should i sign up for the army. I have some questions?
ByThe questions are at the bottom if you don’t want to read my story.
heres the story if that helps any. just about everyone in my whole family was in the army. well everyone on my dad’s side and my sister. my older brother. now they are looking at me and want me to go. with all them being in the army I really dont know anything about it, far as i know is what they show on the commercials. My sister said I would be a E1 when i start. I’m up for anything IF THE MONEY IS WORTH IT, thats one reason i want to sign up because i’ve been all over texas and now back in mississippi looking for a job, no luck!!!! i usually do construction work just because they paid good(1200 a week) i’ve been on a job hunt since the summer and no luck. I have a son that i want to take care of so looks like this is my only choice. Keep in mind, i’m in MISSISSIPPI so theres no big jobs here like in NYC. Im going back to community college in Jan.
1. how much would i get paid a month?? i read on the net every gets paid the same but some also says the army gives some people extra money. a bonus??
2.I read on the army website that if you never been in the army you have to sign up for 8 years??? wow what a contract, i can barely do a 2 year contract with tmobile.
3. I want to get in shape and have a sixpack. whats the best thing to sign up for???
4. I have in mind what i want to sign up for but I dont know what they call it. its were you get up early in the morning (i think only 2 times a month) to do exercise. the reserve??
i thought they all got paid the same?? the army,navy,air force. I want to go were the money at. I dont want to be over there chasing ben laden then get killed.
Shave my head?? my brother in the army his head isnt bald.
I will talk to one of the army guys tommorow and ask them the same thing.
i will tell you this, when I was out in Texas looking for a job a recruiter came up to me and did the usual and said why are you here in texas. i said I cant find a job nowhere, so he said why dont you join the army and you will have a job and so on….so he ask when can we meet to talk about the army and to take a test” a practice test, thats what he said….. so i ask him would i have to go to iraq and he said yes you will prob. less than a year. and he said it smillingly* like thats a good thing. i was like wow I dunno about the war I just want to train and get some money. i’m 22. I want to go to college not be over there fighting throwing rocks.
25 Comments
March 14th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Youre going to get your head shaved !!!
Man that would turn me right on
March 14th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Why just Army, aren’t you interested in Navy? Check that web site for details. I love men in uniforms.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
IF YOU LIKE IT IN THE BACK THEN I’D JOIN
March 14th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Dude do now do it man. It is stupid. It’s a low paying job. Don’t risk your self. This country already killed enough of our own people.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Air Force, more career opportunities.
March 14th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
My thoughts on this might not be of much help but why not go into another part of the military instead of the army the nation guards or something less until you know for sure what is right for you check out the other military units before you take the dive.
March 14th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
I think it’s nice that you are trying to defend your country and all but you have to think about your family and what they would think if something happened to you! I not infering that your selfish or anything just saying!
March 14th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Don’t do it. If you have no special skills that the army needs right now, you will end up in Iraq on the front lines. They will tell you anything to get you to sign but once you are in there, they will say there is no room in that field right now. And if you want to go to school while in the army, they make it pretty difficult. (my son–in-law is a recruiter so he tells me these things plus my son was in for a while)
March 14th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
1.ur pay depends on ur rank. recrutiers will usually tell you ways to go into the army as an e2 or higher
2.when i signed up for the army (in 2003) they had a 6yr contract that had several different ways you could serve, ex. 2active, 2reserve, 2active.
3.it might sound girly, but try pilates–you’ll have a 6pack in no time and most gyms/fitness centers offer classes for free
4…either reserve or rotc, not sure.
hope this helps and good luck!
March 14th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
1. You get paid by rank. An E-1 gets paid about 1200 a MONTH. The bonus is a enlistment bonus. 20K for high school grads.
2. Yes it’s 8 years and it is mandatory, its not what you think. EXAMPLE:4 years active – 4 years IRR. 6 years active – 2 years IRR. 2 years active – 6 years IRR
3. Infantry, IN MY OPINION.
4. 1 Weekend a month, 2 weekends a year. So yea I think you are talking about the reserves.
Also on a side note, don’t sign up because someone else is pressuring you to.
March 14th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
hey, i would not go. its a really bad time to go right now. plus you might get sent to iraq. if you think you only make 60,000 a year if you go to college even for 4 years you can get a great job. 70,000 a year plus. if youre parents / family would be mad if you did not go. you could go into law. where you could still help the army. lawyer and work youre self up. if you stay in college and work hard you could be a vice principal which start making 150,000 a year !!! around that. trust me ur education is youre most important thing. i would not put that on the line my going in the army. i hope you have good luck. remember use ur head !!!
March 14th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
look if you don’t want to doit then don’t! the money may not be worth it. The training is very tuff and after 1 week you will beg to leave. u have 5 mins to eat all of your food and it isnt ok if you enter and want to get out. getting in is the easy part. getting out is really hard. and the army pays for your home, dental, hospital, EVERYTHING!
March 14th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
USMC has a killer uniform. it is bad ass compared to the Army Baret you wear….
PLUS
you get a sword!
a freakin sword!!
March 14th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
1. yes you do and if you are very respectful then you get a bonus
2. some have 8 years some only have 8 weeks for the first time. its on how you choose the course.
3. boot/training camp then if you really want a challenge the sign up for the marine corps.
4. it’s probably the marines or the navy.
Hope you go through with it.
