Thinking of joining..

[JTrotter Fan]

Try the Army...unless you are not wanting to go to Iraq. 

[LBIggle]

thanks alot for the input guys.

sarge, i will definitely be in touch with you about what i'm told, i didn't know you were an active recruiter.  i am aware of recruiters telling you what you want to hear so any advice is appreciated.  that program allowing you to obtain a degree full time while still obtaining full time commission is quite interesting.

i don't have a degree, and i am aware of the bachelor degree requirement to fly being as you have to be an officer.  joining up just to be patriotic isn't my reasoning behind it.. school, experience, and no money to do what i want to do is my main motivation.  looking at other branches is obviously an option, but i would think flying in other branches would be more difficult to accomplish due to less opportunity.  i'm not looking for an easy way out, but my vision is the concern.  fighters are what i want to fly, cargo planes and the like aren't particularly appealing.

[Diomedes]

i don't have a degree, and i am aware of the bachelor degree requirement to fly being as you have to be an officer.  joining up just to be patriotic isn't my reasoning behind it.. school, experience, and no money to do what i want to do is my main motivation.  looking at other branches is obviously an option, but i would think flying in other branches would be more difficult to accomplish due to less opportunity.  i'm not looking for an easy way out, but my vision is the concern.  fighters are what i want to fly, cargo planes and the like aren't particularly appealing.

Jesus Christ, the guys who are dying over there every day are just like you.  WTF are you thinking?  Go back to school.  Live poor and get through school.  Build a life for yourself.  Don't just get in line.

/just sayin'

[Sgt PSN]

I've been waiting for you to chime in bro.  I thought you were getting soft on us..........or enlisting. 

[Rome]

I had a long commentary written out but I simply can't post it here.

I'll just say that I agree 100% with Dio on this.

[Philly_Crew]

thanks alot for the input guys.

sarge, i will definitely be in touch with you about what i'm told, i didn't know you were an active recruiter.  i am aware of recruiters telling you what you want to hear so any advice is appreciated.  that program allowing you to obtain a degree full time while still obtaining full time commission is quite interesting.

i don't have a degree, and i am aware of the bachelor degree requirement to fly being as you have to be an officer.  joining up just to be patriotic isn't my reasoning behind it.. school, experience, and no money to do what i want to do is my main motivation.  looking at other branches is obviously an option, but i would think flying in other branches would be more difficult to accomplish due to less opportunity.  i'm not looking for an easy way out, but my vision is the concern.  fighters are what i want to fly, cargo planes and the like aren't particularly appealing.

It is harder than you think.  When you enter flight school, if you make it they put you where they want you.  It could be a cargo or bomber.   The better you do, the more choice they give you.  The Academy guys do really well and have the connections.

[Sgt PSN]

Good point about the Academy guys PC.  They're already in the "network".  They've got hookups they don't even know about simply because they are Academy graduates. 

[PhillyPhanInDC]

thanks a lot for the input guys.

sarge, i will definitely be in touch with you about what I'm told, i didn't know you were an active recruiter.  i am aware of recruiters telling you what you want to hear so any advice is appreciated.  that program allowing you to obtain a degree full time while still obtaining full time commission is quite interesting.

i don't have a degree, and i am aware of the bachelor degree requirement to fly being as you have to be an officer.  joining up just to be patriotic isn't my reasoning behind it.. school, experience, and no money to do what i want to do is my main motivation.  looking at other branches is obviously an option, but i would think flying in other branches would be more difficult to accomplish due to less opportunity.  I'm not looking for an easy way out, but my vision is the concern.  fighters are what i want to fly, cargo planes and the like aren't particularly appealing.

Dude, I have to be honest and blunt with you. What you just said there are honestly some of the worst reasons to go in the military. You have to remember first and foremost that the military is just that.....a military. While they will give you some benefits and some opportunities, you become part of organization that is built solely to make war, and currently is doing so. You have to understand (I'm not saying you haven't thought about it already), that after you sign the dotted line, they are going to get their time/money's worth out of you. They aren't offering to send you to college and give you top notch training so you can be a better person, it's so in the end, you become a better war fighter. In the Marine Corps I used to think, "Higher up is going to get their one-pound of flesh, so I gotta get mine." Meaning that they are taking all the time while you are in, you're going to work- a lot, and most likely will at times be asked to do things you really don't want to do, so you had better get the most of the benefits you are interested in. Forget all the shtein you have seen in movies, or the pictures in the pamphlets you've been given. I am not trying to talk you out of this whole thing, but you really should sit and think awhile about all of the other factors that go along with it. Say you do become a fighter pilot (BTW, there aren't many pilots in other countries anymore  that will go toe to toe with an American fighter jet), your bread and butter will be supporting the infantry on the ground, dropping bombs on the bad guys. Is College, Experience and not having money enough motivation to end peoples lives...putting your own life at risk to do so?

I tell most people who ask me what I thought about being in the service, that I loved it, I would do it all over again, and it is true. However, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I went in the Marines. My brothers (2) were in, my father and his brother were in during Vietnam, and my grandfather fought on Iwo Jima. Never for one second did I think it was going to "ball". I got to see parts of the world I would have never seen otherwise, do things and learn things I never thought possible, and experience some of the greatest joys I have had in my rather young life, including meeting my wife. Given that, it was never out of my head that if it came down to brass tacks, I would have to be in a position to shoot and kill people if I was told to so, and also be put in extremely dangerous situations based on a decision by someone I never met.