|
Smoke Crack posted:If AD will pay you more than a civilian RN gig you're doing it wrong. I'm an LVN in the Bay Area making almost $30/hr at a substandard nursing home. It looks like an O2 grosses about $3314/mo. Giving another $1000 for BAH, that's $4313/mo as an RN. Not exactly sure how the taxes work out but that's about what I make. Once I'm an RN my salary could double. Then again, the Bay Area probably pays nurses more than just about anywhere else in America. So if the OP is working some lovely SNF in Alabama, joining the Navy might pay more. Especially if it pays off loans for nursing school. But now I'm just speculating.
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 00:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 14:00 |
|
|
Nurses in the midwest aren't making the kind of money nurses in big cities / the coasts are for your actual hospital staff floor nurses. Everyone knows about someone making rear end tons of money as a float nurse or doing traveling nursing or getting in on a stupid paying gov contract... but the vast majority of nurses are still just good old hospital employees working a floor making somewhere between 19 to 24 dollars an hour for a good chunk of the start of their careers. I mean, someone has to fill those jobs, it can't be all travelling / float nurses making 35+ bucks an hour on the coasts or in big cities...
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 01:09
|
|
|
Christoff posted:That's weird. The contract nurses at my work in a fairly low-income area made something ridiculous like $40-45 an hour. Try to get a Military contract gig. Yeah, all the nurses do all day is gossip and tell the corpsmen what to do anyway. They tried telling me to do something one day that I was just chilling on ambulance duty and I laughed and walked back into my room at the hospital.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 01:15
|
|
|
Oxford Comma posted:I'm an LVN in the Bay Area making almost $30/hr at a substandard nursing home. It looks like an O2 grosses about $3314/mo. Giving another $1000 for BAH, that's $4313/mo as an RN. Not exactly sure how the taxes work out but that's about what I make. Once I'm an RN my salary could double. That $3314/month is fully taxable. BAH, BAS, etc however is not.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 01:18
|
|
|
Right so I would like to go in as a navy CTN. What other jobs are nice and cushy to put down for second etc. Choices?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 05:43
|
|
|
IT or HM if you're into medicine
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 05:52
|
|
|
Oxford Comma posted:I'm an LVN in the Bay Area making almost $30/hr at a substandard nursing home. It looks like an O2 grosses about $3314/mo. Giving another $1000 for BAH, that's $4313/mo as an RN. Not exactly sure how the taxes work out but that's about what I make. Once I'm an RN my salary could double. I'm in Florida where unions are an unknown entity and RNs make about 40k to start. I make about 42k, my wife with 3yrs experience makes about 48k. Plus with the school loans, its an embarrassing amount that we owe. The nursing market is saturated everywhere and they're being very picky.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 06:49
|
|
|
Cacafuego posted:I'm in Florida where unions are an unknown entity and RNs make about 40k to start. I make about 42k, my wife with 3yrs experience makes about 48k. Plus with the school loans, its an embarrassing amount that we owe. The nursing market is saturated everywhere and they're being very picky. Out here every nurse is in a union and we make bank. Then again we have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to live here, but...yeah. I think the hospitals here pay RNs upwards of $60/hr, as well. Sometimes more.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 14:42
|
|
|
KittyEmpress posted:Right so I would like to go in as a navy CTN. What other jobs are nice and cushy to put down for second etc. Choices? Someone here picked up MC last time, which what I hear is a pretty good gig.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 15:41
|
|
|
So I noticed on my paperwork it asks if I have any heart conditions, including Mitral Valve Prolapse - which I was diagnosed with a long time ago. I don't take any medication for it and I have no limits on my physical activities, but the last time I ever had it checked out I was 18, I'm 24 now. Should I even mention it or what?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 17:15
|
|
|
If it literally poses no problems at all, and will not need treatment ever, then I would not put that poo poo down. If, however, you are going for a TS/SCI/polygraph/whatever, I would probably mention it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 17:41
|
|
|
NO NEW NEWS Sasgrillo gosh
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 17:54
|
|
|
So I'm a 20 year old male with no college experience whatsoever, and am being pushed quite heavily by the parents to join the military somewhere. I have smoked marijuana in the past, though obviously I'm going to have to stop (I have). I've also got issues with depression and anxiety which I'm sure that will go away with a bit of forced discipline and continuous work. I would like to go to school for computer networking/security here, and if I'm going to wind up in some form of the military I would like to do something similar at least. I think it would be better for me to enlist than to try to seek a commission as I really don't think I should be handed any responsibility at this point as I am a sack of poo poo. I would like to better myself, but doing what I'm doing now isn't going to change anything so I thought I'd ask what your guys' opinion on the matter is. I'm being told that the Navy or Air Force would be better for me unless I really wanted to get out and shoot things (which I'm not particularly enthused about, but will do if it's whats available). Any thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 17:54
