Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD
So I'm at a crossroads. I can either sign up for Air Force or Army ROTC. They're both interesting. They both have jobs that I'd like. Both offer great leadership skills.

I'll try and break it down:

Army
+I'd be interested in armor or aviation
+Might be easier to get a scholarship from the Army, much like how they've usually been the most lenient branch in terms of waivers and stuff
-Long deployments
-If I don't get into armor or aviation, I might end up in something dreary like Finance

Air Force
+I'd be interested in aviation (although I'd probably be relegated to either UAV operation or flight crew), space & missile ops, battle management, maybe security forces
+Air Force facilities are supposedly a lot nicer
+Deployments aren't as long as the Army's
-Once again, if I don't get the branch of my choice I might be flying a boring desk (instead of a fun one that lets me control satellites or something)
-Obviously I haven't served in either branch, but for some reason I just feel more "esprit de corps" with the Army than the Air Force

What would you do? What advice do y'all have, especially those who have served in either branch? I don't know whether I'd want to be a career military man or not (if not, I'm considering going into law enforcement after).
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Little BaBy JESUS
m8
+394|6440|'straya
Just a question as I'm not sure how it works over there. But do you apply for a specific job or do they assign you one?

To be honest, probably whichever gives you the best post-service options. That would be my choice, or at least a large consideration.
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD

Little BaBy JESUS wrote:

Just a question as I'm not sure how it works over there. But do you apply for a specific job or do they assign you one?

To be honest, probably whichever gives you the best post-service options. That would be my choice, or at least a large consideration.
Well for the Army, you select which jobs you'd like to get. Then based on things like PT scores, GPA, LDAC (sort of a 'final exam' for cadets) scores and I think commander recommendations, you either get the jobs you wanted or not.

For the Air Force you have to take the AFOQT, AF Officer Qualification Test. If you score well on that, have a good PT score and I think a high GPA then you can get almost any job you want.

As for post-service options, if I want to go into law enforcement then either branch would work well. If I go into something major-related (right now I'm looking at business) they'll both provide development for leadership skills. But driving a tank doesn't really have applications in the civilian world, whereas being a pilot can get me into civilian airliners, or being an battle manager might make it easier to become a civilian ATC, etc.
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Benzin
Member
+576|6289
I would personally go with the Air Force. My father was in the USAF, my brother is and I have friends that went Army and AF, too. The AF seems to be the better choice for a more comfortable military life. As far as your civilian life afterwards, that just depends on the job field you choose while you're in and doesn't seem quite so hung up on what service you pick.

The best advice I could give, though, was pick the job you want, regardless of what service it is in. If the job is available across multiple branches, then you can worry about the nitpicking little details between them.
NeXuS
Shock it till ya know it
+375|6632|Atlanta, Georgia
Go to both. See what they offer. You can be in meps sitting in that chair and they're waiting for you to sign the papers, but it doesnt matter, you dont have to sign shit until your satisfied. I would go with army *and i did*. All depends on your asvab, your GT score, and such dictates your job. YOUR RECRUITER WILL GIVE YOU A LIST OF WHATS OPEN AT THAT TIME. IF 121st Inf Unit NEEDS A MEDIC OR TRUCK DRIVER THEN YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE OPTIONS. Depends on whats available. Go army.


chair force is gay
Benzin
Member
+576|6289
I see a military branch pissing contest in the future of this thread...
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD

NeXuS wrote:

Go to both. See what they offer. You can be in meps sitting in that chair and they're waiting for you to sign the papers, but it doesnt matter, you dont have to sign shit until your satisfied. I would go with army *and i did*. All depends on your asvab, your GT score, and such dictates your job. YOUR RECRUITER WILL GIVE YOU A LIST OF WHATS OPEN AT THAT TIME. IF 121st Inf Unit NEEDS A MEDIC OR TRUCK DRIVER THEN YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE OPTIONS. Depends on whats available. Go army.


