I might be joining the Army

[LizardofOz]

No, you have not. You think you have, but super-hard is relative, and compared to what an average person in the service does in an average year, you ain't done nothing. You are setting yourself up for a world of pain and misery if you go in with the attitude you are showing now.

I know where you are coming from. I know I sound cocky. I've already been trying to ween myself off of bad habits, and doing a bunch of exercises and other stuff I don't have to do just so I can beat myself up some right now. I know you won't believe anything I have to say but there isn't much I won't do just to get by. For example, one summer my car broke down from where I worked 3 miles away. The bus didn't go out there and no one was willing to give me a ride so I said screw it and in the middle of August walked from my apartment to work and back everyday. At work, I worked 12 hours in a factory that molded stabilizer bars around primer ovens that would cook the place to about 120F every day. It was tough dirty work, and I loved every minute of it. If the army wants to put me in so much pain that I hope to God it would stop, then good I really hope they do. I know I'm cocky, and I need to be knocked down a few pegs. No disagreements out of me.

 

[Redress]

I know where you are coming from. I know I sound cocky. I've already been trying to ween myself off of bad habits, and doing a bunch of exercises and other stuff I don't have to do just so I can beat myself up some right now. I know you won't believe anything I have to say but there isn't much I won't do just to get by. For example, one summer my car broke down from where I worked 3 miles away. The bus didn't go out there and no one was willing to give me a ride so I said screw it and in the middle of August walked from my apartment to work and back everyday. At work, I worked 12 hours in a factory that molded stabilizer bars around primer ovens that would cook the place to about 120F every day. It was tough dirty work, and I loved every minute of it. If the army wants to put me in so much pain that I hope to God it would stop, then good I really hope they do. I know I'm cocky, and I need to be knocked down a few pegs. No disagreements out of me.

I have done similar things before and after I was in the service, and they are nothing like the challenges of being in the service. When you do those things, knowing that if you screw up some one will die, and do them every single day for a month or more without an offday, you might be starting to get close.

 

[C-21 Cowboy]

Good luck!

I was in the Air Force, don't know much about the Army other than
their favorite color is green.

 

[BDBoop]

Good luck!

I was in the Air Force, don't know much about the Army other than
their favorite color is green.

Yup, they turn you into a bunch of green machines. No individuality. Kinda cool, really.

 

[mac]

No. It isn't lol. I can go into great detail about what you have to do while cutting tobacco. At least not phyiscally. Mentally oh yeah I'm sure it beats the hell out of you. Being a country boy I've done a lot more hard **** than most people would even imagine to ever do.

I have been going to military.com here lately and following their PFT regime for preparation to see if I could get my first badge being the PFT badge. I've been told since I have some college I can advance far quicker, and could elect to go to school to become a Lt. within 6 years.

Here is my main question atm, how do they figure out sign-on bonuses and how are they given to you? Do you get like a percentage to start out with and then a little bit more every year or what?

Also can I keep my sidearm?

Sign on bonuses are given to those that fill Army undermanned jobs.

If you have some college now, you should pursue Army warrant to fly...either as Pilot or Flight officer. Flight Officer are the other guy in the attack helicopters. The Army has a Flying Warrant Officer program, look into that. The rest of the services call it the High School to flight school program. So long as you can pass the aptitude tests you should do it. Better pay and petter treatment as a CWO1 than an E1, that's for sure.

Lastly, if the Army says you can't do something make him show you in writing where you don't meet the requirements. The recruiter is going to try to get you into what the Army needs most at the time. If he tells you you can have something but you may have to wait a few months before going to basic to get it....then wait. Remember, it's the recruiters job to get you in the Army. If you make it difficult for him, he's going to work harder at getting you in....that means you get what you want.

 

[LizardofOz]

I have done similar things before and after I was in the service, and they are nothing like the challenges of being in the service. When you do those things, knowing that if you screw up some one will die, and do them every single day for a month or more without an offday, you might be starting to get close.

Yep I hear you loud and clear on that.

Sign on bonuses are given to those that fill Army undermanned jobs.

Sign on bonuses are given for a few things. For example, since I have 30+ credit hours from school I get $3k sign on bonus. If I go to army.mil and look at their high demand jobs it also gives you the amount they pay out for the signon. Another bonus, while I am not 100% if they do this anymore started around the Iraqi surge and gives you extra for deploying quicker out of training. They also give bonuses for knowing Arabic, having a bachelors, etc. The way it works though is they give you the first $10k of the bonus 10 days after you make it to your post sans being taxed 25% unless you are stationed in Iraqi, Afghanistan, or Kuwait.

I have been looking at MOSes that appeal to me. The most appealing I can't actually do because it requires you have abosolutely no criminal background at all unless there is a waiver of some kind around it which I doubt. It sounded pretty exciting to. I guess I will see though. Like I keep saying, I have 6+ months. I was thinking about it the other day and my baby will be here Dec-Jan, want to see her some, but then again I also want to have relations and that is another few months of waiting apparently....so I got plenty of time to prepare my body as best as I can, and study to do good on the ASVAB. I took a practice test and couldn't believe how damn hard it was. Half the words it was asking me to define I didn't even think we used aynmore. I jogged 2 miles today for the first time in hmmm...I can't remember.