|
|
|
DocImpossible posted:So I'm a 20 year old male with no college experience whatsoever, and am being pushed quite heavily by the parents to join the military somewhere. I have smoked marijuana in the past, though obviously I'm going to have to stop (I have). I've also got issues with depression and anxiety which I'm sure that will go away with a bit of forced discipline and continuous work. Do you want to join?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 17:56
|
|
|
MancXVI posted:Do you want to join? No. I don't, however, believe I have any right to determine what I want to do. I've been a complete and utter failure at trying to do what I want to do and I feel like I need to do something that will change things. Everyone around me says that the military will do this for me, even one of my oldest brothers who did worse than me before joining up. He himself is currently an E5, or a "Tech Sergeant" (I'm going to have to learn all the terminology and whatnot, yeah), stationed in South Carolina. I'm not sure what I'm allowed to reveal about him with his rank, but he says that it's the best thing he could have ever done for himself. I figure if he can do it, there's no real reason why I can't.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 18:04
|
|
DocImpossible posted:So I'm a 20 year old male with no college experience whatsoever, and am being pushed quite heavily by the parents to join the military somewhere. I have smoked marijuana in the past, though obviously I'm going to have to stop (I have). I've also got issues with depression and anxiety which I'm sure that will go away with a bit of forced discipline and continuous work. I hae known people that have joined with mental or emotional issues in their past, and it has not always worked out very well for them; the military is not always a very understanding place, especially if you need help dealing with something like that. If this is just a minor issue, like say maybe counseling after the death of a relative or parents divorce, then sure no big deal. Go for it, and im sure youll do well and get what you want of the military, if you have actual no poo poo problems with depression and anxiety then the Navy may make them much, much worse. Four years is a long time to be miserable if you are unhappy.
|
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 18:07
|
|
|
Beria posted:Four years is a long time to be miserable if you are unhappy. I agree. However would it better to be miserable and doing something productive, or miserable and sitting at home pursuing an online education because I can't afford anything else all the while having to deal with a family that likely wants me to go to the military to get me out of their way and not have to worry about me? Also I'm not too worried about being miserable in the military. In the past whenever I have been properly taught how I should act and how to do my job, my depression an anxiety just completely melts away. So after the first few months after boot camp, I think I'll be mostly fine. DocImpossible fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Aug 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
Well if you finish your four years you will have the GI Bill. Which rules. But the military has a nasty habit of making mental issues into suicides.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 18:22
|
|
DocImpossible posted:I agree. However would it better to be miserable and doing something productive, or miserable and sitting at home pursuing an online education because I can't afford anything else all the while having to deal with a family that likely wants me to go to the military to get me out of their way and not have to worry about me? Define "productive." Even with force reductions, there are still a poo poo load of people who just around all day essentially doing nothing in the military, at all levels. Have you looked into financial aid for schools? Pell grants, Fafsa? All that stuff is still available to you now, as a civillian. If youre really interested in getting an education, and If you really want (not feel like you have to because of your family) to join the military for those benefits, then be prepared to possibly be dealing with some of the dumbest motherfuckers you could imagine for the next four years. And you probably won't get shot in the navy or the air force, but you may be stationed on a big lovely boat youre responsible for maintaining, away from your friends and family for long times, or a really crappy AF base somewhere in the rear end in a top hat of America no ones ever heard of, with nothing to do but go to wal mart and drink in the barracks. I'm not trying to scare you away from the military, I was in the navy for four years and loved most of my time in, but just be aware it's not something "to do" because someone wants you to. I saw a lot of those people come and go with other than honorable discharges because they realized too late they made the wrong decision.
