NOT looking forward to this...

I'm confused you said you are enlisting but then talk about OCS. I'm not sure how the Army works recruiting but in the Air Force if you push hard enough with the recruiter you can get a "guaranteed" AFSC (or in your case an MOS). Depends how long you want to fight for that. My recommendation is to stay away from 25B positions but I also know in the Army you are a soldier first then your job just like the Marines.

You should honestly look into everything the Army has to offer before signing the dotted line and fight for that guaranteed slot instead of going in as open electric or open general. Have you taken the ASVAB or AFAST yet since you mentioned helicopters? You can use those scores as leverage with the recruiter as well.

As far as breaking it to your family... This is something you want to do correct? They have their reasons to worry but they should be happy for you as you've found a calling. It might be a tough pill for them to swallow but they should be proud, so don't butter it up, just sit down and tell them that this is what you have decided is best for you and your future and it will give you a ton of opportunities in life with a few risk. It is as simple as that.

poopshovel wrote: USMC = "U Signed the Mothaberkeleyin Contract."

Bwahahahaha!

That was what we always said.

As far as joining, You are doing it right using your degree to your advantage and trying to go to OCS. You have already had your ear filled with the reasons why I am sure.

When it came to me enlisting, my parents knew I wanted to do it since I was about 14 or 15 because I was a complete military aircraft nerd. Building model airplanes, watching Wings(Wings on Discovery Channel, not Wings the sitcom), joining the Civil Air Patrol, taking flight lessons with my own money at 16 years old. Mom, Dad, and stepmother all knew I was headed into the military.

They just expected, as I did for many years, that I was going into the Air Force. I eventually got around to talking to a Marine Corps recruiter and he swayed me. I went home and told my Dad and stepmother and they just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to have buyers remorse for doing so. My Mom HATED that I was going and thought my Dad and stepmother were making me do it. It totally wasn't the case and I was going to be a Marine no matter what.

Fifteen years later, I am glad I did.

My advice regarding breaking it to the family, is don't do this.

An old girlfriend heard I enlisted & told my sister. I walked in the house one evening and my Mom said "We heard a rumor that you joined the Marine Corps, is that true?"

Seconding, thirding, or whatever number it's up to, Thanks in advance for your service!

Secretariata wrote: My advice regarding breaking it to the family, is don't do this. An old girlfriend heard I enlisted & told my sister. I walked in the house one evening and my Mom said "We heard a rumor that you joined the Marine Corps, is that true?" Seconding, thirding, or whatever number it's up to, Thanks in advance for your service!

I disagree with that. Just be honest with them. I thought my parents would hate the idea but when I sat down to discuss they were very happy and asked me what took so long (thinking it would have been better for me to do instead of college and i agree) but you never know until you talk to them!

Just cross your fingers you don't get stuck in DEP with out a date to ship out to basic/boot. That sheet was the worst!

There are times I wish I joined the Marines. There are a plethora of reasons why but unfortunately I'm about to old to apply to OCS for the Marines or get a DD368 to crossover.

I can still volunteer to cross-train as a PJ though!

22 Years Air Force here. Enlisted for 7.5 then 2 years of ROTC and commisioned for the last 13.

I actually had to get aqnd up walk across the hall to ask an Army co worker. Apparently in the Army the Basic then OCS route is an option. But he emphasised, and it has been stated in here before, get it in writing.

There are worse thing to do with your life.

But you have elected to join during a very interesting time. Sequestration is gutting the military like we have not seen since before WWII. Thats not a political statement and I dont care what party or political leanings you back, I am just starting it as a reality. We have fighter squadrons that will not be flying, at all. The USAF Weapons school has been shuttred for the 1st time since it's creation.

Even before this the DoD was looking at budget cuts we have never seen before.

In an era like this, getting in is hard. Staying in is harder. You obviously have a brain and understand responsibility, but a few words of experince to keep from highlighting yourself and becoming low hanging fruit on the budget cut tree.

