Enlistment

[Spyguy101]

I quickly find myself approaching the adult age of 18 and look for a service to enter. The more I look into it the more I cant make up my mind. I am looking at possibly entering the Navy in the submarine force or the Coast Guard as a pilot but I am not sure what to be expected of these and anyone's personal experience in any of these would be great to hear.

[Sailor Steve]

If you can be a pilot then you have the requisite education to be an officer. Always better to be an officer than a grunt or swab. I was a sailor in the surface navy and had a lot of fun, but if I could have had a choice I would have been a pilot.

The real question is: What appeals to you the most? What would have the most fun doing?

[ETR3(SS)]

Like Sailor Steve said, if you have the education to be an officer than go that route. A submarine officer will have to learn about the reactor and how it works before he will be assigned to a boat. Science plays a big role in that i.e. chemistry and physics, if you can handle those classes than you probably have what it takes to be a submarine officer academically.

If you aren't quite up to the officer level enlisted would be the way to go, and the path that I chose as well. You need to score at least a 55 on the ASVAB to be eligible for submarine duty. I scored a 70 on mine and chose to be a deck seaman first to give me a better idea of what I wanted to do on the boat(note: you can't do that program anymore). After a while I decided to become a Radioman and work with the communication equipment onboard. I really liked it but it comes with a great deal of responsibility as you know what's happening before the Captain most of the time. Enlisted jobs basically break down into two categories; mechanical and electronic. Here's a list of links of non-nuclear enlisted jobs onboard with some basic information about each.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/etcom.htm (what I did)
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/etnav.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/ft.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/hm.htm (neither mech or tech but only one on board a submarine)
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/mmaux.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/mmwep.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/mt.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/skss.htm (handles supplies onboard)
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/sts.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/ynss.htm (secretary sort of)
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/csss.htm (cook)

[Rockstar]

Before signing your life away, I highly recommend you look far into your future before you choose. Ask yourself "whats in it for me" in the long run. What kind of job or career do you want to pursue once you retire or in the event you desire to get out earlier? Talk to the recruiters, at a minimum ask what each of the services offer in the way of educational benefits, advancement opportunities, rating assignments, where is the rating most likely stationed (ashore or afloat). Try to choose a military job that will give you a professional leg up when it comes time to finding something you want to do in the civilian sector. Uncle will expect 110 percent of your life (sometimes 120). Make sure you leave with more than a retirement pin and a attaboy letter. Take with you something you can use later in life.

Me, I was a USCG boatswains mate. Since retirement in 2004, I now cruise the U.S. and Caribbean in my own boat and at times delivering others for the not so rich and famous. Current civilian job description: professional boat bum and lovin' it.

A farkin' Coast Guard brown shoe wannabe eh? Hey you know what the difference is between a USCG Helicopter and the pilot? The helicopter stops whining after it lands! . Joking aside USCG pilots and surfman are the two hot schitt job assignments that outfit has to offer.

[Spike88]

Originally Posted by Spyguy101

I quickly find myself approaching the adult age of 18 and look for a service to enter. The more I look into it the more I cant make up my mind. I am looking at possibly entering the Navy in the submarine force or the Coast Guard as a pilot but I am not sure what to be expected of these and anyone's personal experience in any of these would be great to hear.

If you have Math and Science Grades of B or higher, plus have the ASVAB scores in that section. Go Nuclear Engineer in the Navy, high enlistment bonus(higher than a lot of other jobs), 2 years of school which is worth 90 college credits. Highest Re-enlistment bonus(Believe they go 40K). If I remember correctly you start out as an E2 during boot camp and automatically get bumped up to E3 after you finished the Nuke school. You get an automatic E4 if you re-enlist, although really you should be E4 or E5 before your first Enlistment is up. There is also an officer pipeline available. Nukes only serve on Carriers, and submarines(if they volunteer.) And the Navy is short on Nukes.

If you decide not to re-enlist you're looking at 80-100K salaries working at Nuclear Powerplants.


My mistake in life was not going into the Navy when I had the chance. Still have the chance now(if I lose 90 pounds) but I don't think I'll still qualify. I would be out of Nuke school and out in the fleet about now.


http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/nf.htm

Actually, I still qualify. Must lose weight and I think I may join.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Just as a general bias, I recommend the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard.

Amusing story: a few weeks ago, I was in an elevator at Bethesda's Naval Hospital, and as the door was closing I asked a Marine general if I should hold it for him. He said nothing. I guess he wanted to go the other way, and/or was a snob. He certainly heard me.

(It was this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_F._Amos)

[Rockstar]

He heard you alright. It is a well known courtesy that a gentleman should open or hold a door for women. I'd bet he took offense to your gesture, most any General would, especially Marine Corp Generals.

[CaptainHaplo]

OK - a couple of pieces of advice.

First, I'll give you the advice my dad gave to me.... do you want to walk or ride? Army walks, navy rides.

