the armed services..
 

i know a few of you guys were in the military.. what branch did you choose, and why? im kinda thinkin about joining... also, just for kicks, what did everyone score on their asvab?

Did 8 years in the Air Force. My best friends grand-dad was a Marine Drill Instructor during WWII. He said if I chose any other branch, he'd have called me stupid.

ASVAB Scores:

99
98
99
99

I was ROTC. My dad was Army when he was very young, but was always impressed with the Navy. I ended up going Navy. The Navy ROTC program is generally the toughest of the three branches to get into. I had a a full-ride, 4 year Navy NROTC scholorship to Notre Dame. It was a great program and I would do it again.

After comming off of active duty and being in the Naval Reserves for a period of time. I joined the National Guard. The National Guard is a great option for a lot of people. But I can tell you, that the quality of people is WAY different then those I served with in the Navy. The Navy is very technical and they ask a lot more of their officers and enlisted. Not that there were not good people in the guard, it is just a lot more competitive in the Navy.

I am now separated from all militiary involvement.

If you want to talk sometime, I would be happy to help you make your decision.

me and my wife are both army brats. Lived the military life from the get go. Both of our dads were command sergeant majors LOL. We were disciplined to say the least. we live 4 miles from Ft Bragg reservation. I love it when they get a wargame hair up their ass. I love the sound of 155 mm howitzers in the morning. It actually makes me feel at home. My house is directly over most of the Flyby patterns the C-47's and C-130's and of course the C-5 flyovers are my favorite. Never joined myself but I can relate. :D

lol im joinin whats left of our pathetic airforce in two years.....

I was in the Army and in the Infantry.I can't remember my score but it was over 100 and I could have had any job I wanted but chose the Infantry for some reason.Don't regrete my decision at all but it would of been nice to have a job that transfered to civilian life better.
Served in the 1st Gulf War and my heart goes out to all that are serving over there now.
The Military can either be a good thing or bad it depends on your attitude and what you would like to do.The Branch you choose is a personall decision that you should really think through before you make your mind up.Whatever you do don't believe alot of what recruiters tell you,ask around from people who have been there and get everything in writting that you want too enlist for.

The reason I chose the Infantry is for the challenge I think.Served 5 years.

Ok Here's my $ .02. I have a lot of freinds who joind the service. Most never even saw any military action. even after 20 + years. Had 1 friend who died in granada. That wasn't even a war. Granted this was in the 1980's. Things are way different now. If you join you will most likely go to Iraq or Afghanistan..

I know recruitement is at an all time low for all military services. They have some really sweet sign up bonuses. I've seen up to 30K for sign ups. Pretty good money for anyone who can make it through Basic training.

IMHO. Iraq will go on for at least 5 more years. And Bin Hidin is still not accounted for.. Just be ready to see some action if you do enlist. Good Luck on your decision. And I support our troops, no matter what the circumstances. :)

I was planning on going to college for 4 years and joining either the Air Force or Army as an officer, flying something , helicpoters, jets, w/e ...thats what im leaning towards anyways

I had my grandpa and great grandpa of military service as well as an uncle say air force or school. Id of went to the air force if I didnt chose the path of a degree in fire science (fire fighter).

your house is OVER the flight patterns?!?!?!?! they fly LOW! jk...

anyway, im considering joining the army, i found something that sounds interesting but cant remember the name right off the top of my head. id probably join for 4 years then come back here and go sheriff, but i dont know..

:eek: Yikes: I meant I am in the flight line for just about all the flyovers. But they can get pretty low. And another thing while I'm at it. They do flyovers in Apaches and Blackhawks fully loaded for bear. My neighbor (military man) says they have to be evaluated monthly on their mental state of mind LOL.

Hope one doesn't loose his chit while aiming at me. :o

lol yikes is right! at least they do mental checks on them..

My wife and I are both in the Air Force. I personally love it! I'm a crewchief on F-15's and she is works on the avionics(radar, nav, radio). All I can say is that they take care of us. I've been so many places and seen so much. I just got back from being stationed in England for 3 years, and loved every second of it. It's nothing like people think, I go to work just like you are anyone else, the only difference is that I'm working on 40 million dollor jets, and have a chance that I will get deployed(which I haven't in 5 years)

yeah, id choose a job where id be able to do the job, not get deployed. i dont really wanna go fight, there are some things id wanna do though

After graduating HS with a 1.6gpa i diddnt have a lot of college opportunitys opened for me. Both my parents were officers in the USAF, but that really diddnt sway my decision. The army just freaked me out, they followed me around everywhere pestering me so i diddnt wanna mess with them. Navy... well.. just not a navy guy. The marine's seemed a little much for what i wanted to do.

