RESOURCE - Active Duty Resources (lol if you're still in though)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > RESOURCE - Active Duty Resources (lol if you're still in though)

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

himurak posted:

I'm full on retard so not going in isn't on my radar. I've literally been trying for years, so recommend me some Army (figuring that's the most likely one to take me) jobs that you all would rather be doing. Obviously officer takes preference.

Air Force

# ¿ Apr 7, 2017 23:22

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 00:12

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Pesticide20 posted:

Never join the military

# ¿ Oct 4, 2017 00:12

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

I should write my experience into a concise post and we can make it required reading for people thinking about joining the military.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2017 03:14

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Dick Burglar posted:

So how do you get those jobs, then?

Also going by the goarmy.com site, infantry and armor aren't even listed as reserve options.

Those jobs usually go to academy and ROTC guys, I think.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2017 21:13

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

The Unholy Ghost posted:

Apparently if I enter enlisted with a degree, I'll get a pay boost anyway?

Generally when you enlist with a degree, you start as an E-3 or E-4, depending on the branch of service (couldn't find information for Air Force). Base pay for an E-4 with no prior service is $2,139 a month. That's a bit of a boost over a brand new E-1 making $1,514 a month.

Base pay for a new second lieutenant is $3,108 a month.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2018 22:13

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Godholio posted:

Ok, step one for you is to figure out what you actually want to do. Don't join because it's a steady paycheck. Forfuckingreal do not do that. I recommend starting with where you want to end up, then working backwards from that. For example, if you want to be a defense contractor making $90-100k/year in Ohio turning imagery into powerpoint slides, intel officer is a good path. Public Affairs could be a path into something media-related. I met a PA Lt Col whose loving job was to rub elbows with Hollywood and negotiate the details of USAF assets appearing in movies.

Officer jobs don't correspond exactly to enlisted because they aren't staffed 1-to-1, and they don't do the same work. As an officer you'll be supervising programs and/or people. You probably won't be making many real decisions though, you'll just be the conduit for higher-up guidance to filter down to everyone below (this varies, but is pretty accurate for most career fields, at least for 2Lts). Enlisted, you'll either be the worker bee doing the work that the officer will get credit for, or you'll wonder what the hell you're doing because most of your job is ACTUALLY done by contractors and you find yourself basically being the janitor and/or snack bar operator. You'll also be living in the dorms, dealing with room inspections, being the guy at the bottom of the hill as poo poo rolls down, etc.

Officer accessions recruiters are much rarer than the run-of-the-mill strip mall recruiting office. I was living in Utah when I joined; my nearest OA recruiter was in Bountiful, about a half hour away. She retired shortly after submitting my OTS package (thank god she got all the work done), and I was reassigned to a recruiter in Spokane, WA (who was loving worthless). You can do 95% of the work via phone or email. The only other things I can think of would be an interview with an officer, and the medical exams. For the interview, I think they can do that at the nearest military facility. For me, she brought in a local Air National Guard KC-135 pilot. He wasn't affiliated with the recruiting office at all, he worked at the airport. Medical will be done at MEPS along with everyone else. Note: even at this stage you will see that you are treated better than the enlisted recruits. I had my own hotel room (they did not). I had nobody riding my rear end from exam to exam (they did). I did not have to do loving pushups in the waiting room (some of them did, probably Marine recruits). I was left alone to read my book between steps. If you decide to go after a flying position (pilot, nav, ABM) and you need a flight physical, you'll get that at a military hospital/clinic. If you have to travel for any of that, they'll pay for it. Even though I lived 4 miles from Hill AFB, they flew me to Fairchild AFB in Spokane for my flight physical. Air, hotel, per diem all paid (which was really loving stupid, but whatever).

It's roughly my understanding that officer accessions is deliberately more difficult than enlistments to weed out people who don't want to put in the effort. Would you say that's fair?

# ¿ Jan 22, 2018 02:16

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Counterpoint: You'd have to be in the Army.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2018 17:57

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Vahakyla posted:

Endless �get hosed don�t join� can also ring loving hollow from people who did, you know, join. The cynicism posting only goes so far and then it just becomes meh.

Are you loving kidding me

UP THE BUM NO BABY posted:

Vaha I cynicism post because my friends died or are killing themselves these days.

EBB posted:

Vaha I cynicism post because that lack of life balance no poo poo made me want to kill myself and you loving suck for minimizing that.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2020 04:27

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

UP THE BUM NO BABY posted:

Army bad, don't do it

# ¿ Jul 16, 2021 05:27

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Mustang posted:

going to an expensive grad school program and not paying a dime is a great feeling.

must be nice lol

# ¿ Dec 12, 2021 15:42

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Crab Dad posted:

I got a 98.

Yeah but you still joined up so how smart can you really be?

# ¿ Aug 14, 2022 13:58

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 00:12

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Hadlock posted:

This is linked from the IVFW rules thread as:

so I'm here on that premise (bolded).

I was reading an article about the recent russian flare up and how the russian national guard were the ones who actually dug the trenches on the highway to slow things down. This reminded me we also have a national guard, and then made me curious why russia has one. So my question is, phrased in the context of this thread:

Why would you join the National Guard vs the more traditional US Army/US Marines? And maybe more importantly, what is the real function of the National Guard in 2023. All the wikipedia stuff I've read indicates it's a defense force run by the govenor, but since the spanish american war, from my extremely limited knowledge and perspective, there doesn't seem to be a strong need for state level militias.

Side note, Charles Dick of the Dick Act, or Militia Act of 1903 (which created the National Guard) looks like a creepy version of Nicholas Cage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_Act_of_1903

There's any number of reasons to join the Guard vs the regulars. I joined because I was in college and needed the money. Joining the Guard let me be a soldier part-time while continuing to go to school, joining the active force would have required I put school on hold for four years. Guard soldiers aren't required to move around either, so you end up having things like generational soldiers in one unit. Family tradition is hard to resist.

As for its function in 2023, it's less about having a state level militia in the sense of having a military force at the governor's command and more about having an organized body of bodies in the event of an emergency. I can't think of a better way to build a wall of sandbags in the event of a flood than putting a couple companies worth of privates in place. Trained helicopter pilots to bring in relief supplies. And they're also frequently used to augment the active duty force. Maintaining a gently caress-off huge standing army is expensive. You have to house them, you have to feed them, you have to clothe them, and you have to pay them. You can have a large reserve force that you don't need to house, feed, clothe, and pay 85% of the time but are still mostly trained and mostly ready to go at a reasonable notice.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2023 03:41

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