Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Serenity on July 24, 2009, 07:45:23 PM
-
Well, the time has come. Next June I join the Active Duty military. I find out in January whether I made it to the Air Force or Naval Academy, but put it this way, it's looking VERY good. My second choice, if I don't make the Academies is Army Warrant Officer. I know there is the ROTC route, but I DONT want to go to college if I don't have to. I know it's lazy, but Army Warrant allows me to fly without the extra college. So my question is, how can I milk them for all the bonuses I can get?
-
Well, the time has come. Next June I join the Active Duty military. I find out in January whether I made it to the Air Force or Naval Academy, but put it this way, it's looking VERY good. My second choice, if I don't make the Academies is Army Warrant Officer. I know there is the ROTC route, but I DONT want to go to college if I don't have to. I know it's lazy, but Army Warrant allows me to fly without the extra college. So my question is, how can I milk them for all the bonuses I can get?
i went to army warrant school after 6 years in service, its a good but tough school!
-
So my question is, how can I milk them for all the bonuses I can get?
Questions why you want to join....
-
Questions why you want to join....
Hey just because I wouldn't mind getting a few extra bucks from a government handing out money to inept buisnessmen, doesn't mean I have bad reasons for joining.
-
Questions why you want to join....
+1
"Don't want to go to college if I don't have to."
And you are wanting to go to one of the academies? That kind of attitude won't work well there...
-
See Rule #14
-
See Rule #14
or a civl war here!
-
See Rule #14
Now that's funny!
:lol
-
or a civl war here!
Republic of Texas :rock
-
or a civl war here!
My money is on that one.
Just for the record, I know I sound rather... greedy with this, but honestly, I am joining the military because I want to serve my country, because I feel it is the best thing I can do with my life. But, I won't be getting any financial support from my parents, when I leave the house I leave with only the money the military will give me, so a nice signing bonus will REALLY help.
-
"I want to serve my country"
Translated: More Money!!!
;)
-
Serenity, Im currently finishing my WO packet and I dont know if Im going to get accepted. Your going to want to make sure you get it before you start trying for bonuses and things of that nature.
-
ernm Serenity, you do realize you have to go to college to become an officer correct? Minimum you have to have a Bachelors Degree.
-BigBOBCH
-
My money is on that one.
Just for the record, I know I sound rather... greedy with this, but honestly, I am joining the military because I want to serve my country, because I feel it is the best thing I can do with my life. But, I won't be getting any financial support from my parents, when I leave the house I leave with only the money the military will give me, so a nice signing bonus will REALLY help.
i respect that very much,
when i left for the army, i went in as a combat lineman it paid $3800 in bonus, first reenlistment was e.o.d and it paid $10,000,for 2 years!
second was s-4 (classified) S.O.$10,000
i had nothing but the clothes on my back and the 90 dollars they gave me at the meps station, served almost 8 years, before heart failure set in,
still to this day do not regret a single Moment of it, and i was just looking for a good job!
my health care has been paid for ever since! i recommend the military too any and all who will listen!
18 august 1983 till 12 december 1991! some of the best years of my life!
-
More important than how much you get paid is what you do with what you do get paid. Get married right away or buy a new car as soon as your paycheck covers the loan payment, and you'll be poor no matter how much they pay you. Be smart and start saving a minimum of 15% of your salary from day one however, and you'll have plenty of scratch when you need it.
If all you want is money, you need to find the right career specialty. But choosing a specialty based on bonus is dumb. There is far too much BS in the military to put up with if you don't like the job you're doing. Pick the specialty based on what you enjoy doing, and if they pay you more for it then yaaay, you win. Do it the other way around and no amount of money will be worth the pain of staying in.
-
There is far too much BS in the military to put up with if you don't like the job you're doing.
Like getting turned into a greasy spot on the side of some road in Ass-crackistan from an IED... Rey, do not join the military for the money, or the GI Bill, or whatever. Expect no sleep, no chow, and no liberty. Do it for service only--expect nothing else. You graduate from boot camp and don't go blowing your money on chicks, girlfriends, or cars and your Spec 4 pay will go far. Going for the Warrant Officer program in the Army will not get you into the cockpit any faster than going to school first. If you have the opportunity, go to school, then go in the military as a Commissioned Officer, and fly what you want in the service of your choice. If you don't have the opportunity to go straight to school, then enlist, do a hitch in a cool "blow stuff up" MOS, then go to school on your benefits, then go back in as a Commissioned Officer and fly what you want. You have plenty of time to crawl into the cockpit, but you better know what you're getting yourself into. People are getting shot at and killed on a daily basis right now. If you find yourself in that place, you're going to want to be there for the right reasons. I can't be more serious about this.
