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droey posted:I'll be graduating with a chemistry/philosophy degree in May. I asked earlier about being diagnosed with depression and being eligible to fly helos. The depression was really just a phase and nothing is really "wrong" with my mental health now. I just had a rough patch in my life. Despite this I've done well in school and it's been my dream to fly since I was a kid. I know that this isn't a guarantee to get in the sky or anything so I've been looking at other things I might enjoy. My experience on this is kind of backwards, but still pretty relevant. I was an EMT-B before I enlisted as a 35T. The stuff you learn as a medic in the Army is about on par with EMT-B, with a very different focus. Guy-on-the-street EMT has much, much more training and experience with medical calls than trauma calls because that's simply what 90% of your calls are in the civilian world. The military centers it's training much more heavily on trauma for obvious reasons even though they do use the same Orange Book as EMT-B civilian training does. There is a pretty hefty amount of cross-over but as far as I'm aware nobody will give you an EMT certification for having been a medic in the military, though at the level of EMT-B it's not hard to test and get certified on your own in the first place. I paid 200 bucks and took a three month class to get Pennsylvania state EMT-B certified on my own before I joined. Do not join the military just for this job on the outside as it's not remotely worth the investment of years of your life. Further, EMT-B as a job pays you precisely zero point diddly gently caress-all. We're talking stones-throw away from minimum wage. I am not in the least exaggerating when I say I made more money at McDonalds when I moved up to management then I did on the ambulance and I got shot at more often riding in that rig then I did ever in the military. (because I was an intel weenie) Don't get me wrong EMS can be a fantastically rewarding career and one I've gone back to do volunteer now that I'm out just because I love it but the pay is poo poo, poo poo and poo poo with a side order of poo poo. If you're going to join the military for something medical make it something worth that kind of investment because EMT-B is not worth years of your life for training. Before I decided to indulge my inner geek and play with cisco routing, linux databasing, active directory and poo poo like that (with a clearance, WOOO!) as a 35T I looked into medical and there's far more lucrative stuff you can get into than medic. Radiological techs can make major, major bank on the outside (70 bucks an hour type bank) and that is one MOS that will straight up transfer to a civilian career. Also, the phrase 'don't loving enlist with a degree' isn't thrown around here so often for funsies. If you've got a chance at it go be a nobleman and shoot for being a physician or something with letters behind your name. If you enlist with a degree I want you to think about this thread every time you're picking up cigarette butts at 5 in the morning because your 'AO' is going to be inspected by someone who didn't enlist with a degree.
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Oct 15, 2012 05:40
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benem posted:If you have a burning desire to do any one specific thing within the military, being an officer probably isn't the way to go. If you don't want every single day of your life to be nothing more than an experiment in how many kinds of new bullshit you can be subjected to in every single aspect of your existence you should probably still go officer. ...just sayin'
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Oct 24, 2012 20:07
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Redfont posted:Apparently my wife was just verbally harassed by a staff sergeant. Is that whole 'being professional in uniform' thing just for tech school or should I let someone know about this? You're gonna have to be a lot more specific than 'verbal harassment' to be taken seriously. If it was a sexually degrading comment then you've probably got something. If it was racial slurs you probably have something unless the right backs have been scratched. If it was an NCO yelling at a junior enlisted and calling them a shitbag or something after they hosed up (for the very broad military definition of 'hosed up'), well, welcome to the military.
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Nov 17, 2012 03:54
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Bright Eyes posted:I see. I had asked a few pages back about if MEPS transferred between branches. I am going through Navy in about 2 weeks and am aiming for CTN (crypto networks basically 35Q) and my recruiter said he's fine with me just wanting to do CTN and is fine if I walk in the event I don't get it. I'm interested to see if he sticks to that if I don't get it. If it's not there when I go, I figured I'd try 35Q through the Army as you can just wait for a slot and I've got a few months before I even want to leave plus I'd have already gone to MEPS. Thanks If you're into geek-stuff and you like fixing things take a look at 35T. I'm horribly biased of course because it was my MOS and I can actually enjoy nerding out about the seven layer OSI model of networking and stuff but something to keep in mind. No idea how many are recruiting at the moment though, even when the Army was at the biggest point during both wars there was like 1300 of us or something in the entire branch. drat good MOS for a job once you get out though.