March 14th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Personally I would not go in right now with the government being so iffy, but it’s your life. My son was part time National Guard and he liked it so much he in-listed again full time. He has already been over in Iraq once and is going back for a second tour of duty next April. The pay depends on what rank you are and what field you go into, but if you are thinking that you need something else to get in shape, don’t worry, they’ll get you in shape. If you really want to be a HOS, join the Navy. I went into basic at 247 and came out at 225 and was solid as a rock. All the branches have tough basic, but the Navy and Marines are the hardest.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
if money is your motivation then dont join . its not the best paying job , but it’s morally rewarding . you might get killed, but u can get killed out here in these streets . just going about ur business, never let death or fear hold u back in anything. u can workout on ur own and get in shape. and u can go to Military.com and look @ the exact rates. but in the army u get ur housing paid for, food and a job many are not willing to do. u sing up for 2 yrs , but ur contract is for 8 . so u do 2 yrs active duty and 6 yrs inactive reserve . so they can call u back until the 8yrs are up . u do get a bonus depending on ur MOS . but dont just do it for the money .
March 14th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
1. you can go to military pay scale and it breaks down the pay scale according to rank…bonuses are given when you first sign up , and that is dependant on what job you go into.
2. you sign a 4 year commitment to the active reserve with a 4 your reserve term.
3. any of them..getting the six pack will be based on you level of exercise you want to do…there is a standard pt arrangement, than you do the rest on your own.
4. the reserves is one weekend a month and 2 weeks out of the summer, but if you are considering going reserve, consider what we are dealing with overseas…chances are you will be deployed shortly after joining and end up doing a year or more in iraq……
GOOD LUCK!!!! make this choice for you…i loved the military, i chose to leave because i had a little daughter whom i lever got to see because of all the deployments i was on..so when asked to reenlist..in iraq i might add, i declined
March 14th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
okay pretty much all of yor questions depend on what you are in the army. my brother just went off to go be an army ranger and he got paid 20,000 right when he got there. i’m not sre how much he gets all the time but i know it’s a good pay. you can get paid extra money if you get promoted or somthing like that.
the eight years is on call duty. that means if they need you they’ll call you. i’m not sure if that includes traning or not. ask some of the people in your family
in my opinion the best thing to sign up for is the rangers. they get to do all the cool stuff like jump out of airplanes and stuff. BTW yo will get RIPPED in the rangers
i’m not sure what part of the army your talking about but pretty much everyone gets up early
another thing is when you go to the recruitter you will take a series of phisical and mental tests and what you score on those will detirmine all the things you can sgn up for. you have to score really high to be a ranger
BTW my brother is having a blast and it’s not as bad as everyone says it is.
oh and also the rangers has no girls just in case you were wondering. it’s too intense for them
March 15th, 2010 at 12:09 am
This should give you all the info you want
All the very best, and I wish you and your son a bright future
March 15th, 2010 at 12:40 am
You need to talk to an Army recruiter tomorrow instead of having alot of people here not in the Army giving you all kind of bad or wrong answers. There are a few above whogave you some encouragement, but for some reason others love to prowl the military forums and discourage future partriots like you. I guess they figure the UN has it in check.
So please sit down with a recruiter or two and talk face to face after show research.
Start here:
edit: You need to clean up you attitude and stop worrying money and yourself. That’s what I am seeing in this post. I say like the others: don’t join then. You don’t understand about sacrifice and you are making a mockery about our service in the war. All I see is $ signs in your wording. Nothing about commitment or duty. We do more than collect a check. Go to a VoTech or JobCorp and learn a new skill and get employed. Work two part-time jobs or a decent full-time one. We don’t need mercenaries in the Army….
My 2 cents….
March 15th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Wait until you find out who your commander-in-chief is going to be.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:04 am
First of all I wouldn’t join the military for the pay. You join because you want to join regardless of what the financial rewards will be. Financial gain is just the icing on the cake. If you join the military you will be working long hours and doing hard work if you are enlisted. When you are deployed you will be working 6+ days a week depending on what your MOS is. The army has a lot of opportunity for advancement not just the air force. I would talk go to a military base in your local area and talk to soldiers on active duty about how they like it. They wont lie to you like recruiters do and you can ask them anything you want and it wont be a fake answer. as far as pay scales if you google military pay scale that will show you how much you will be paid. Dont forget that you get paid around $1,000 a month extra tax free on top of your basic pay for housing allowance if you arent using their housing. thats an extra $12,000 a year tax free not to mention your bonus money and all of the educational benefits you will get by joining.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:59 am
Yes you have a tradition in your family and it would be fulfilling. you start with 800 a month and move up to a grand or so as your pay grade or rank increses. you seem to take a liking to construction so mabey a combat enginer would suit you best. and yes they work out as well. dont forget the bouns money you get when you sign up. and with the g.i bill you can get colledge money for your kid. yes army is a good job indeed. good luck!
April 26th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Like others have stated here, don’t join the Army or the military in general based on bad information. Do your own research and with that I don’t mean asking friends or people who have never served. What do they know? They’ll tell you “I heard this…I heard that”. I’ve been in the Army 11 years, been to Iraq and in my opinion, it’s the best decision I ever made. True, it’s not for everyone. You have a son and your unemployed, you have to start thinking about that. I know what I’m talking about, I’m only a few years older than you with a family to care for as well. The Army is like every other career out there in the sense tha, it’s what you make of it. Again do your own research before talking to a recruiter. Good luck to you…
July 13th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Do it and whoever said low paying you are stupid… your first 2 years as an e-1 or e-2 you get paid 1400 dollars but you pay no rent no clothing no food and all the money goes to you and we have a post exchange which you could buy name brand like a store and its tax free there are a lot of benefits to being in the army… you get up to 82,000 dollars for school and what ever you dont use goes to your spouse or kids.