-
Serenity, Im currently finishing my WO packet and I dont know if Im going to get accepted. Your going to want to make sure you get it before you start trying for bonuses and things of that nature.
The signing bonuses come when you sign.
More important than how much you get paid is what you do with what you do get paid. Get married right away or buy a new car as soon as your paycheck covers the loan payment, and you'll be poor no matter how much they pay you. Be smart and start saving a minimum of 15% of your salary from day one however, and you'll have plenty of scratch when you need it.
If all you want is money, you need to find the right career specialty. But choosing a specialty based on bonus is dumb. There is far too much BS in the military to put up with if you don't like the job you're doing. Pick the specialty based on what you enjoy doing, and if they pay you more for it then yaaay, you win. Do it the other way around and no amount of money will be worth the pain of staying in.
As far as my specialty, I know what I am aiming for. Regardless of what service I find myself in, I want to fly. I just know recruiters, well, avoid giving you info you don't specifically ask for, so I was wondering what bonuses to look into.
-
Why not go to college get military to pay for it? get an easy degree like law and justice if you want to maintain high gpa to get accept into flight program? do this, get ur 2 years AA first, then TRANSFER to a 4 years school that has ROTC program. Reason for transfer is when you transfer your GPA reset back to 4.0 so if you screw it up in the 1st two years you can redeem yourself. Another note once you get into the 4 years w/ an easy major, load up the 3rd year w/ all the easier courses, then suck it up at the senior year.
For the army, your junior year in college is ur assession year. They count your GPA from that year to determine where you place in the national OML. W/ the GPA reset when transferred and easy junior year, you should maintain at least a 3.8 GPA np, which should put you on top 10-20% nationally. If you're in top 10% you get the job of your choice. Top 20% you get 90% chance of w/e you want. This is the trick around the system to get high GPA and get guarantee whatever job you want ( if you're physically fit of course ). This is the loop around the system that we have right now. It works in every branch of the military.
If you have any question just give me a PM.
-
Why not go to college get military to pay for it? get an easy degree like law and justice if you want to maintain high gpa to get accept into flight program? do this, get ur 2 years AA first, then TRANSFER to a 4 years school that has ROTC program. Reason for transfer is when you transfer your GPA reset back to 4.0 so if you screw it up in the 1st two years you can redeem yourself. Another note once you get into the 4 years w/ an easy major, load up the 3rd year w/ all the easier courses, then suck it up at the senior year.
For the army, your junior year in college is ur assession year. They count your GPA from that year to determine where you place in the national OML. W/ the GPA reset when transferred and easy junior year, you should maintain at least a 3.8 GPA np, which should put you on top 10-20% nationally. If you're in top 10% you get the job of your choice. Top 20% you get 90% chance of w/e you want. This is the trick around the system to get high GPA and get guarantee whatever job you want ( if you're physically fit of course ). This is the loop around the system that we have right now. It works in every branch of the military.
If you have any question just give me a PM.
My reason for not going the ROTC route: I can fly as an Army WO without college. I really don't want to go through college if I have another option. I have never looked at college as some huge, growing experience. It is merely a tool to get me where I want to go, namely, a cockpit. If the Warrant Officer for some reason no longer becomes available, there is ROTC. Honestly, WO is a short-cut.
-
And when you go back to civilian living and the job app asks for highest degree attained, you'll be in the mail room with all the other guys that didn't want to go to college.
If you're going to go mil, go long and go get the college that'll get you officer's pay and privies.
-
And when you go back to civilian living and the job app asks for highest degree attained, you'll be in the mail room with all the other guys that didn't want to go to college.
If you're going to go mil, go long and go get the college that'll get you officer's pay and privies.
Maybe later on in my career I'll take the college option, but for now, I just want to fly. Whatever gets me there quickest and has me doing the most flying. Helos, jets, either way. Of course this is assuming I don't make the Academy, which I seem to have a REALLY good chance at based on the letters I have received from both Anapolis and USAFA.
