I am a Military Recruiter and would like to clear up some misconceptions.

originally posted by: 8654drp
...his base pay was better than I made as an E-4 in the early 1980's. BHA (basic housing allowance) is really good today.

Yeah, that's when I got my E4, too. The pay was not luxurious.

To OP, having read your contribution to the AA thread I salute you. Military ideals...that's a different matter,however the caprice of time may show both to be connected...thanks

a reply to: Juston

You see, thanks to our economy more and more people are turning to the Military for financial stability and benefits. -

yes, lucky that *rolls eyes*

i don't know anyone who didn't join for financial reasons. maybe the legal definition of "forced" is different from reality, but when schooling is so expensive (i mean, we ALL know wall street is responsible enough for low interest rates on loans) and the other option is a minimum wage job (even having a degree is far from a guarantee of a good job these days), free everything sounds nice.

What I found to be more of a "truth" with recruiters is that they don't really lie or omit as much as people think they just only answer the questions they are asked. When I joined the AF I knew I had signed up for F-16 Avionics but ended up getting put into Drone Avionics. Can't exactly blame my recruiter on that one since it was a new program and 3/4ths of my class were put in it. Of course that is only about 6 of us.

I went to a Navy fellah to see what he had ,having been an army scout he ONLY said BUDS and if I failed (a sure thing at 30) the navy would place me where they need me. So I returned to the Cav.
Another thing Does the Navy allow other branches service decor?

I am turning 35 this August 1st ,2016 & I live 30min South Of Chicago IL. . The past couple years I have been really regretting not going to the military when I was younger!! The biggest current problem is just leaving my 7year old daughter! So I have REALLY been getting this inner spiritual tug that keeps telling me that I should be a Special Forces National Guard Solider! From all the research I've been doing, it seems like I might not even have time for the army Nat. Guard **BUT** FROM WHAT I CAN TELL? I can still get into the Air Nat. Guard Special operations /taticts Unit (s) . SO NOW IM HOPING SOMEONE CAN GIVE ME ADVICE, ANSWERS, & OR , RECOMMENDATIONS??????

THANKS A MILLION! ,
Ron K.

a reply to: RJK81

So, are you asking about being a pj or SF?

And you haven't been in the military yet and you're 35?

Just trying to clarify.

originally posted by: RJK81
. SO NOW IM HOPING SOMEONE CAN GIVE ME ADVICE, ANSWERS, & OR , RECOMMENDATIONS??????

THANKS A MILLION! ,
Ron K.

Don't!
Flat out thank your lucky stars that you haven't been embroiled into the banksters' bully boys, the patriotic propaganda machinery of death and destruction, the haven for psychopaths, sociopaths, state-sanctioned murderers, the big brick in the wall of global problems.
We need more people such as you who haven't been involved.

No respect for the military. They're a big part of the problem.

a reply to: Juston

As a Navy bet myself I'm going to disagree with you on a few points.

Yes some recruiters will tell you anything to get you to join. I wanted a special programs classification going in and was told to volunteer in boot camp.

Boy was that wrong. They also didn't appropriately detail out the SEAL program and or properly prepare me for it as hey should have. Luckily I was already an athlete.

Next, the Navy is full of morons and backstabbing #heads and it's more of a reflection of overall American culture.

Having said that everything isn't bad.

Still I don't know where your coming from with this post because I've never read any of the crap you post about.

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
I went to a Navy fellah to see what he had ,having been an army scout he ONLY said BUDS and if I failed (a sure thing at 30) the navy would place me where they need me. So I returned to the Cav.
Another thing Does the Navy allow other branches service decor?

Why would you fail because your 30?

You might actually fair well due to mental toughness. The physical part will break everyone it's your mindset that will get your through it.

a reply to: matthewiz

Ahh man I had the worst backs tabby #head chain of command on the planet.

When I told them I was getting ready to put in a request chit for BUDS everyone turned on me immediately and started blaming all the shops problems on me so they could give me less than a 3.0 on my evil.

The worst part was I ran my PRT in 7:42 and crushed everyone on base BIG time because I was ready for BUDS after failing the first time.

ooh what a perfect thread. ive been speaking to a recruiter. hes the important bits. i have a misdemeanor for receiving stolen property at age 16 and and misdemeanor petty theft at age 19(dine and dash minus the dash). i have a GED. and i scored something like 87 on the asvab. im also 25 years old, not sure how important that is.

so heres my predicament. my recruiter tells me since i dont have a high school diploma im gonna have to acquire 15 college credit hours to be eligible to join the army. im hesitant because if i go through with the credit hours and dont get in im stuck either paying back 5000 for a grant or continuing college and being bogged down by debt for who knows how many years. thats not a life i want to live. what are my chances of getting in?

a reply to: AVoiceOfReason

Dude do yourself a favor and join the marine corpse and if you get 15 credits just finish the damn degree.

What's your MOS

Don't listen to the false reality that what you do when your in translates when you get out because it doesn't unless your in IT.


I also advise going to a second recruiter and getting a second opinion they have waivers for a lot of stuff and usually the Army is more lax.

a reply to: onequestion

why the marines tho? dont both branches offer a free education?

a reply to: AVoiceOfReason

From my observations my Marine friends and I have lots of them have a sense of comraderie that no other branch has afterwords.

Most of them are glad they joined and truly value their experience while other branches except the Air Force tend not to have after.

So you have to pay for the education they are offering you for free in order to join?

Think about it for a second.

Do they have a reimbursement program?

a reply to: onequestion

I succeeded at being a recon scout,I HOPE you at least succeeded yourself at something,as to your disgust, it is in fact amusing.
Anyone who IS NOT a scout and claims we are this or that are funny as well.
WE operated in squad level ops before they perverted our mission ,the US military has NO idea how to deploy us.
We make it up PRETTY good all the time and win just as many times.
Sorry about any RULES that might endanger mine, I'M bringing MY team home AND winning.
I have no shame accept at who commanded me and THAT wasn't my idea.
AND I FORGOT ,the US ARMY wouldn't LET me have sniper school and I STILL want to harm someone over THAT little gem ,now that DMs are en vogue (MORONS) ALL I ever wanted was an M14 but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, 203 or M60 pig WAY too easy. Expert with THOSE too.

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
AND I FORGOT ,the US ARMY wouldn't LET me have sniper school...

That always seemed like a cheat to me. They let on that cav scout can go to sniper school, and technically you CAN, but it's super rare.

a reply to: AVoiceOfReason

It USED to be the thing to do in that case would be to go get a 'degree' from Trinity College and University in something low level, like general humanities, so you didn't get caught out on it too easily.

For $400, you can get an instant 2 year degree. Actually, you can get a BA or a PhD, but I wouldn't push my luck. And use a different recruiter so they don't spot the deception.

Many, many Army officers at Redstone got their BA or BS from TC&U. Until the bloody purge of 2004.

a reply to: Bedlam

Not from my duty stations.
It's weird when you went to Korea,life became VERY professional there I liked that effective work.
I was a BLUES scout there ,we had a former RECONDO E6 teaching us trail disciplines.
I asked him about Echanis and 1st Earth but he was mum about it.