Enlisting in the Service, Advice needed for ds

[gojojock]

So my oldest ds just announced that he would like to enlist in the service. He is not sure which branch, but he thinks that he would like to do this and forgo attending college in the fall. He graduates HS in June. So, does anyone have any experience with a child enlisting? I want him to be certain of his decision, and everything that it entails. I suggested doing an ROTC program while in college, but he seems to want to go straight to enlisting. I am worried if he will be able to complete a degree while in the service? I am also worried in part I am sure because we know someone whose son did pass away in Iraq. If anyone has any insight or advice I would so appreciate it. I am so proud he wants to serve, but it is so hard. He is still my baby. I am VERY thankful he is discussing this with dh and I before any decisions are made. Anyone have recent experience with this?

[1whoscraps]

My son enlisted for 6 years. He is now out.
IMO the AF is the safest (if that can be said) since they send their officers into battle and not the enlisted men so to speak
Has he talked to any recruiters? I ask because many of them will make promises that are unrealistic like getting bonuses and such so be wary and get anything/everything in writing. I told my son whatever postion or job he wants in the miltary they need to tell him how it is employable in the commercial world. As with anything research is a good thing. He also needs to understand that he can serve a minimum of 3 years but then will need to provide x number of years I want to say 3 but I can't remember for sure in the reserves. I think the total has to equate to 6 years. So for my son he did the full 6 but I think you can do a combination... just something to consider. The most important thing is have him discuss with you before he does actually enlist and have a back up plan for career option because sometimes he may not be able to get in his first pick. With my ds he wanted to be in an elite program..well he had to pass a physical..so he enrolled but because he had not been accpeted via the physical yet (that test was at a later date) he had to pick another option..and my dummy son unbeknownst to me put bomb disposal..lovely..go around some island with an ill fitting suit to remove nuclear waste...so lesson learned..have an alternative choice. HTH if you need more info or have questions

[Deleted]

My stepson had a Bachelor's degree before he joined the Navy in grad school. From that vantage point, he applied to Officers' Candidate School, and was fortunate enough to be accepted. He elected to become "career military", and now has 5 years left. He was stationed in Rota, Spain, when 9/11 happened, and Rota became the staging area for the Middle East operations. Since then, he has been stationed multiple times in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bahrain with Spec. Ops. teams. Ironically, he has only spent one year on the ocean (this is the Navy, isn't it?) He is currently serving in Hawaii, (not as glamorous as it sounds), where he anticipated remaining until retirement.

Now, with the "saber rattling" in Iran, etc., there is a possibility that he will be deployed again, but as he reminds us, he didn't enlist to see the world, but swore to "protect and defend the United States of America".

There are other "military parents" on the MB, and hopefully they will give you their perspective as well.

Best wishes for you and your family, as you discuss his final decision.

[gojojock]

He has spoken to both an Air Force and a Marine recruiter. He said those are the branches he is most interested in. He was interested in several jobs and one was a special op one. He has not been promised anything yet, and he cannot enlist until he is 18 officially is my understanding. That is coming up soon though. Did your sons change based on their service? Were they able to finish their degrees while serving? Did they find jobs after? Your comments were so helpful, and I hope I am not asking too much. I just want to be prepared as much as we all can be.

[1whoscraps]

My son was stationed in Hawaii and started attending school while there online (but it's hard to attend when you are deployed overseas) but a lot of his credits didn't transfer. Once he returned back home he enrolled full time. The military only pays for so much and they had to subsidize part of his education. He was unable to find a job when he returned..although I should say he wanted to become a police officer but his wife, mother and grandmoter persuaded him not to...although I think it was mostly his wife. He will be graduating this summer.

If your ds wants to go into Special Ops then depending on the position as with my son..just don't enroll until you take the physical test. And my ds wanted to be a paratrooper (can't remember the real name) that rescues people but he learned that they will actually drown you on your first day and then revive you so he went to the next level from that and I want to say it as Tac-P or something like that. but good question to ask is what tests and challenges will be instore for him if he enlists in that area. I know for my son he had wilderness survial and at the very end of that they made him eat a small frog..so there are little things like that they will put him through..and its very physical. It is a good life long learning experience and once he's actually in the military he will met a very diverse group of people. That itself can be a big eye opener.

[Deleted]

My stepson is way more serious and mature than he was before he entered the service, and not just because because he's about 15 years older. I'm sure that Spec. Ops. duty contributed to a lot of that. To this day, he doesn't choose, or is not able, to discuss a lot of what he does. His response is usually, "Just read the news", which doesn't exactly delight us.

[Basketlady]

My husband is an Air Force Academy grad with 22 years in so far. He was also the a Recruiting Commander for two years. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions about the Air Force. DH can answer some general questions about other services, but he knows the AF inside and out.

