Can anyone provide HONEST answers to my questions about joining the army?
February 22nd, 2009 | by admin |I’m a college grad with a bachelors in computer information systems, CompTIA A+ certified, will be CompTIA Network+ certified in 3 weeks, cant find a job that suits me for crap and I’m now entertaining the idea of enlisting in the army to become an Information Technology Specialist (25B).
i have a few questions. How is it REALLY like once u get to basic training? When I think of basic training I think of freakin jail how your being hounded all the time. What’s it like in AIT and what happens after you’re done? I’m from Brooklyn, NY. I was wondering if it’s possible to request to be stationed in/near NY or do they pretty much tell u to go to Iraq and BOOM ur forced to go? I’m ignorant to army life. how is it like in terms of social life, having fun and so forth? Also, what are the odds of being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan as a college graduate? I don’t know where my job developer heard this from, but she said something about how you’re less likely to be deployed if you have a college education. Sounds fishy to me. Anyways, I hope I can get brutally honest answers from you guys. I don’t wanna be fed only what I want to hear like I probably would from the recruiters.
Thanks guys.
one more question. is it possible to enlist to become an officer AND a 25B or is it just one or the other?
Caffeinated Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress
9 Responses to “Can anyone provide HONEST answers to my questions about joining the army?”
By Kathryn Medrano on Feb 22, 2009 | Reply
PROUD WIFE OF A 25B HERE! LOL. I GOT BULL SHITTED, MY HUSBAND TOO. BY RECRUITERS. SO LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCES. YOU WILL BE DOING BASIC TRAINING AT FT. BENNING, GA. ”HOME OF THE INFANTRY. YOU WILL BE THERE FOR 9 WEEKS. YOU WILL MOVE ON TO AIT AT FT. GORDON, GA. YOU WILL BE THERE FOR 20 WEEKS. MY HUSBAND LOVED BASIC, HE WANTS TO DO IT AGAIN. IT’S HARD, IF YOU’RE MARRIED, PHONE CALLS ON SUNDAY MORNINGS ONLY. YOU GET ALL YOUR UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT THE FIRST WEEK OR SO. PAY ALSO. WHEN YOU’RE DONE WITH AIT, YOU GET YOUR ORDERS TO GO ON TO YOUR NEXT DUTY STATION. YOU CAN REQUEST TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, BUT THE ARMY DOESN’T CARE. THEY PUT YOU WHERE THEY WANT TO. MY HUSBAND GOT 1ST CAV. 1 BCT HHT AT FT. HOOD,TX. WE GOT ORDERS FOR HIS DEPLOYMENT TO IRAQ FOR 12 MONTHS TWO WEEKS AFTER WE MOVED. BTW, COLLEGE EDUCATION DOESN’T MAKE YOU LESS DEPLOYABLE. AT ALL. YOU’RE GONNA DO WHATEVER THE ARMY SAYS. POINT BLANK. ANY MORE QUESTIONS, HIT ME UP AT hope i helped! i wish someone had been this honest with us. don’t hesitate to reach me. that’s my husband’s mos.
By communist0084 on Feb 23, 2009 | Reply
I don’t know how basic training is however I think that the US army is a perfect Choice if you don’t mind getting shot and killed in a place that you had no right to be in by a bunch of people who are really fighting for freedom rather then just a pay check.
By Charles S on Feb 23, 2009 | Reply
A college education will not factor at all in whether your deployed to a combat zone. Your job and the needs of the service you belong to will determine that. I have a bachelors degree and I’m deploying to Iraq.
When you begin boot camp it will be very rough at first. A huge culture shock. It is worse than jail because you are forced to do everything the drill instructor says. You don’t get punished with PT in jail. After a while you will get used to the way things are in boot camp and it will be tolerable.
AIT is a little better than boot camp. You will get a little more freedom and allowed to do things that you couldn’t do in basic training. And then as you put your time in and gain rank your life will become better in the military.
Once your done with your basic training and AIT you will be allowed to select a couple of places to be assigned but it will always be up to the Army to decide where your going.
One thing you should think about is going officer. You have a degree and you may find life as an officer a little more your preference. Talk with an Army Officer recruiter and see what the difference is.
Good Luck.
By Wayne C on Feb 23, 2009 | Reply
You would go in as an E4 with the BA if enlisted.
You can go for OCS and skip enlisted ranks.
Basic is FUN, don’t worry, I will add my preview.
AIT at Ft. Gordon was just a school for me in 73-74. Pulled armed guard once (walking around a building with an M16 and 3 rounds of ammo, what a joke) and axe handle guard walking around a Motor Pool. Augusta was OK.
Where you go is never known unless you get a duty station guarantee.
Could you end up in a combat zone? Sure, but not right out of school.
I looked at the MOS but having been out 27 years the jobs have changed. The Army has 2 levels of maintenance. Direct at the using units and General in a shop environment. At least that’s what was done in my day.
Even during Viet Nam 9,000,000 served and only 2,600,000 set foot in Viet Nam. Out the 1,800,000 draftees 650,000 were sent to Viet Nam. Point being you could never go or end up in Qatar or some other higher HQ.
Ahh the memories, phosphorus melding into the Monterey fog, Drill Sergeants putting us in the thinking position. CS, blowing up Bambi’s dad with a claymore, first aid and how a bandoleer can hold things in place, chow, KP, pots and pans, having the Range Officer screaming cease fire while some idiot is firing on a civilian aircraft ( it was not me ), same thing except it was a yacht in no mans land behind the dunes in Monterey Bay, the guy that got hungry and ate poison ivy, wild pigs in bivouac area, being choked out for not saluting the aggressors flag in escape and evasion……AND WE ALL LIVED, SO WILL YOU!!!