1. Get in better shape. You might be in very good shape, I promise you, it isn't good enough. Especially if you are looking to be a creepy door kicker type. If you don;t swim, better add that to your regimine. You had better be able to run at least a 1/2 marathon right now. I am not exaggerating. These are the minimums for the beeper crew out of Ft Bragg and Screaming Eagle country. You will be asked to train to this standard while under physical and emotional stress you haven't experienced yet. Your fitness will suffer. Fail one fitness test examination now and it stays with you. Every job, every special duty assignment or school you apply for will be tainted by that failure.

2. Take care of yourself. This seems like a "duh" statement, but I just wach a Lt Col end up on a medivac becuase he allowed his health to slide. He put on some weight, slacked at his workouts and when he tried to get back into it, snapped his achiles. He will spend the next 9 months on crutches. Guess how much someone wants a guy on crutches in their office? He won't be getting any good jobs or promoted. Stretch; early and often. If you have a lingering high school/sport/accident injury, make sure you are wearing whatever brace you need and staying on top of your therapy or reccomended exercises.I have seen more good careers end becuase of a silly preventable injury and that takes them out of the game. They can't compete with the others in their unit, end up out of the picture and in todays military, you cannot afford to be there.

3. Know the rules. Read every applicable regulation to the job you end up doing. They will be numerous and read like stereo instructions. But get caught violating them, even if "thats the way we have always done it." and you are gone.

4. Lots of jokes about the military being a "man's world." We make a lot of off color comments and have some risque conversations, but sexual harrasment is the new hot topic. So much so that Maxim magazine is regarded as pornography (and has been called such, even though it is still for sale at the Base Exchange here in the middle east) and unacceptable in the workplace. Commanders are scared to death of anything like that, so they will prosecute anyone to keep from looking like they tolerate it. When I say prosecute, I mean witch hunt style.

5. We allow gays in the military now, openly. I don't have a problem with it, I really don't. But the first time you see it, it still surprises you (or maybe just the old guy who watched friends hide it for so many years).

I am deployed right now and personally a little jealous that they are getting some regular action and I can't. I mean good for them, but even if I wasn't married I couldn't. Up until recently, I wasn't allowed to be in a member of the opposite sex's quarters and vice versa.

Now having said that, and the previous statement about harrasment, it did not stop me from inquring if an openly gay female friend here in theater was "hitting that" in regard to another young female on base here. The "Hell yeah" reply earned her a high 5.

1. You willhear this a million times. Trust your NCOs. If they say "We might want to consider..." they are giving you an underhanded pitch to bat one out of the park. If they say "In my experience..." you are about to screw up.

Looking back, that seems a little preachy and it isn't meant to be. Sorry if I am coming off like a tool.

With regard to your folks; (My $.02 YMMV) You have already made some decisions that make them proud. A calm, rational discussion about your plans and reasons will go the distance. My Dad isn't always happy with where I end up, and he does worry. But he is proud. I cannot in my heart believe your parents will be disappionted in a young, smart man who voluntarility deadicates himself to something larger than his own desires. Be that police, medicne, the clergy, park service or military. They have obviously done a good job bringing up someone has already suceeded at life.

Please keep us posted. Good luck.

Does the Army have an option to go straight to OCS directly without enlisting first? How long between basic and OCS? I only know how the Navy does/did things, not the Army, so I just don't know for sure, but this sounds a bit like one of the many stories that I've heard where a recruiter says one thing, makes it seem like a sure thing, and then later on you find out getting into OCS is not a guarantee at all and you are hoping to get promoted to E-3.

Based on your posts and some of the others above, it sounds like the Army just does things a little differently than the Navy and your deal may be just as described to you by the recruiter.

Your parents will be proud and scared for you at the same time. Whether you stay in for one tour or 30 years, you will learn a lot. Good luck with the 'talk'.

Well, everybody survived. Told them my full intentions, including what to expect from SF. Mom wanted to know what courses were at which forts. Dad wanted to talk me into ACE (not what I want, and I explained that the best I could).