|
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 18:22
|
|
|
Beria posted:Define "productive." Even with force reductions, there are still a poo poo load of people who just around all day essentially doing nothing in the military, at all levels. I define productive as doing something that will better myself. It doesn't necessarily have to be constant busy work, just something that will help improve myself somehow. I have the discipline to stick things out, even if things are horrible. Or at least, I can force myself to deal with horrible situations. Probably the biggest reason why I, myself, would want to join is that in boot camp (from what I've heard) they force you into set routines which eventually teach you how to properly take care of yourself when you're out and on your own. I think I really need that at least. I think it's a decent trade off anyways. Four years of military to have the skills to survive in life, plus whatever schooling? Sounds good to me. As for financial aid, my parents make enough to disqualify me for virtually everything while at the same time they are unable to help whatsoever with school due to cost of living and debt accrued. The best I could do would be loans, and nobody will give me a loan without a cosigner, or I've got to be over 21 with at least a mildly ok credit score (or at least that's what I keep being told by everyone). Both of which I don't have, as I have not cultivated credit at all. DocImpossible fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Aug 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 18:31
|
|
|
DocImpossible posted:I define productive as doing something that will better myself. At least 90% of the military can't legitimately claim to have done this.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 19:43
|
|
|
Do yourself and the military a favor: do not enlist or commission with the intent of having the military sort out your life. This is a terrible idea and will cause, what is mostly likely, a goddamn nightmare for you, your fellow service members, and your future command. edit: that might be a contrarian position on GiP considering many of us are probably not totally pieced together pre/post military. bloops fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Aug 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:00
|
|
|
holocaust bloopers posted:Do yourself and the military a favor: do not enlist or commission with the intent of having the military sort out your life. This is a terrible idea and will cause, what is mostly likely, a goddamn nightmare for you, your fellow service members, and your future command. I've never really believed that military service would magically fix everything in my life. Just maybe make me a little less of a gently caress up. Hopefully it would point me in the right direction at least.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
DocImpossible posted:I've never really believed that military service would magically fix everything in my life. Just maybe make me a little less of a gently caress up. Hopefully it would point me in the right direction at least. I sincerely wish for that to happen to you but the military is an environment where the expectation is for a new member to practically change their way of living overnight. It's, for a lack of a better word, daunting. And then what if you get stuck with a job you hate or work for people who are dipshits or a bad assignment? There's so many variables that go into having a pleasant military experience. And in all honesty, I did 10 years having an extremely cush time being a lazy rear end, pompous aircrew poster boy for the USAF. I still had to deal with short notice TDY's, extended periods of time away from home, seeing my family maybe once a year, working with idiots, etc. In short, military service is hard and presents new, unforeseen difficulties that could prove to be too much for some. I just don't want to see a guy go in expecting to leave better than before but have a terrible outcome. edit: I'm only one guy with a narrow viewpoint. Hear out other dudes on GiP before taking my word for gospel.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:21
|
|
|
Your military service, in the end, is what you make of it. I know that's a hack way of saying but it's true.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:26
|
|
|
Ya but some dudes are dealt way more poo poo to deal with than others.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:33
|
|
|
The random factor of being hosed over by a lovely command structure can't be over stated. Granted, some people get lucky and surf through with a good time while some people just have a little poo poo thrown their way. If the luck of the draw is against you and the leaders you are FORCED to be under, with absolutely zero choice, are lovely you can have entire years of your life suck poo poo like you cannot imagine without going through it. I've seen guys denied going to a family funeral because hfarglblargh.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:48
|
|
|
It should also be stated that peacetime military during a massive budget crisis is loving awful.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:58
