I am a freshman at the University of North Texas (but not for long, I am transferring next year), and I am thinking about joining the Air Force.
This is a new idea for me, and I haven’t quite discussed it with my family yet. However, I know everyone on my dad’s side would be EXTREMELY supportive–I have several uncles and cousins who were in the Army, Air Force, and Navy. My grandfather was among the first of the Navy Seals. They’ve suggested it to me before, but I am beginning to seriously consider it.
As those of you who have read my posts before may already know, I am receiving no help financially for college. I am taking out loans to pay my expenses, and on top of that am wanting to go to law school. More so than that, I am put in a position where I am paying for all of my own expenses such as my phone bill, any medical bills that may come up (I’m putting off going to the dentist and doctor as we speak, lol)…you get the idea. All of this is very stressful for me as a student, and I realize that joining the military might be the solution to many of my problems. I would get my school completely covered and would be able to pay off the loans that I have already taken out, and I would get great benefits such as free medical care.
I also spoke to a lawyer recently who said that the G.I. Bill covered most of his grad school, so he came out with considerably less debt than others in his field. In fact, I haven’t met anybody who has regretted joining the military.
HOWEVER, I realize that there are serious risks involved and that global tensions are so high that it may not be the safest time to enlist. Plus, I hear boot camp is awful.
Is there anybody on here with any expertise or advice on the subject? How exactly does enlisting work and what is the process like? Would these be a completely terrible idea?
I am a Navy veteran, physician, and mom. I enlisted in the Navy Reserves after one semester to both help pay for school, but also out of a strong desire to serve (raised in a military family). Boot camp and training made me miss a year of college. Navy boot camp was not awful, lasted about 8 1/2 weeks and not too bad if you are in halfway decent shape. I did boot camp in Orlando (closed in the early 90’s - now all Navy boot camp is near Chicago).
I had a GI bill (late 80’s) but it was small as I was in the Reserves (weekend drills and summer training). If you go active duty, rather than reserves, you will likely do much better with the post 9/11 GI bill. This current GI bill is great - all tuition paid for in state school and possibly by private schools (yellow ribbon program), along with a generous monthly housing allowance. For instance, we were able to pass our GI bill 2 years ago to our oldest daughter, and her entire tuition bill was paid for (top 15 US news private university - tuition almost $50,000), along with a housing allowance of almost $2,000 a month.
I later went to medical school on a Navy (HPSP) scholarship and served on active duty as a Navy physician. You are right, no one I knows regrets serving. My husband is still on active duty and loves it. But you are right, you need to be ready to deploy - more than half the docs I was stationed with got deployed to the Middle East unexpectedly. The Coast Guard is an option, less overseas deployments but still lots of time away on cutters, etc. My part time job is doing entrance physicals for those joining the military so I know what it takes to enlist. You contact a recruiter and they interview you, you take a test (ASVAB) and your score on this test and the job openings available will determine your job. (what you want to do may not be available - like Hospital Corpsman in the Navy is oversaturated and you will wait if you want that). Your recruiter arranges for you to go to MEPS (military entrance processing station) where you get a physical, do some exercises like a duck walk, get interviewed, and then process/swear in. Only about 60-70% of people who arrive at MEPS are found to be qualified to join the military. If you are disqualified (physical or mental reasons), there is a 50-50 chance or so you can still join, if that service decides to provide you a waiver. Most common reasons you are disqualified by the doctor at MEPS are previous orthopedics problems, psychiatric (depression, anxiety, self cutting etc), asthma, eczema, ADHD, etc.
In summary, I am so glad I joined the Navy and would do it all over again!
Thank you so much for the input–I’ll see about talking to a recruiter perhaps the week after Thanksgiving. I think I’ll also talk to my family members who served and see what their input is.
I’ve heard that sometimes it is better to wait until after college, so you can start off as an officer and then explore graduate options, but I’m not sure if that is completely true.
A friend just retired from the Coast Guard. She joined at age 18 and really has had a wonderful life and career - and she’s just 43! While active duty, she got married, had two kids, got her undergrad, got a masters, and was able to pass her GI bill to her 2 kids so they each got 18 months of housing allowance and I’m not sure the amount of tuition but it was a lot. Her husband is also retired Coast Guard so they have two retirement incomes to live on. He has a son who I think got all of his GI benefits for college.
Since retiring, she’s been on about 10 vacations; bought an RV, traveled all around the midwest, to Vegas, Oregon, Austria, a cruise, and ran the NY marathon. My friend was in some kind of personnel work and never was on a boat and does not have a gun. Coasties can go on foreign postings but it isn’t as common as in other branches.
Oh, how I wanted my daughter to go to the Coast Guard academy.
If you want to join the military, go the officer route. You get better pay, better benefits, and better career opportunities on the outside. Statistically, the Air Force or Navy are going to be safer than joining the Marines or Army.
If my kids asked me what service I would recommend I would say # 1 Air Force and # 2 Navy or Coast guard. Being an officer is great, but if you don’t have money for college, not always an option. ROTC scholarships are competitive and a great choice if you can get it. I was enlisted as a reservist while completing Navy ROTC followed by medical school. Just remember if you are in ROTC, they are training you to be an officer upon graduation from college and you will get orders to report for active duty on college graduation. They won’t guaranteee allowing you to go to law school which is what you said are your plans. I received Navy orders to Japan my senior year of college upon commissioning/graduation from ROTC. Navy ROTC granted a TOTAL of 25 waivers nationwide to defer active duty for medical school. I was lucky to be one of those 25, allowing me to defer my active duty and getting the orders to Japan canceled to attend medical school. Another route is to go to officer candidate school after graduation, but not everyone that has a bachelor’s degree is accepted as an officer. I see college grads all the time that I clear at MEPS but they are waiting for a military board to approve their officer application (hard to join if you aren’t a STEM major with only a bachelor degree). Some people I do physicals on were not accepted to OCS even with a college degree so enlist as there are many enlisted to officer programs. I am only saying don’t rule out being enlisted as your first post sounds like it is difficult to pay for college. I would check on trying to get an ROTC scholarship first but keep an open mind. If you go ROTC be prepared to have them not allow you to go to law school.
I spoke to a lawyer who said that the GI Bill covered his law school tuition after he completed his four years, is this still not the case under the post 9/11 GI Bill?
The GI Bill will pay for law school or undergrad. It’s a 36 month entitlement (think 4 years x 9 months). If your undergrad is paid by the military (ROTC scholarship or service academy),you must fulfill that service obligation. I need to look up if you can earn the Post 911 GI Bill after the initial payback is complete. I think you can.
First, look at what ROTC programs will be available at the school you’re transferring to. Not every school has ROTC for every service branch. Then, talk to the ROTC programs at the school about whether they could offer you a scholarship.
Thank y’all for your input! I spoke to an advisor today who told me that I can receive TA while I’m in college and wouldn’t have to fulfill my service until I’m out if I decide to go the ROTC route. He also said that after I am on active duty, I can use the GI Bill toward any graduate program of my choice.
I still want to talk to a recruiter, the university I will transfer to, and my family before I make a big decision like this. I wanted to get some other feedback/advice as well.
Are there any more people with military experience with any advice? Was it worth it/are there any regrets? What are some jobs that I could easily obtain with my degree within the Air Force?
You sound like you have a real love for the military. I would stay in school and complete ROTC on a scholarship. Life is a lot better in the Air Force when you’re an officer. Plus, you have a chance to graduate debt free. You could take a deferment, go to law school and be a JAG attorney. It’s a safe stable career that a lot of lawyers don’t see because of their student loans.