<p>Get everything in writing. A friend of my son’s bought the recruiter’s “promise” that after bootcamp he would attend college part-time “on the army.” The boy’s father made him get everything in writing and off the boy went. Apparently he did extremely well in boot camp and of course the army had “other plans” for him as often happens. The boy was able to get an honorable release and is now starting college this fall back in his home state. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that conversation because the kiddo was very angry. After he enlisted his senior year in high school, they did not even send him to bootcamp until the following early spring so he cooled his heels in our town working for 8 months. I’m totally skeptical of what recruiters say to kids. I totally respect people that enlist but I totally believes the army (or whatever) branch owns you and things change if you don’t go to a service academy. Another friend of my son enlisted in the navy but hasn’t been sent anywhere that he was told he’d be. He’s happy and it doesn’t matter to him if the navy decides everything. If it’s not important to the kiddo what happens or where he/she gets sent etc. then the armed forces has some very good paths to a later entrance into college.</p>
<p>^^ But, in this case the OP’s S wants to go into the infantry. I suspect there won’t be a problem with the Army not following through on that.</p>
<p>I agree with you when it comes to detailed promises like specific skilled jobs, college while serving, deployment location, etc.</p>
<p>The Military academy route isn’t only harder in terms of admissions, it’s also a harsh 24/7 military lifestyle environment where you’re overscheduled, punished for extremely minor imperfections such as bedsheets not being perfectly aligned per academy regulations, and micromanaged to the nth degree. </p>
<p>From the way relative/friends/colleagues who attended/graduated from military academies put it, it’s very much like being in a military style boarding school complete with curfews, being ordered around/yelled at by upperclassmen 24/7, and heavier restrictions on nearly every aspect of your daily life…including how to eat at mealtimes. It’s not for everyone as some demonstrated by quitting after a year or two…including a cousin who ended up finishing his undergrad at an HYPSMCC. </p>
<p>Moreover, once you graduate, you automatically incur a 5 year active-duty/3 year reserve/IRR obligation.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind there’s always a possibility he could be one of the cadets kicked out for deficiencies in academics, physical fitness, and/or military discipline. If he gets kicked out from his 3rd year onward, he will either have to pay the government back for the cost of the academy obligation or defray it through serving time as an enlisted soldier/sailor/airman/marine. Choice is not his…but at the discretion of the service.</p>
<p>The single best student I had when I taught at our state’s flagship university was a 26 year old guy who had enlisted out of high school, did 2 tours of duty in Iraq then came back and did two years of community college followed by transferring to our state’s best university. He was mature, wise, put together and got a fantastic job when he finished his BA. He would tell you that he just wasn’t ready for college when he was 17. </p>
<p>Military duty can be a great place to explore a career option if you honestly aren’t sure what you want to do, and then you run less risk of wasting tuition randomly taking courses.<br>
Wondering if you have seen this website:
[For</a> Parents | GoArmy.com](<a href=“http://www.goarmy.com/parents.html]For”>Family Life in the Army | goarmy.com)</p>
<p>Please look at the Citadel, VMI, Norwich University in VT. and other military universities as well. A friend of ours has sons who are at VMI and they’re really enjoying the discipline and rigor of the program and we can see them maturing. </p>
<p>These days, I know what I want is for my kids to be employable. The training they give young people in fields like computer engineering is incredible and there are actually lots of jobs available doing corporate computer security and the like when they get out.</p>
<p>Finally, did you know that in order to drive a tank you need to know a lot of math? My husband was infantry and apparently that never occurred to him either . . .</p>
<p>I’m appreciate everyone’s viewpoint. (I’m not sure why people keep mentioning things that will lead to dishonorable discharges though. My son does not drink and is a great kid.) I don’t think he has any interest in going to West Point.</p>
<p>He wants to go in the military for 3 reasons:
- to serve the country
- help pay for college so we don’t have to
- to get experience and leadership skills that will help him after he gets out</p>
<p>I think he imagines just going in and doing his time and then going to college for engineering and getting a job in the private sector. </p>
<p>My question was more about the education benefits. Whether his expectations for the army paying for college (tuition, fees and room and board) is realistic or not.</p>
<p>Thanks all.</p>
<p>Check out this link - </p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to the GI Bill Web Site | The Home for All Educational Benefits Provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs](<a href=“http://www.gibill.va.gov/benefits/post_911_gibill/index.html]Welcome”>http://www.gibill.va.gov/benefits/post_911_gibill/index.html)</p>
<p>If he’s interested in engineering maybe he should try to go into a technical job in the Army where they’ll give him some technical training and give him a boost in the engineering field. A fair number of engineers got initial technical training in the military.</p>
