? for Servicemen (Past and Present)

Look hard at the US Coast Guard. We pretty much stay in or near the US. Also, the benefits are the same as the other 4 services. The Coast Guard has an excellent program in public affairs, with lots of schools that give college credits. If your son can, see if he can get duty in the 9th CG District (the Great Lakes). It's the smallest of the CG Districts and he'll get a lot more experience. Another good duty station is Alaska.

 

Hey if you head down for his graduation from boot then will be most likely going within a few miles of us as well (a ways further north and west than 'lostinthewoods' but also here in MO. Might have to drop by or catch up for a bit if you come down. Nice area down there and prety cool place on the base too, my brother did boot there then after he lost a daughter at birth they stationed him there for a few years to be closer to home and I spent some time staying with them on base as a kid.

 

Monkeyman if we fly out to attend graduation from basic, I'll let you know. Not sure yet, as summer is always our busy time with school remodel projects but with enough notice I should be able to work around it or find a co-worker to cover whichever project I end up on this summer. Unfortunately, I hate flying commercial airlines but no way would I drive it with todays gas prices.

 

we had some"coasties" in my afosi academy class, one female,1male good folks!

 

OOOhhhhh my, your USCG......I guess I will have to try to be nice then. Most of my experience with them has not granted a high opinion from their folks at Upper Mississippi comand, to their other folks I contacted regarding a Zcard or one of their retired officers I worked with. Based on the ones have dealt with though I guess that would be a fair branch to work with since any inteligence would make you a rock star with them and you do stay state side for your service so dont likely face stop loss.

Im sure you are an exception to the rule of the ones I have had the displeasure of dealing with, just not my favorite org. Sorry, thats about as nice as can talk about them.

 

Well, it seems like he's pretty set on going Army so I'll stop trying to talk some sense in to him. One piece of advice though is that HUMINT has to be collected from actual people on the ground and in this day and age that more than likely means walking the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan with an interpreter trying to gain the trust of those people through daily contact. This may not be the best of career choices.

 

Colt- he ought to start memorizing basic things like the general orders and military phonetic alphabet. If he doesn't know military time, it is time to learn. It would be good for him to obtain a common tasks manual and start studying it's contents.

My second MOS was 96B, which is Intel Analyst. Last l checked the HUMINT MOS was 97B Counter Intel Agent. He will have to obtain a TS//SCI security clearance, but will be given an interim to go through his AIT.

Fort Huachuca, AZ is a blast! I loved Arizona! Good times....

 

I take it the issue waders is the same razzing as the height requirment? So they can walk back to shore if they sink.

 

I also spent my enlistment right out of HS in the USAF. It was definitely the best thing I could have done in so far as helping me to mature as a man and to learn solid combat/survival skills that will help me and those with me survive future hardships.

I wouldn't get caught up in the "which branch has better training" debate as it all depends on what training your talking about. I believe there are many specialties where one branch may do all training in a specific area for all branches. That was the case with dog handlers when I was in and it sounds like it carries over into other fields as well.

I will say that we had great food. I don't know how many times I ran into guys from other branches during air shows and other events that would go through our chow hall with looks of amazement. The AF did always strike me as more of a 9 to 5 service except for a few career fields like mine.

I think for me now the question is trying to balance out what military service provides for the individual in return for servitude under what many now consider a defacto government but that would be a different discussion altogether.

I wish him the best of luck regardless of his decision.

MS

 

The FAST test is only taken if he plans to go aviation. He can take the FAST test anytime. If he decides to track aviation, he doesn't have to have any prior skill, I highly recommend aviation but then, I'm biased. Trust me, if he is breathing, he is a candidate for Aviation, especially the attack and scout fields. He would make a fine addition to the WO Corp.

 

He was set on the Army from day one, there wasn't much I could say to tell him otherwise. He's 18 and I wasn't going to try and change his mind one way or the other, just let him read and understand what he is getting himself into. I let him make his own decision on this, so he has only himself to blame if it doesn't work out the way he hoped it would.

So much for thinking that this MOS would be good duty if he ended up in Iraq or Afghanistan. Never thought about it that way but I guess it makes sense. Honestly, I was hoping he wouldn't end up in either place but regardless of the MOS I'm guessing that once a soldier always a soldier and anybody could end up in either place. A buddy of mine in the Army NG ended up in Afghanistan who was a Combat Engineer and saw himself distributing ammunition over there.

 

Thank you, I will pass this info on to him. He has been reading this thread.

Apparently, the Army has reclassified some of their MOS's. Intel Analyst has been changed to 35F and HUMINT changed to 35M, when I have no idea.

 

I was wondering about those tests but since it was under the qualifications for the WO Candidate School, who was I to question the governments protocol for entry into a program. They do tend to do things that don't make sense.

I wouldn't mind seeing him take on the aviation field because of the oppurtunities in the civilian sector. Columbia Helicopters Headquarters is less than 3 miles outside of the town I live in and Evergreen Helicopters is about a 40 min. drive from here. However, it's his life and his decision on what to do with his life. All I can do is hope he does what he thinks is right for himself and try to not influence him with what I'd like to see him do. I tried that already in trying to get him to get into a trade or go to college, since he has a $10K college fund already.

 

Hey Colt tell your son to never volunteer! Blend in! Only stand out when you are shining kinda of thing. My dad told me the same thing before I shipped out for Parris Island (The land that God forgot). Oh man did I love to see the call for volunteers and then the shit they had to do! It was great! "I need a volunteer!" hands go up. "You!" "Push!" hahaha. Those were the days. On a serious note tell your son I say thanks for his service! You've obviously raised a fine son. Too many kids these days dont understand the whole "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" now its more "ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you". They have no understanding of what "serving" is. Someone should serve them...just like Paris Hilton.

 

Put 4 years in USAF a long time ago. The hours were long, pay lousy, promotion slow and I was glad when the 4 years were up. I have made a decent living in electronics for the past 50 years on the technical education that was supplied and I think that it was probably the most important learing time in my life. You have to learn how to live and interact with a lot of people and how to quickly adapt to new situations. That and that doing your duty means just that. If you don't do it right, you or your friends may die. It was a totally different view of life and responsibility than I have ever experienced in any job since. I hope that the present military continues the old traditions and as far as I can tell they still do. Your son may not get all the technical education or go where he expects, but it will change him and I believe for the better. I favor the USAF, but in the long run the experience is more important than the branch. I grew up in the 40's and the attitude was that you had a duty to your country and nearly everyone I knew went in. Those days are long gone and I congrulate your son on his view that this country is still worth serving.

 

Helphimwith ( nemonics?)tricks for memorizing"laundry lists"
making words/sentences to help rememberlists of info: I.E." the five functions of management":

("pod c-squared")Planning , Organizing, Directing, Coordinating ,and Controlling. Still remember that one from the sac senior nco academy ('85).

They will teach him everything the way they want it done and not every recruit is a rocket scientist( if he's at all sharp the book stuff will be a cakewalk. So don't go in with any preconcieved ideas or bad habits of:"but this is the way to do it".
We broke the m16 down for cleaning: bolt group completely,separated upper andlower,pulled the hand guards. firecontrol group stayed in thelower ( armorers play with that). I saw an army training aid( poster)on dissassembling the m16. The task was demonstrated by cartoon comic book characters(remember Scooby says "don't line up the gaps in the gas rings on the bolt!")