I'm thinking of joining the military because of this hole middle east thing. I have talked to the wife she said it was ok and she wants me to do it.

The problem I'm having right now is picking when I should join. I just don't want to join and get out of boot camp and this thing be over. (I know it won't but.)

I just don't know what the right time to do it is. I want to join and everything but I don't know when the right time to join is.

I'd just like to know you guy's option about this.  Thank for the help.

Join because you want to protect our country.  Join because you want to make a career.
Don't join just because you want to fight a particular group, if you do, then you will be greatly disappointed.

Ditto. Only a very small handful of troops will see combat in the coming years, unless things go REALLY bad. Join to serve your country, not to live out a combat fantasy. And if/when you do, do it right and join the Corps!!!

If you're in good enough shape, join now.  If you aren't, get in shape then join ASAP. No use putting it off.

I want to Join to serve our country! I also want to gain experience that will help me when I get out of the military. Not to live out a combat fantasy.

I'm the type that if I do join the military I want to be up front defending my country and fighting for it not in the rear. That is why I ask this question.

Tayous,

I'm not going to question your motives. Just make sure that you're able to commit totally for the next 3-4 years.
Things are busy and are going to get busier. That being said...

How's your personal life? Marriage OK? You don't have to answer that here but take stock of your situation. The military strains almost all marriages and the weak ones fold.

OK financially? Base pay is pretty low for a private (or 2nd lt, for that matter). Make sure that you're in a position to provide for your family. Don't get me wrong, you'll survive on military pay but, again, it helps to be debt free, etc.

Wife willing to travel? Talk it out with her as she will be traveling. Does he have a career? Explain to her that minimum wage is the standard in most locals where the military has a big presence.

Kids? Any planned? If none I'd advise to keep it that way, at least for a couple years.

All of the above BS aside there's no time like the present. Focus on what needs to be done and commit with everything you got.  Take it one step at a time and do your very best at everything.



I'm proud of you. You are doing exactly what every young man should do...serve his nation.
Be the best killer that you can be but remember that 99% of your time will be cold, wet and waiting.

If army is your game the go 11B and see if you can get a Ranger option. The USMC has some great guys also.
Go do that for a few years. You'll enjoy yourself.


Good luck,
Paul

Your wife wants you to join the military, leave her and your home, go to a foreign country, fight and risk your life, so, whats in it for her??

Pride Confederate that what's in it for her!!Knowing that her husband is over there fight for her country. She also married me for how I'm and she know's they type of person I was. She know if there was a war I would join.

She also will have the pride of knowing that if I do fall in battle I would die for the best country in the world. Pride in knowing that when others are just talking about doing something to help her husband IS.

She is a wonderful woman and I know she would not look at me the same way if I did not do anything. She is like me in the way I think

"Your all talk until the time comes and when it comes we will see how will stand up, how will be the people how are only talk."

That is what my Wife and my Son will have someone they can respect, trust and have pride in.
My marriage life is great right now we don't fight that much only about what I'm I going to do in my life. She want me to join the military she say's that it will help me get the job I want.

I do have one son right now how is 21 months old. She has a job as a RN so she can get a job just about anywhere and work what ever hours she want's and her making anywhere from $15 on up to $25 and $40 to $50 as a agency RN.She does not mind traveling. Hell she was willing to go to Alaska for a PD job for me.

pdm I'll take you advice and I'll talk to her more. She was with me the first time I almost joined(Long story mostly about job's in the U.S.M.C..) and she will be with me this time.

I would have to agree 100% with what pdm said. I was in the airforce and got out in 1992. The job I had was a good job and I made alot of good frieds, some I keep in touch with still today. I must say that I was glad that I was single with the job that I had. I worked on the Minuteman 3 ICBM nuclear missle silos.
We would go out into the missle field for days at a time. We would leave on Mondays and usually come back to base on wedndsday or thursday, it just depeneded on what the maintance shedule was. Sometimes we would just go out for one day but those one day trips were long 16 hour days. In the course of so many days out in the missle field I saw quite a few marriages not last this kind of strain. Pay is not all that good at first but does get a little better as time goes on.
What ever branch of service you decide to go into good luck and choose wisely.Give some long hard thought as to why you want to join, what career field you want to pursue, and how can that training benifit you when you get out of the service. If I could do it all over again I think I would go either army or marines. The airforce was pretty easy as far as basic went, mostly just a lot of mind games,lots of marching,lots of classes on UCMJ and Airforce policies,lots of getting yelled at,lots of cleaning the dorm after the TI(Training Instructor) would totally destroy the dorm by flipping up all of the beds, putting scuff marks all over the waxed floors, flooding the latrine with a couple of inches of water, and then say to the whole dorm you have 2 hours to have the dorm back in inspection order or we will do this all over again but come back in about an hour with a few of there buddies and totally go off and yell and hurl lots of insults. Personally i thought it was pretty funny. I learned early on that the whole point of this was to get everyone to work together as a team under extreme stress. I even broke out into laughter a few times because to me it was just funny to see these TI's get all worked up and then to see how some people handled the stress. Too me it was too easy.
My laughter though got me a few chew marks on my behind because the TI's knew that I knew that it was all a mind game.I spent quite a few times scrubbing pigion manure with a tooth brush, I thought that was funny because at least my ears would get a break from all of there yelling.
Basic in the Air Force was Not very mentally or physically challenging. Unfortunetly there really is no real deep weapons training and no real learning on combat or soldeiring in the airforce. You would have to pick a specific career field that deals with those things. Pretty much the only weapons handling you get in basic is you go to the range for 1 day and get trained on how to fire an M-16 and then you do your qualifying shooting that day. The obstical course is pretty much a joke, it was fun but a real joke, it was not very physically challenging.  I learned a good trade and am thankful for that but as far as being a soldier I was very disappointed. I look back know and wish I would have either chosen a different career field like para-rescue or something related to aircraft,or joined a different branch of the military.
When I got out I had seriously thought about going into the army and looking into either para-troopers or rangers, but with clinton in office I decided to not rejoin. I was not wiling to serve such an idiot as him.Well hope this helps.

Anyone know a web site that has the job for each branch of the military? I know army does but does the U.S.M.C have one?

If you're intrested in spec ops, they're taking joes right out of airborne school to go to SFAS.  Just saw about 200 privates ship out of the PHA here at Bragg to go to Mckall.  BTW don't come to the 82nd looking for action.  Seems like the whole freakin XIII Abn Corps is at war but us.

just a note about the marine corps, make sure you can pass the medical and physical. I used to be pretty enthuiastic about joining but I got rejected for failing the medical. The doctor wrote some crap about my eyes and now I can't join anything. I was so pissed the first few days but I guess life goes on. I'll just have to find something else to do with my life. Just for the record, it's not my fault I can't join, I've been cursed with eyes that can't be corrected to 20/20.

I'v gpoe throught the hole MAVES thing not getting a room until 12am then getting a wake up call at 2am then running around just to stand in line