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Nov 18, 2012 05:42
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35T is really weird for the intel field and at some point in it's history wasn't even considered intel but maintenance. You don't actually deal with intel products at all. No reports, no briefings none of that normal "intel" stuff. You're maintenance for all the fancy whiz-bang toys that all the intel guys use. The training is loving long, 51 weeks or something insane. I've seen, heard of and been personally tasked as the MOS to do anything from satellite communications, electrical maintenance and repair (usually of ancient rear end systems from the '70s that nobody else can understand how to work anymore) to covering for the 6 shop's inevitable gently caress ups and incompetence, meaning you're system admin and IT networking support. It's a really fun MOS, but now for the bad news. You will not make E5. Give up now. The MOS is allergic to promoting anyone to NCO who has a loving clue how to do the job. For the consecutive years I bothered to look before my motivation was ground down into nothingness points were never anything other than maxed out. So sign up, do your time, get out and make fat stacks with contractor dollars.
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Nov 30, 2012 06:22
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I did four years in the Army starting at 27. Not that terrible. It does add an extra layer of suck on things but at that point it's just one among so many that it pretty much gets drowned out by the well orchestrated symphony of suck. Your MOS is the single most important, and last, decision you get to make before you join so do your loving homework. Don't listen to what the recruiter says and the 30 second video he shows you won't tell you dick. Do everything in your power to find someone that does the job and ask them what they do first hand.
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Dec 23, 2012 17:02
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Sir Lucius posted:IT and CTN. IT is a broad communications rate, so you could be doing anything from working on radios to running tech support for a shore command. CTN has something like 5 duty stations, all stateside, and no ships. You could be doing anything like malware persecution, penetration testing, network analysis, etc. Go for CTN. I actually ended up with two CTN guys in my shop in Afghanistan. Most likely not going to happen anymore with the drawdowns but I suppose they can end up in some odd ball places for the Navy like a land-locked country. They were a pretty close match to Army 35T.
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Dec 25, 2012 13:41
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Granted my experience was from like five years ago but the reason I specifically did not join the Air Force is that their paperwork states, once you untangle the legalese, 'You go to basic and if you graduate this is your MOS. Probably. Unless we change our minds, in which case gently caress you do what we say'. I never went any further than that with the Air Force and went around the corner to the Army recruiter asking for their enlistment agreement. That one was as Hekk says, 'This is your MOS and we are contractually obligated to let you attempt the training'. Now if you gently caress up that training and fail out of it that's a whole different ballgame, but you were guaranteed the attempt.
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Jan 4, 2013 15:55
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root beer posted:Could anyone give me a rundown of how being a CTN compares to similar MOSs in other branches? I've read a lot on these forums about being a CTN / 25 series, but not so much about AF field 3D and literally nothing about USMC field 06 (which I suspect may be telling in and of itself). For Army a really close parellel to CTN is actually under the 35 series as 35T. I worked with two individual augmentee CTNs in Afghanistan as a 35T myself and once I got done giving them poo poo for being in a land locked country they had a pretty good handle on about 2/3 of the stuff that a 35T was trained in. 35T is sort of a weird bastard child of intel and maintenance that has bounced back and forth between MOS codes so often most people know it by two or three different codes. It's currently under the intel umbrella because all of the maintenance it does is for intel specifically. It also gives a TS/SCI clearance, 3M fiber certification and you have to pay for your own test, since the Army won't spring for it in AIT, but the training covers everything you need for CCNA. The big thing you come across as a 35T is that you're trained up in a huge variety of systems and techniques because there is absolutely no way to tell what you're going to work on in the "big army". My duties alone consisted of everything from trouble shooting coffee makers (insert officer joke here) to fixed wing air planes and active directory/IT network administration. Other guys that I graduated with have done UAV maintenance or satellite communications.