|
|
|
So what I'm getting out of this is that if I do go in, I should expect to be shat upon by any and all COs unless proven otherwise, yeah?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:06
|
|
|
Pretty much, yes. And shat on in ways you haven't thought of.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:07
|
|
|
Yep!!! Expect the worst; hope for the best. Be pleasantly surprised otherwise.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:07
|
|
|
Wouldn't it be the same in the civilian sector though? Unless you're really lucky, it's likely that you're going to get a horrible boss that you have to put up with or risk losing your job anyways. Biggest difference would be (I think) that if you decide to tell your CO to go eat a bag of dicks that you could be locked up for a while as well as losing your job and possibly even having to pay them for any education that you didn't finish or serve your time for. At that point the only difference is jail time, as being a civilian I would have to pay for my schooling anyways and jail would be just like being unemployed only its jail, and it would stick with you a lot longer than a period of unemployment.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:14
|
|
|
No
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:16
|
|
|
There isn't a true 1:1 of mil/civ life. While there are similarities, the enormous and impressive amount of ways the military can mandingo you are almost too vast to comprehend. Ask yourself this: why does the military offer free college and the promise of paying you compensation for emotional and physical damaged incurred while serving? When there's money tossed at you, it's not so much as a good deal but a means to somewhat offset the deep, thorough dicking you'll receive. Edit: I should say it again. Some of us got off with much less poo poo than others. It's kind of a roll of the dice with a healthy dollop of luck. bloops fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Aug 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:17
|
|
|
Alright, well seeing as how this is the general opinion everywhere I've asked (including family), I'll have to really think on what I want to do here. I still think it would be better to have to deal with the dicking of the military than to sit at home and go nowhere with my life, but I will at least make an effort to think this time instead of rushing headlong into whatever catches my fancy. Thanks guys
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 21:39
|
|
|
DocImpossible posted:I've never really believed that military service would magically fix everything in my life. Just maybe make me a little less of a gently caress up. Hopefully it would point me in the right direction at least. We got one of my airmen discharged because he tried this. Not counting tech school, he had about 6 months in the "real" Air Force and was lazy and worthless when they tried to toss him the first time. Paperwork didn't have all the I's dotted and T's crossed, so over the next 3 months we let him be himself and BAM...discharged. The military isn't a loving babysitter. For reference, this guy just couldn't get himself out of bed on time, missed all kinds of appointments, vanished from work, took naps on the shitter, and was just consistently so pathetic at his job that the whole time he was in an operational flying squadron, he NEVER finished getting fully qualified. Edit: If you're not completely worthless and a drain on the intelligence in the room, it might work out for you. But at least honestly assess how big a fuckup you are. Godholio fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Aug 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 22:08
|
|
|
DocImpossible posted:Wouldn't it be the same in the civilian sector though? Unless you're really lucky, it's likely that you're going to get a horrible boss that you have to put up with or risk losing your job anyways. Biggest difference would be (I think) that if you decide to tell your CO to go eat a bag of dicks that you could be locked up for a while as well as losing your job and possibly even having to pay them for any education that you didn't finish or serve your time for. At that point the only difference is jail time, as being a civilian I would have to pay for my schooling anyways and jail would be just like being unemployed only its jail, and it would stick with you a lot longer than a period of unemployment. Jail hahahaahahahaha. You won't go to jail, your chain of command will just make your life a living hell. holocaust bloopers posted:There isn't a true 1:1 of mil/civ life. QFT
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 01:04
|
|
|