From what I understand a good time in the army is 12 min...it took me 25 min

I have a long ways to go but I will try my damnedest

 

[Jerry]

So what can anyone tell me about it? I have a lot of questions just not sure which ones I could ask here...

You get out of it what you put into it, attitude goes a long way.

Don't expect BCT to be anything, leave your pre-conceptions at the door. If you think it's going to be hell, you could end up in a low-stress/low-speed program. If you think today's Army is soft, you could end up in an old school high-stress/low,medium or high-speed program. Yes your MOS plays a big part in determining where you go, but there are so many other factors. The companey right next to mine never got smoked, while we were sent to the gravel pit daily. There's no way for you to forcast what your BCT will be like, so don't believe the rumors.

Also, BCT is only 10 weeks, 2 of which don't count (in-processing and graduation/familey-day/CIF turn in/etc). You still have a whole career beyond BCT, so make sure your MOS is going to help you in the civilian world.

 

[Caine]

You get out of it what you put into it, attitude goes a long way.

Don't expect BCT to be anything, leave your pre-conceptions at the door. If you think it's going to be hell, you could end up in a low-stress/low-speed program. If you think today's Army is soft, you could end up in an old school high-stress/low,medium or high-speed program. Yes your MOS plays a big part in determining where you go, but there are so many other factors. The companey right next to mine never got smoked, while we were sent to the gravel pit daily. There's no way for you to forcast what your BCT will be like, so don't believe the rumors.

Also, BCT is only 10 weeks, 2 of which don't count (in-processing and graduation/familey-day/CIF turn in/etc). You still have a whole career beyond BCT, so make sure your MOS is going to help you in the civilian world.

How your unit is treated is all dependant upon how ****ed up the privates are.

If you have a bunch of goof off jackasses, expect to be treated harsher than if everyone is 'squared away', or at least most everyone. I don't think there ever existed a full training company of privates who were all squared away.

 

[Jerry]

How your unit is treated is all dependant upon how ****ed up the privates are.

If you have a bunch of goof off jackasses, expect to be treated harsher than if everyone is 'squared away', or at least most everyone. I don't think there ever existed a full training company of privates who were all squared away.

You know, our platoon never came together as one team so much as while we were getting smoked. We would take controle over the punishment away from the Dril Sergeant by following our oun count, doing parts of a punishment over if we saw one of our own slacking, or after having finished we would go back to those who were slow and do more of the punishment with them to pace and motivate them.

When things were easy, like while we were enjoying a reward for winning a streamer, that's when we would bicker and fight. Strange.

 

[OscarB63]

What about the ASVAB how does that work out, if you score lower, mid range or high does that effect how fast you advance or what jobs you get? I took a practice test on military.com and scored very good on grammatical stuff, comprehension, but so so on math so far.

the ASVAB determines what jobs you qualify for. different jobs require different minimum scores on certain sections of the test.

signing bonuses have pretty much dried up, unless you qualify for something that is critically undermanned. typically, if you do get a bonus, you get half up front and the other half after 3 years.

If you have at least 60 semester hours of college you are eligible to apply for Army Officer Candidate School, and you must complete 90 hours before you will be commissioned. you have to complete your degree before you can be promoted to Captain. I think you have to actually have the degree before you can apply to Officer training for Air Force and Navy, not sure about Marines.

I spent 7 years active duty with the USAF and have 11 years, with 3 deployments, in the Army National Guard. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions and I'll do my best to give you a straight, no BS, answer.


Edit: dude, 2 miles in 25 minutes...ouch. gotta work on that. I have jacked up knees and can't run anymore, my last APFT, I WALKED 2 1/2 miles in 27 minutes. IIRC, the max time limit for the 2 mile run for young guys is somewhere around 16 minutes.

 

[Morality Games]

Sounds like your cousin has got a sweet deal!

Dawn of War II is better.

Need to get back to Starcraft though. Bust out of the Bronze League.

Anyway, the Navy isn't so bad. They are the quartermasters of the Armed Forces, heavily responsible for the logistical aspects of deploying the military.

If forced, I would apply for officer training in the Navy, but I'm an aristocratic bastard. Also, getting caught in a firefight would scare me, resource management would fascinate me.

Edit - I'm not literally an aristocrat or a bastard.

 

[Phantom]

And it's safer.
The navy and the air force have much lower casualty rates than the army and marines.

This is only true because we are fighting in countries who do not have the equipment to fight off our Air Force. If we were fighting Iran, China, or North Korea the causialties would be extremely high. It wouldn't be "safer" either because you would have to fly through enemy air defences while dog fighting the other planes.

 

[getagrip]

So what can anyone tell me about it? I have a lot of questions just not sure which ones I could ask here...

