Before i went to college I thought a lot about joining the marines or something of that nature, but I ended up getting into the college I applied to so i went that route. Now Im a junior mechanical engineer and I have to start looking at my career options for when I get out of college. I talked to a recruiter from the Navy about this Nuclear propulsion officer candidate program and it got me thinking about signin up again. Not particularly that program or even the navy, but definitly something where Im using my education as an engineer. I know theres a lot of people on here that are currently serving or have before and I'd like to get your opinion on joining now. Was it what you thought it would be? Are the benefits really as good as the recruiters make them sound? I'll take any opinion, input, etc that you wanna give. I'm not even remotely close to making a decision yet, but I need to weigh my options for my future and serving my country sounds like something that would really help my career and its also something I could be proud of.

 

I am currently active duty Air Force(enlisted side) and have been for over 5 years. With an engineering degree you would be a fool not to come in as an officer, don't let an enlisted recruiter screw you. A buddy I went to highschool with finished his bachelors and then came in enlisted in a career field nowhere close to his degree. dumb dumb dumb. Start out pay for an O-1 is 2,469.30. (http://www.dfas.mil/army2/militarypa...ycharts-cc.pdf) Depending on where you live that is quite a bit less then the civilian side, but you make up for that with the bennefits. Free medical everything, no strings attached is pretty hard to compete with. To be completely honest though, if you want to make money, the military is not where its at. But if you want to have the greatest sense of accomplishment in the world and get paid pretty well to do it, the the military is the route you need to take. Obviously I am biased to the AF, but serving your country is serving your country. For engineering stuff the AF or Navy are definitely the best route. That is where all of the best air and space programs are. If you have any specific questions let me know. Since I am enlisted I obviously know more about it, but for the most part things are the same on both side. Send me a message if you have any specific questions.

 

I as well serve in the Air Force as active duty. I'm enlisted with a little over 3 years. Having a degree is good because it gives you the opportunity to become an Officer if you decide to join the military. You'll have to look at your options as far as branch wise, because even though you have a degree some branches might not need your expertise in their branch. Medically your fully covered no matter what happens to you so that's a nice plus. Also AF usually has better living standards stateside and if you ever deploy. (being biased now) Ultimately it's up to you what branch you'd like to join though. I think all branches each have their pro's and con's, but we're all here for the same reason. Plus it's slightly harder to make rank in the AF. Also don't believe everything the recruiters tell you, they'll say whatever they need to, to make their quota's for the month. Also what morgan said don't go enlisted if you have a degree, put your degree to work with becoming an officer because the Air Force might pay some of your college expenses back to you (from what i've heard anyway).

 

Ahhh...the old 'nuclear expert' MOS...that recruiting tag has been around since they invented atom-splitting, I think. My personal favorite was the Navy ad where it shows the young kid 'pull up to the sub' docked in the background in his new Mustang and hop out, as if he's just comin' to work and gonna go sailin!

But seriously, the two aforementioned wingers couldn't have put it better. Recruiters have to be good at sales and presentation, especially now, so do some fact-finding recon on your own (like post a message on military-heavy CBRF!) before making a final decision. Almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a degree, so time in uniform may just give you the edge, plus it feels damn good contributing to the security of little old ladies and puppies everywhere.

There is a chance, though, that you have what it takes to really do it right...they don't call us the few and the proud for nothing...

 

I am also in the USAF. Im a crew chief on the F-16's. and I will agree 100% of what has been said above. If you are in it for the money, the military is probably not the road you are going to want to take, but as said above it is the great sence of accomplishment you can have! You have stated that you have a degree,I would deffinately look into becoming a commisioned officer. There is a heck of a lot money to be had in that aspect.