-
You won't be flying jets without college; combat or otherwise. May not even get into a helo; at least not a combat ship. Hope you like sim flying because without college you have a career path for a UAV. This isn't 1967, where the Army is grabbing every helicopter off the assembly line and sticking a WO in the right seat for Huey duty.
How were your MEPS scores?
-
There is no USAF pilot bonus until the training comittment is fulfilled, 10 yrs after finishing pilot trng. USAF does give flight pay which has an increasing scale until about 15 yrs of aviation service, and that is nice, but it doesn't make up for the 12-14 hr days, deployments, and opportunity to bust your donut daily.
AF pilots are well paid but we aren't rich and the work hrs/conditions are not good. And the post-separation or after retirement airline jobs are even worse now, with crappy conditions and terrible pay.
-
My money is on that one.
Just for the record, I know I sound rather... greedy with this, but honestly, I am joining the military because I want to serve my country, because I feel it is the best thing I can do with my life. But, I won't be getting any financial support from my parents, when I leave the house I leave with only the money the military will give me, so a nice signing bonus will REALLY help.
I actualy just enlisted myself on June 6th. I am in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) for a year since i am now a High School senior, i ship out right after graduation.
Honestly bonuses arn't looking too good right now, So if you want a larger one your gonna need to act fast because the military is getting flooded with people trying to join (with the economy and all, they want a stable job). so the standards are going up and the bonuses are going down. I enlisted 11X Infantrymen for 8 years and only got $7,000. and the GI Bill. But if you going to enlist as a Warrent Officer Cadet you might get a bonus up near $20,000. (the advertized $40k for active duty it no more.)
I am actualy planning one going Warrent Officer one day. Right now with my enlisted i am required to serve 3 years and 16 weeks Active Duty, then 4 years 36 weeks Reserve unless i request to go active. so i'll probably reclass then. any more questions?
-
The signing bonuses come when you sign.
As far as my specialty, I know what I am aiming for. Regardless of what service I find myself in, I want to fly. I just know recruiters, well, avoid giving you info you don't specifically ask for, so I was wondering what bonuses to look into.
You think I dont know this, In the 11series field some people got 20,000 some people got nothing. Bonuses can depend on which MEPS station your at, what your ASVAB scores are and if you had any waivers for criminal or physical conditions. Im sorry to say but you arent going to get WO right when you enter unless you got alot of college under your belt and from what you have said, you have none. If you want to fly in the military you either need college or score really high on the Army Aviation test after serving as an enlisted for a bit. I have a E-5 with a Ranger tab and college credits and he didnt get excepted into WO school because his reccomendation person was a jack upped helicopter pilot. Ill give you the site for all the information about Army WOs you need. :salute
Edit: the site for WO recruiting http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/
-
You think I dont know this, In the 11series field some people got 20,000 some people got nothing. Bonuses can depend on which MEPS station your at, what your ASVAB scores are and if you had any waivers for criminal or physical conditions. Im sorry to say but you arent going to get WO right when you enter unless you got alot of college under your belt and from what you have said, you have none. If you want to fly in the military you either need college or score really high on the Army Aviation test after serving as an enlisted for a bit. I have a E-5 with a Ranger tab and college credits and he didnt get excepted into WO school because his reccomendation person was a jack upped helicopter pilot. Ill give you the site for all the information about Army WOs you need. :salute
Edit: the site for WO recruiting http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/
thats werid, i was told that I could actualy enlist for WOCS/WOFT. My recruiter said all i'd have to do is score high on the ASVAB then i'd have to go to MEPS and be flight tested (to see if my ears pop and other stuff like that), then after i finish BCT i'd go to WOCS instead of AIT then after that i'd go to WOFT.
-
I DONT want to go to college if I don't have to.
Major handicap.
-
You think I dont know this, In the 11series field some people got 20,000 some people got nothing. Bonuses can depend on which MEPS station your at, what your ASVAB scores are and if you had any waivers for criminal or physical conditions. Im sorry to say but you arent going to get WO right when you enter unless you got alot of college under your belt and from what you have said, you have none. If you want to fly in the military you either need college or score really high on the Army Aviation test after serving as an enlisted for a bit. I have a E-5 with a Ranger tab and college credits and he didnt get excepted into WO school because his reccomendation person was a jack upped helicopter pilot. Ill give you the site for all the information about Army WOs you need. :salute
Edit: the site for WO recruiting http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/
According to my girlfriend's father, Army WO2 who came up through the standard enlistment program, if you have a good ASVAB (Mine was a 93) and the required recomendations, you can go right to WO School from high-school (He had several who did that in his class) although you won't be well liked by the guys who came up the hard way.