DocImpossible posted:I define productive as doing something that will better myself. It doesn't necessarily have to be constant busy work, just something that will help improve myself somehow. I have the discipline to stick things out, even if things are horrible. Or at least, I can force myself to deal with horrible situations. Probably the biggest reason why I, myself, would want to join is that in boot camp (from what I've heard) they force you into set routines which eventually teach you how to properly take care of yourself when you're out and on your own. I think I really need that at least. There's a ton of reasons to tell you to wave off of all of this, but I'll say this much.. You may benefit from getting your poo poo together in a basic training environment and having some discipline in your technical training or whatever. If you really think that one of the things separating you from being successful is that you've pretty much failed and are loving up completely at life... It would probably do you a world of good if you went into it with the intent of starting a new life and just going that route. Nobody here is going to say that it had a positive influence on their lives as an 18 year old or whatever when they joined-- but for a lot of people it does have a positive effect. Amazingly none of them seem to post here, which I think is more indicative of the sense of humor around here, and less about the actual experiences everyone's more or less shared. If you go for this though, you should really understand that loving up a little on the civ side isn't the same as loving up a little on the inside of the military. You can and will get your life completely loving wrecked if you join up and do loving stupid things (Drugs, bad check writing, stealing, being an accessory to any of the 100 felonies taking place at any moment in the poo poo-bird mafia) you will have your entire life ruined. The military takes that poo poo seriously. If you work hard, apply yourself, and do your best you can have a positive experience out of it and also be eligible for a wide array of benefits as a servicemember / veteran. If you gently caress it up, your not even getting Social Security when you turn 62, and won't even be able to work a night shift at Wendys. Plenty of folks have used the military to unfuck themselves. Sometimes you'll see guys around here talking about how loving retarded and immature they were before they joined, and then they did a 4 year stint, grew up, and are now starting new lives getting an education and being good responsible adults. We don't really poo poo on that idea because it's just nice to see the whole thing working out for someone.. I think folks will be quick to poo poo on your idea of joining the military as a corollary, because it really does sound like you're destined to failure in the military, which has much higher consequences than a failure as a civilian.. And nobody wants to see that happen to anyone, because it really sucks. So it's just something to keep in mind man. I hope this rambling mess helped a little at least.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 06:35
|
|
|
Hopefully I can help a little Doc, since I was once in shoes fairly similar to your own. I've been in the military almost a year and a half now and it's probably pushed me in a good direction. I was a very lazy college student (commuter student at that) that wasn't going to see through a degree of any sort. One of my co-workers at my previous job had just retired as a USAF MSgt, and he was one of the best people I've ever met. So I basically spent a year committing myself to making sure I don't gently caress this up. So far its worked out and I'm back in college albeit I can't get classes in my major since the one school here that offered a math degree dropped the program recently. Now I also went in differently than you. I was just lazy, however, I wasn't really a gently caress up since I still had positive things going for me. I also was able to get over half of my college done before joining and joined really only for the education. I've also been pretty lucky since I've gotten in. I got pushed intel due to a clean record, and I drew Ramstein as my first duty location. If you commit to it, you'll probably be alright. You'll hear people time and time again in this thread say that if you're a lazy gently caress up, don't join. Those people that do end up being assholes that everyone hates, fucks up everything for their unit, and possibly gets themselves booted for being a gently caress up in general. Plus you'll hate it since, as stated before, your superiors will make your life a living hell. However, if you go in with the right mindset, no matter what you were like in the past, you probably won't resent it as much. There are advantages to be gained in the military, but you have to be committed to being at least a decent worker and be ready to take a mountain of the crazy poo poo the military throws at you at the same time.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 07:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 14:00 |
|
|
Regardless, the majority of the people that join the Military are those that fit your exact demographic. Can't get through college, looking for discipline/whatever, etc. Then again that's why our senior leadership is so hosed and fucks us so hard. Because they have 4 kids and a fat wife and have no choice but to stay in and take out how disgruntled they are on us. It's a viscious cycle. Ces't la vie Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Aug 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 09:26
|
|