They say that in the Army
The Chow is mighty fine
A biscuit rolled off the table
And killed a friend of mine
Don’t think it has changed too awful much since Dino Days, I even throw in a little **** chewing…no extra charge
It might go a little like this:
Up before the sun @ 0430. Also known as O dark thirty
30 minutes max for the 3 S’s ($h!t, shower, shave) sometimes the shower is the night before.
Formation.
A little PT: Daily Dozen and Singing “Up in the morning with the rising sun, were gonna run till the running is done” while double timing a mile
Chow: Coming to attention, count off 1 Drill Sergeant WETSU (We Eat This $h!t Up)
Formation
Draw weapons if going to range
Formation
Double time to training site. C130 rolling down the strip, airborne daddy gonna take a little trip.
Train
Chow
Train
More PT Drill Sargent We Eat This $h!t Up
Double time back to barracks. I wanna be an Airborne Ranger, lead a life of death and danger, I wanna go to Viet Nam, just to kill ole Charley Cong ( I will guess the words have changed)
If weapons were drawn….
Stack weapons
Post guards. Guard relief to the head of Chow line.
Chow
Clean weapons
Have weapon inspected
Turn in weapon
Formation maybe maybe not
1 hour of your time….maybe
GI boots
GI area
Mass Attack on Showers or wait till morning
Write mommy
Lights out 2100
Coma time
“DROP AND GIVE ME 20″
Keep the pie hole shut and listen.
Think out your questions…it’s the Army…do not appear that you were not paying attention!!!
Do not point at food and ask *** is that:
If it is a green looking meat like substance that is “Mystery meat”. Chow down it’s very good for you!
If it looks like lumpy burnt oatmeal it’s SOS.
If the SOS is poured over a hockey puck…that is a biscuit!
If it is yellow and dry it is cake. Just stick it in a glass of milk, it will be fine.
If it is brown and poured over rice it is chili…..maybe…could be gravy made from left over bacon grease.
You think it will make you fat???
NO PROBLEM! I will just PT you until your legs are wore off to the knee’s and your arms to the elbow!!!
ARE WE CLEAR???
WELL ARE WE???
GOOD!
Close enough anyway!
A premature welcome to “The Club”!
SSG US Army 73-82
H/4/3 Ft. Ord Jul-Sep 1973
By Mr Puma on Feb 26, 2009 | Reply
With having a Bachelors degree you can apply to OCS (Officer Candidate School), get commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. The pay and your life/living with be much better. A Pvt starts at $1294, a 2nd LT starts at $2655.
Most “Support” jobs (administration, tech, so on) in the Army are a regular 40 hour work week that may have you working a rotating shift. During your off duty periods you may do pretty much what you want depending on your job and duty station.
As far as being deployed, you will be at some point. To where is impossible to say. Not everyone goes to Iraq or Afghanistan. Germany, South Korea, Italy are all possibilities.
In short, when you are in the military, you are at their beck and call. Your **** goes where they send it and your head better be attached.
By jc on Feb 26, 2009 | Reply
you wont go to basic training, you should be going to officer candidate school, DO NOT ENLIST IF YOU HAVE A DEGREE. you can have lots of fun in the service. best 5 years of my life, the most fun was in the middle east. dont let that deter you. you developer is retarded. if you enlist and your unit is deployed, you go to. doesnt matter if you are a doctor. if you are an officer, same thing. DONT ENLIST!!!!
By Mrs T on Mar 1, 2009 | Reply
Basic Training is not what it looks like in the movies. You get a “Stress Card” that you can use if you feel that you are being subjected to unreasonable stress. I personally think that this new basic training is a disservice, because if you are attacked, your enemy won’t care that you have a stress card, but it is what it is.
When you sign up, you can decide where you want to be stationed. Make sure that you spell out your limitations before you sign on the dotted line, and if the recruiter accepts them, make sure that they are attatched to your contract in writing.
Weather or not you are deployable depends on your career field in the military. For example, My husband is an education and training specialist in the Air National Guard. He is not deployable, unless he volunteers, even though his unit is being deployed.
When it comes down to it, I must ask you NOT to sign up unless you are truly willing to give your life to proctect your country and fellow country men. No one wants to be in a combat situation (which is what the military exists for) and need to count on someone to have their back who is not commited to being there. You are either a “Hero” type, or you are not, there is no in between, and if you sign up just to have a steady job, you will be miserable in the military. You will not like what you do, why you do it, and you will be ostracised from the people who are there for the right reasons.
By hatinginternet on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply
If you like order, dicipline, and awards based on performance the army life is for you. Since you have a BS in IT I would recommend looking into getting a Direct Commission in Health Services to work as an IT officer. The training is at Fort Sam Houston, the Club Med of all MOS training schools. The enitre Medical Filed for the military will be relocated there and will be runn by the Air Force. If you can score great ASVB numbers my recomendatioin would be to persue the Air Force.
As for PT or phycial Training, its mandatory-If your Obease say good by to fast food. You have to maintain Military Standards to stay in the military.
By Jonathan S on Mar 5, 2009 | Reply
don’t go in as enlisted you have a degree go for Officer
……..|¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨…..
……..|……….2 Points……….|||”|”"\__
……..|__________________|||_|___|)<
……..!(@)’(@)”"”"**!(@)(@)****!(@)