AirForce/Army question

[Mustang71]

I had a thread about joining military but wanted to ask a specific question need advice.

situation:
-Wanted to join military for the past 5 years
-finishing my A.A. degree from a CC hopefully by this summer

options:
-enlist in the Army after C.C for combat engineer or im not sure what else

-enlist in the Air force (if I can) and try to score high enough on ASVAB and have ability to pick most jobs, possibly looking at loadmaster or something else that would make it possible to travel a lot

-Transfer to a local college that my brother goes to and go into the ROTC program there(ARMY) and get my B.A. in idk what and then get commisioned in the Army. but i don't really get a 100% chance of getting the job i want.

(tests scores pending)-wait it out and work part-time and try to get hired from a local Police Department only if tests score is high and i am up on the list


What would be the better option?

 

[CDep55]

Join National Guard and do a little bit of all of those things. Not sure what NY Army National Guard has to offer in terms of jobs. You can google that though. The NY Air Guard has a lot of awesome jobs to choose from, including Loadmaster. For loadmaster they have a regular C-130 Airlift Squadron, a HC-130 Rescue (pretty cool mission), and a C-17 Airlift Squadron I believe. They also have a few planes that fly up to Antarctica and other places that require their special planes. That's just loadmaster, they have a lot of other stuff too.

1. Join Guard go to training make some money
2. come home finish college while making money flying and traveling part time
3. When your done school start looking to get your commission.

Only catch is number 3. Could be difficult to switch to active (while still on your guard contract) or find an officer position in the guard that you may like. I joined out of high school as a loadmaster and have been in 4 years and am now looking to switch to an officer position. No regrets.

Check other local states National Guard units as well.

 

[JetmechF16]

Join National Guard and do a little bit of all of those things. Not sure what NY Army National Guard has to offer in terms of jobs. You can google that though. The NY Air Guard has a lot of awesome jobs to choose from, including Loadmaster. For loadmaster they have a regular C-130 Airlift Squadron, a HC-130 Rescue (pretty cool mission), and a C-17 Airlift Squadron I believe. They also have a few planes that fly up to Antarctica and other places that require their special planes. That's just loadmaster, they have a lot of other stuff too.

1. Join Guard go to training make some money
2. come home finish college while making money flying and traveling part time
3. When your done school start looking to get your commission.

Only catch is number 3. Could be difficult to switch to active (while still on your guard contract) or find an officer position in the guard that you may like. I joined out of high school as a loadmaster and have been in 4 years and am now looking to switch to an officer position. No regrets.

Check other local states National Guard units as well.

Finally, a fellow Guardsman!

I agree with the above, join the Guard and finish school. I'm doing the same thing, although it's taking me a BIT longer to finish school (8 years so far). I started out AD AF, but after a couple years I Palace Chased to the Texas ANG. Only difference is I've been full time in the Guard since then and shift work makes it a little hard to go to school at night, 5 hour class and mid shift make for one LONGGG day.

 

[KingBlack]

age?

 

[Mustang71]

age?

I am 19 years old will be 20 by this summer

 

[97desertCobra]

So you don't know what you want to major in yet? I say join the NG for 3 years and continue to go to school and get that degree. After you get your degree then you can decide if you want to commision or not. I have my Associates degree and I'm on my way to my Bachelors but I have no desire to get a commission, I like being a NCO and plan on staying enlisted.

From there you can decide if you want to stay NG, go active duty, or commision in either one. If you have absolutely no idea what you want to major in then I say go active duty for 3-4 years. After your enlistment you might have a better idea of what you want. Who knows, you may love active duty enough to want to stay in for 20 years and retire.

Remember, fear is temporary but regret is forver.

 

[KingBlack]

I am 19 years old will be 20 by this summer

id drop a 2yr rotc packet then do the smp program

 

[Matts00GT]

All are good options. But keep in mind that options 1 and 2 are completely different than option 3.

Being a CO is an okay job. The pay is better but the bullshit associated can also be worse.

 

[helty]

Here's something else to consider: the post-9/11 GI Bill.

I joined in August of 2001, did 4 years active then separated and used the old GI Bill while going to school. I still had to take out student loans to pay the school up front. The GI Bill money I received monthly ($1250) went towards rent, car payment, and all other bills. I used it to offset the cost of living, but I also had a part time job working 30 hours a week which didn't leave a whole lot of time for studying. As a result, my grades suffered.

The new GI Bill pays your tuition up front (No student loans) and gives you a housing allowance at the rank of E-5 w/dependents for the zip code which your school is located it to help offset the cost of living. In order to receive 100% of the benefits under the new GI Bill, you have to have 36 months of Active Duty. Hence, doing a 4 year enlistment will give you a taste of the branch of service you choose, while giving you those 3 years necessary so that once your enlistment is up, you can finish your education and get paid to do so.

