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Thread: (Army) 33yo non prior service. Help decide on a combat MOS

  1. #11
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    Dude has a college degree in STEM? Dude is 33 years old?

    Uhhh...... yeah I don’t think enlisting at that age is a good plan. Sorry but infantry is a younger man’s game, at 33 even in good shape you’re going to be much more likely to pick up an injury and take a lot longer to recover from injuries. You’re starting out 5-7 years younger than a lot of career guy’s age when they retire.

    Here’s what will happen you’re a grown ass man, you’re going to go to boot camp with some kids young enough to almost be your kids. You will be treated like a kid, but hey it’s boot right? Things will be better when I get to my unit. Nope. You’re still a private, and will be treated as such. This goes beyond mere private busy work, you’re going to be treated like a moron by policy like you were 18-19 years old. Every aspect of your current adult life where you get to make decisions will go away to be replaced with your unit dumbing your existence down to what an 18 year old can be expected to do and not totally screw up. Plus GWOT is winding down, you’re not deploying anywhere any time soon.

    You will get to enjoy this existence until you’re able to get a shot at doing something that doesn’t totally suck a bag of dicks. Then you go to Q course or RIP or whatever have you, and try to not get injured and keep up with kids who are PT studs, or guys your age who have been doing this stuff since age 18 have forgotten more than you know at this point.

    So unless you get a contract specifically giving you a direct shot at SF, you should run away. Do not walk, run. Also remember if you fail, the Army still gets to keep you, and you will just be another private.

    If you currently have gainful employment I think I’d stick with that.

    Sorry to be a downer but someone needed to point out some harsh reality.

    Now if you want to commission.... that might be a better route. A 2nd Lt might show up knowing almost nothing but he is still an officer, and that means less menial stupidity.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coal Dragger View Post
    Dude has a college degree in STEM? Dude is 33 years old?

    Uhhh...... yeah I don’t think enlisting at that age is a good plan. Sorry but infantry is a younger man’s game, at 33 even in good shape you’re going to be much more likely to pick up an injury and take a lot longer to recover from injuries. You’re starting out 5-7 years younger than a lot of career guy’s age when they retire.

    Here’s what will happen you’re a grown ass man, you’re going to go to boot camp with some kids young enough to almost be your kids. You will be treated like a kid, but hey it’s boot right? Things will be better when I get to my unit. Nope. You’re still a private, and will be treated as such. This goes beyond mere private busy work, you’re going to be treated like a moron by policy like you were 18-19 years old. Every aspect of your current adult life where you get to make decisions will go away to be replaced with your unit dumbing your existence down to what an 18 year old can be expected to do and not totally screw up. Plus GWOT is winding down, you’re not deploying anywhere any time soon.

    You will get to enjoy this existence until you’re able to get a shot at doing something that doesn’t totally suck a bag of dicks. Then you go to Q course or RIP or whatever have you, and try to not get injured and keep up with kids who are PT studs, or guys your age who have been doing this stuff since age 18 have forgotten more than you know at this point.

    So unless you get a contract specifically giving you a direct shot at SF, you should run away. Do not walk, run. Also remember if you fail, the Army still gets to keep you, and you will just be another private.

    If you currently have gainful employment I think I’d stick with that.

    Sorry to be a downer but someone needed to point out some harsh reality.

    Now if you want to commission.... that might be a better route. A 2nd Lt might show up knowing almost nothing but he is still an officer, and that means less menial stupidity.
    As a former 11B I agree with this. I'm glad I did it right out of high school, but I sure as **** wouldn't want to do it in my 30s. Every time I start trying to think of the reasons I wouldn't want to at this age, my brain just fills with images of all the over the top stupidity that we had to deal with and I'm rendered wordless.

  3. #13
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    You're 33, your peers will be as young as 17.
    I was still in great shape at 33 while in the Military, but I had almost 16 years in at that point and had been well used to the tempo and physical demands on my body by then.
    I don't know your physical conditioning, prior injuries or aptitudes, but I believe you are very likely to be unhappy as an enlisted guy. At 33, I was an E-7, I had little shit sandwiches to eat, as an E-1 through E-4 they were Super Sized and usually served by some ass clown Junior Leadership that were highly questionable at best.
    Finish your degree and if you have to, go in the Guard or OCS if you're not too old.
    Even if you can physically endure, I promise you, you will be highly frustrated working with your peers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Averageman View Post
    You're 33, your peers will be as young as 17.
    I was still in great shape at 33 while in the Military, but I had almost 16 years in at that point and had been well used to the tempo and physical demands on my body by then.
    I don't know your physical conditioning, prior injuries or aptitudes, but I believe you are very likely to be unhappy as an enlisted guy. At 33, I was an E-7, I had little shit sandwiches to eat, as an E-1 through E-4 they were Super Sized and usually served by some ass clown Junior Leadership that were highly questionable at best.
    Finish your degree and if you have to, go in the Guard or OCS if you're not too old.
    Even if you can physically endure, I promise you, you will be highly frustrated working with your peers.
    This is VERY good advise. You will hate going in to any of the combat arms MOS’ at your age. Unless you’re running marathons with a 40 pound ruck right now. Mentally it will suck, having to put up with the petty BS from the idiots younger than you who are in charge.

