Hubby to join US Military

[SteveB]

I will second the statements of MM3 Bishop. First the Navy has been under reported in this thread. Second, like my tour in the Air Force, the opportunities for advancement are very sweet in some career fields. I was E-3 straight out of A.I.T. (MOS School for the Army and Marines). Within a year I was an E-4. The career field that MM3 Bishop has chosen is one that the military has designated for fast track advancement. He should do well in the Navy.

For all you civilians out there.
Enlisted pay grades are E-1 through E-9, with E-1 being the lowest pay, and E-9 the highest.
MOS = Military Oriented Specialty, A.I.T. = Air Institute of Technology.
In the Marines, Army and Air Force, people are addressed by their rank. E.G. Private, Sergeant, Specialist, Master Sergeant. In the Navy, people are addressed by their function MM = Machinist Mate

Also in the Navy... if it floats it is called a vessel, if it travels below the surface it's a boat, or at least when I was stationed on a vessel called a sub tender.

Inter service digs:
U.S. Army = Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet or Gravel Crunchers.
U.S. M.C. = Uncle Sam's Misguided Children or Jarheads
U.S.A.F = U Sure Are F......d or Uncle Sams Flying Funny Farm, or Fly boys.
U.S.C.G. = Uncle Sams Creative Gourmets.
U.S. Navy = The squids.
and many more... I have had the privilege to be stationed with Marines, Army and Navy. The Marines were my tent mates in Vietnam, The Army in a transportation unit in Germany, and during NATO operations with the Navy on board a sub tender. All of us would dig each other's service, but it was our own means of respect for each other and the service to which each of us belonged.

Serving in the Air Force almost guarantees being on aircraft at some point or another. Serving in the Navy almost guarantees being aboard a ship at some point or another. A Navy vessel is so huge it is like being in a city on a large island. The Army can almost guarantee seeing the sandbox at some point or another. The Marine Corps can guarantee that you might not be in the sandbox on rare occasions. The Coast Guard has been moved from the Department of defense to the Department of Homeland Security, and I am wicked out of date as to the conditions in that service.

Choose well based on how you wish to honour our forefathers in keeping the torch of freedom alive.

Slainte

[Dirka Skene]

Well, we talked to an Air Force recruiter today. She told my husband if he enlisted for 6 years up front that he would be an E3 after only 20 weeks of service. It took our brother-in-law a year to get that rank. I guess that's Uncle Sam's way of hooking you in for two more years. She acted like it would take him months to get into the Air Force after he gets his Adult High School Diploma. The Army recruiter said he'd be shipping off next week if he already had it. Any reason for the difference? And, lets say I wanted to finish my Bachelor's while he's enlisted. Are there any acedemic perks that would benefit spouses of servicemen? I meant to ask the recruiter about that but I was distracted by my very active Wee Bitty trying to pull an air freshener out of the wall and rearrange a very neat pile of military magazines.

[thescot]

berserkbishop chided me for my seemingly disparaging remarks about the Marine Corps Taxi Service, aka, the Navy. I would never say anything intentionally derogatory about so fine a group of warrior chauffers.

Nuff joking.

I would advise anyone interested in the military to give the Navy a very serious look. It is big, it has everything all the other services have, it has more money, they eat well, and--I say again--they are more interested in getting the job done than in being "military." They don't spend so much time marching, standing in straight lines, or polishing brass as the Army or the Corps. That's not derogatory, just a fact.

Don't sign on the dotted line until you check them out. Naval Intelliegence is really a great option, but then, so is a Machinist's Mate.

My father was in the Seabees in WWII, and there's not a better construction outfit than that.

[dfmacliam]

On most bases.. Several schools offer classes for education.. When I was in, it was refered to as continueing education... as I previously mentioned, my Dad earned a Masters Degree... it was through night school and such..

