Any advice on having kids in the military?

[Willy]

My oldest son took the ASVAB yesterday and as long as he passes the physical, I'm pretty sure he will be going into the USAF soon. Anybody have any advice for me or for me to pass to my son? He hasn't chosen a job yet, but he aced the ASVAB and can get any job he wants. (AFQT of 99!)

He tore his ACL and it was repaired 2 years ago. He is fine now, but I don't think he is up for Combat Control or Pararescue. He is leaning toward an intel job, but I'm trying to get him into something more "technical" for better training after the military. A Marine friend of mine suggested he become a linguist. I know it's up to him and I can't make his choices, but it's good to have the advice of others to consider as I advise him.

Also, I'll take advice on how to best stay in touch with him, financial arrangements, overseas tours, etc....

 

[majormadmax]

If he enlists in the USAF (which he'd have to do unless he has a degree and is apply for OTS or is going to college under a commissioning program), then he'll go to Lackland for basic military training. You can visit him when he graduates.

As for jobs, he should talk to a recruiter who will let him know what is available. Intel is a pretty good profession but honestly I would steer clear of linguists. The military has always had a problem guessing what languages will be needed in the future, and is constantly behind the power curve. Plus, his choice of assignments would be greatly limited and unless he likes Ft Meade, Maryland; he may not be too happy.

Other than that, it would be tough to predict what his future would look like. The military is under a financial strain at the moment and all services are cutting back on personnel. They will always need new people to fill the ranks, but it won't be as easy as it once was to get in and he can expect a bumpy road for some time as the DoD is responsible for about 50% of the budget cuts in the Federal government. A lot of overseas bases are closing and as we prepare to depart Afghanistan next year it will be even tougher to score OCONUS assignments. They will still be there, but the competition to get them will be tight.

My best advice for him would be if he does go in, then take advantage of every opportunity presented to him, especially educational benefits. If he plans to make a career out of it, then he should try to get commissioned after his first assignment. That means getting his bachelors degree and finding an officer program (AFROTC or OTS). There's nothing wrong with being enlisted, I was prior enlisted myself; but the bigger and better opportunities are usually offered to officers. Plus, as a first lieutenant I made more than a E-9 Chief Master Sergeant!

 

[Jlrockboy]

If I had a son going into the USAF, I would have him look into Air traffic control, Computer's lots of computers in the military today, and into the health care side of the service, my cousin just retired from the USAF 2 years ago, he was in finance and weather forecasting (he did have a degree and the USAF paid for his Masters at Texas A&M). An if he is mechanical all those jets need to be maintained. All this training will easily cross over into civilian life.

I served in the US Army as a 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, 1969-75. Not many jobs in civilian life for search and destroy. I had a degree in Geological Engineering so when I was discharged, went into the oil industry for the next 35 years.

If he wants to make it a career I would take advantage of all the courses, officers training, college if made available.

 

[Willy]

I have a friend who was air traffic control. I hadn't thought of suggesting that. I did avionics on F-111s and finished my BS during my first enlistment. I decided to be a mister instead of OTS, but I have friends who went into OTS and they are all retiring about now as Majors and Lt. Cols. I will definitely encourage him to finish his degree as his choices in and out of the military will be much better. Thanks for the advice. Keep them coming.

 

[TheDan]

Whatever job he chooses, make sure to get it guaranteed. I can't remember what the exact term for it is now, but when I was enlisting I researched all the AFSCs and wrote my congressman to get the specific job I wanted guaranteed. The recruiter I was working with didn't even know you could do that. He had advised me that I could list like 3 or 5 jobs that I wanted and the people at MEPS would just pick one off the list. Screw that noise, lol... Even with the guaranteed job the MEPS people kept trying to talk me into switching to one of the mechanic AFSCs based on my ASVAB scores. Obviously didn't happen because I'm still in my chosen career field today

What does he want to do? My take on intel is it's boring, but that is highly subjective. I went to tech school with air traffic controllers and they all seemed miserable. Sounds like a stressful job.

 

[reddog]

I had fun in Electronic Warfare, after four years on aircraft working Wild Weasles it turned into a good career at Raytheon Systems that I retired from a year or so ago. Hard to go wrong in electronics..

 

[TreyG-20]

Medical Equipment techs are always going to be need both in and out of the Military.

 

[oohrah]

Satellites are big. All recruiters are liars (I was a recruiter). whatever it is, get it in writing.

 

[breakingcontact]

A young person entering the military needs to think about when they ETS or retire. If you get into the right fields there are lots of good defense related jobs out there.

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

I would look at the top 50 fortune 500 companies and see what of those, can be transferred to military jobs. Then, go after a job in the military that you can get out and take to the fortune 500. Also, go after any and all educational courses possible. Everything from first aid and land nav to in-rate training. The opportunities are just so much easier in the military than when you get out.

 

[F350-6]

Ask him what he wants to do and then search for others who currently have, or have recently had the same MOS. Let him get the other side of the story straight from the horses mouth. Have him ask what the down sides to the job are and if they had it to do over again, what would they have chosen. Also ask each what a better MOS is.

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

I was a construction mechanic-everything from gensets to bulldozers. If I could do it again, I woulda gone aircraft mechanic, EOD tech, or military police (aiming for k9).

 

[Byrd666]

Jets, Construction, Weather. Father was a Dental Tech. and had a love/hate relationship with it. Personally, I would go with either Logistics or Armory. Or maybe the Air Force version of the Shore Patrol. Great training for a cop or deputy after discharge. Enjoyed my time as a BEE in the Navy but, it really didn't help in my my endeavors after.