chair force is gay
Nex, I'm talking about ROTC here. Ain't no ASVAB as far as I know. I have a boatload of respect for enlisted men, but at least for now I'm focusing on schoolwork and getting a commission.
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eleven bravo
Member
+1,399|5550|foggy bottom
coast guard
Tu Stultus Es
13rin
Member
+977|6770

eleven bravo wrote:

coast guard
Pops did it for 28 years.  Pilot, finished as a Capt (O-6).  There are people on this plant that wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him.  Retired and banking... Basta'd.  You Enlist, they will stick you on a boat for the first 6 months...
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something.  - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
eleven bravo
Member
+1,399|5550|foggy bottom
and they have no barracks (from what i undterstand) which means fatter paycheck for BAH
Tu Stultus Es
13rin
Member
+977|6770

eleven bravo wrote:

and they have no barracks (from what i undterstand) which means fatter paycheck for BAH
True.  The only place we had "on base housing" was in Kodiak Alaska.
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something.  - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD
USCG doesn't have an ROTC program though, so I'd have to wait till I got my degree then do their OCS.

I's also a bad swimmer.
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eleven bravo
Member
+1,399|5550|foggy bottom
you dont have to be commissioned for Army aviation
Tu Stultus Es
13rin
Member
+977|6770

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

USCG doesn't have an ROTC program though, so I'd have to wait till I got my degree then do their OCS.

I's also a bad swimmer.
He did a degree and then joined up.  But he did all ready have his pilot's license at that point.  I think ya gotta do swimming in full gear in all branches (isn't the dunk tank in Moblie, Alabama)?

There ya go...

eleven bravo wrote:

you dont have to be commissioned for Army aviation
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something.  - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD
DB I haven't heard of swimming being necessary for the Army or the Air Force. Maybe for certain jobs.

@GS, you mean being a warrant officer right? I've considered that as well... I still wanna just get my degree though.
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RAIMIUS
You with the face!
+244|7005|US
Well, if you are looking to fly helos, army is the way to go.  They have more helicopters than the AF has aircraft.  That said, the officers in Army aviation usually only do 1-2 tours of actual flying, then they mostly do all the admin stuff for the units. (So I have heard)  Warrants fly a lot longer (but get paid less).

For flying in the AF, make sure you are medically qualified for what you want.  For example, one of my friends loves to fly, is pretty darn good at it (and just about everything else he does), scores in the top 1% for nearly everything, but his eyesight is color deficient.  He cannot be a pilot in the AF.
UAVs are undecided.  The AF is considering whether only rated pilots should fly them or not. 

If you want to do ATC, there is an AFSC specifically for that.

As for stereotypes:
AF facilities are generally nicer.
The Army does seem to have a tighter esprit de corps.
....BUT this can vary from unit to unit and by location
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD
Helos or planes, or UAVs. I know that UAVs in the AF are currently a rated position... sure hear a lot of uproar from pilots about that lol.

Raimius, you're in the Academy. Any regrets? Wish you had picked a different branch? Or do you like/love it and see yourself a successful Airman?
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Ioan92
Member
+337|6013
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
-Albert Einstein
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5649|London, England

Ioan92 wrote:

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
-Albert Einstein
Now I wonder why you quoted that. Could it be because you come from a backwards, irrelevant country?
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
Ioan92
Member
+337|6013

JohnG@lt wrote:

Ioan92 wrote:

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
-Albert Einstein
Now I wonder why you quoted that. Could it be because you come from a backwards, irrelevant country?
A bit of thinking is required to understand.

Countries are irrelevant.
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5649|London, England

Ioan92 wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Ioan92 wrote:

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
-Albert Einstein
Now I wonder why you quoted that. Could it be because you come from a backwards, irrelevant country?
A bit of thinking is required to understand.

Countries are irrelevant.
Easy for you to say
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
Ioan92
Member
+337|6013

JohnG@lt wrote:

Ioan92 wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:


Now I wonder why you quoted that. Could it be because you come from a backwards, irrelevant country?
A bit of thinking is required to understand.

