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Main Question or Discussion Point
Just got back from MEPS a few minutes ago and am currently awaiting assignment to basic.
Man, I just screwed up big time!
Man, I just screwed up big time!
Well, I joined the Navy!
- Thread starter B. Elliott
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- #2
Evo
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What specialty did you request training in? My first husband demanded photo interpretation so he was assigned to a cushy desk job in Naval Intelligence in Washington DC during the Viet Nam war, he was given a guarantee he would not leave DC for his four year tour, he took an early out after 2-3 years and his commitment was done and he got all of the perks.
- #3
mgb_phys
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One of our engineers in the US was navy and keeps getting offered larger and larger re-enlistment bonuses.
And as he said, Al Queda don't have submarines and you are pretty safe from road side bombs at sea!
And as he said, Al Queda don't have submarines and you are pretty safe from road side bombs at sea!
- #4
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Hooray!
Every one in a while I consider joining the air force. Three of my friends in grad school are off to be fighter pilots once they graduate, all in the Navy.
Every one in a while I consider joining the air force. Three of my friends in grad school are off to be fighter pilots once they graduate, all in the Navy.
- #5
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Well, right now they're pretty tight because of a lot of people wanting to join. For now i'm going for anything that pops up just to get my foot in the door so that I can later cross-train. With my test scores the adviser told me that I qualify for submarine school, which made me ecstatic! The nuclear engineering side looks interesting. I also have ROTC experience so I get to start out at a slightly higher rank.
I can't believe I did it, but I know for a fact the next ten years will go by quick. I just can't pass up the perks.
- #6
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The travel, experience, meeting loads of new people, free medical benefits, the adventure, money for college... many, many reasons. While on the long drive home from MEPS, I thought long and hard about why I didn't do it sooner. Heck, if I joined when I got out of high school, i'd almost be getting out about now!
- #7
OmCheeto
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The Navy was some of my best and worst times.Just got back from MEPS a few minutes ago and am currently awaiting assignment to basic.
Man, I just screwed up big time!
I think you'll have fun.
- #8
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Man i'm telling you. If you've thought about it, do it. There were quite a few guys and gals in their late 20's and 30's joining up just because of the experience and something to do. One guy that I was talking to is a pharmacist of 12 years and was making EXCELLENT money. He decide to join because of the travel and just a flat out change of experience. He said he was always very patriotic anyway, so he also probably felt a bit of 'duty' was due on his part.
- #9
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Very cool! Keep us posted on how everything goes.
- #10
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Please don't kill anyone. Take the slaughter out of the armed forces and it would be great.
- #11
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Are we all done with stupid comments about the military everyone? Yes? ........
- #12
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Unless your on the USS Cole...
- #13
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That's not dumb at all. Having to kill a person in any setting is not something I would want anyone to go through, and that is always a possibility when you sign up for service. Since he is going into the navy it probably wont be likely, but that doesn't make my comment dumb.
- #14
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Your use of the word 'slaughter' was a poor choice...
- #15
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Ok ill give you that
- #16
OmCheeto
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During the six years I was in the Navy, no one, to my knowledge, was slaughtered.
But those were the peaceful Carter and Reagan years.
But then again, I was very young, and was busy scrubbing bilges for a living. God only knows what was going on in the real world.
Were any of you paying attention to the planet between 1977 and 1983? I was much too busy.
- #17
Kurdt
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- #18
BobG
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The Navy's great except for the having to spend a lot of time on a boat (just me, I don't think I could spend that much time at sea, especially a submarine). I went for the Air Force. In a lot of ways, it's not quite as good as the Navy, but it fit my lifestyle a lot better.
Free medical and dental are pretty good benefits nowadays. In fact, it was a pretty good benefit even when I joined. I went in as a satellite systems operator (satellite control, space surveillance, etc), so the travel part didn't pan out most of the time. The two houses I lived in the longest both occurred when I was in the Air Force and both were in Omaha, NE (now that's weather that builds character). I did spend a year in Alaska and at least had some nice trips - Italy a couple times, the Pensacola area for a few weeks (with a hotel right on the beach), trips to the DC/Baltimore area ..... oh, and plus the trips to gorgeous Bozier City (next to Shreveport) :yuck:
The pay and benefits are always less than what you could get in the civilian world, even with reenlistment bonuses and so on. At best, the bonuses close the gap enough that you don't feel like a complete fool for staying in. You get a good career field, though, and the jobs can be too much fun to leave.
As for robertm's concerns, my job was kind of like BASF (if you've ever seen that commercial). I never slaughtered anyone. I just made it so others could slaughter even better.
- #19
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Good for you.
My brother was in the Navy during the Viet-Nam war. At 5'6", he couldn't meet the height requirement for the Coast Guard. He plays clarinet, so during basic, while everyone else was marching, marching, marching, he was playing the clarinet and marching, marching, marching. And washing his t-shirts. He was a radar operator so when the captain wanted to issue an order, first he would ask my brother which order to issue. His ship was a troop carrier. These are fairly safe to be on when you are carrying troops to battle as you get lots of battleship and air cover. However, once the payload is delivered, all that protection stays with the troops as you try to get out. All during the war he practiced invading beaches throughout the Caribbean and the Mediteranean, but never in Viet-Nam. His intention upon enlisting was to be a lifer, but after 4 years, he had a bellyfull of it and refused to re-up.
My brother was in the Navy during the Viet-Nam war. At 5'6", he couldn't meet the height requirement for the Coast Guard. He plays clarinet, so during basic, while everyone else was marching, marching, marching, he was playing the clarinet and marching, marching, marching. And washing his t-shirts. He was a radar operator so when the captain wanted to issue an order, first he would ask my brother which order to issue. His ship was a troop carrier. These are fairly safe to be on when you are carrying troops to battle as you get lots of battleship and air cover. However, once the payload is delivered, all that protection stays with the troops as you try to get out. All during the war he practiced invading beaches throughout the Caribbean and the Mediteranean, but never in Viet-Nam. His intention upon enlisting was to be a lifer, but after 4 years, he had a bellyfull of it and refused to re-up.
- #20
OmCheeto
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
I think the world was laughing so hard about that video that no one could pick up their guns.
It was a very good time.
- #21
Moonbear
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Good luck with it. Let us know when you head off for basic so we know not to expect to see you around here for long stretches. Honestly, it's refreshing to see someone making this decision as a more mature adult knowing what they're getting into rather than a naive, clueless kid fresh out of high school. Starting out at higher rank and with some better background to make you more useful, hopefully it'll be a more rewarding experience now than if you had started straight out of high school where you'd more than likely have been little more than a bilge rat (like what jimmy was describing).
- #22
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I don't know how you got that out of what I wrote. My brother was an engineer when he went in. That's how he got to be radar operator.
- #23
Moonbear
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Oops, mixed up you and Om.
Om was the one talking about scrubbing bilges.- #24
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I don't think I follow. Change my mind how?
- #25
turbo
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B. Elliot, I wish you the best in your new career. My nephew is a lifer in the Navy, and it's been great for him and great for the Navy. He has been nominated for Sailor of the Year at many levels more times than I can count. He just completed a tour on the Nimitz and though he was the #1-rated Master Chief 2 years in a row (no mean feat on a ship that has over 120 sailors at that rate) opportunities for further advancement dried up. For that reason, he has accepted an opportunity to take new training in another specialty, and will be attending school on gas turbines, and officer-training, and should be commissioned as a chief warrant officer in a couple more months. Not bad for a 32 year old who started at the bottom.
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