Xian Saint Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 As always...pleasure to see you around Jester... This information is spot on and also a majority of it applies to all the branches (though terms and wording may vary), not just the Army. A lot of the little details...you wont find on the official sites...but might be instrumental in the decision making process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 As always...pleasure to see you around Jester... This information is spot on and also a majority of it applies to all the branches (though terms and wording may vary), not just the Army. A lot of the little details...you wont find on the official sites...but might be instrumental in the decision making process. While I know a good bit about the other services from working many years on joint tours with all of them, I decided to stay focused on the Army in my posts in the interest of time. Like Saint said, some of the stuff still applies, though some of the terms differ. There are enough folks with experience in the other services here to fill in the blanks, I figured. Sorry, I meant to say that in one of my posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Personal opinion here, not really a pointer on joining: No matter what job you do, if you serve, you are doing a great thing for your country. Many men and women have died in service to their country (no matter which country you're from) in order to protect their way of life. It's been overshadowed this year, but there are still servicemembers in the 'stan, fighting AQ and the Taliban guys that helped them. Don't forget why we're doing that. Anyway, my point is that any job you hold in the military is important. You may not feel like it sometimes, but whatever you do is all part of a huge team that needs every part doing its' job in order to function. You may not directly be in combat, or even be deployed, but what you do is often important to those that are. Serve with pride and do the best you can at everything - your job, PT, and being a soldier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruin Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 What about the officers? Different world, entirely. What do you want to know? Anything and everything... I can't ever get a straight up answer from a recruiter. Every time I mention West Point, they look at me funny and say that I don't want to be an Officer and that I should enlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osokdfgr Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 I know it, I emialed a recruiter and didnt get what I wanted........that emial was FILLED with propaganda. also, the U.S. mariene website is better than the U.S. Army website.....ahhaha! The mariens beat the army in combat and in cyberspace! too funny... ok ok....sorry.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruin Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 *cough* That's an Army Website. Sorry, had to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osokdfgr Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 I know west point is army http://www.marines.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZJJ Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 FYI - Links to all the military branches and academies in the U.S. are posted on the first page of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Hour Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 Just wanted to say nice posts Jester. I'm finding all of this very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconSnake Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 Every time I mention West Point, they look at me funny and say that I don't want to be an Officer and that I should enlist. Their job is to get kids to enlist. Keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Anything and everything... You have to give me some more specific questions than that, otherwise I'm just going to ramble on and may not touch on things that are important to you. There's an awful lot to tell if you just say 'everything'. I don't have much time around here these days, as you may have noticed. Every time I mention West Point, they look at me funny and say that I don't want to be an Officer and that I should enlist. See comment above. That's the recruiter's job - to get people to enlist. He couldn't care less about people going after commissions. Please note also that he's not an officer, so of course he's going to tell you that you don't want to be one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 FYI - Links to all the military branches and academies in the U.S. are posted on the first page of this thread. Gee, I wonder who did that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Splash Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Jester - He isn't just leaving GR.net and AGR-S.com, he is leaving the WWW, and that takes some doing. Did I miss something DS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 BTW, in reviewing what I've missed in this thread, I've noticed some people throwing out lots of advice about how to get in shape. Before any of you try any of that advice out, please keep in mind that you really should only take advice on physical training from somebody that 1) has training or education to back it up and 2) that actually knows you and can evaluate you physically in order to tailor a program to help you. Preferably, if you've never worked out hard before, you should get a physical from a doctor before embarking on any program. To those handing out the advice, please remember that there may be impressionable youngsters reading this that you don't know much about. If some overweight teenager who's never worked out that doesn't know he has a heart murmur or asthma decides to try the "Mega BUDS/SEAL/Spetsnaz Workout, guaranteed to make you tougher than any Special Forces in the world!" and winds up keeling over dead.... See my point? So, please, let's extend what I said early on in this thread about only posting advice based on things you have direct experience in to the physical workout regimens, too. Please remember that the reason I started this was for those of us who have been there and done that to pass on some stuff that people could count on as having come from people with credentials. