and experience a great deal over the years.

One factor that hasn't been mentioned thus far is culture. Believe it or not there are significant differences in culture among the services. An example would be the Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful), once a Marine, always a Marine, brotherhood. Another would be the dichotomy between rated and non-rated in the Air Force. Then there's the naval triad of surface, subsurface, and aviation, each with its own customs, traditions, and inner and external service rivalries. Obviously there's a lot more.

Things change too like women on ships and Air Force folks in ground combat roles (Ordinance Disposal, Transportation Convoy, etc.)

My suggestion is to do some reading and try to talk to as many current and ex members of the uniform branches you're interested in. Then go with what feels most "right" to you. Same with choices of career fields (which you need to ensure are locked down before signing on the dotted line).

As an aside my eldest son did 8 years as a Naval Corpsman all assigned with the Marines. Rough duty of constant field training and deployments... but he loved his time served.
 
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Psicko

Psicko

Alot of good advice has been given. I say take a look around, see what kind of jobs you are interested in. I would suggest a job that you can use in the outside world. I was Active duty for 4 years, now I am a reservist. I am a welder with the seabees. Certain jobs will not have civilian counterparts. If you go into medical, make sure you know that once you get out of the military, most cases you cant just jump right into a job in the civilian sector. If you are a navy corpsman, you will have experience, but if you want to go into the medical field afterwards you will still have to go to school to get the proper licenses. Such as going for an EMT or paramedic.
 
K

knlgskr

dpm802 said:
Yeah ... I'm all for being politically correct, gender neutral, equal-opportunity and so forth ... but something like this takes it too far just to prove a point.

Instead of spending billions to retro-fit the existing fleet, I wonder if it might not be better to have ships and subs with an ALL-Female crew?

proxy.php
Click to expand...


All-female crew with nukes; wait'll their cycles sync & you may have have a PMS induced nuclear war.
 
David in Boston

David in Boston

knlgskr said:
All-female crew with nukes; wait'll their cycles sync & you may have have a PMS induced nuclear war.
Click to expand...

Wasn't there a comedy skit on SNL that had a all female crew on a nuke missle sub, (I think they call them Boomers) who all get their cycle at the same time and then launch the missles?:laugh:
 
David in Boston

David in Boston

If you "want" to be in the Combat Arms fields I would suggest the Army.

Now if your looking for a techinal field that is in support you can't go wrong with the Air Force or Navy.

Which one? Well a good starting point is seeing recuiters from both branches and finding out what they have to offer. No doubt they will give you tests to see if you qualify for various positions.

Then you will have to do an inventory of yourself.

Would you mind being on a ship for several months or being stationed on an air base that is located in say, "GREENLAND"!

Whatever you do good luck but take your time and do your homework before making a decison.
 
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