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Jan 14, 2013 20:43
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JesusDoesVegas posted:Update: Went in yesterday to finish up some brief paperwork, ended up spending 6 hours in the recruiters office. I was originally scheduled for MEPS today, and took off work for the occasion. As it turns out my recruiter hosed up and put me in for tomorrow. Sigh... I want to save this quote. I want it in a time capsule so years later you can look at it, exactly as it is now, and say to yourself 'Oh if only I had known how bad it could really get'. This is the very tippy top of the iceberg of retarded poo poo you will come across. Much of it will be the exact same thing. Exact same. Not all of it, some will change the flavor of poo poo but all of it will be retarded and all of it will be your fault. Somehow. Welcome brother. We all float down here.
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Jan 17, 2013 01:24
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It is a bad idea to commit BAH fraud but holy loving fuckballs does the military go out of it's way to make it attractive. Still don't recommend it but when you're standing outside your room at 4 AM for the third time that month and some dickbag NCO is bitching you out for having trash in your trashcan it's really, really god drat tempting.
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Jan 23, 2013 02:21
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That's not a specific regulation or anything that I've ever heard of. Try a different recruiter at a different station? He may just be trying to hit a quota and feeding you a line of bullshit.
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Jan 29, 2013 00:48
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I worked with CTNs in Afghanistan. After I was done giving them poo poo for being Navy in a land locked country their job seemed to be really cool and pretty close to what I did as an Army 35T and I constantly recommend 35T as a good career choice.
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May 30, 2013 16:33
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Keep in mind the military can suck the fun out of shooting really big guns and blowing poo poo up. The mountains of retarded poo poo that get piled on top of them will turn those exact activities into a gigantic pain in the dick that you get sick of even thinking about and hate with a fiery burning passion. Everyone here can rattle off at least two or three stories of, "Yeah we have to go out and do XYZ and god dammit I don't want to waste the time." Now imagine how much worse it is in a full body condom during 100 degree weather, sucking wind through a charcoal filter.
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Jun 18, 2013 13:31
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Army 35T is pretty drat awesome for playing with electronics. I mean, Army, so yeah....but the MOS itself kicks major rear end. Penn State ended up accepting a total of 48 credits towards an electronics engineering degree when I transferred in because of my MOS training. It requires a year of TRADOC though so be warned. Promotion potential is non existent as a 35T so don't even think of trying to go career if you start as 35T. Hit it and quit it, soak in the GI Bill bennies, roll around in certifications you get as a part of your MOS then get a good job and laugh at all the moto-tarded numbskulls that stay in.
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Jul 1, 2013 21:37
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Megabuttes posted:Maybe not so much nowdays, but there are a few enlisted folk from the surge in the military who failed the ASVAB and still managed to to join the Navy on waivers. Like the DC1 in Pensacola with a 24 ASVAB. You will be working with these people. Working? Don't be so tender about it. Tell him the truth. They will have rank over you because "motivation" and be your supervisors.
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Aug 1, 2013 12:40
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The key is benefits. Sure your by-the-numbers paycheck isn't what others might get. Others don't get an allowance for housing, it comes out of their check and healthcare (if they're lucky enough to have it in the US) costs a fuckton and sucks rear end in its own unique ways as well as coming out of that check. And food, and utilities, and... Deployed pay is federal tax free and more than a few states have all active duty pay state/local tax free (Thanks PA!). GI Bill is also so stupendously good it's beyond words. (it needs to be a good deal because we have a volunteer force but the job blows chunks)
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Aug 6, 2013 12:34
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Sorry to hear that guys. I guess your mileage may vary. PA is really cool about a lot of vet related things, so it has worked out amazingly for me. Maybe move out here?
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Aug 9, 2013 14:07
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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.
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Aug 14, 2013 20:48
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I still judge toilets by their napping comfort out of reflex. Hate those auto flush metal-pole-in-your-back types.
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Aug 15, 2013 20:40
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Another reminder that you don't owe him poo poo, and he won't care about you a month after you're gone. If you want a specific rate don't take something else. This is the last decision you get to make before joining. After that your rear end belongs to someone else.
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Aug 16, 2013 23:23
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Try to spend a few minutes sitting down in the chair before they take your BP. Walking can cause a few minute minor spike in some people. Just one of those body chemistry things and that is typically the exact first thing they do. If you've practiced relaxation techniques or meditation exercises those can mellow you out and a relaxed state will lower it more.
