Daughter joining the military???

The Family & Parenting Forums Family dynamics can be exactly that - dynamic! Post here about family related issues such as parenting, blended families, step-families, new relationships with children involved, family of origin issues, in-laws or sibling issues.

Today, 10:55 AM	? #8 (permalink)
Member ? Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: College Town, NH Posts: 2,019	My son is in the NG. He has the kind of position where his risk of being in combat is minimized. He has a thinking kind of job. When I was in the service I was a medic, then in command/control as an officer. The benefits in terms of health care for veterans and education are phenomenal, plus a lot of jobs are more accessible to veterans due to their service and specific training and experience. My son will also graduate with no school debt, he goes to a school that costs about 55K a year. He uses the NG/military benefits and pay on top of the scholarships the school offers and his Pell grant. After he graduates college he can be an officer or a warrant officer, because he has enlisted time under his belt, his pay will be higher, the pay charts if you look at them for former-enlisted officers have an E at the end of them. This is how it was for me, as a new 2lt I was making more than my captain. I joined young and when I was finished with the military I still had enough time left to pick up in graduate school and I didn't feel like I missed my youth. I did have a scholarship that was active duty, for my BS, that is, I was enlisted, officer trainee for 3 years and my job was to attend university, this was a competitive scholarship available only to active duty members. Anyway, there are a lot of benefits. With any job, you can be dealing with danger. Just driving to work every day is a risk. And you can't know that the people working alongside you aren't addicts or felons. In the military, sure there are more risks, but the population you hang with tends to be a bit safer. I can't remember how many safety briefings I went to...there were way too many. Please remember that in the military, there are positions in the medical field, as well as in payroll/accounting, personnel/human resources, air traffic control, logistics, supply (not a great field in my opinion...), training/teaching, computer programming, foreign language/intel, photography, cartography, communications, electronics repair, maintenance, reporting/writing/documentation, dining services, and administrative functions in support of officers/commanders. Your daughter should take the ASVAB and if she scores high which she likely will, she would have a choice of jobs. Before choosing, she could get in touch with some people who hold these jobs, and consider the work schedules and likely assignments. There are also some nice postings at embassies, and not all of them in those countries that are unstable. It's not all about combat. Many military functions are in support of avoiding combat, for everyone.
?

Today, 11:42 AM	? #14 (permalink)
Member ? Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: College Town, NH Posts: 2,019	Quote: She has taken the ASVAB and has good scores. As far as college she wants to teach english as a second language. She also plans to do ROTC while in college and if I have the correct information, she could do this can come out as an officer.??? Yes. If you have a college degree, and are in the enlisted ranks, you can APPLY within your NG unit for an officer slot or a warrant officer slot. It needs to be available or you need to be able to transfer to a unit that has such a position available. Plus you need to be qualified for the training, physically and education level/degree. You also usually have the choice to transfer to active duty. Here is where research pays off. You can join a unit that has a history of a certain function and location during wartime. Some of these locations are stateside, some are not. If she scored high on her ASVAB, the likelihood of getting one of these positions, if she is astute enough to look for one, is much higher. In this case, street smarts aren't so necessary. The lifestyle is very protected and rudimentary. I would advise getting the paperwork before she signs and having someone who knows about this stuff, and whom you trust, look it over. As far as having street smarts, she can get them in the military. The nice thing with the military is that you can change duty stations or units, and that people are tending to come and go quite often. So if you make a mistake and get a reputation or whatever in one location, you can go on to the next location and save some face. On the other hand, if you end up with a good reputation, you'll have the commanders more than happy to work with you on whatever transfer you want to get away from your alcoholic boss that you end up taking to get his truck from where he left it, full of beer cans, every Sunday morning. This is the same boss that will cut you some slack and give you a schedule that allows you to study for your college classes while manning the phones, or whatever, while everyone else is eating lunch at the club. The military is not just one position, as many people think it will be, when you first lock in. Once you get on base or in a unit, you will become known for what you excel in, and can do work outside of your usual job, the issues only arise when you want a transfer or a promotion and you need to certify your training. This is referred to as a cross-train, your unit can approve such training if there is a need for that job to be filled and you have an aptitude, and you can be let go from your current position/replaced easily or it becomes redundant. The thing to do is to choose an initial career field that has a broad spectrum of training and duties, so that you can be flexible as the need arises. Or choose one thing that you absolutely love and do that and that only. But if you want to be an officer, make sure that your job will translate into being higher up on the chain of command. For instance, if you're an EMT, you'd need a medical degree to move up to the officer ranks in your unit/career field. Whereas if you're a truck mechanic and become an officer, knowing how to repair trucks if you're in charge of a transportation unit, will earn you a lot of points as a leader. If your daughter wants to teach English as a second language, she should look into becoming a linguist/translator, and whatever second language she has now, she should become as proficient in it as possible. My son speaks French fluently, as well as Mandarin Chinese. I speak both those languages as well as Spanish. But you can pick up Spanish easily in the military, just from hanging with friends.
?

Today, 12:15 PM	? #15 (permalink)
Member ? Join Date: May 2012 Location: Southeast Posts: 766	My 2 cents and background?I enlisted (8 years) in the Army NG at 18. I was deployed to SA for Desert Storm for 7 months. I always wanted to serve, plus I knew I would get zero $$$ help from my family for college. It was a good life decision for me. I got my BS with zero debt, and my military experience has been a great help in my career, and in life. Of course my main concern is her safety. Another concern is her not liking it and wanting out but being stuck until her service date expires. Legit concerns. I enlisted when the Cold War ended, so I thought my chance of going to war was pretty slim. Wrong. And yes, 8 years is a long time, and several in my NG unit wanted out?and tried to get kicked out. She has enough savings and scholarships to attend college already but wants to attend a more expensive school of her choosing. Sounds more like the big driver is that she wants to serve. Hats off to her for that. 6. Her health insurance will be beyond compare. 7. She has a chance to travel the world. Not so much in the NG. You only have health ins while you?re on duty, which is only one weekend/month and 2 weeks every summer. Travel?it depends. Other than my deployment, we never went more than a few hours away from home. ?but on the other hand, I can't stand politicians. It just worries me sick at the thought of her being deployed. No matter what the world looks like on the day she enlists, all could quickly change. The NG is going to continue to be heavily used due to cuts in active duty soldiers. I would say that you can count on at least one deployment during her 8 year enlistment. One of my worries is to do this, she will have to delay college one semester to get in her basic/AIT training. I lost a semester due to basic/AIT. Really no big deal. She sounds really mature/responsible, so she can easily make that up. She could also possibly earn a few college credits with AIT training. You did well. Many college kids lose more than one semester getting drunk all day. Truck drivers, logistics and support which is where they put the women, were hit fairly hard. Guys are telling me that unlike most other wars, there is no safe ?rear? in Afghanistan. No matter what your job is, if you?re there, you?re taking incoming fire. But...she can choose jobs that would make it less likely for her to be in danger. I told her I wouldn't sign for any live changes decisions but is pretty much out of the question now as she will be 18 in 2 weeks. My mom told me no and ?refused? to allow me to enlist. I just drove myself over at 18 and signed up. You can?t stop her if she wants this. It would be good if she could speak with several people who are currently in the NG, especially if they are in the unit she will be in. Hit me up here, or PM me if you have more questions. __________________ That rug really tied the room together, did it not? -Walter Sobchak
?

Find a Therapist:

Source: http://talkaboutmarriage.com/family-parenting-forums/60198-daughter-joining-military.html

miranda july joe paterno near death joepa sc primary bill moyers heidi klum and seal divorce craigslist killer