[Dirka Skene]

Well, the veterans that I know aren't that bad off. I wouldn't have any complaints if I were them. I have several vets in my family, who know several more. None of whom are homeless. I know a few who retired from the military, got second careers and retired from those and are now living off two pensions. An old school mate of mine was wounded in Iraq. He's a double amputee. He is being better taken care of than the majority of civilian amputees in America. I dunno, maybe it depends on what you want to do when you get out of the military.

[Dirk Skene]

Well, the veterans that I know aren't that bad off. I wouldn't have any complaints if I were them. ...........

Hi Princess, Our family has a very long history of military history. The ONLY reason I did not go in is because I got "caught" when I tried to join the Marine Corps. I tried to fake the physical and almost made it

[Dirka Skene]

Oh I didn't say they don't exist. I just don't think that my husband and I are likely to be homeless in the future. We have too many resources. We also have an awesome support system of family and friends. We both have family that has been in the military and will help us cope. My mother and father-in-law are two of the most awesome people ever and I will be staying with them while my husband is in Basic Training and AOT. I won't be alone, and he won't have to worry while he's away.

[dfmacliam]

I have yet to meet someone who is homeless because they were veterans.. I met some who happened to be veterans.... I also found that police, firemen, or any job that keeps one working long hours, or travel, or stress related jobs, have a simular divorce rate as the military.. You can blame a lot of issues on a lot of things..but solely because a person is serving.. It's not the blame.. It's a human issue..

[starbkjrus]

Ok, Forum Advocate Hat OFF.......

I'm sure I'll get blasted for this but I don't much care...you and hubby need to go into this eyes wide open....

The military is one of the most honorable professions there is and I applaud you and Celtic Menace for considering it. I also concede that you have a family with a lot of military experience so you definitely have a leg up there but I have to add to this with my own observations.

My Brother-in-law made a career out of the US Air Force. In the mid to late 1970's they were stationed at March AFB California in Riverside. At the time they were assigned there my B-I-L was a Lt. Col and was later promoted to Colonel. The officer's housing was exemplary. Absolutely lovely in the middle of the base and (in the middle of a desert) was lush and inviting. Salaries and allowances were good. I'm a good bit younger than my sister and used to spend summers there with them as a teenager.

As with any officer's, wife charities and committees are expected and my sister was no exception. Many times did I go with her into the NCO / Enlisted personnel housing complex and I have to say it was pure squalor.

One of the major charities she was working with was one that supported enlisted personnel's families. Housing was very sub-standard and a large part of the inhabitants (remember these were military families in base housing) were on food stamps just to make ends meet. It was one of the saddest most disgusting things I've ever seen - the fact that the US Government couldn't bother to pay it's soldiers a wage above the poverty line. I have been turned off on the military ever since. They look after each other in battle / deployment but don't (or didn't ) seem to be able to care for their own here on our own country.

I urge you to go well past the recruiters and the smoke they blow up you know where and go find some REAL enlisted personnel living in the current environment that you will have to live in.

Before you end up in sub-standard housing, on food stamps and raising the kids by yourself while Celtic Menace is deployed and not able to help you should look at ALL the scenarios. Both the real ones and the ones the recruiters show you.
I'm very interested in hearing some true scenarios from those who are active military.

Just bringing some realism into this one folks.

/Forum Advocate's hat BACK ON


We will be watching this thread for civility.

[berserkbishop]

Dont know that I would argue with you at all Dee. I am currently enlisted, and single on E-4 pay. I live in the barracks, but some of my married shipmates reside in Navy housing. They arent that bad really.

I think it would be difficult to provide for a family on E-4 salary personally. Anyone interested can look up how much that is. Now of course this is base pay, no allotments added.

With the Navy's basic allowance for housing allotment, life is a little easier and it is enough to cover a nice place. (I cant speak as to how the other branches run allotments). Some rates (like mine) also get many other allotments which really add up.

A family on enlisted pay is do able, but while you are low on the totem pole you really have to accept that you may to make sacrifices, and wont have the nicest things, but it can be done, and with better than substandard living.

Bishop