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Aug 20, 2013 00:37
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No, no you're about right.
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Sep 7, 2013 20:25
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Just to further reinforce the point, you owe the recruiter nothing and are under no form of obligation or risk of penalty. Right now you do not exist to the system, the only thing tracking you is some paperwork on the recruiter's desk. If you flat out walked off and never talked to him again nobody besides that recruiter and you would ever know and most likely only one of the two of you would even remember a month from now. This is THE last time in the process of joining that you have any sort of control. Once you're in, your rear end belongs to uncle same in the most literal way possible. Get a sunburn and you can be brought up on charges for "damaging government property". Don't take any of that "We'll fix it later" poo poo because they won't. If it's not in black and white with a signature it didn't happen and they know it.
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Oct 22, 2013 14:09
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Stultus Maximus posted:The charge would be Article 115, Malingering but I have never heard of it actually happening only used as a threat by chiefs. If thats what is on the paper work I'll admit to ignorance of the legal mumbo jumbo. It's not 'dumb' though, I've seen it happen. We were warned to wear sunblock and 'proper uniform at all times'. One guy didn't do either, got sun poisoning on his arms, got quarters and charges.
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Oct 22, 2013 23:24
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not caring here posted:Whether you spend the next 4 or 5 years hating your loving life counting the days until you get out (you probably will) is another story. He's looking at going into a garrison Army. There is no question of hating life. None. At all. If someone joins right now it will be an undeniable fact of life. People like SMA Chandler run the show now, and what a poo poo-show it is.
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Feb 24, 2014 05:33
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35T is really awesome if you actually want to 'work with computers' and not in the bullshit used-car-salesman way they usually slide past people where 'Oh he types in Excel and power point all day, that means working with computers right?' It is for-real intel systems maintenance. You might not end up working just on networks and PCs though, the MOS is a generic catch-all for "fixing and maintaining intel systems that run on electricity and nobody else knows how to fix", so I know some guys who ended up running satellite communications, others from my class worked on air planes, and the year I spent in Afghanistan was a combination of Help Desk stuff (which sucked balls because your "customer" can be a Lt. Colonel who doesn't give a gently caress about physics he wants XYZ done) and stuff you would find in a CCNA course or SQL server maintaining and production (which was cool because I am a nerd and enjoy it). edit: Of course all of this requires joining the military, so as cool as the job can possibly be you're a still dumb mother fucker like the rest of us if you join.
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Feb 24, 2014 20:42
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Godholio posted:You are always just a body, but sometimes you get to do your actual job and then be hosed around with by having to do other poo poo. Can't let people thinking about joining get any wrong ideas.
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Apr 8, 2014 22:02
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LingcodKilla posted:Beats me, people told me similar stuff about debt going in but this guy insists I prove I'm not a deadbeat dad running out on his family like the last mythical guy he swore had his waiver rejected for a similar reason and amount of dependents. My how the times have changed. I had dudes in line with me for the MEPS physical furiously chugging water and 'system cleansers' that are probably still in the Army somewhere making some underlings lives miserable. I KNOW dudes came in with ri-loving-diculos debts they were running from too.
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Apr 24, 2014 04:31
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LingcodKilla posted:Yeah I got a rather short one hour run around during my physical for them imputing my name wrong by one letter and put me down as full time navy (too old for it in any case). This will be every day while you're in. The military runs on its paperwork. More specifically loving up its paperwork and leaving you to fix it when (if) you find out. If something is important keep copies of your own and never lose them. Years after getting out someone will do an inventory, find something is missing and try to blame you then take your money.
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Jun 5, 2014 00:55
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Loden Taylor posted:Anyone have experience with going through Army basic in their 30s? I'm gearing up to go in as a 42R, Army Musician. I've got a good number of friends currently in the bands, so I've got an idea of what I'm in for, but they mostly went in right after college when they were in their mid 20s. I did basic at 27. If you have actual no-poo poo issues you won't make it past MEPS. With todays recruiting climate you may very well not make it past without any issues anyway. As long as you can do the three events that give a score the rest is stupid moto bullshit that everyone will get yelled at for even if they do good enough to get a check in the box. With the theoretical maturity that comes with age (being less retarded than an 18 year old. A high bar to clear) you will probably get tagged with stupid moto bullshit "student leadership". Noticing a stupid moto bullshit pattern? If you go in just keep your head down, mouth shut, ears open and color in the lines.