-
According to my girlfriend's father, Army WO2 who came up through the standard enlistment program, if you have a good ASVAB (Mine was a 93) and the required recommendations, you can go right to WO School from school (He had several who did that in his class) although you won't be well liked by the guys who came up the hard way.
Yea, its alto harder to get it too, its a very competitive school. What were your other scores? GT scores and stuff like that, if you got 115s across the board you will have a good chance. For aviation you need a recommendation from a 3 to 5 WO or from an O-4(Maj) I'm trying to get one from an O-7(Brigadier General Perrin) but if not Ill have to get one of the WOs to write me one
-
Yea, its alto harder to get it too, its a very competitive school. What were your other scores? GT scores and stuff like that, if you got 115s across the board you will have a good chance. For aviation you need a recommendation from a 3 to 5 WO or from an O-4(Maj) I'm trying to get one from an O-7(Brigadier General Perrin) but if not Ill have to get one of the WOs to write me one
I don't know many army, but I've got 2 USAF Brig Gens offering me recs, a USMC Maj, and two USN Rear Admirals (Upper half). I'm not sure what you mean by GT scores. My ASVAB was 93, my SAT was 1950 IIRC, my PLAN was 29 (ACT anticipated as 33+ IIRC) and my school only allows us juniors to take one AP class, APUSH, which I got a 4 on the test.
-
Serenity, I'm going to join the ranks of people giving you unwanted advice lol.
If you don't know what you want "to do when you grow up" then don't go to college. Nothing wrong with that. I went right out of high school, wasted 4 years of my life getting a history degree I'll never use.
If you have a pretty good idea of what you want to do, you just have to figure out how to get there. Just have a backup plan. Or two. Or three :).
Getting a college degree is pretty much a necessity if you want to get a decent civilian job, even more so for someone younger like you. I'd recommend something along the lines of engineering/compsci/math/physics. Something practical. Anyway, doing a tour or two in the military isn't a bad idea (I was just a touch too chickenshit as a young man, and now I'm married) - it'll mature you and at the very least give you an experience that is better than working a dead end job at Walmart (I speak from experience there).
-
Serenity, I'm going to join the ranks of people giving you unwanted advice lol.
If you don't know what you want "to do when you grow up" then don't go to college. Nothing wrong with that. I went right out of high school, wasted 4 years of my life getting a history degree I'll never use.
If you have a pretty good idea of what you want to do, you just have to figure out how to get there. Just have a backup plan. Or two. Or three :).
Getting a college degree is pretty much a necessity if you want to get a decent civilian job, even more so for someone younger like you. I'd recommend something along the lines of engineering/compsci/math/physics. Something practical. Anyway, doing a tour or two in the military isn't a bad idea (I was just a touch too chickensoup as a young man, and now I'm married) - it'll mature you and at the very least give you an experience that is better than working a dead end job at Walmart (I speak from experience there).
Thanks! I think my intentions are a bit muddied, I know what I want to do with my life, and if it requires college, I will go. I'm no idiot, and I have several colleges trying to cherry-pick me already, I just have no desire to go after a year of hell in highschool this year. WO is my backup, because the Academies, while looking like a good chance, may still fall through. Maybe all I need (If I dont make the Academy) is a year or two off from school to recoup, but after the year I have coming (5 AP classes...) I think I want to avoid more school at all possible if I don't need it to get into a cockpit. What did you do in the service?
-
Hmmmm, you had a "year of hell" in high school? And now ya want to join the military? I think you should contemplate
your reasons for enlistment, DEEPLY, before you make a commitment that you may regret... Its not an easy road!!!
I'm still just a grungy little USMC rifleman at heart, Retired (medical) E8.. Full bennies, but paid for'em the hard way...
I've seen hundreds of kids like you, thinking that signing the dotted line means bonus money, and a govt paid college
program... If it works out that way for ya, that'd be great... But it rarely does in the end...
Remember, recruiters have quotas, and they'll say almost anything to get you to signup.. Think on it HARD first!!!