First of all, what are his ASVAB scores? Only 25% of the population is qualified to enter the AF. If he has more than two dependents, any sort of police record (regardless of charges filed), a high debt ratio, tatoos etc, he will need to get a waiver to join. You don't need to answer that here, but those are considerations to join the AF.

Obviously Special Ops are just that--special. You need to be very specifically qualified to train for those positions. If that's what your son is interested in, he should ask very specific questions about the program and his qualfications.

Safely-I personally think the AF is the safest (just a little biased! ) But generally, the AF isn't on the ground. So much of the AF job in intel gathering and flying and they don't want the systems or the planes in the direct path. DH has deployed many, many times over the course of 22 years and has never been right in the thick of it all. Now, that isn't to say that there aren't some AF troops on the ground. But DH has had just as many deployments spent living in an apartment in Saudi Arabia or the UAE as he has living in tents in the desert.

Education-This was DH's passion for his squadron. Even as an officer, he received tuition assistance for his first masters. And he has two more masters directly throught Air Force programs. There is tuition assistance, but it depends on what college the active duty person is enrolled and what degree they are working for. But there are several online programs that can be pursued even when deployed. That's one good thing about the AF--generally, there is regular access to phones and computers even when deployed. Most enlisted personel won't complete a 4 year degree in 4 years, but many will take a class or two every semester. As a general observation, I would say the majority of active duty AF who reenlist (after their initial commitment is up) will have some sort of additional education.

As far as jobs outside of the AF, there are many skills that are valuable in the outside world. There are a lot of connections made and most active duty come out of the experience more mature and better prepared. If your son is interested, it's worth looking at. And he doesn't need to enlist right out of high school. In fact, the waiting list for an AF "slot" is about 8 months, IIRC. Some fields have different wait times than others.

I'm not sure where you are located, but DH may know of a recruiter in the area. It's a pretty small world!

[tristanznina]

I've got to say the Coast Guard, they really take care of the person and the family. Education, the sky is the limit!

Also, they leave the service with great work experience

Good luck to your son!

[gojojock]

Hi Ladies! Sorry it took me awhile to post again. My son has very good grades, and he is in many AP classes. The recruiter set him up to take the ASVAB, but he thought that ds would not have a problem with them. He has no debt, tatoos, etc. I feel a lot better hearing your input about the AF being the safest. We actually know the AF recruiter through one of our friends. We realized this today.

I asked the recruiter about the physicals tests, and he said in many cases these are things that coming up during training. No way to tell what tests happen at what stage. Though my son at 18 thinks he can take on the world. I would not want him to be cleaning up nuclear waste, and neither would he.

What jobs did your sons/hubbies have? Did they like them? How did they and you deal with deployments? My son has a serious gf, and I think she is weighing on his mind in regards to enlisting. Any experience with that. Bless you all for helping me through this. I need to make more effort to be on the boards more!

1whoscraps- you must be thrilled that your son is graduating with all he has done. What a proud mama moment!

[Basketlady]

Well, I'm pretty certain that it isn't the military cleaning up nuclear waste, so you can cross that worry off your list! However, there are lots of other crummy jobs that will be on the list.

Jobs-My husband was trained in the intelligence career field, but he has done plenty of other jobs. He's done imagery analysis, worked with the Predator, taught Political Science at the Academy, worked with the GPS program funding, was a recruiting commander... His career path isn't the normal path, which has helped and hindered him. He was deployed a lot early on (very typical of junior officers and enlisted) and we were trying to start a family. So he choose a unique position which allowed him to stay state-side, which led to other opportunities.

Deployments-We have known each other since junior high and started dating in our junior year of high school. We remained together through college and married a month out of college. The deployments are rough, I won't lie. In the early years, I worked a lot of overtime. And I learned a lot about myself and how I really could handle myself when he was gone. We had been together for so many years--it was rough. And in those days, there wasn't any email, phone calls were few and far between and very expensive, and mail was slow. When we finally had kids, I was busy with my mom duties, as well as the yard and other jobs hubby normally did. His last deployment was 4 years ago and we talked to him several times a week and emailed several times a day.

Physical fitness--this may be the biggest if his goal is to be in special ops. And realize that family life is a bit unstable with SO--they aren't always home for dinner and they can't always say were they are and how long they will be gone. But if that's his goal, any physical training he does ahead of time will only benefit him. AF basic training is in San Antonio, Texas. It's hot there. All the time. Just some times are hotter than others. And it's really humid. Lack of sleep, new routines and new food, new rules and new restrictions--it's a pretty intense time. Anything that he can do to help him out will only be a good thing.

School--if he's a good student, he should do well. He will need to complete his training for his career field, but then he will be able to take classes. I'm not sure what the Officer Training School requirements are, but he may want to look into that if he's interested. Officer pay is higher, but there are pros and cons to being an officer. And enlisted advancement in rank is partially tied to testing scores, so a smart kid would do well there.

Hope that helps a bit.

[gojojock]

Thank you so much Michelle. I appreciate all your insight!