Here is my advice. I joined in 1996 and went untill 2000. There was no war at the time, so i decided the USAF had the best quality of life off duty. I was sold.

However, if there WAS a war or conflict going on, i probably would have gone Army Airborne. The way i figure it is this, if there is a war i'd rather know for sure i was getting damn good training and going to fight with other highly trained soldiers than NOT knowing if i was going and not having the proper combat training.

So, in war time, i say marines or special forces of any type.

Non war time, go to the USAF, it is a big partying drunkfest.
:D

BTW -

I was an Air Force cop for 3 years, and a Network Administrator for 5 yrs. I visited more place in 8 years than some do in there entire life.

Agree w/ 02, as a cop, I trained and worked in the field with both Army and Marine Personnel. While my hat is always off to my brothers and sisters in the other branches of the service, I cannot fault the Air Force on how well it takes care of its members.

NOTE: From one service member to another: To all who ever wore a uniform in the service of our country a heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to all of you.

My cousin is currently in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne, And i believe they are stationed in North Carolina at Fort Bragg.

Yes they are stationed at Fort Bragg.

i know this is kinda a tough subject but what are you guys thoughts on the war right now. i persoanly think that bush a piece and that the war in iraq is the dumbest §hit that this country could have ever done. if someone disagrees then please explain why

LoL well atleast ya got balls to bring it up...but I fear this convo will be continued until after the vietnam one is finished...

There is an alternative.
 

If you want action, join the Army or the Marines. If you want a job wearing a uniform and don't want to take a chance getting hurt or worse, try the Air Force or Navy. But if you want exciting military service and the benefits (the GI bill worked for me), think about the Coast Guard....They lead an adventurous life and get the same benefits. Plus, they do a very good service for this country. They are stationed around the world and have the best in equipment and training. If you watched them operate in New Orleans after Katrina, you saw professionals!!

I know you may have strong opions and I respect them, but lets keep this guys thread to answering his desired question. When threads get political, they can sometimes get inciteful and then they go nowhere.

if you want, you may start your own thread to have this discussion.

Thank you

Hi Roush,

NOT FLAMING YOU man, but I completely disagree. Just my way of seeing things

1. Have we been atttacked since 9/11? No. I'd rather those islamo-fascist bastards fighting our trained, well equipped military than blowing up buildings, and people here in the USA.

2. Whether you support or don't support the war effort, these terrorists see you in two ways, either you convert to their myoptic way of thinking, IE convert THEIR understanding of the Islamic religion, or they will kill you. Most of them prefer killing you.

3. 90% of all Islamic nations on the planet are dictatorships, installing a free, democratically elected govenment in the center of all those dictatorships will create a ripple effect across the whole area, hopefully inducing the citizens to throw off the Iron-Fisted regimes that grind them into abject poverty.

4. Being former military, I have experienced what these Islamo-fascists are capable of. I dug through the rubble of Khohbar Towers, to find my fellow servicemen.

5. These ba$***ds have be attacking our way of life for 30+ years. This didn't start with 9/11. The stated goals of these terrorists is the DESTRUCTION of all Western govenments. Even the countries that were against the war in Iraq. Just a few day ago, more terrorists were outed in an attempt to blow up parts of the French subway. Leaving the countries they call theirs will not stop them, it will embolded them to try harder to destroy us. We cannot run from this fight. They have openly stated that if they get ahold of a weapon of mass destruction ( nuclear, biological, chemical) they WILL use it. That alone should tell you why we need to stop them at all costs.

6. Look beyond the Main Stream Media for your information about this conflict. The MSM has an agenda against the Bush Administration, and does whatever it can to cast everything that has taken place in a negative light. Has it all been roses and smiles? No it hasn't. But how many news reports or newspaper articles have you read about all the new schools that have been built in Iraq, by our military? How many times do you see reports about Iraq citizens greeting our soliders with flowers, food, and cheers. It happens daily, I have pictures from a friend over there to prove it.