If you have the option open, to continue school and get a degree, do so! Then your eyes will be a little more open,
and you will find out if military service is truly in your heart.. But just joining as a shortcut, is NOT the way to go!!!
Good luck
RC
Oh yeah, :salute to the Texan Republic, from the freedom loving ppl of the PNW...
-
I just have no desire to go after a year of hell in highschool this year.
Year of hell in high school? You actually said that?
Sorry, if high school was hell in any way, you're not going to like the services or college (at least a decent college) at all. In high school, someone actually cares if you pass or fail. In college no one gives a crap what happens to you, and in the services they WANT you to fail, to make room for a better candidate. Both make you work harder than at any other time in your life, to that point.
Serenity, with all due respect, this thread has made you seem pretty naive and sheltered.
-
I think I want to avoid more school at all possible if I don't need it to get into a cockpit. What did you do in the service?
You're way off. You'll always need more school to get in a cockpit and especially to stay in a cockpit. No matter what career field you choose in the military there will be constant training much of which occurs in a classroom.
-
According to my girlfriend's father, Army WO2 who came up through the standard enlistment program, if you have a good ASVAB (Mine was a 93) and the required recomendations, you can go right to WO School from high-school (He had several who did that in his class) although you won't be well liked by the guys who came up the hard way.
I got a 95 overall (99 in several areas) and they said good job but it wont help. Basically put me in same group as 70-90 percentiles and meant nothing for placement. Figured out my knees wouldnt make it through boot camp and training so no love lost. I can do fine for a while but running just kills my knees after a weeks of it. To bad...would have enjoyed the Air Force.
<S>
-
You can't get promoted in the USAF nowadays without a degree, period. I don't know the cutoff, but enlisted troops need at least a 2-year CCAF degree to get to around E5 (?) and you won't find a Chief without at least a bachelors and they usually have masters degrees.
Frankly Serenety, your lack of drive for education makes me doubt you'd succeed at the USAF academy. It's tough there, and you have to really want it because there is no pot of gold at the end. There is no guarantee of pilot training even if you're medically qualified, and if you go to pilot training, there is no guarantee of what you'll fly or even that you'll fly anything, since UPT grads are being sent to UAVs.
You've got it backwards to some extent... You say you don't want education unless it leads directly to something you want, but the reality is that the degree is a key that will open a number of doors to opportunities. Yes, many great careers don't require degrees, but you will find that some paths are simply not available without a degree. There is no better time to get that degree than right after high school, because there will always be an excuse or perfectly valid reason to not get it later. And that means you will see opportunities pass you by.
For some, like urchin apparently, this isn't a big deal. But I have found far more people who wish they had a degree because of the options it would have given them, than people who wished they'd skipped that step and gone straight to whatever it is they ended up doing. A "real" bachelors of science degree (in something reasonably technical, not history of basket weaving or poetry) will conservatively add over $10,000 to your annual salary for the duration of your career. In the military, being an officer instead of enlisted will add anywhere from $5000 to $50,000 per year to your salary, the amount of difference increasing with each promotion. A pilot with 12 years of aviation service pulls down about $70,000 without bonuses. An enlisted flier with the same years of service gets a bit over half of that.
The degree is a key, and it will open doors. If you happen to actually USE what you learned in school in your job, that is just icing on the cake. But it's still a key.
If you don't know what to do or study in school, start out engineering or computers. That way you'll get some math out of the way as a freshman, that you'll need if you go into any technical degree program. You can always switch later, but if you start out sciences/engineering/computers, you won't be playing catch-up with the hard subjects as a sophomore or junior.
-
This seems more like what you're looking for Serenity.
You'll learn to speak french.
They make men.
You can even change your name.
(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/965000/images/_969475_legion300.jpg)
The French Foreign Legion
Forget your past!
Enlist today!
-
The degree is a key, and it will open doors. If you happen to actually USE what you learned in school in your job, that is just icing on the cake. But it's still a key.
QFT.
-
We're telling you serenity ! 1% of all cadets in USAF and USN get flight slot. In the army you have a much higher chance to fly, however you'd only fly choppah ! You probably will not like what we've been telling ya xD. Look dood, if you wanna fly, you're gunna have to work at it. Schooling and hitting that high GPA + high PT score (being in your best shape) is where you wanna begin. A lot of us here are prior service or still service member, we kinda know the deal.