<p>Current GI bill benefits work out to 17,500 a year and some private universities will match that, giving you 33,000 a year – which is pretty incredible! Like everyone here said, you would need to have that in writing. They paid for my husband’s master’s degree and they will also pay tuition for spouses in certain situations. We have found the educational benefits to be very generous.</p>
<p>OP - my son joined the Navy for a 5-yr enlistment. He later added another year when he decided he wanted to accept a large re-enlistment bonus offered to him. He got out of the Navy two summers ago and started attending the local CC that first fall semester. He should have his A.S. by December and is already working a job in his new field. Not sure yet where he will end up earning a B.S. or if he really wants to do that, he’s checking out his options for that right now.</p>
<p>His GI Bill benefits are fully paying for his education. His college gave him some credits for a few things like P.E. He said it will pay for 4 years of college but I don’t know all the exact details. He’s given an amount that is higher than his college costs. Depending on where the student lives, a person sharing housing with others and who was really good about not blowing their money could just manage to live on the GI B amount without a job. But I do highly recommend at least one part time job for some extra cash! This could work for a single person anyway, doubtful that a married veteran with kids could go to college with their GI Bill without also having a full time job. Again, it may all depend on the housing expenses in different parts of the county.</p>
<p>My son has a cousin who’s a senior at UT who’s also been going to college on the GI Bill after her time in the Navy. She has a roomie and a part-time job and manages to make it all work for full time college classes. Money is tight sometimes but it’s hard for her to keep a really strong GPA with a full time job.</p>
<p>In our state, both of these veterans will also have other state-provided free public college tuition they can use after they use their GI Bill aid or that they can pass on to their children if they don’t use themselves.</p>
<p>I believe the GI Bill will pay tuition equal to that of the your expensive instate public university. They are also receive BAH (basic allowance for housing). For active duty BAH is calculated based on the location so I would guess it might be similar with the GI Bill.<br>
S1 had an apartment mate who was enlisted and then got a NROTC scholarship and became an officer. He was then able to gift his GI Bill money to his wife to get her degree. Both attended Penn State.</p>
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<p>From what I’ve heard from ex-military folks and military veterans, the military is a good place to get career training…IF you select MOS’ which have a close/direct civilian occupational counterpart, get selected for it, and don’t flunk out or get kicked out for disciplinary issues. </p>
<p>A younger HS classmate did just that by enlisting in the Navy and choosing/getting selected for its highly competitive Nuke school(they only take top 1-3% of enlistees with strong STEM backgrounds/potential aptitudes and there’s a high washout rate). </p>
<p>In addition to a great career path that’s highly respected in and out of the Navy, the training is valuable for many engineering-oriented/technology oriented jobs and some of it WILL COUNT FOR COLLEGE CREDIT in engineering/STEM undergrad programs. Heard she ended up fulfilling a sizable chunk of her engineering/STEM core requirements from her Nuke school training. </p>
<p>However, if the individual is unsure about his career direction and doesn’t get good advice from a non-recruiter/recruitment related source…it’s too easy for him/her to forget to demand the job is guaranteed in writing and/or otherwise know how to avoid being pushed into the less career-oriented MOS’ or worse…being pushed into a highly undesirable one which won’t provide much in way of transferable career skills. </p>
<p>Heard that from many ex-military folks who enlisted from the Vietnam era to the present. </p>
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<p>Doesn’t surprise me considering the tank is related somewhat to artillery, is highly technical, and knowledge required to maneuver the tank individually and in formations. </p>
<p>The artillery part is even more obvious considering all the calculations involved. Math was so important that being mathematically challenged was often enough to be summarily excluded from the artillery branch as far back as the 18th century. </p>
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<p>The OP’s son needs to read the fine print to ensure he fulfills the requirements to become eligible and to avoid losing eligibility through disciplinary reasons or due to lost/misfiled paperwork. </p>
<p>Every ex-military person I’ve met has had stories of fellow soldiers or those they’ve supervised as NCOs lose benefits like the GI Bill because of poor decisions made in the heat of the moment or lost/misfiled paperwork.</p>
<p>Military recruiters top priority is to fill specific positions that they have openings for, not to put the soldier in the place where he/she would prefer. Generally these are the less desirable slots. But for someone who is requesting infantry, I don’t think they’re going to have a problem getting that wish fulfilled. I would make the assumption, that so many soldiers are still being sent to Afghanistan, this is not considered a top choice for the majority of recruits.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure why people keep mentioning things that will lead to dishonorable discharges though.”</p>
<p>I was recruited at 17, did ROTC with a scholarship, and ended up a psychiatrist in the Air Force in the eighties, during The Gulf War. Most of the folks I watched getting dishonerable discharges had what some might call mental health symptoms ( interpersonal conflicts, “depression”, " sucidal behavor"), but were discharged without benefits.</p>