My father was a life-time Naval Intelligence Officer, I sort of followed becoming a member of SUBCOMLANT aboard the USS Bergall Fast Attack Sturgeon Class Submarine. What frustrated me and my father both was the press. They lie, and our military press liasons lie as well and it becomes very frustrating all the way down the chain from the Pentagon, but there is a further element of the military industrial complex few are aware of.

I would suggest that you read this book before you make any decisions: Changing Commands: The Betrayal of America's Military, as it's your life, and you should be well informed before you raise that right hand!

If you think I'm trying to pull your leg, ask yourself why Congress has never obeyed their Constitutional Duty under Article I Section VIII? The Declaration of War clause that has never been invoked since WWII while we've been in a state of perpetual war ever since. In the book you'll learn who and what the United Nations really is all about, and who is really in control of our military. Remember Michael New?

 

[samsmart]

If you think I'm trying to pull your leg, ask yourself why Congress has never obeyed their Constitutional Duty under Article I Section VIII? The Declaration of War clause that has never been invoked since WWII while we've been in a state of perpetual war ever since.

This is because while Congress has the ability to declare war, it is the President who is the Commander-in-Chief, and so can command troops to deploy regardless of declarations from Congress. And as long as Americans view the office of the President as "guy in charge of everything," it's not going to stop any time soon.

 

[getagrip]

This is because while Congress has the ability to declare war, it is the President who is the Commander-in-Chief, and so can command troops to deploy regardless of declarations from Congress. And as long as Americans view the office of the President as "guy in charge of everything," it's not going to stop any time soon.

The Commander-in-Chief role has been taken out of context in the proper intent of the Constitution, where disregarding the true powers of Congress and while asserting some authoritative kingship was never intended. To think that the founders, having dealt with King George III and his absolute authority over his troops to dispatch at his every whim were to ever be re-addressed in the United States is folly.

Ever since the Korean War, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution – which refers to the president as the "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States" – has been interpreted to mean that the president may act with an essentially free hand in foreign affairs, or at the very least that he may send men into battle without consulting Congress. But what the framers meant by that clause was that once war has been declared, it was the President’s responsibility as commander-in-chief to direct the war. Presidential War Powers

But if the truth were allowed to intervene, the President is merely the puppet of the UN Charter our illustrious Senate agreed to in 1945, and his role as Commander-in-Chief since then has been superficial. Alger Hiss, a Communist Spy, who aided in the UN Charter's creation, was later convicted in the infamous Whitaker Chambers Soviet Espionage case brought about by the then UnAmerican Activities Committee of Congress. Have you not seen the banners: "Get US Out of the UN?" for the last 50 years?

 

[samsmart]

The Commander-in-Chief role has been taken out of context in the proper intent of the Constitution, where disregarding the true powers of Congress and while asserting some authoritative kingship was never intended. To think that the founders, having dealt with King George III and his absolute authority over his troops to dispatch at his every whim were to ever be re-addressed in the United States is folly.

Oh, I agree with you. But the President is never going to give up the vast powers he has been given over time, and, truth be told, I don't think Congress wants to reassert it's powers since they don't want to be responsible to the American people with regards to that.

But if the truth were allowed to intervene, the President is merely the puppet of the UN Charter our illustrious Senate agreed to in 1945, and his role as Commander-in-Chief since then has been superficial. Alger Hiss, a Communist Spy, who aided in the UN Charter's creation, was later convicted in the infamous Whitaker Chambers Soviet Espionage case brought about by the then UnAmerican Activities Committee of Congress. Have you not seen the banners: "Get US Out of the UN?" for the last 50 years?

Not really, no.

While I know how bad the United Nations can be, I still don't think that's reason to pull out of it. The UN is, among other things, a global forum for nations. I'd rather the United States be there in the thick of it and influencing policy on the world scale than have the rest of the world pass us by.

 

[getagrip]

Oh, I agree with you. But the President is never going to give up the vast powers he has been given over time, and, truth be told, I don't think Congress wants to reassert it's powers since they don't want to be responsible to the American people with regards to that.[/QUOTE}

We can finally agree on a significant point! It notably began with Lincoln by the way!

Not really, no.

While I know how bad the United Nations can be, I still don't think that's reason to pull out of it. The UN is, among other things, a global forum for nations. I'd rather the United States be there in the thick of it and influencing policy on the world scale than have the rest of the world pass us by.

Influencing policy? And there lies the danger, America as a whole no longer influences policy, the CFR and the Rhodes Round Table Groups took over that roll back in 1921 and has controlled the State Department (spelled Presidential Administrations) ever since. The CFR, according to Admiral Chester Ward, who was a member for 16 years and left in utter disgust stated:

The main purpose of the Council on Foreign Relations is promoting the disarmament of U.S. sovereignty and national independence and submergence into an all powerful, one world government."

Admiral Ward happens to wear the credentials as being Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy should anyone care to know.

 

[Whovian]

So what can anyone tell me about it? I have a lot of questions just not sure which ones I could ask here...

It's an honor to serve ones country... and we would be honored by your service. Should you decide this is the way to go, good luck, God bless, and I personally thank you for your service.