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Jester - He isn't just leaving GR.net and AGR-S.com, he is leaving the WWW, and that takes some doing. Did I miss something DS Yeah, you missed me posting in this thread that I've got a little bit of a break right now and decided to dive back into this thread to pass on some pointers that I've been thinking about off and on the last few months. You haven't seen me on the forums 24/7 have you? It's the holidays -- I don't get much of a break, but I have a little time and chose to spend it with you....why, I'll never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XavierOnasis Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 why, I'll never know. Cuz we lub joo. Please remember that the reason I started this was for those of us who have been there and done that to pass on some stuff that people could count on as having come from people with credentials. And is greatly appreciated. Information from those without experience is easy to come by. From those with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruin Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Anything and everything... You have to give me some more specific questions than that What's life in general like? What are the differences between enlisted life and officer life? What about Salary? I know this depends more on your MOS, but what's an average difference (a couple hundered a month, or a couple thousand a month)? Deployment. Are officers deployed more, less or just as often as enlistedmen? Can they chose where they're stationed? I was talking aith a Marine the other day and he said that he didn't have a choice unless it was in his contract to be elsewhere. How does this work for an officer? Life while abroad. Again, how does this differ fromt he enlisted man. Just trying to get some general information from a bunch of sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xian Saint Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 @Ruin - well...since you seem to be leaning more towards Army...not sure how much I can answer your questions...and not sure if Jes is gone again or what...but I'll try... You can find the payscales here to get a general idea: http://www.dfas.mil/money/milpay/pay/2003paytable.pdf Remember though...depending on where you are what you're doing etc etc can impact your pay...like right now...I also get sea pay, sub pay...when I was deployed I got combat pay, hazard duty pay and separation pay...SO...you can make more (sometimes a lot more) then whats listed in the "base pay" chart. The difference between officer and enlisted is very different, and probably impossible to describe...but there are advantages and disadvantages to both...for me...my days of being elbow deep troubleshooting electronic equipment and using comms equipment is over...and I'll miss it... Basically... Officers = Supervisors and Enlisted = Workers (but when you talk special forces and such...officers are in the bush just like enlisted guys) Life abroad and being deployed...not sure how it works for the army...but Navy...(both officer and enlisted) depends entirely upon your speciality and your duty station...I know some guys who seldom ever deploy or get stationed abroad...and some are always gone... When I was on shore duty...I was never deployed...and it was like a normal 9 to 5 job... Hope this helps...if even a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruin Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Thanks for the info XS! I'll be sure to take a close look at it later tonight... (but when you talk special forces and such...officers are in the bush just like enlisted guys) I found this to be interesting: If someone comes out of West Point and wants to go into the Infantry Branch, they are REQUIRED to go to Ranger School. Cool huh? [LINK] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkVanDamme Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 im thinking of being an army engineer Only one way to truly find out what it's like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 (edited) What's life in general like? What are the differences between enlisted life and officer life? What about Salary? I know this depends more on your MOS, but what's an average difference (a couple hundered a month, or a couple thousand a month)? Deployment. Are officers deployed more, less or just as often as enlistedmen? Can they chose where they're stationed? I was talking aith a Marine the other day and he said that he didn't have a choice unless it was in his contract to be elsewhere. How does this work for an officer? Life while abroad. Again, how does this differ fromt he enlisted man. Just trying to get some general information from a bunch of sources. Well, Saint touched on quite a few good points. Basically, as an officer, you have more responsibility. Those soldiers depend on you. If you fail them, even in something as simple as map reading, it can mean life or death. Ask Jessica