The military doesn't care if you have a private liscence or any flight time prior joining. All cadets or canidate are the same accross the board. What will make you stand out vs. the thousand of other that wants to fly is your GPA and your PT score.
-
We're telling you serenity ! 1% of all cadets in USAF and USN get flight slot. In the army you have a much higher chance to fly, however you'd only fly choppah ! You probably will not like what we've been telling ya xD. Look dood, if you wanna fly, you're gunna have to work at it. Schooling and hitting that high GPA + high PT score (being in your best shape) is where you wanna begin. A lot of us here are prior service or still service member, we kinda know the deal.
The military doesn't care if you have a private liscence or any flight time prior joining. All cadets or canidate are the same accross the board. What will make you stand out vs. the thousand of other that wants to fly is your GPA and your PT score.
It is more than 1%.
-
Serenity if you can't handle the social aspect of high school you will be turning up the heat facing some very significant challenges in the military. If you can't handle the educational aspect of high school you will have significant challenges succeeding in a formal training course for any type of aircraft let alone a subject you might not have a passion for. This goes especially for courses designed to wash out those who can't hack it rather than designed to help you along by holding your hand. The military does the former rather than the latter. It's no civil air patrol where you dress up to play airman, it's the real deal.
You've gotten some great advice and I think those giving it to you deserve that you take an objective introspective look at yourself, your motivations and your aspirations. You seem to want the glory without having to work hard for it and while there's a possibility you might achieve that you'll only be letting down yourself. Worse yet you'll be endangering those who might depend on you.
I don't expect you'll do it but there's always the hope you'll surprise us. Good luck.
-
My last word on the subject...
If you EVER express that the military owes you something, you might as well forget about getting what you want in the military. People who feel entitled to something out of life tend to be very disappointed if they're in the military.
-
Serenity if you can't handle the social aspect of high school you will be turning up the heat facing some very significant challenges in the military. If you can't handle the educational aspect of high school you will have significant challenges succeeding in a formal training course for any type of aircraft let alone a subject you might not have a passion for. This goes especially for courses designed to wash out those who can't hack it rather than designed to help you along by holding your hand. The military does the former rather than the latter. It's no civil air patrol where you dress up to play airman, it's the real deal.
You've gotten some great advice and I think those giving it to you deserve that you take an objective introspective look at yourself, your motivations and your aspirations. You seem to want the glory without having to work hard for it and while there's a possibility you might achieve that you'll only be letting down yourself. Worse yet you'll be endangering those who might depend on you.
I don't expect you'll do it but there's always the hope you'll surprise us. Good luck.
I think you've got it wrong Golfer. I'm really surprised that everyone's piling on like this. The guy just finished his Junior year of high school. I don't know about you, but when I was a kid I certainly thought that high school was much more tragic that I do looking back. And I can certainly understand burning out on school. I think that's more of the problem than anything else right now: Looking at school and an obstacle instead of a path. Right now in young Serenity's mind school is something he has to conquer in order to get what he's want. I hope that he'll come to understand that school is a never-ending path that leads you to where you want to go.
Anyhow, from his posts academics aren't an issue, so he's just got to put his head in straight over the course of the next year :)
-Sik
-
You won't be flying jets without college; combat or otherwise. May not even get into a helo; at least not a combat ship. Hope you like sim flying because without college you have a career path for a UAV. This isn't 1967, where the Army is grabbing every helicopter off the assembly line and sticking a WO in the right seat for Huey duty.
These days, Id suggest that you're (original poster) going to have a pretty tough time getting into the seat of anything romantic without having a fairly significant log book of civi-turbine hours under your belt.
I dont want to defecate on your parade, but Shill is correct - no one is hurting for pilots these days.
If you want to guarantee yourself a flight spot, go to college and apply for an air contract with USMC OCS.
-
Anyhow, from his posts academics aren't an issue, so he's just got to put his head in straight over the course of the next year :)
-Sik
I don't think for a minute that academics are the issue. His "year of hell" isn't going to get any better in the military and there is nothing fiction about that. If he has issues dealing with beaurocracy, people he thinks are idiots and things that piss him off now then he's going to have a very rough go of it in the service. There's a lot more to earning your wings, be it fixed or rotary, than simply being able to fly. Being able to play the game, dealing with red tape and rolling with the punches are paramount to success in life. It's frustrating, it's annoying and if I were king of the world things would be different but I don't know anyone who thinks different.
