Any advice for future .mil?

[Failure2Stop]

If you want to fight, go enlisted.
Lots of shitty jobs, lots of work, lots of character.
But you are the primary ass-kicking foot of the US military.

If you want to lead right away and play political games, go officer.
Little to no respect for about a year, but at least you only get shit on from 1/10th the people that a boot enlisted will.
However, if an O is shooting, either something has gone really wrong or he's trying to do someone else's job when he should be coordinating and enabling.

Hands down, best job in the USMC is Infantry Squad Leader. The entire Marine Corps is designed to support YOU, and when those assets are delivered, it's a beautiful and bloody thing. Of course, that's the USMC, but Rangers are very similar.

[Irish]

Quoting myself from another thread about a guy asking advice on being a SEAL. Some of it's applicable and some of it's not... Best of luck!

I do know that you used to be able to enter into the Navy through your recruiter as an E-3. Most recruiters, in 1996, would tell you that for every 2 people you can get enlisted they'll bump you up i.e. 2 people enlisted = from E-1 to E-2 etc. I personally got 1 friend to enlist with me and they bumped me up to E-2 so I know it's in their "power" to do so. Whatever you decide do your research and I'm pretty sure you could convince them that they need you and you need more $$$. And believe me you'll need more money. Don't forget to try to get the biggest enlistment bonus that you're eligible for!

Take an intelligent active duty or ex-military guy with you to help you negotiate your contract. They can help you get the right career path, outside of the SEALs, and try to get you bumped up on the payscale. You sound like a gung ho kid but remember Murphy's Law and shit happens! I also believe that typically ex-military guys won't be as easily intimidated, nervous and apprehensive as you might be talking to a recruiter and if they're intelligent and on the ball they can help you make some very important decisions that will affect the rest of your life. Also, take your dad with you, he sounds like a pretty intelligent guy from your description and it never hurts to have a little extra support. Remember, recruiters are salesman!!! They go to the country's best sales school and know 100 different ways to manipulate a conversation and to get you to sign on the dotted line.

Things they forget to tell you... for 2009 you'll make $1295 your 1st month going into boot camp but they forgot to mention that YOU pay for your uniforms out of your paycheck, don't let it be a surprise when you see the pennies they deposit in your account, especially after taking out taxes!

None of what I've said is meant to discourage you, it's here so that you make an intelligent, informed decision about your future. You will never make better friends, have "funner" times, drink more beer, chase more women and have more stories to tell than when you're in the military and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

You may want to glance over this thread as there are veterans from different services who offer some good perspective as well. We all wear different uniform but we're on the same team and go through a lot of the same BS. https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=29978

[ThirdWatcher]

When I served in the Army (1973-76) almost no enlisted personnel had any college (other than draftees). Not so anymore. A LOT of NCO's have college degrees now. Compare your average CSM's resume with that of their battalion commander (LTC).

[SeriousStudent]

If you want to fight, go enlisted.
Lots of shitty jobs, lots of work, lots of character.
But you are the primary ass-kicking foot of the US military.

If you want to lead right away and play political games, go officer.
Little to no respect for about a year, but at least you only get shit on from 1/10th the people that a boot enlisted will.
However, if an O is shooting, either something has gone really wrong or he's trying to do someone else's job when he should be coordinating and enabling.

Hands down, best job in the USMC is Infantry Squad Leader. The entire Marine Corps is designed to support YOU, and when those assets are delivered, it's a beautiful and bloody thing. Of course, that's the USMC, but Rangers are very similar.

This.

I enlisted in the Marines. I had a pair of 4-year degrees, and went in open contract. As a result, I became intimately familar with the M-60D and M-60E3 machine guns. "Get it in writing" is astoundingly good advice.

I was offered OCS multiple times. I always seemed to have a reason for turning it down. If I was going to make it a career, I would have been a mustang - a former enlisted grunt who became an officer. I got out after 6 years.

If you do become an officer, the Poli Sci degre will not be useless.

I definitely agree with F2S. A grunt squad when it works is a thing of beauty. Being in charge of a dozen or so assorted blaspheming cutthroats and alcoholic malcontents was probably the best job I have ever had.

Best of luck to you, and thank you for your desire to serve with such a fine group as the Rangers.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Please, for the love of all that is holy, finish school. Im not saying that you need to go the shiny route, but even an enlistedman can have a better career with a degree.

[J8127]

You can finish school. I deploy every year and am TDY half the time I'm home and I am always enrolled in one class, I'm in my "junior year" level classes with an online business school. I know a few JTACs assigned to the Rangers (who are deployed, tdy, or in the field just as often if not more so) who have completed entire degrees while supporting them through both invasions. One online class at a time is not that time consuming, I spend maybe 5-10 hours a week (usually more like 5) doing school work.

