Career - the U.S. Military Forces

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The military can become a career or a step toward a career.

Pros

Through enlistment in the Navy, Marines, Air Force, Army, or Coast Guard, recruits will be trained in a number of career areas. The military pays for school. Life in the military can offer opportunities for world travel. 

Veterans have the G.I. Bill to pay for college tuition. Sometimes veterans have priority over civilians for certain jobs. Almost all employers value military discipline and training in an employee. 

Serving in the Reserves after resuming civilian life has benefits, too. For others, serving honorably in the military has been become a step to political life. 

Cons

Although the branches of the military have many positive opportunities and outcomes, military rules are not for everyone, and virtually everything has a military rule, e.g., how a soldier wears his or her hair, socks, uniform, and so on. Discipline is strict, and punishment can be more rigorous than in the outside world. Personal freedom is restricted, too. Long deployment separates families.  In a war zone, of course, death, dismemberment, and other impairment are real.

In his 2010 article below, Kingsbury says:

In fact, the modern military has a "tooth-to-tail" ratio of 1-to-10 or more. Those are the estimated numbers of frontline troops compared to logistics and other support personnel. 

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/10/21/the-pros-and-cons-of-military-service  Ret. 4-4-14

coastguard.dodlive.mil

Officer

A person with a college degree, if otherwise qualified and fit, enters the military as an officer.

Enlisting

Enlistees must be eighteen years of age. Recruiters do look at the high school record of potential enlistees if that is the last or only academic record, e.g., an adult without postsecondary education or training. [What you do or don’t do in high school matters!]

Testing

Critical for placement, the ASVAB, a career exploration/aptitude test, is the key. [As mentioned in previous posts, take the practice tests.]

http://official-asvab.com/  Ret. 4-4-14

ASVAB or the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, is a multiple-choice exam given by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command. It was first introduced in 1968 and is now the most widely-used standardized aptitude test in the world.

The test must be completed if you wish to serve in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard. The test can also be taken as a career-exploration tool if you are a high school sophomore, junior, or senior. It takes approximately three hours to complete. If you take the computerized version of the test, results are given immediately. If you complete a paper and pencil test, you'll get results within two weeks.

commons.wikimedia.org

There are nine individual tests on the exam:

• Electronics Information

• Auto and Shop Information

• Mechanical Comprehension

• General Science

• Arithmetic Reasoning

• Word Knowledge

• Paragraph Comprehension

• Mathematics Knowledge

• Assembling Objects (This section is only on the computer version and is not part of the paper and pencil test taken by high school students.)

http://www.asvabpractice.com/    Ret. 4-4-14              

outontheporch.org

ASVAB as Job Qualifier

Anecdotally, for the Navy, the highest ASVAB score will qualify a candidate for the nuclear program, which is second only to the Navy SEAL program. For example, a machinist mate on a submarine must have a higher ASVAB score in certain combined subtests than a machinist in any other part of the Navy.

Monthly Pay 2014

http://milpaychart.com/2014-military-pay-chart/  Ret. 4-4-14  

Always research career opportunities, job shadow if possible, and talk with people in the targeted professions.