Enlistment & Fitness Questions

[Phoneguy]

That's right SJ. Back in 1991, they offered me Postal Clerk (due to a needed quota), Aviation Radar Repair, and Submarine Quartermaster. "Nope." 24 hours later I was signing for the job I wanted.

 

[London]

Your MOS can affect your ability to rise in rank, but so can other things. R. Lee Ermey wrote in his book that getting rank when he was in meant taking the assignments others didn't want. He got rank, but he never got to retire. A back injury forced him out despite having a desk job.

Grunt jobs obviously have a higher likelihood of injury, but I've seen non-grunts get in unexpected situations, too. One co-worker of mine got his finger badly smashed in an electric wench on a fire truck. It miraculously healed just fine so he got to stay in. If it didn't he was out for sure. Another guy I know knew a guy at his last base that came down with some mysterious illness which forced him to constantly eat, and even then he was rapidly losing weight. I knew a lot of other guys who were always on the edge of getting kicked out because of vision, hearing, and joint problems. A lot of them were "Hot shit" troops- "Firewall fives."

This is kind of rambling, but my point is you never know what can happen to your career even if you're doing everything right. My only advice is to approach your career in a way you know you won't regret later. Even if something happens to your retirement you'll still be okay.

 

[London]

Also, I wouldn't bank on the VA for doing ANYTHING for you when you get out. A lot of those fucking scum bags actually got raises and promotions by neglecting veterans until they died. I'm still waiting six years later for them to get back to me about my injuries. They said it would be six months.

The ones at my school can't even get my GI Bill paperwork right half the time.

 

[London]

If you're absolutely sure you can handle hard work- check out firefighting. The Air Force is the ONLY branch worth doing it for. Don't take it lightly- the training usually kills one or two completely healthy recruits every year (dehydration and heart attacks!). You've never experienced hard work until you've nearly died from it!

 

[majormadmax]

If you're absolutely sure you can handle hard work- check out firefighting. The Air Force is the ONLY branch worth doing it for. Don't take it lightly- the training usually kills one or two completely healthy recruits every year (dehydration and heart attacks!). You've never experienced hard work until you've nearly died from it!

Where do you get your information? I can't remember a single USAF firefighter dying during training, and I read the CSAF update brief--which includes all the service fatalities--usually on a daily basis.

Not saying it isn't a tough career field; but claiming it kills 1-2 recruits every year is pure fiction.

Maybe during the actual fighting of fires, but you don't need to try to make the job more dangerous than it already is...

 

[Phoneguy]

Rios, what specifically do you want to do as far as a job in the Military?

 

[Rios]

Rios, what specifically do you want to do as far as a job in the Military?

That is a tough question.

Originally wanted to be a trigger puller. Then get out and become a cop. Still have that itch, but also wouldn't mind learning a skilled trade and being a blue collar worker. I'm not into the white collar, sitting behind a desk thing.

I understand shooting people in the face and breaking their stuff does not translate well to a civilian career. Or it could cut a career in the military short due to likelihood of physical injury/downsizing.

I had never thought about the Seabee's. After doing some research online it sounds like something I would enjoy. The Air Force has a few jobs that also intrigue me. Loadmaster and SERE Specialist specifically. They also seem to have a lot of electrical/construction type jobs.

Right now I guess it all depends on how I score on the asvab. I did decent on the practice test.

Once I take the ASVAB, will a recruiter from another branch have access to the test results? In case I decide to speak to another recruiter?

 

[Phoneguy]

Yes, a recruiter from another branch will have access to that. Just a heads up though, the recruiter that took you to take the ASFAB won't like it that you're shopping yourself around to other branches. But screw 'em. It's your life and you're trying to get the best deal for you.
As far as law enforcement, I worked with a guy not so long ago that was in the Air Force as whatever version of cop/security force that they are. He went on to become a Special Agent at the FBI. Now most any city, County, or State Police will take prior military with 6 years. But if you want to go federal law enforcement (FBI, DEA, ATF, HSI, etc), you'll need a four year degree.
TxDPS will look at someone for a State Trooper if they have 6 years active military. (They are looking to hire 500 Troopers this year.)

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

All branches have their own scoring system. So you've got to take it separately for each branch. The Airforce Redhorse units are similar to the Seabees, but I don't know much about them.