Obviously while you are at osut and rasp its not gonna happen, but once you get to your unit you can do it.

They probably wont send you to Ranger school until after a deployment or two and they decide to keep you.

If there is a way to guarantee 11B I would do it. I know I sure as shit would not want to be an 11C, but I don't know what it's like for them in the Rangers.

[CarlosDJackal]

- Good on you for wanting to serve, especially in the Combat MOS and the Rangers. I have 27+ years or combined Army service (AD, NG, ING, IRR & USAR) myself. I also signed up as an 11X and ended up an 11C1P (Indirect-Fire Infantry).

- I too dropped out of college to enlist and regretted that move. I wish I had completed my college beforehand which would have allowed me to take advantage of the Army paying off my student loans. But it wasn't a total loss, I did mange to eventually graduate (13-years after I graduated from High School).

- The OPTEMPO of the Rangers is so high that you will probably not be able to take college courses while you are assigned to any of their Batts. FWIW, I was originally assigned to the 3/75 RGR(A) but was asked to leave when they found out that I was not yet a US Citizen. I tried to get some college in while I was serving on AD and failed miserably because we would spend 3 out of every 5-weeks out in the field. So take that FWIW. I have had Soldiers who struggled with obtaining their College degrees because of deployments even though they are "only" Reservists. Quite a few took almost a whole decade to complete their 4-year degree.

- I managed to obtain my commission via State OCS program and was lucky enough to branch Aviation. My current MOS is 15A but am assigned to a CA unit in the USAR. I've been enlisted and I've been an Officer; I much rather be an Officer because I am able to control my own little world and use my common sense in doing so. It allows me to shield my Soldiers from some of the bonehead command decisions that I loathed as an Enlisted Soldier.

- You may have small regrets here and there, but overall you will not regret serving. I loved it and am not looking forward to being put out to pasture (I'm awaiting the decision of the Medical Review Board on whether or not I will get to stay in or have to leave permanently).

Good luck!!

[JSantoro]

If you want to fight, go enlisted.
Lots of shitty jobs, lots of work, lots of character.
But you are the primary ass-kicking foot of the US military.

If you want to lead right away and play political games, go officer.

Yep. I was enlisted, with two degrees, and kept getting pinged about going the officer route. What irked me is that it was always presented as a given that I SHOULD, and that I was an idiot or otherwise impaired for wanting to remain an enlisted swine and keeping my hands dirty.

Then, the Jesuit education and my smart mouth would break out, and stump them by asking them to describe why they thought that the enlisted ranks don't deserve the best possible educated and intelligent people WITHIN their ranks, instead of without. It still more polite than just saying "'Cuz I don't FEEL like it..." and more likely to get them to abandon the topic because of all the stammering.

The answers usually revolved around $$$, anyway. Yeah, I joined at 27 so I could roll around naked in the piles of cash I was destined to make.

It's a personal call, as each side has things that show worthwhile appeal....but everybody that's telling you to finish school is absolutely correct, regardless of whether you decide to put shiny shit on your collar (or epaulette, UotD-dependent) or not. Once stopped, overcoming the inertia to get back in to school can be difficult, much less the chances of not having the time until a decade later (comPLETEly spitballing that time-frame).

[C-grunt]

I would finish school if possible. I had a few Lieutenants who were prior enlisted so it's not impossible to go officer after you have been enlisted. Also had a friend who became a Warrant Officer and now flies UH-60s. But before he was able to he had to go back and finish college which delayed him about a year.

[RogerinTPA]

Nothing wrong with starting out enlisted first, then go officer so you can see both sides of the coin. It's what I did (Infantry, then Aviation(Pilot)/Military Intelligence), however, you are so close to a degree, why not finish it? My dad, who was enlisted, and retired a COL during the Vietnam era, said that you'd have fun as an enlisted, but you will never be in a position to make a real difference or implement policy changes unless you became an officer. I took that to heart and as soon as my enlistment was up, I went to college, got my degree and became an O and eventually retired after 22 years, in both Active and Reserves. IF you are so inclined, why not get your contract changed to Reserve or NG status, get the training you want, finish your degree, the go OCS, then Active Duty. Just remember, as a lower enlisted in a Ranger BN, you are fodder to achieve the objective, so you better be damn good at your skills in closing with and destroying the enemy to stop from being fodder. If you really have a burning desire to test your "metal" then drive on.