-
I think you've got it wrong Golfer. I'm really surprised that everyone's piling on like this. The guy just finished his Junior year of high school. I don't know about you, but when I was a kid I certainly thought that high school was much more tragic that I do looking back. And I can certainly understand burning out on school. I think that's more of the problem than anything else right now: Looking at school and an obstacle instead of a path. Right now in young Serenity's mind school is something he has to conquer in order to get what he's want. I hope that he'll come to understand that school is a never-ending path that leads you to where you want to go.
Anyhow, from his posts academics aren't an issue, so he's just got to put his head in straight over the course of the next year :)
-Sik
I have to agree with this. High school was much harder for me than college is. It felt like a prison. So much so that me and my friends would violate the closed campus lunch rule and go off on our own just to escape (until we got caught so many times that they increased security). So I know how he feels. Its not about someone holding his hand, serenity is plenty smart enough to get through on his own, its the social atmosphere and the lack of freedom. College was like a breath of fresh air to me and I think he needs to look at it that way because as we all know he needs to get it done.
-
I don't think for a minute that academics are the issue. His "year of hell" isn't going to get any better in the military and there is nothing fiction about that. If he has issues dealing with beaurocracy, people he thinks are idiots and things that piss him off now then he's going to have a very rough go of it in the service. There's a lot more to earning your wings, be it fixed or rotary, than simply being able to fly. Being able to play the game, dealing with red tape and rolling with the punches are paramount to success in life. It's frustrating, it's annoying and if I were king of the world things would be different but I don't know anyone who thinks different.
Sorry Golfer, I don't think I was clear. My point was not that things would get easier, but that he can mature a lot in the next year. What he thinks of today as a "year of hell" won't seem nearly so bad a few years down the road.
-Sik
-
It's not so bad til you get 2 hours sleep a day for weeks straight =/
-
You've got it backwards to some extent... You say you don't want education unless it leads directly to something you want, but the reality is that the degree is a key that will open a number of doors to opportunities. Yes, many great careers don't require degrees, but you will find that some paths are simply not available without a degree. There is no better time to get that degree than right after high school, because there will always be an excuse or perfectly valid reason to not get it later. And that means you will see opportunities pass you by.
For some, like urchin apparently, this isn't a big deal. But I have found far more people who wish they had a degree because of the options it would have given them, than people who wished they'd skipped that step and gone straight to whatever it is they ended up doing. A "real" bachelors of science degree (in something reasonably technical, not history of basket weaving or poetry) will conservatively add over $10,000 to your annual salary for the duration of your career. In the military, being an officer instead of enlisted will add anywhere from $5000 to $50,000 per year to your salary, the amount of difference increasing with each promotion. A pilot with 12 years of aviation service pulls down about $70,000 without bonuses. An enlisted flier with the same years of service gets a bit over half of that.
The degree is a key, and it will open doors. If you happen to actually USE what you learned in school in your job, that is just icing on the cake. But it's still a key.
If you don't know what to do or study in school, start out engineering or computers. That way you'll get some math out of the way as a freshman, that you'll need if you go into any technical degree program. You can always switch later, but if you start out sciences/engineering/computers, you won't be playing catch-up with the hard subjects as a sophomore or junior.
Actually Eagl, I'm a perfect example of why you need an education. The key point that I think a lot of folks don't realize is you need the RIGHT education. If you go to college after high school just because it is the next stop in the road of life, and you diddly off and pick a retarded major like history, or music, or drama, or english - and you then proceed to get a dead end job changing tires, or working retail, or working at a gym, or whatever... you would have been better off enlisting for 3 years and growing up.
Serenity, I never was in the service. I wanted to join out of high school, I let my parents talk me out of it. I got a history degree (that was 4.5 years wasted). Out of college, a family friend got me a job at Goodyear as a "third key" (think... assistant assistant manager lol). That lasted a couple months. After that I bounced around between various dead end jobs for 3 years.
I ended up going back to school at 26 - originally the plan was to get a master's degree in education and be a teacher. The plan changed, I ended up getting another undergraduate degree, but I got a math degree. I got my second degree in December of 2006. I interviewed for my current job in January 2007, and started in April 2007. My salary today is ~67k. My salary next year will be ~78k. My life (which was a veritable train wreck) is now on a solid track.