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    Quote Originally Posted by czgunner View Post
    This is VERY good advise. You will hate going in to any of the combat arms MOS’ at your age. Unless you’re running marathons with a 40 pound ruck right now. Mentally it will suck, having to put up with the petty BS from the idiots younger than you who are in charge.
    Not to derail this thread too much, but in your opinion (and the opinion of the other vets here), is the amount of bullshit recruits get put through absolutely necessary for creating good soldiers/marines/sailors/airmen of any age? Or is it mostly because they're dealing with young, immature, and often undisciplined kids?
    Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who do not.-Ben Franklin

    there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.-Samwise Gamgee

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    I was 33 years 11 months when I promoted to O4, and as a field grade officer, flight hours were reduced. With a STEM degree, why not Corps of Engineers? They pay huge enlistment bonuses for that MOS. I have heard that Cyber Command is a hot field as well. I can appreciate your interest in something more exciting, but Big Green likes the young studs. Enlist in one of the above fields and qualify for a Green to Gold Commission and use your degree. Better pay, better living conditions.
    Last edited by OH58D; 07-30-20 at 18:37.
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  7. #17
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    (Army) 33yo non prior service. Help decide on a combat MOS

    If you can’t get an option 40 or 18X, go 11B. It’s been several years but when I went through, the Ranger recruiter came and briefed us and then every DS picked a few of the top performers to go to RASP. I wasn’t asking the movie question to be a dick. If you want that, 11B in Regiment is the best way IMO. I don’t have a long tab or scroll so there’s a few people on this forum with more direct knowledge than I (one already chimed in) but if you want another opinion on SF vs Ranger feel free to PM me.

    If you want to do cool stuff, it’s not in big Army and a lot of it isn’t for officers even in SOF.

    Also, on PT. You said you could crush the ACFT or something to that extent. I assume that means you haven’t actually done it. The individual events aren’t extremely hard, putting them all together is where it gets more challenging. The number of people that have actually crushed it is pretty small so you’re either a stud or a little arrogant, or I just misunderstood.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Wake27; 07-30-20 at 18:42.
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  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by BoringGuy45 View Post
    Not to derail this thread too much, but in your opinion (and the opinion of the other vets here), is the amount of bullshit recruits get put through absolutely necessary for creating good soldiers/marines/sailors/airmen of any age? Or is it mostly because they're dealing with young, immature, and often undisciplined kids?
    I think it works with young kids. I went through basic pretty “old” when I was 24. Only 2 guys older than me. I’m just thinking if I would put up with it now, and my answer is no. On the other hand, garbage leadership leading to my back getting as bad as it is left a bad taste, so maybe I just don’t have the rosie eyed view.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sturmtag View Post
    I've done a lot of research but the info is rather shallow and sometimes very dated.

    Looking for input from those with experience in one or more of the above. Honest pros and cons.

    I mention my age because although I've always taken fitness seriously, you all would know something to expect that I might not. I'm well aware that mil is different (physically and mentally) than working out/recreational sports.

    I really like the idea of basic combat knowledge/tactics but with a high/guaranteed chance of unconventional training and schools.. Sniper, sere, sapper, etc.. Also the more deployments, the better. I want to travel a lot.

    From my limited knowledge:

    -Infantry-

    Pros:

    lots of basic gunplay, challenging, pride.. Path to ranger or sf pipeline

    Cons:

    perhaps one dimensional? Just conventional unit tactics without extra knowledge/responsibilities?


    -Cav scout- Gay, gay, and gay.

    Pros:

    basic infantry unit tactics PLUS sniper, recon, smaller unit tactics, I've heard some demo and boobytrapping etc? More land nav? Sounds pretty fun

    Cons:

    perhaps not as good at conventional tactics (training time)

    possibly a higher chance of death/pow risk in combat being in smaller forward groups? Hard to hide with large vehicles..

    Garrison being primarily tank maintenance?

    -Combat engineer-

    Pros: Train with/attached to infantry, get to possibly blow shit up very often?

    Cons: building boring but useful shit like bridges and fobs, have heard negative things about not being on raids with infantry.. Sometimes just setting up fences or driving down roads checking for IEDs nonstop forever (not seeing action in combat deployment would suck)

    Also may be interested in EOD.. I have 4 years at a stem university and test well (96 asvab, 134 gt) but don't want to end up as a bad luck washout going wherever needs of army sends me

    Please correct me if I'm wrong, share your perspective, any advice you might have, etc

    Help me have the most fun possible. I want something that's at least somewhat HSLD.

    Also, my recruiter is telling me these days its very rare to get slots in a contract for schools.. That it's now done in/after OSUT by various recruiters/cadre. Is this really true?

    Thank you.
    Did I mention gay?

    (obviously a little biased, see sigline!)
    11C2P '83-'87
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  10. #20
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    Being 33 and sharing a barracks room with three eighteen year olds, no way in hell.

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