I want to join the military, but which?

[Nyq]

So as the title states, ive been very interested in joining the military mainly for the benefits and a good job out of high school is a plus! But im having a hard time decide which one is the best one for me. I know you cant choose for me but does anyone have reasons why x branch is better then x?

EDIT: i probably should have stated that im in the US and if possible i would like to do something with computers.

[Nyq]

I'm assuming you're talking about the United States military. In my experience, if you like staying closer to home and working a normal 9-5 then join the Air Force. If you don't mind being gone from home and want to explore the world (well to a certain extent), and don't mind bad hours, then join the Navy. If you want to be a warrior and don't mind getting shot at, working terrible hours, being stuck in the shit-holes of the world, and making your life all about your job then join the Marines or Army.

Of course all of the branches have their specialty fields, and stereotypes, but these are all the most general statements I can make about it. For the most part all of the other branches thinks the Navy is full of geeked-out homosexuals. All of the other branches think the Air Force is full of desk warriors that joined for a normal job and not to defend or stand for anything. All of the other branches think the Marines are meat-headed morons that have been brain-washed out of their previous existence as a normal human being. And finally, all of the other branches think the Army is, well, the Army; they don't really have any consistent stigma or stereotype that I'm aware of other than them all thinking they are green berets.

Yeah, a navy recruiter recently came to my school i gave him my info for him to call me for a meeting to talk more but he never called lol, I also have a buddy in the air force who has been telling me about it.
As far as the marines or army goes i want to stay away from it because living in shit-holes isnt really my style hah

[Stankymcgee]

I was in the army from 2002 to 2009 is was the most fun/most suck fest time of my life. I was a tanker, M1a2 abrams battle tank guy. I will always stick up for the army because it really did help shape my life into a more productive person.

[Roose]

Air force and coast guard are the cushiest.

Do not go into the marines or army unless you want to be overworked and underpaid.

Navy is in the middle.

All of them will chew you up and spit you out. Would never suggest anyone go into the military unless they do not have a family. Military ruins more families than alcohol.

[ishootblanks]

if you join the military you're going to end up where you're sent.. get everything in writing.. my step daughter (lived in L.A.) joined the Air Force and was promised a base on the west coast.. upon finishing basic training.. she ended up in GA where she's been for the last 9 years.. she hated it at first.. but now loves it.. so take that as you will..

if you're concerned about being shot at.. you're the least likely to see combat in the Air Force.. followed by Navy.. then Army and obviously the most likely to see combat if you join the Marines.. other than that.. figure out what you want to do.. if you want to fly airplanes.. you can do that in any branch.. but only a select few ever get that opportunity.. other than that.. aside from the Navy you're probably going to end up repairing stuff monitoring things or as security..

all I can say is that regardless of what you choose.. you will gain respect.. have the opportunity for a great education and opportunities after your military career if you work for it.. just keep in mind though that in the current political climate.. the military is kinda crazy right now.. do your research and don't just trust the recruiter to give you accurate information!!!!

[Tinykong]

An Army grunt stands in the rain with a 15 kg. pack on his back,
5 kg. weapon in hand, after having marched 15 km, and says, "This sucks."

An Army Airborne Ranger stands waist deep in the rain with a 25 kg. pack on his back,
weapon in hand, after having jumped from an airplane and marched 30 km,
and says with a smile, "This sucks just fine!"

A Special Forces soldier lies in the mud, 40 kg pack on his back,
weapon in hand, after swimming 10 km to shore, crawling through a swamp and
marching 40 km at night past the enemy positions,
says with a grin, while biting the head of a snake "This really sucks, I wish it could suck more....."

An Air Force Pilot flying over the battlefield, the rain is pouring down,
looks down at the soldiers below and says: "Sure sucks down there!"

An Air Force officer sits in an easy chair in his air conditioned,
carpeted room and says to his friend, "Man.. Cable's out! This sucks!"

Copy pasted from somewhere else, but still relevant!

[Linkedblade]

If I were you, I'd find yourself to a 4 year university or college and get a bachelors degree. Then afterwards join. That way you can train, stay in the reserves, and pay off the schooling with GI bill money. It'll set you up for plenty of success ^_^

I personally aspire to join the Marine Core. However it's more of what you think.