I don't want to flame anyone here, we're Americans (& Canadians :) ) , so we have a right to think the way we want, and act on those thoughts. But remember the people we're fighting want to take away your right to think and worship as you want. These people are no different than the Nazis were, they are just more spread out.

Im CDN and i think we should help you boys out with our pitiful army....

hey rada i am cool with the hole afganstan war. but what was the point of going to Iraq i dont see any weapons of mass destruction. and we wouldnt of had to build new schools if we didnt blow up the ones that were there already. Why don't we concern our nation first. like getting food and money to the poor. i know we already do but we could alot more if we wernt wasting it all in something that doestn even concern us

We didn't blow up any schools, they were never there, or if there was a school there, it was never supplied properly. One school a buddy of mine worked on, it had no running water & had 3 pencils between 65 children! Saddam Insane, like any dictator, liked to keep his people uneducated. The easiest way to control a population is to keep it illiterate.

It does concern us, Hussen would have continued to try to get more and better weapons. The UN Oil for Food scandel show you how desperate he was for $$ to rekindle his weapons program. If he were able to get a nuclear or chemical weapon, and give it to one of these terrorists, what do you think they would have done with it?

Food and $$ to the poor is a whole other subject, we'll save that for PM is you're interested.

OK, I'll stop HIJACKING Soccer's thread, sorry dude! Roush, PM me if you'd like to rap more.....

Ya know... All saddam had to do was cooperate with the weapons inspectors. That is all. But he blocked them at every angle he could get away with. If he would have cooperated he would still have his country and still be in charge.

The UN absolutly MUST back up every demand it makes, the weapons inspectors were there for a reason, and the UN constantly allowed saddam to dodge the weapons inspectors. Right there weakens the UN and revokes any credibility it has. The UN is there for a reason, if it wont back up the demands it makes then what is the point of it existing? Why would anyone else do as they are instructed?

Imagine a police force that just lets you get away with everything. What is going to stop people from killing and selling meth? There must be enforcment and the UN was too chicken to do it, so we did. In the long run it had to be done. Saddam has nobody to blame but himself, if he would have cooperated none of this would have happened.

Damn, you took the ASVAB 4 times? By the way I think I read somewhere where someone said they scored over a hundred. That's not possible, because the highest score you can get is a 99. Some of your line scores maybe over a 100, but your AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test) score stops at 99 just fyi. AFQT determines if you can enlist in the military, while your line scores tell what specific field your qualified for. I used to be a Marine Corps Recruiter in MD.

Rofl

Heh. You wanna know what's bad? it took me 8 times at MEPS before i finally got enlisted and flown to bootcamp.

1st time, Disqualified for Allergys, Got a waver

2nd time, Disqualified cause i went to a shrink when i was a kid. Request psyche eval

3rd time, Disqualified after i failed the psyche Eval i requested for the prev disqualification. Was labeled with a Schizoid Characher distorder. Not Skitz-oid, but Sheeeeze-oid. Basically means i have no ability to function socially, i hired my own shrink and he gave me a stellar reccommendation and said the origional shrink should lose his licence for his incompetance. got a waver

4th time, Disqualified cause of a knee injury. Got waver.

5th time, Disqualified because of a "out past curfew" ticket. Got a Waver

6th time, disqualified because of an assault charge i had several years prior. Got a waver

7time, Not disqualified, however, they lost some paperwork, so i had to come back the next day.

8th time at Meps they FINALLY shipped me out. Took me 3 months of effort to get in the USAF. <rofl>



It would have been a lot easier if they would have found every reason to disqualify me the first time so i diddnt have to keep coming back.

I tell you though, after sitting in a plastic and metal chair in the psyche waiting room for 6 and 1/2 hours waiting on some old feeble decrepid doctor who is half in the grave to start his long arduous 45 minuit trip down a 20 foot hallway so he can ask me 3 questions and disqualify me,.... damn straight i was insane by then. HAHAHAHA

Damn :D I know as Recruiters for the Marines we are taught to screen to disqualify rather than screen to qualify. Sometimes we get blindsided with something that was not told to us but the person tells the MEPS Liason. It's definately the hardes job in the Marines Corps. 2nd in stress only to combat.