Hi all, I'm a 26 year old single guy with no kids and joining the Navy has been on my mind for quite some time. I have a Bachelor of Science in Sport Administration/Marketing, graduated in 2005 and have been in the work force for about a year and half. The job that I'm currently working pays decent with benefits but not good enough to not live from paycheck to paycheck. Living on your own sucks and it seems like there is hardly any fun money left from when the bills are paid. I've been searching for jobs with the degree I have but most want several years of experience or a Master's.

I'm currently in debt to Student Loans that amount to the Value of a brand new SUV and I dont want to be paying on them for 10-20 years. The biggest benefit to joining the Navy is the Student Loan payoff program, if I do my 4 years, I can have the loan paid off while picking up a trade and possibly pursuing a Master's. They also told me that I'll come in as an E-3, becoming an officer could be done in the near future while enlisted.

I also want to travel too, so that I can see what's out there besides being in Kentucky all of the time. I was thinking about taking up a trade in the Electronics and Computer field, I love to work around them all the time. The only thing that is holding me off from joining is a ACL Surgery that is currently being rehabbed but after that I will come to my ultimate decision. I know I'll be enlisting at a older age but will there be people of my age group enlisting too? Any Opinions or stories of joining up?

Be very very careful what you do here, the military does not really care about your financial or educational endevors, thoes things you speak of are simply entisments to get people to join, do you really think your going to be able to complete a masters degree while being in the military full time. And its not 4 years this day in time its 8 years many service members are having there active duty time extended way beyond the 4 years and in some cases beyond the 8 years (of course if they go beyond the 8 you have legal recourse). BTW if you join with a degree you should be getting E-4 before you even go to basic (but you should never wear it in basic) you dont wear rank like that unless your damn sure you out rank everyone around you (and you wont out rank the drills). I would say just keep working and build up experence, you wont always be pay check to paycheck once you build your experence and get your masters, 8 years is a long time to develope your carrer, in 8 years you can have a hearty resume and a masters degree with alot of your bills paid. I made the same mistake you are about to make, I wanted to fly helicopters/planes and found it to be easier to get the licences myself (in addition to my chemical engineering degree) and buy my own plane after the BS crap I would have had to go through to fly for the military.

quote:

Originally posted by rppearso:
Be very very careful what you do here, the military does not really care about your financial or educational endevors, thoes things you speak of are simply entisments to get people to join, do you really think your going to be able to complete a masters degree while being in the military full time. And its not 4 years this day in time its 8 years many service members are having there active duty time extended way beyond the 4 years and in some cases beyond the 8 years (of course if they go beyond the 8 you have legal recourse). BTW if you join with a degree you should be getting E-4 before you even go to basic (but you should never wear it in basic) you dont wear rank like that unless your damn sure you out rank everyone around you (and you wont out rank the drills). I would say just keep working and build up experence, you wont always be pay check to paycheck once you build your experence and get your masters, 8 years is a long time to develope your carrer, in 8 years you can have a hearty resume and a masters degree with alot of your bills paid. I made the same mistake you are about to make, I wanted to fly helicopters/planes and found it to be easier to get the licences myself (in addition to my chemical engineering degree) and buy my own plane after the BS crap I would have had to go through to fly for the military.

Thanks for your advice, you really got me to thinking now, don't get me wrong if I wasn't to go to college when I got out of high school then I would have been in the military but you're right though. I guess the problem that I'm having is not putting up with the fight of just getting out of college and trying to welcome myself to the real world. So did you join right out of college when you had an engineering degree? From the way your talking, what made it tough on you, since you say you made a mistake?

Murph,
rppearso never made it through basic training and his status is somewhat nebulus. He basically "quit" while going through training. He's never been discharged (by his own account), so his legal status in the National Guard is questionable (I don't know the legal proceedings in the National Guard, but in active duty or reserve status he's broken he law and would be prosecuted when caught). He claims he's in good standing now....whatever. Point is he's got 975 posts and over 850 of them deal with his bitch session about how horrible the military is and how they screwed him over. He has ZERO military experience. Not saying don't listen to him, just that he's got a bit of an attitude.

I would tell you BJD392 gave some good advice. Talk with an officer recruiter and see what they have to say. Twenty-six is not that old...though with the ACL you'll be working harder than most to keep up. Good Luck.

I got my chemical engineering degree from the colorado school of mines and I wanted to fly helicopters for my states national guard to respond to local emergencys and still retain a professional civilian engineering job (ie not going to iraq for 12 months). I had a grave misunderstanding of what the national guard was, the national guard was originally ment to be a parallel to a state defense force when this day in time it has become a draft pool for the regular army to prevent a horribly unpopular draft (there are governors that are joining together to stop deployments of national guard but it does not seem to be doing anything). The bottom line is if you have any sort of focus in your life you should not join because the military can have you doing what ever they want at a moments notice and they dont care if "the mission" is in allignment with your focus. It just all depends on what you want in life, but I would not join for the benifits because the costs far outweigh any benifit you will actually see. The military is for people who dont really have any focus in life other than what the military tells them to do.

I WAS in and I know this from EXPERIENCE, it is easier to write off someones opinion who was never in and is just making assumptions, so instead people on this site try to minimize what I went through because my opinion is not in allignment with theres and is pisses them off. I COMPLEATED basic training and was in the gaurd for about 2 years, I however did not complete OCS (officer candidate school) because I was never told OCS was a duplication of basic, I was told it was a professional enviornment and that was a lie. Basic training is a nightmare, people who tell you its not that bad have mental issues or are trying to recruit you. No I did not go to iraq for 24 months but I was in long enough to learn what I needed to learn.

Just dont make the same mistake I did, I would rather be homeless than back in the military. When you have your extra 100$ a month from your job go and enjoy a starbucks, because when your in the military all that goes away, candy bars become "contraband", they treat you like a little kid in grade school when you have a college degree. I could write a book on the military experence, in fact that may be a great counter recruitment tool. The crap never ends even after basic its just not quite as bad. If your sgt is having a bad day, his bad day becomes your problem, that is very rare in a professional enviornment, there is way to much competition for professionals this day in time, just build up your resume and you will be golden.

...and there it is.

he's the one that thinks he's gonna get his discharge emailed to him!

I will probably have to go in some day to sign something when the guard gets around to it, im not in a big hurry, I will probably start pushing them in about 10 yrs when I want to work for los alamos but by then my contract will be up anyways so they will have to do something. Its not like this if you are active duty only guard.

Murph-

Welcome to the boards! Bjd392 is right- there are many, many more people who enjoy the military and have made it a career and life. It is definately worth it in my opinion. As long as you have your degree, definately go officer. You have to do it now though because your time is getting limited. Many officer programs age cutoff is at 27 I believe. In my opinion the military is a great choice, most people are very happy. I enlisted in the Navy right out of high school, served 4 years and got out...looking back I wish I would have stayed in. I am changing that by going back into the Marine Corps. Don't listen to the people who p*ss and moan just because they like p*ssing and moaning...listen to those of us who have been there and actually know.

Some people who complain, complain based on lagitimate experence and have actually been there, they (myself included) just dident enjoy there experence like you did, trying to discredit someones experence because you dont like there opinion is foolish.

"based on lagitimate experence"

I wonder Ronald, are there illegitimate experiences?

Some people on this forum seem to think so.