 

While the Air Force is pretty much covered the pay and benefits issue here. And considering your choice careerwise. There are limited, paths of choice for you within the Marine Corps. Well outside my expertise to comment on the Marine Corps does offer as well as the Navy does. And I'm sure the Air Force and the Army do. I'm just unaware of how their programs work. I however, can provide you with more than the basic knowledge for the PLC program. Since you're still in college and have one more year to go at least based on what you have posted. I will provide you with a link to the Marine Corps Main page concerning the PLC program. You won't find nearly as much information there on it as I'm going to provide here. The corps would prefer you to sit down with recruiter and discuss it. Now if you choose to do this, That's great. I answered the question once before about remaining in the service of this country from one of our Air Force counterparts here. And I make this my standard response to the issue of serving this great nation. After that I will provide as much detailed information about the PLC course I truly think it may be something you might be interested in. Even if you decide to go the reserve route it will provide you the opportunity to excel in the civilian world and serving your country

This is from a fourth generation Marines, who has currently counting aunts and uncles and first cousins. And of course other immediate family 49 family members either currently serving or have served at some point,who are a live now. So my point of view will be a little one-sided, but here is my take. I personally have never done anything else in my life, and there are times when I think that I should not remain with the Corps. Now as far as MOS go, my civilian qualifications would be a puzzlement to me. I don't exactly know where I would fit in. I am certified In Martial Arts Instruction, Scuba Diving And Skydiving, along with a host of other lethal skills. How would these apply in civilian life. I don't know. This may sound like BS to you, but I honest to God inherited a sense of patriotic duty from my grandfather, who said that his father had told him. By serving in this country's Marine Corps, we were paying back this Great Nation for the great gifts that we had received. He would tell me great stories of hardship and triumph and those have carried me over a lot of hard times, and by serving my country, I am ensuring some quality of life for my children and grandchildren. But that's just me. You ultimately have to decide for yourself whether it is something you want to do

The Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) is an alternative for NROTC or OCS for college students who wish to become commissioned officers in the United States Marine Corps.
College students can enroll in PLC when they are freshmen, sophomores, or juniors in college. Those who enroll as freshmen or sophmores attend two 6 six-week summer training programs at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, located at Quantico, Virginia. Students who enroll in the program as juniors attend one 10-week summer course.
PLC summer class sizes are typically 250 to 300 students, broken into four to six platoons. The platoons train in a physically demanding environment where sleep deprivation, military tasks, and memorization are constantly forced on candidates to test their ability to handle stress. The course of instruction is much the same as Marine Corps Officers Candidate School
[size=2]Travel costs, meals, textbooks, uniforms and lodging, during the summer training sessions are provided by the Marine Corps, and students are paid for their time. Additional financial assistance may be obtained for participation in active duty. Participants may receive tax-free financial ***

 

It's great to see the military guys posting up. I've got somewhat of a different perspective than morgan and rvizzile, in the sense that I've been on both sides of the fence. Spent 12 years as an avioncs troop on the AWACS (basically a aircraft mechanic). I had a great time, learnedsome valuable skills, and most definitely got to travel. While I was enlisted I got married and decided togo back to school andthen applied for a commission and got accepted. I've been working as a communications officer for the last 3 years and I'm still enjoying it. I don't worry about bills, but I get paid more then an normal LT because of my enlisted service. But, in any case if you look at the pay scale that morgan linked to, the pay gets pretty good after you put some rank on. That scale doesn't factor in your housing allowance or food allowance, which for me is an additional $2100 a month (which currently isn't taxable). Most don't serve for the money though. I take alot of pride in the fact that theprofession that I chosen in unique. Very few are willing to take an oath to defend their country.

As for the career options, definitley don't buy what the recruiter tells you without doing some research, get it in writing and keep everything that you get from him. The officer side is actually quite different from the enlisted side as far as career progression and promotions go. If your going to try and work in your field you'll find that the air force only has one job (developmental engineer) that does true engineering, as far as I know. The rest of them will be more focused on leading people or flying airplanes. Unfortunately, I think I could write a book on the question you posted. If you any specific questions hit me up. Also, not sure where you're at, but I'm in the sacramento area. If that's close to you let me know.

 

How ironic this thread is. I've been in the Air Force 5 years now. Work in the Avionics shop which is perfect for me. Been working on an EE degree with a little over 2 years done. I should have went straight to college but hey there is always the MGIB $38,000+ and the "kicker" another 6k to all use for college.

 

well I see the Air Force is very well represented hereand meanabsolutely no disrespect I have the upmost respect for anyone willing to step in harms way here or abroad

as someone stated earlier with benefits the pay isn't bad onceyou doget some rank under you I know F3has got just about as many years in the Army as I dothe Corps and I am a GySgt E 7 do all right on the pay the benefits arewere the real plus is,as it has been stated. and after about 12 years you learn rank does haveits privileges LOLno worries