[KaylinBDF]

I recommend joining the military of the country which you are currently a citizen.

[MoMedic]

Do not go into the marines or army unless you want to be overworked and underpaid.

Perhaps you meant overworked, period. Unless they changed something (which they didn't), all branches of the military get paid equal for their rank.

[NoRest4Wicked]

If I were you, I'd find yourself to a 4 year university or college and get a bachelors degree. Then afterwards join. That way you can train, stay in the reserves, and pay off the schooling with GI bill money. It'll set you up for plenty of success ^_^

I personally aspire to join the Marine Core. However it's more of what you think.

You aspire to join the Marines but you don't know it's Corps and not Core? Dear God.

[Cynon]

US Army here, 16 years and counting. I was in the same dilemma as you, when trying to decide. I narrowed it down pretty easily.

I didn't want the Navy, because I'm not a good swimmer and being around large bodies of water didn't do it for me. Also, being on ships basically means being in cramped quarters for long extended periods of time, so screw that.

That also ruled out the Marines, since they do ship duty as well....not to mention, you don't get an opportunity to select the MOS you want -- they pick it for you.

Air Force had some excellent duty stations and also got the most government funding, which meant that they had the best standard of living in the military. Down side -- everyone wants to join the Air Force, so it takes forever to make rank.

When it came down to it, military service means being in a war. If the shit hit the fan, do I want to be on a ship in the middle of an ocean? I want to be able to at least run to safety. So I chose the Army -- standard of living wasn't the greatest when I first joined, but it has improved tremendously over the years. Haven't had a bad duty station in all of my 16 years (Fort Bragg NC, Redstone Arsenal AL, Hunter Airfield GA, Colorado Springs CO, two tours of Korea).

What it really comes down to, the military is whatever you make it. That's what I really love about being in the Army. People are always quick to say, "Oh, why the military? You'll belong to Uncle Sam, you won't get to think for yourself." Comments like that come from folks that either a) have never served, or b) served but washed out and couldn't hack it. This Army has opened so many doors for me, given me tons of opportunities, I became a of history (was in the Iraq invasion), and I've matured and grown so much as a person.

[DEATHETERNAL]

You aspire to join the Marines but you don't know it's Corps and not Core? Dear God.

I wish someone would have asked President Obama about knowing how it was pronounced when he was running for Commander in Chief of all U.S. armed forces (as well as other things).

On Topic: My dad was army so I lived on a bunch of military bases. I noticed that all the Air Force guys were home a lot earlier on Air Force bases than the Army guys on Army bases. If you want the best deal, as long as you don't not want to fly a plane or work with them, I'd say Air Force. If you really want to bleed for the country (no sarcasm or disdain intended), go Army or Marines.

[NoRest4Wicked]

US Army here, 16 years and counting. I was in the same dilemma as you, when trying to decide. I narrowed it down pretty easily.

I didn't want the Navy, because I'm not a good swimmer and being around large bodies of water didn't do it for me. Also, being on ships basically means being in cramped quarters for long extended periods of time, so screw that.

That also ruled out the Marines, since they do ship duty as well....not to mention, you don't get an opportunity to select the MOS you want -- they pick it for you.

Air Force had some excellent duty stations and also got the most government funding, which meant that they had the best standard of living in the military. Down side -- everyone wants to join the Air Force, so it takes forever to make rank.

When it came down to it, military service means being in a war. If the shit hit the fan, do I want to be on a ship in the middle of an ocean? I want to be able to at least run to safety. So I chose the Army -- standard of living wasn't the greatest when I first joined, but it has improved tremendously over the years. Haven't had a bad duty station in all of my 16 years (Fort Bragg NC, Redstone Arsenal AL, Hunter Airfield GA, Colorado Springs CO, two tours of Korea).

What it really comes down to, the military is whatever you make it. That's what I really love about being in the Army. People are always quick to say, "Oh, why the military? You'll belong to Uncle Sam, you won't get to think for yourself." Comments like that come from folks that either a) have never served, or b) served but washed out and couldn't hack it. This Army has opened so many doors for me, given me tons of opportunities, I became a of history (was in the Iraq invasion), and I've matured and grown so much as a person.

This would only be true if you joined as open contract. Everyone I know while I was in was able to choose their MoS.