Just as an example, I transferred to the 9/11 GI Bill and I'm now receiving $1950/month to go to school full-time, and my tuition was paid by the VA up front. I have a full-time job with the Air National Guard so the GI Bill money is helping pay off those student loans I took out 5 years ago.

I tell you all this bc you seem very mindful of your education, and the military is an excellent way to finance it without putting you in the hole for years to come. I'm still $12,000 in debt bc of student loans I took out 5 years ago. It sucks. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is one of the best benefits available to veterans today, you just have to put in the active duty time to be fully eligible.

I've done active duty and I've been full-time guard for over 3 years now. Personally I prefer the Guard ten-fold over active duty, even though I get paid half as much. That said, I got so much out of those 4 years on active duty and I wouldn't trade that time for anything. It helped me grow up quick and prepared me for my future. Take your time and make an informed decision. If you have any other questions about it feel free to PM me.

Oh, and take your recruiters words with a grain of salt.

 

[Matts00GT]

I've done active duty and I've been full-time guard for over 3 years now. Personally I prefer the Guard ten-fold over active duty, even though I get paid half as much. .

Wait, you're getting paid less as AGR than as AD?

Good info in your post btw. The GI Bill isn't available immediately for officers like it is for enlisted.

 

[helty]

Wait, you're getting paid less as AGR than as AD?

Good info in your post btw. The GI Bill isn't available immediately for officers like it is for enlisted.

No, there's a common misconception that all full-time Guard members are AGR's. Reality is, MOST of us are federal employees, or as we call it "technicians". The majority of us get paid on the General Salary or Wage Grade pay scale. In other words, my military rank has absolutely nothing to do with what I get paid for the 40 hours a week I work. We're civilians during the week and get paid hourly or salary depending on our pay grade. Still wear the uniform and are held accountable to military standards, customs and courtesies.

I did the math, and I make slightly more per year than the BASE PAY of an E-5. However throw in BAH, BAS and all the benefits active members are entitled to and its not even close. I even have to pay for my own medical and dental, which isn't all that bad bc I can choose my provider and not have to worry about some dental school reject in the Med Squadron stabbing me in the mouth.

Now, when we deploy or support contingency ops, we're placed on Title 10 active duty orders and get compensated according to our military rank.

 

[TaraFirma]

There's always the "high school to flight school" program in the Army You'd be a Warrant Officer, but your primary job would be to fly.

 

[Matts00GT]

No, there's a common misconception that all full-time Guard members are AGR's. Reality is, MOST of us are federal employees, or as we call it "technicians". The majority of us get paid on the General Salary or Wage Grade pay scale. In other words, my military rank has absolutely nothing to do with what I get paid for the 40 hours a week I work. We're civilians during the week and get paid hourly or salary depending on our pay grade. Still wear the uniform and are held accountable to military standards, customs and courtesies.

Similar to Comtek? Or are you like ADSW/ADOS, but that wouldn't make sense?

 

[JetmechF16]

No, there's a common misconception that all full-time Guard members are AGR's. Reality is, MOST of us are federal employees, or as we call it "technicians". The majority of us get paid on the General Salary or Wage Grade pay scale. In other words, my military rank has absolutely nothing to do with what I get paid for the 40 hours a week I work. We're civilians during the week and get paid hourly or salary depending on our pay grade. Still wear the uniform and are held accountable to military standards, customs and courtesies.

I did the math, and I make slightly more per year than the BASE PAY of an E-5. However throw in BAH, BAS and all the benefits active members are entitled to and its not even close. I even have to pay for my own medical and dental, which isn't all that bad bc I can choose my provider and not have to worry about some dental school reject in the Med Squadron stabbing me in the mouth.

Now, when we deploy or support contingency ops, we're placed on Title 10 active duty orders and get compensated according to our military rank.

I've been a Technician since '06, but as of right now my net pay for WG-10 step 4 are almost exactly the same as my military net pay as E-5. I've been on Title 10 status since '08 but kept my Technician rehire rights so I still get the 120 hours every october! Best of both worlds! The best thing about Technician pay is the two months out of the year you get 3 paychecks vs. 2.

 

[97desertCobra]

Similar to Comtek? Or are you like ADSW/ADOS, but that wouldn't make sense?

He is a federal technician. He is not on Title 10 or Title 32 orders. Therefore the time he puts in does not go toward retirement, he does not recieve BAS, BAH or base pay as he is paid on the government wage grade system.

Edit: Follow the link.

http://www.azguard.gov/hro/jobs.htm

Click on any of the technician job announcements. You will notice the wage grade(WG) and an hourly rate associated with that wage grade in the announcement. You have to be a member of the National Guard in order to apply for the position but its not an active duty job, no title 10 or 32 orders.

OP Helty had some really good advice. Good luck with what ever you decide.