Military Investigation

No, they aren't investigating me, I'm looking into them. My oldest cousin Dave has decided he's going to join the Marines, which is awesome, and I'm happy for and proud of him. He invited me to a pool function (code for recruitee meet, where they run physical tests and give a little bit of instruction, punctuated by fun and games some weekends), and that got me thinking about joining once I've graduated from college. (I've got one semester left, no reason to quit now!) However, I'm interested in a girl, so that's a factor, but I've found out that being married in the military isn't so bad, and she's probably not too interested in me anyways. But even if I have to wait four more years for that chapter to unfold, God's looking out for me no matter what.

I figure being in the military would be a good experience for me, and would give me many benefits, including more self-discipline, self-respect, leadership and authority, as well as giving me a guaranteed job and practice of skills that I've been learning in school to do. (They do have IT in the military, believe it or not!) Well, the Marines will give me all of that, and they are quick to remind me of the "intangibles" that all Marines get, including teamwork, punctuality, leadership skills, and many more that I can't remember right now. But! The army is offering something that's a bit more attractive to me at this point in life: Elimination of debt.

I currently "own" a car and am making payments on that, and I have a cell phone that I pay to use every month, but that's pretty much it. Once I get out of college though, I'll need to pay off my loans, buy and furnish a house, (get married, maybe), and other large expenses that shock many fresh-out-of-college folks. With the Army, they will pay back up to $65,000 of my college loans, and depending on what MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) I choose, there is a small possibility I may get up to $40,000 in sign-up bonuses. (highly unlikely I'll get even $20,000, but it's something to keep in mind) The most important thing though, is the flexibility I have in choosing my MOS. When I sign up, I get to order the available jobs they have in preference, and they have the perfect job for me, an Information Technology Specialist (MOS 25B. Check out this Youtube video.) Now, if I choose to be an Officer, one of my top three has to be combat-related, but that's not too big of a deal for me.

I could also become a Data Communications Specialist in the Marines, but that's about the only job that's close enough to what I want, and since they are a smaller branch, it's less likely I'll be able to get it, and more likely I'll be thrust into the fit of battle. The Army's selection process is performance based, based on how well you do in Basic Training, and in either force I don't find out what MOS I'll get till the end, but if I do well in the Army, I get closer to first pick, as opposed to the Marines, who would pick it for me. Of course, my life is forfeit to whichever branch I'd choose, so choice is limited anyways. There are also Intelligence options, which would be cool and require me to get clearances even above Secret, some even Top Secret clearance.

Also, the Army's website is much more informative than the Marine's, which isn't a total killer, except I have to go to other sources to find out specifics on what's available and the processes behind the Marines. I suppose that's to help keep up the high, mysterious, and honored image that the Marines have, not that they need the website for that. I know that the Marines are tougher, and more unified, so I may consider them again, but after the Army. Which is another thing. The minimum required active duty in the Army is 3 years (again, depending on the MOS), and after that I can move to Inactive Reserves, get an approval to get out of the Army's Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), and enlist in the Marines. I may want to become a Commissioned Officer though, which would extend my stay in whichever branch, but they get paid at least half-again what I'd be making as an enlisted man, until I got into the Non-Commissioned Officer ranks. Anywho, it's a lot of information to take in, and not all of it is relevant to y'all, but I figured I'd be fairly thorough.

In the end, I'm leaning more towards the Army, mainly because of the possibilities, but also because of the financial benefits that the Marines don't offer. After that, I may look towards the Marines, but who knows, they might try and shove my time as "Ain't Ready (to be a) Marine Yet" down my throat, which would not be the most pleasant experience. I'll probably just become a civilian again. (IF I choose to go into the military in the first place! ;-p)