[Cynon]

This would only be true if you joined as open contract. Everyone I know while I was in was able to choose their MoS.

Then they must have changed that recently. Thanks for that.

[shortnugly]

All depends on your ASVAB score. The higher you get the better your choices are. Aviation on the Marines side wasn't to bad, 2 deployments and worked some crazy hours even when I wasn't deployed.

Let me leave you with some words to ponder that i got from an old buddy, "You can be a good Marine and a bad technician, but you can't be a bad Marine and a good technician." Basically if you want to do 20 and retire don't sweat your actual job and play the volunteer for everything that isn't your job game: color guard, collateral duties, basically you have to become an ass kisser unless you are really good at making people do what you want.

Otherwise do like I did and use it to learn as much as you can and scratch by on all the military stuff. If your lucky your Staff NCO's will know you carry everybody else fucking off and you can get away with murder :Þ

[Cynon]

Air force and coast guard are the cushiest.

Do not go into the marines or army unless you want to be overworked and underpaid.

Navy is in the middle.

All of them will chew you up and spit you out. Would never suggest anyone go into the military unless they do not have a family. Military ruins more families than alcohol.

Comments like these really piss me off.

Yeah, the Army does have days where the hours kinda suck. Other side of the coin -- we get a lot of downtime too. Ever wake up sick as hell with the flu first thing in the morning? Army: Go to sick call, doctor can give you quarters for 24 or 48 hours....or you have a cool PSG that says, "take the day off, give me a call"....and you STILL get paid. Try that at a civilian job, if you want to get fired or lose vacation days.

Your "military hates families" comment is ridiculous, and so far offbase it's almost unforgivable. It's really easy to blame the military on the breakup of a family, especially during the last 11 years of fighting wars on two fronts. I encourage folks to look at a larger picture. Many of the divorces come from couples that rushed off to get married before shipping off to deployment, not even looking at the financial aspects of getting married....not even knowing the person long enough to get married....some couples were just WAY TOO DAMNED YOUNG to get married in the first place!

In my experience -- chances are, there are a lot of problems going on within said family...and blaming the military/deployment is just a convenient excuse. If your marriage is loving, supportive, communicative....then it will survive anything. If your marriage is the polar opposite (i.e. abusive, non-supportive, non-committal, etc) there is no way that marriage will survive ANYTHING, let alone a 6-mo/12-mo deployment.

Sixteen-plus years I've given to the Army, been married for ten of them. My wife has been with me through three tours of Iraq (including the invasion), one tour of Korea, and we're looking at a tour of Afghanistan in a few weeks. We've survived them all, and why? We talk about everything....we support each other, no matter what....and most importantly, we take our marriage vows seriously.

[goobernoob]

This would only be true if you joined as open contract. Everyone I know while I was in was able to choose their MoS.

I'm not sure about other mos but with marine infantry its some where in between. If you go active you get to choose infantry but not what type, they decide if you are going to be a rifleman, machinegunner, mortarman or assault in school of infantry, you only get to pick that if you go reserves and even then, they often change it once you get to your duty station based on what they need.
so if you want to be a basic grunt you can pick the 03 but not the 11

edit: typo

[Astounded]

I'm not sure about other mos but with marine infantry its some where in between. If you go active you get to choose infantry but not what type, they decide if you are going to be a rifleman, machinegunner, mortarman or assault in school of infantry, you only get to pick that if you go reserves and even then, they often change it once you get to your duty station based on what they need.
so if you want to be a basic grunt you can pick the 03 but not the 11

edit: typo

While is is true that you do not get a direct choice on your MOS Designator if you choose "03XX" upon signing up, you do have some choice at the School of Infantry. Basically they'll be like "Alright if you want to be an 0331 (Machine Gunner) go over there, 0341 (Mortars) over here 0351/52(Assault/TOW) Over here" and then everyone scrambles. If you have the required GT Score you actually get to keep your choice unless you're a 5'6" 120lb kid trying to be a Machine Gunner, they'll probably send you over to the 41's or 51/52's. Anyone who does not want to have a specialty in their chosen 03 field gets the honor of becoming an 0311(Grunt).

[Yadryonych]

In Modern Russia the military conscripts you.

[Deleted]

Depends which country you are from!