Lynch and the survivors from her unit. It goes beyond simply "management" -- you're responsible for accounting for your troops, their health and welfare, training, etc. As far as deployments go, it depends on your branch and assignment. If you're in combat arms and don't venture out of your branch for any of the opportunities that are available to do that, then you'll basically be in line units all the way up the chain, just in different places. You'll do your platoon leader time, your company command time, then do staff jobs until you wind up a battalion commander, etc, etc. You'll deploy as a part of a unit. Say that you're part of a brigade in the 82nd that's going on a rotation to Iraq -- the whole unit goes. So, it doesn't matter if you're a platoon leader, company commander, or a battalion S-3. You're going as a unit. Certain other assignments could have you serving in a different capacity, so you may not be part of a unit that deploys, but you could deploy as an individual or part of a smaller group. Under combat conditions, there isn't going to be much difference in how you live -- it's not like you're going to be staying in a hotel and your guys will be sleeping on the ground. In post-combat operations, once they start bringing in contractors to build up barracks, etc., there will be segregation. Basically, you'll live in smaller groups than the grunts do -- you might have a couple officers living together, versus a whole platoon of enlisted. Again, it's not going to be what I would consider a major difference. Now, I don't know how things are in Saddam's palaces -- you'll have to ask Soup or somebody that's been in one about that. Generally speaking, life as an officer is going to mean more money and better privileges. It's a trade-off, though - like most things in life. The particulars of the trade-off depend on your branch and some of the choices you make about what you want to do while you're in. Some people prefer to go in enlisted because they get to actually pick a MOS and do that job, rather than manage other people doing the job. Of course, once you get to a certain rank, you wind up becoming a supervisor on the enlisted side, too. E-mail me sometime and we can take this off the boards and talk more sometime, preferably when you get some kind of idea of where you want to wind up in life. Maybe we can get you started on some decisions that will help you get where you want to be. Edited December 30, 2003 by Jester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csmith_Fan Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 ok, so this thread hasnt been added to in a long while, but in case anyone checks it for answers to their questions, here's some more helpful hints from expierence... before joining, and I mean like 2yrs or so, join JROTC while in HS. If they dont have that (or if they do) join Civil Air Patrol. Both teach you the fundementals you'll learn in basic (ie marching, how to salute, why you should never call an E6 who has a combat patch, CIB, more ribbons than the JCS combined "Sir", etc..) While in those orgs, be sure to see if the instructiors (or senior members in CAP) can get you some manuals. If planning to join the army, the top 2 to get would be the FM 22-5 and the AR-670-1 (Drill and Ceremony, and Care and Wear of the Uniform respectivly). Be sure to take them along to basic. Sure the Drill Sergants will scream about it, but it shows you're at least someone who is going to take this seriously and will probably come in as an E1 (or E2, depending on what happens at MEPS) and leave with a promotion. Big note though...from personal expierence..trust me...do NOT take in FMs for..."off the wall" topics like the Boobytrap Guide.. Umm..they really get paranoid and mad when they saw that in my personal drawer..erm I mean..they discourage it. (and Yes...I did have that and the one on Cammo..sadly didnt get the Infantryman's Guide to Urban Combat..then again I did go Field Arty. ) Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchetforce Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 I wanted to voice an issue about joining any branch of the service that is sometimes overlooked. Or at the very least looked at incorrectly. One of the dissents often voiced concerning joining a branch of the military in any country is freedom. Hand in hand with that is individuality. And what some perceive as the very loss of that. I had a break in service and spent a couple of years as a civilian. One thing of which I am sure. I have more freedom in the service than outside it. Some would question this. I do not mean the freedom just to pick up and go. As you grow (older) you learn this is more of a mistaken representation of freedom. Real freedom is a matter of the internal self. The military has a great deal of freedom because you are FREE FROM so many things with which the civilian community must often cope. The other issue is that because so much is uniform in the service, and I mean specifically because of this, it is a person's individuality that readily comes to light. Instead of being able to express one's individuality in clothes or other material manners, one's character becomes the outlet for such. And true individuality, with all of its strengths and faults takes center stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 Well said Hatcheforce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebb Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Sorry i missed this post HF because you hit the nail right on the head with that statement.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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