I don't doubt that they're very proud. I don't doubt that they're more than a little scared. My primary concern is with helping my dad learn to cope with the fear/worry, and not take it out on my FIL (he's got a pre-existing sour attitude toward FIL anyway, just don't want to compound it). Thankfully I've got my mom and the rest of the family to help me with that.

Thanks all for the support. I'll keep you posted.

good luck man.... been there done that ... as others have said ..thanks for putting yourself in harms way for the rest of us

Curmudgeon wrote:

aussiesmg wrote: No advise from me, just thank you.

From here too.

Just clicked here to say this, too.

T.J. wrote: Does the Army have an option to go straight to OCS directly without enlisting first? How long between basic and OCS? I only know how the Navy does/did things, not the Army, so I just don't know for sure, but this sounds a bit like one of the many stories that I've heard where a recruiter says one thing, makes it seem like a sure thing, and then later on you find out getting into OCS is not a guarantee at all and you are hoping to get promoted to E-3. Based on your posts and some of the others above, it sounds like the Army just does things a little differently than the Navy and your deal may be just as described to you by the recruiter. Your parents will be proud and scared for you at the same time. Whether you stay in for one tour or 30 years, you will learn a lot. Good luck with the 'talk'.

I just asked one of the green suits here at work. He stated the way things work now is there is no such officer test for the Army now like the AFOQT for the Air Force. They base it off your ASVAB scores. You go to Basic then off to OCS. You are a soldier first and with how the Army has multiple locations for basic training based off your MOS you'll likely go there first to get the basics of that occupational specialty then to OCS then to AIT.

Oh and listen to Mental! He has provided me with lots of great information and guidance in my short career that have helped me greatly!

DirtyBird222 wrote:

Secretariata wrote: My advice regarding breaking it to the family, is don't do this. An old girlfriend heard I enlisted & told my sister. I walked in the house one evening and my Mom said "We heard a rumor that you joined the Marine Corps, is that true?"

I disagree with that. Just be honest with them. I thought my parents would hate the idea but when I sat down to discuss they were very happy and asked me what took so long (thinking it would have been better for me to do instead of college and i agree) but you never know until you talk to them!

My point being that I enlisted 2 months before anyone in my immediate family knew about it and an outsider spilled the beans to them. It saved me from a lot of aggravation in the short term because it was a done deal before anybody knew. Long term I had some relationships to fix and some are still not "right" 30 years later.

I had some very close family members talk me out of enlisting at 18 (easily influenced at that age) and a lawyer brother convince me that it would be better to go to college. After enlisting and it being my cup of tea - I want to kick my brother square in the nads as I could almost be 10 years in and not an old fart who's not even an NCO yet (in AF terms) if it weren't for his views on the military.

I could have made the decision afterwards but I have a hard time stopping something I started, then got involved with a crazy woman, and spent way too much time in DEP lol.

The college education is paying off though and student loans are almost gone (without any help from uncle sam or anyone else).

Rufledt wrote:

slefain wrote: My only advice is to go Air Force. Lower chance of being shot at least. Good luck and thank you for wanting to serve your country.

My grandfather would disagree on the less chance of being shot at. Then again, he was a B17 pilot in WWII, so maybe it's a whole different situation. OTOH my dad was a mechanic in the air force and was never once shot at. Either way, Thank you for your willingness to serve the country.

dad did 21 1/2 years and it was only in the last year or so that he got shot at while he was on his 4 month TDY in Italy in '99 and hopping to every little outpost in eastern Europe as cheif of wepons safety (ie he made sure there wasn't to much explosive stuff in one location)... and he was inside heavily sand bagged locations at the time so he still talks about it casually

I also push friend to USAF, the entire quality of life tends to be better on AF bases than the other options as does morale...

I am working on year 17 in the Army, split between active and Guard. Print out what mental wrote and keep it close.

And thanks for serving.