 

[Younggun]

I was a construction mechanic-everything from gensets to bulldozers. If I could do it again, I woulda gone aircraft mechanic, EOD tech, or military police (aiming for k9).

Yup, I was wheeled vehicle mechanic. Problem is everything in the military was so outdated the training had minimal application outside the military. Even tractors have tech far beyond most military trucks.

Aviation maintenance offers much more opportunity after service an that equipment seems to be much closer to the leading edge of the curve.

 

[shortround]

I advised a young man interested in the Armed Forces back in '03. Go Army!

He took an interesting road: Joined the U.S. Army Reserve and completed basic training and AIT in a split enlistment option. Enrolled in college and signed up with a Reserve unit in Bryan; got tuition paid for, then went to Basic Training after his first year of college. Went to airborne school and AIT after his second year in college.

Got his college degree and was commissioned a 2LT. Finished the Ranger Course, did a short tour in Korea, then five tours in Iraq/Afghanistan with the 75th Ranger Regiment.

He is a Captain now, and draws higher pay than his peers because he enlisted before he was commissioned.

Regretfully, I never thought ANY Commander-in-Chief would subject our Warriors to a culture war -- Open Homosexuality, Women in Combat, and Censure for speaking out about the erosion of military capability.

Today, I would not recommend military service for anyone until we have a Commander-in-Chief who respects traditional military values.

Thank you & Good Night!

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

Yup, I was wheeled vehicle mechanic. Problem is everything in the military was so outdated the training had minimal application outside the military. Even tractors have tech far beyond most military trucks.

Aviation maintenance offers much more opportunity after service an that equipment seems to be much closer to the leading edge of the curve.

I've been faced with the same problem. After trying to jump right from govt mechanic to a civilian shop mechanic, I'm now in college getting myself caught up on everything the military was too cheap to send me to school for. I knew I needed help when I got to freightliner and they started talking about diesel exhaust fluid. Lol we used to joke about that in the military!

The scary part was that when I was getting out, I almost applied at a local PETRO as an assistant shop supervisor. I didn't because of the location, but that could have wound up bad.

 

[breakingcontact]

It definitely isnt like the 1950s where if you served people looked out for you and helped you get a job. I was in the Army Reserve and was actually asked an illegal question in an interview. "Now...could you get called out while working?" I answered honestly and didnt get the job.

Military service just isnt valued in a lot of industries and not understood by a lot of HR/manager types.

I got into a field where i can make 60-100k on the civilian side and there is actually a direct pipeline connecting the mil and civ sides. A lot of gung ho guys want to be infantry and i respect that and id argue that is smart if you want to make the Army/Marines a career as you will always have that "cred" even if you switch career fields. If you just want to join for one contract i wouldnt join any of the combat arms as you will leave the service without many marketable skills. I know i know "leadership!" well i certainly respect that but a lot of industries dont value hard charging leaders now, some do but many dont.

I was able to combine my 8 years of USAR service with my civilian job and education and now have an interesting job.

Oh! Use that GI Bill folks! I met so many guys who "joined for the college money" and never took a class.

Regarding the current state of the mil, by all accounts its in rough shape. Its a real shame that the radical liberal agenda has infilitrated the military and has led to reduced training, readiness and morale.

 

[TheDan]

Some of ya'll have had interesting experiences... I worked on telecommunications and computer networking when I was in the AF. We had some equipment that was from the 70's, but a lot of it was newest generation tech as well. For what it's worth, I've never had any issue finding a job in a technology field. I've found that the vast majority of hiring managers like to hire vets, too. I was definitely biased in favor of other vets when I was a hiring manager

 

[F350-6]

It definitely isnt like the 1950s where if you served people looked out for you and helped you get a job. I was in the Army Reserve and was actually asked an illegal question in an interview. "Now...could you get called out while working?" I answered honestly and didnt get the job.

Military service just isnt valued in a lot of industries and not understood by a lot of HR/manager types.

I got into a field where i can make 60-100k on the civilian side and there is actually a direct pipeline connecting the mil and civ sides. A lot of gung ho guys want to be infantry and i respect that and id argue that is smart if you want to make the Army/Marines a career as you will always have that "cred" even if you switch career fields. If you just want to join for one contract i wouldnt join any of the combat arms as you will leave the service without many marketable skills. I know i know "leadership!" well i certainly respect that but a lot of industries dont value hard charging leaders now, some do but many dont.

I was able to combine my 8 years of USAR service with my civilian job and education and now have an interesting job.

Oh! Use that GI Bill folks! I met so many guys who "joined for the college money" and never took a class.

Regarding the current state of the mil, by all accounts its in rough shape. Its a real shame that the radical liberal agenda has infilitrated the military and has led to reduced training, readiness and morale.

Not really related to the OP, but I've got something to throw in just in case others read this thread in the future. Folks here have already stated that the military might not exactly prepare you for a civilian job if you pick one of those fields. I'll grant you that infantry doesn't leave you with any marketable skills, but depending on the job being applied for, you can play up the teamwork angle of infantry. Nothing encourages teamwork more than the threat of everyone being killed.

Besides, in Texas, there are a lot of hunters and wanna be warriors who would love to be able to "talk shop" to an infantry guy. There's also a lot of vets out there doing the hiring, so while it may not be the answer to everything, don't discount infantry any more than some other MOS.

 

[majormadmax]

There's more to being in the military than whatever particular specialty a person is in, there's a commitment and willingness to serve that many employers appreciate.

Sure, there's no civilian equivalent to infantry or a B-52 weapons systems officer; but you'd be surprised how many people I know who were in those jobs that went on to successful civilian careers!