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Jul 5, 2014 16:10
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ArbitraryTA posted:Mind you at the start of this I was convinced I wouldn't get enlisted, much less a clearance. I've been dealing with nothing but bullshit going downhill for 3 months straight and it's made me a bit grim as to any prospects I may have. You're not even in yet. Imagine that bullshit magnified as much as you can imagine. Now imagine it in control of every single aspect of your life from the time you wake up until the time...haha fooled you it doesn't stop when you're asleep because you probably won't get to sleep. Also you are not imagining hard enough. And it doesn't stop, ever, for years on end. You've been warned.
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Jul 25, 2014 03:53
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Cole posted:Lie, cheat, and steal your way to living in the meantime if you have to. All of this will be preparation for doing time as an enlisted. You will also learn to sham like you have never shammed before if you're half intelligent. I mean, not that you are if you're considering enlisting but let's say on a comparative scale.
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Aug 17, 2014 01:41
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Did the Air Force recently change its policy or something? When I enlisted I went to the Air Force first and then walked out the door when I read the part of their contract that said "This will be your job. Probably. Unless we change our mind. If we do when you graduate from basic you'll get whatever the gently caress job we want." When I saw stuff like that in a legally binding document I went all 'NOPE' and started looking at the other branches.
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Sep 24, 2014 23:06
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Pon de Bundy posted:So he was basically like "oops sorry son" my GPA is too low, he just didn't check before. But he did remind me I'd come into the NAVY as a SWEET E-3 if I enlisted. Now apply that outcome and level of other-people-caring to every single possible aspect of your life you can imagine, and then keep going because I guarantee with absolute certainty you are not imagining enough. What country you live in, where you are allowed to look when talking to someone, what time you go to sleep, where you should be every minute of every day, what clothing you need to wear during that time, what words you must say when you see a person. Go back to that recruiter and thank him for keeping you out, it's the best thing they could have ever done for you.
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Feb 27, 2015 07:52
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Nobody in the service does computer coding. Everything like that is done by contractors. Can still get decent jobs that will give you certifications and stuff. Mostly maintenance though. Coding won't happen.
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Mar 15, 2015 21:18
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Aranan posted:Whoa, whoa. Hold on. ...and as a 35T it will never go any further. Enjoy.
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Mar 25, 2015 01:31
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Does this count as a GiP half save or is being a nasty girl still failure?
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Mar 31, 2015 06:17
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I worked with CTN augmentees in afghanistan where we gave them no end of poo poo about being in a landlocked country while learning their job was really, really similar to mine in the army (35T). If you can get that rate, take it. It is most definitely getting the best out of a lovely situation. Electronics experience + TS/SCI with poly = loving bank. As for the ASVAB, yeah there are study guides and it can't hurt to do it but don't sweat it. If you understood stuff in high school, not just passed, you'll ace it.
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Sep 10, 2015 17:36
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Zetta_Slow posted:The diagnosis was in early 2012/2013 due to me starting at a university, having issues with the giant class sizes Just out of curiosity about these two points, is this something that is still a problem with you? Cause no joke you're going to spend months sleeping in a totally open bay with 59 of your closest buddies all snoring away and furiously masturbating in the shared bathroom stall then walking around you and counting the weapons hung up on the end of your bed while you sleep. Then if you deploy there's a more than fair chance you'll end up living/sleeping in a gently caress-off huge tent with two to three times that many other people where all you have is part of a bunkbed and a teensy little locker, both of which are crammed full of gear and almost nothing of yours personally. You probably won't get electrocuted when you walk down the block to the shower that 30 other guys are using at the same time. Probably, I think they fixed most of those. That is where you will LIVE, where you go for stuff like training or to do your job will be much, much bigger crowds.
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Nov 8, 2015 03:27
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