I'm not trying to brag. I'm trying to tell you that education is important, but so is maturity. Going to college "just because" like I did can be a mistake. You WILL need a college degree at some point, there really is no getting around it. You do NOT have to go to college and pick some crap degree that is worthless in the real world just because it means you will have a college degree.
-
Sik,
I don't think it's "piling on"... He said some things that indicate his priorities might give him some problems in the near future, and it's much better to get that stuff straight before hard reality slaps him in the face. That's the only reason I bothered to reply... If a student of mine came into pilot training saying the same words Serenity wrote here, he'd have a hell of a time digging himself out of the craphole he'd get dumped into.
Academy life is tough, but even there they have people looking out for the cadets 7/24. It's just as tough in pilot training, but in pilot training nobody is making sure you go to bed on time or get enough to eat, like they do at the academy. I can't imagine that the Army helo training is any easier... The USAF is pretty harsh on young officers because the expectations are very very high, but at least they don't have to stomp around in formation all the time or go through years of dorm inspections after they're commissioned. Enlisted troops have to play those games for years after they go active duty. The BS factor is high no matter which route is chosen, officer, enlisted, or warrant officer. And the penalties for being a big baby about the whole thing are unpleasant. Better Serenity hears about that now, rather than get crapped on after signing up when he asks someone about bonuses when he hasn't even earned the right to scratch his own butt without permission.
-
Year of hell in high school? You actually said that?
Sorry, if high school was hell in any way, you're not going to like the services or college (at least a decent college) at all. In high school, someone actually cares if you pass or fail. In college no one gives a crap what happens to you, and in the services they WANT you to fail, to make room for a better candidate. Both make you work harder than at any other time in your life, to that point.
Serenity, with all due respect, this thread has made you seem pretty naive and sheltered.
Honestly, its not the social life, its not the work, its the attitude of the profs. One teacher in particular is a college prof on the side as well, and his attitude toward teaching honestly burned me out more than any AP class. I can take the academics. Its not hard. I can put in the hours. It's not hard. But being called at midnight, told I need to drop all of my other classwork to do some project that has nothing to do with the class he teaches because it caught his fancy... Honestly, if I make the academy, I'm going to go, and I'm sure I will enjoy it. From what I saw at Summer Seminar at Anapolis, the teachers there are much more... organized than those we have at colleges here. But if I dont make an Academy, I want a few years to stop despising professors in general so much. I'm not adverse to schooling, it's not too hard, I just want to avoid it if I can. I'm not looking at the military as some free and easy money. The bonus is just that, a bonus. If they dont give me jack, I'll still be more than happy to join and serve. But I wouldn't turn down a few bucks. Maybe after a year or two in college will be something I want. But at the moment, if I have another option to get me where I want to go, I like the sound of it. I'm not unwilling to put in the work, but I dont want to spend 4 years working my arse off if it won't get me any farther in the short-term than not.
-
you're already better set than most....you know exactly what you want to do, what the various paths are to get there, and from what i can see, you're well set up to do any of those routes and have a fair chance at success...so why the hell are you willing to settle for less, just because you figure that path might be a bit easier to take...based solely on not wanting to deal with love muffin professors...you'll be doing what some love muffin tells you no matter what you do...may as well have the carrot you want at the end of the road.
you seem to think you can do it so...do it. don't settle for less unless you have to.
"But if I dont make an Academy, I want a few years to stop despising professors in general so much"
if you don't like professors, then you'll really despise any higher up in any job. suck up, and who knows, you might find a good one.
-
Back in the day when I was at Ft Rucker going to 67N School(UH-1) I used to go down and watch the Warrant officer Canidates go though their training, Man it looked rough it may have changed But somehow I don't think so. Things that come to mind are the fake headstones in front of the barracks with wash out names on them, Morning formations in the front leaning rest postion over a smallditch running around with logs before meals and the old school sqaure meals. we had one guy in my class who washed out from WOC that told me they had 3am road marchs followed by 5 am class A inspections. That being said good luck, I wanted to fly too, it was easier to be a crewchief still got *fly* :salute
And did they tell you if you wash out they assign you to whatever the hell they feel like?
LTARwojo
-
And did they tell you if you wash out they assign you to whatever the hell they feel like?
LTARwojo
Yeah lol. Good motivation to do damned well! lol.