Countries are irrelevant.
Easy for you to say
Well, I've lived in 3 different countries, Canada, Germany, and this thing called "Romania", so yeah, I'm a traveler.

Of course it's easy for me to say that countries are irrelevant, because they are. Whether or not will mankind still exist when the concept will be understood, I have no idea. But when I see people enthusiastic about joining armies and taking part in killing other humans and their families for land control or economical reasons; I just tell myself that that moment will never occur, we will be extinct by ourselves by then.

Mankind is at the age where it can determine its future and achieve its true civilization, but also the age where the complete opposite could occur.

Threads like this make me lean towards the last option.
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5649|London, England

Ioan92 wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Ioan92 wrote:


A bit of thinking is required to understand.

Countries are irrelevant.
Easy for you to say
Well, I've lived in 3 different countries, Canada, Germany, and this thing called "Romania", so yeah, I'm a traveler.

Of course it's easy for me to say that countries are irrelevant, because they are. Whether or not will mankind still exist when the concept will be understood, I have no idea. But when I see people enthusiastic about joining armies and taking part in killing other humans and their families for land control or economical reasons; I just tell myself that that moment will never occur, we will be extinct by ourselves by then.

Mankind is at the age where it can determine its future and achieve its true civilization, but also the age where the complete opposite could occur.

Threads like this make me lean towards the last option.
Countries prevent more wars than they start. You think one world government would stop people from fighting? No, the world would be in constant rebellion because there is no one size fits all solution to government. There are too many different ideas about what is the correct path and too many lifestyle choices that people can choose from.

On the other end of the spectrum we can all live in towns and cities with no government above but that's just one step from anarchy, world trade would collapse and there would be no one to stop one town from creating a military and conquering everyone else. Right now with the emergence of nation states we have detante and less wars than at any previous time in human history.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5993|College Park, MD
Hey can we keep the politics out of this thread? Interesting discussion but it doesn't answer my question.
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Ioan92
Member
+337|6013

JohnG@lt wrote:

Ioan92 wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:


Easy for you to say
Well, I've lived in 3 different countries, Canada, Germany, and this thing called "Romania", so yeah, I'm a traveler.

Of course it's easy for me to say that countries are irrelevant, because they are. Whether or not will mankind still exist when the concept will be understood, I have no idea. But when I see people enthusiastic about joining armies and taking part in killing other humans and their families for land control or economical reasons; I just tell myself that that moment will never occur, we will be extinct by ourselves by then.

Mankind is at the age where it can determine its future and achieve its true civilization, but also the age where the complete opposite could occur.

Threads like this make me lean towards the last option.
Countries prevent more wars than they start. You think one world government would stop people from fighting? No, the world would be in constant rebellion because there is no one size fits all solution to government. There are too many different ideas about what is the correct path and too many lifestyle choices that people can choose from.

On the other end of the spectrum we can all live in towns and cities with no government above but that's just one step from anarchy, world trade would collapse and there would be no one to stop one town from creating a military and conquering everyone else. Right now with the emergence of nation states we have detante and less wars than at any previous time in human history.
Now that's the usual argument I encounter when boarding this subject, as always. If what currently is; is the best we can do, then that would mean that we are not an intelligent species. What you have right now is the same thing there always was, under the mask of technology and political correctness. You're still having superpowers harassing the other "regions", you're still having religious extremists, you're still having "terrorist" attacks. Humans always blame those events but most of the time are too lazy or just simply dumb to question WHY did that exactly happen. Why where planes flown in the twin towers and et cetera...

Also a one world government would not change anything, I give you the agreement here, as it still encloses to a bunch of morons with no interest for your well being that would control the entire world even easier due to things such ass one world currencies and such. Although, a unified world where people let down their stupid values such as religion or ethnic values or whatever and actually work together for their own well being is deemed to success. However I fear that I'll be an atom by the time that happens, even myself have a hard time imaginating such a world, probably due to primitive instincts that riddle man.

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