Another cool option to look into is Navy EOD. I'm not saying much about Airforce simply because I don't know much about them. I've heard good things, but I also have seen first hand that the Navy specialty programs are pretty top notch. Just not as pampered as the Air Force.

 

[Byrd666]

I don't know about the availability thing but, I don't see why it wouldn't be.

And another option that I haven't see much of is the Coast Guard. Have you thought about about contacting them and seeing what options they might have available for you? Might be worth a look. I remember talking to a few Coasties years ago and was a bit jealous of some of the Duty stations they had available. Might be worth a phone call or two.

 

[London]

Where do you get your information?

Several instructors.

In general the training is far more dangerous than anything you actually do once you graduate. In my four years I put out a few cigarette bin fires. Most of them were at the fire department!

 

[London]

The Air Force has a few jobs that also intrigue me. Loadmaster and SERE Specialist specifically.

When I joined in 2003 the AF was so desperate for SEREs they were actually recruiting directly inside basic training! They guaranteed they'd be able to switch your AFSC and mentioned something about special pay (Sign on bonus? Hazardous duty pay? I don't remember). I had a kid already and didn't want to be away from home as long as they said would be needed so I didn't pay much attention. If you're interested you should definitely check out the status of that special pay.

Good luck!

 

[London]

Another cool option to look into is Navy EOD.

I'll tell you right now that if you decide to become EOD you'd better accept the fact people are going to make annoying jokes about how crazy you are starting in basic and ending when you die.

 

[claymore504]

Keep up what you are doing on the PT. Sounds like you are making great progress. One thing I can say is if you go Infantry, you will run and road march….A LOT. When I was with the 82[SUP]nd[/SUP] Airborne we would run Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was road march day and then Friday was long run day ( around 10 miles). I was never good at running, so I struggled. My best time for the PT test 2 mile was mid 13 minutes. Usually stayed in the low 14 minute range.

Now, I was active duty from 1997 to 2000. The Infantry, and Army in general was a different world then it seems. Seems the PC nonsense has found its way into the military as well. I loved my time on active duty and I don’t regret one second of going Infantry! Combat arms is where you see (most of the time) guys that truly want to serve and have pride in the military, not just wanting college money. I knew I wanted Airborne Infantry before I even talked with a recruiter. My recruiter did not try to talk me into anything else. The issue came when I sat down at MEPS with the person that tells you what jobs are available. They tried to get me to pick numerous others. I kept telling them what I wanted, so they said they could do Infantry, but I could just ask my Drill Sergeant for Airborne school once I got to basic. I knew that was a lie and said no Airborne slot and I walk away. They finally gave in. So, once you decide what you want stick to it. They will try to push you into what they need to fill.

I just heard today though that the Army is downsizing again. This time by 40,000 troops. Not sure if that will mean less recruiting, or forcing people out like last time. As for which branch to make a career out of, that depends on what job you want. I believe the Marines pick your job for you, so I did not consider them. The Army has all the high speed schools I knew I wanted and has several career path options for combat arms guys.

I ended up only doing 3 years active duty and then went into the Texas Army National Guard and have made a “part-time” career out of that. I say “part-time” since we do get deployed.

 

[claymore504]

Yes, a recruiter from another branch will have access to that. Just a heads up though, the recruiter that took you to take the ASFAB won't like it that you're shopping yourself around to other branches. But screw 'em. It's your life and you're trying to get the best deal for you.
As far as law enforcement, I worked with a guy not so long ago that was in the Air Force as whatever version of cop/security force that they are. He went on to become a Special Agent at the FBI. Now most any city, County, or State Police will take prior military with 6 years. But if you want to go federal law enforcement (FBI, DEA, ATF, HSI, etc), you'll need a four year degree.
TxDPS will look at someone for a State Trooper if they have 6 years active military. (They are looking to hire 500 Troopers this year.)

Just to add to this. When I applied with Houston PD after I ETSed, the first question they asked was if I served as Military Police (MP). They told me if I had, they would not have even considered me. So, MP will not equal civilian PD job. I have two buddies that do not have degrees and went federal law enforcement base don military. One is with ICE and the other is with US Marshals. I also have a buddy that is in my National Guard unit that is a Texas State Trooper. Being a Vet will get you preference with Fed jobs. My buddy with ICE started off at a higher pay grade than non military and advanced quickly.