Like an idiot, I chose walking ROFLMAO!

Seriously though, if I had to recommend a service, from the standpoint of an ole grunt, I'd say go Air Force. Sure, we make fun of zoomies, but I kid you not, I have seen those guys deployed to the desert right next to me.

Know what the difference was? Their tents had air conditioners! I kid you not. The food in their mess halls were better too. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go AF.

Can't speak much to the CG, never dealt much with em.

As for officer vs enlisted, if you go Army and you are in aviation, you can go enlisted and then hit the warrant officer track. Its totally different than being commissioned. The "Walk" track puts you in a unique and useful position. You can also put in for OCS (Officer Candidate School) if you get the education once your in. I know the navy used to have a "mustang" program where enlisted folks who performed could be made junior officers, but that was enlisted to commissioned, and I don't know if that is done anymore.

On a side note, dunno about the navy, but if you want to be a pilot in the Army, you must be an officer - either commissioned or warrant. As enlisted you can be a flight engineer or crew chief, but you can't have "command" of the aircraft. I believe the navy has the same policy though. Air Force and CG I have no clue, but I would suspect its across the board.

[AVGWarhawk]

Just my experience with family/friends. My bro-in-law joined the Army. Boot was marching, marching and more marching. When not marching he was on his belly working his way through the dirt to some place he could start marching again. The Army was good for him though. It helped him grow up a bit. He was two years and out. Not his cup of tea.

A friend of mine was a nuke boat sailor. USS Hampton. This was the boat that was kind of faking reading the nuke meters....he was part of the crew then! DOH! He was told at the Navy recruiting station that he would see the world. He did....through a periscope for about a second! Six months at sea and did not see much of anything. He did that tour for 2 years and is now an instructor in SC. Does ok. Married, two kids and large home. It's a living.

Personally I would be on a surface skimmer. But that is just me and my personality.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

He heard you alright. It is a well known courtesy that a gentleman should open or hold a door for women. I'd bet he took offense to your gesture, most any General would, especially Marine Corp Generals.

Heh. He was Commandant or Assistant Commandant at the time.

If someone is coming towards an elevator I'm in, I always hold the door for them or ask if they want in.

[antikristuseke]

Just go where the packs are heavyest, the walks the longest the wfood the ****tyest and the tents the leas waterproof. That will give you the full armed forces experience.

[Herr-Berbunch]

OK, I'm a Brit, I've worked alongside various other forces and I'd say that the way to go, in terms of comfort and prospects would be the air force. Especially if you can get pilot - multi engine, not fast jet.

Just days after Sept. 11 Thumrait in Oman was transformed into a huge (by our standards...!) deployed base with airconned tents all round, reasonable food, but the downside was a strict two-can rule in the bar! At least there was a bar.

A (Brit) sub came in to Salalah port (very hot) a week or so later and the guys last saw their surrounding environment around Baffin Bay (very cold). Not the best life - see the world, sure, but only in snippets here and there...! I can't imagine the USN being much more keen on sunbathing on the surface either.

Army! Always too much bull. Why walk when you can sail, why sail when you can fly

[Weiss Pinguin]

I guess I'm kinda in the same boat here - going through my senior year of HS and looking to join the military. At the moment I'm thinking Marines (yeah I know ), even though everyone I know says Navy (most vets I know are Navy ) officer is the way to go, it'll be better and easier for you in the long run, or information/computers cuz it'll be safer etc etc etc.

But honestly, I have no desire at all to be an officer, and I'm not going to join the armed forces to be comfortable and safe. I really have no problem with seeing myself as a grunt mixing it up in the mud.

/discuss

[Ducimus]

IMO, put any thoughts of jumping out of planes, kicking butt, and taking names out of your head. Unless that's REALLY your thing, and your damn near superman in physique.


Take a job that will get you paid on the outside. Looking back, i wish i had gotten HVAC as a specialty instead of Structures. Those guys make bank on the outside, and everyone loves their Air conditioning, so i doubt their short on work.

In any event, if you go AF, you'd better hit the ground sh88ting Tiffiny cuff links, cross your T's and Dot your I's from the word GO, and play "the game" right away. The new Air Force has little to no tolerance of a young airman's "Growing pains". Nowadays, a dumb mistake early in your career can come back to haunt you later. Getting in and staying in the AF has become competitive.

[Gorduz]

I cant say much as I only served one year as a conscript in the Norwegian Navy, but generally I think the advises here are worth listening to.

Make sure you get a job that can give you skills useful for a civilian occupation as well. And I don't mean things like leadership and teamwork which is more about personality development than direct skills, I mean theoretical and practical knowledge in fields like computer science, nuclear engineering or logistics and administration. In Norway I have several friends who served as navigational officers on patrol boats and could use their experience to get international navigational certificates for commerce shipping.

If you plan on going into the coast guard my experience in the navy generally suggests that the smaller the ship the better.