Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 17 year old considering military service - advice/experience please

I volunteered when I was 17. Did exactly what I wanted to do, serve on submarines. Bunch of weeks in BE&E school, then Torpedo school, then more weeks at Groton, CT. at sub school and on to my first boat - USS Redfish.

Saw a lot of different countries and wouldn't trade the experience for anything.. The others above are right - make sure the kid considers a rate that is valuable on the outside.. Mine wasn't, but in my case it didn't matter..

My son went in the Army at 17 out of high school. Some though "Bummer, no college".
He picked an MOS that was in line with what he thought he had the most interest in as a civilian.
He used the GI bill (which he also paid into while serving) and just received his PHD and is off
to Hays St. U. to be a professor.

So, tell your son to go in to something he has a strong interest in.
Be the best service member he can be while in.
Serve with pride regardless of what crap goes on.
Get some further education while serving.
Get out when appropriate.

Tim

Smart man, you did good.... This is the answer, not a bunch of unknowns on the internet. I was a marine recon, Navy SEAL, sniper in Army Ranger unit with the Special Forces in Vietnam and Angola and Iran but I can't talk about any of my missions. BLAH BLAH BLAH.

In reality, I did a year of college and decided that's not for me, joined (AIRBORNE) for two years, flight school, retired CW3 AH-64 Apache Test Pilot. Quit college to join (needed to grow up) and retired AAS, BS, MAS - paid for (mostly) by Uncle Sam and US Tax dollars - Soo don't Thank Me for serving- thank you for educating me!!

I think de flave is correct.

Kinda nails what I did joining the Army, going to Germany and being in a Tank unit.

No, don't "prepare" him for the ASVAB - let the test see what he's good at - that may help him decide which career field would be best for him.

As a couple of others have mentioned, the Coast Guard is more of a family environment than any other branch. They even truly attempt to get you stationed where you prefer, close to your family if possible, unlike the other branches which seem to take the last place on your preference list and put you there. Much of my family has served full careers in the Coast Guard - I wanted to go to the Coast Guard Academy, but my academics weren't good enough. Instead I ended up at West Point and the Army sucked.

One more thing I'll say about the CG. You aren't pigeonholed regardless of rating. I was an ET, but also a DC, EM, SK, YN, BM, MK and cook. Small units mean you learn the jobs of other ratings.

I've seen some uncreative folks in other branches, especially USAF

A very good post. That said, given what all branches have become, I really can't recommend it unless as a last resort...

The Coast Guard has a nice set up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina right by Oregon Inlet.

I always thought that would be a good place to get stationed,..although I would think the job could get fairly hairy out there from time to time.

I served for 24 years both as an enlisted Marine and an Officer in the Army. I really think that every officer should be enlisted first so that they can put things in perspective, but that is never going to happen. If he decides to join, pick an MOS that will translate to the real world. A couple of the better ones are intelligence and medical equipment repair (The Army trains folks to repair MRI machines and a host of other medical equipment, but I think the MOS is available to other branches, they attend the Army school). These folks walk right out on the street after an enlistment and earn 80k.

If he decides to make a career of it, being an officer will have huge financial advantages.

As you can see from the responses, virtually nobody thinks it's a bad idea; however, Northman made a good point. Don't let him get into an MOS that will have him physically ruined by the age of 40. I currently represent Soldiers who are being processed out of the service through the Medical Evaluation Board and between physical training and multiple combat deployments, most Combat Arms Soldiers who are of retirement age are physically broken.

Deflave makes a good point too - 17 is very young. He might do ok if he is mature, but the services no longer have any tolerance for drinking incidents and can discharge a Soldier with the stroke of a pen if they have under six years of service.

My family is from the Outer Banks area of N.C. and it is indeed a good gig for Coast Guard.
However, one of my hunting buddies spent almost his entire Coast Guard career in Kodiak, Alaska, by preference, due to the great hunting and fishing up there. He did retire to eastern N.C., though.

David,
Thank you.

While my service is dated (81-97), I remember how frequently ASVAB scores were used throughout a soldier's career related to career and training opportunities. Some practice tests would be helpful so that this test, taken at a young age, shows the best representation of your son's abilities and interests. Your local library probably has practice books and there are also lots of resources online.

As also mentioned was that maturity is something you should carefully consider. If your son has had limited/sheltered life experience, he'll certainly get that in the military, but being immature in "adult situations" might make the first couple years of service an opportunity to fail. An alternative that the Army offers (other services might with a different name) is "Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP)".....basically, he would go to boot camp after high school, be enrolled in a college ROTC program as well as a member of a Reserve or National Guard unit until college graduation. This does a few things....he gets some training and experience early, gets commissioned as an officer before his peers (I did at the end of my sophmore year, effectively giving me two years "Time In Grade" over my peers which helped in future promotions), it pays both a ROTC stipend and reserve duty pay while in school. While the military has certainly changed a bunch in recent decades, it certainly is a good option and gives great experience to those who are suited for it.

Join the Navy.
Go see the world, you may not get another chance!
Learn a trade that you can use.

Not to be contrarian, but I have had horrendous experiences with guys that did the ROTC gigs and then went into service.

I also have to go against the grain on the practicality aspect of enlistment. If a kid wants to drive tanks, he should enlist to drive tanks. If he wants to shoot one of them big ol' howitzers, he should pursue it. You only live once and setting out to be an electrician sorta takes the fun outta schit.

Agree....there can be some bad ones. There are three general ways to become an officer; service academy; ROTC and OCS (Officer Candidate School). (Four if you also consider direct commission, which is rarely done for non-medical/law fields.) All of them have their bottom of the barrel graduates and those that get commissioned and just aren't the right fit for the position or their unit. ROTC is the largest source of commissions, so therefore probably also have the largest number of sub-par performers.

Also agree that at a young age this is the time for them to do something that may not be a lifetime career if they have a calling. The discipline and leadership skills they will learn can be useful in about any future job.

I've advised my son to get a degree and go OCS.

Of course I don't know if that's 100% sound advice because I just did what I felt like. LMAO.

I'll throw in my experience almost 21 years of being in the Army and another 15 of being a deployable, emergency essential government civilian working for DA. There are some great jobs in all the services, but I was a Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) Specialist, (Air Force it's PMEL) current MOS is 94H, there is currently a $5000.00 bonus if you can qualify for it. Later I became a Warrant Officer in the same field. What do you do in this field: you calibrate and repair anything the Army uses to test, measure or diagnose systems. Here is the Army's description: Job training for a test measurement and diagnostic equipment maintenance support specialist requires 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training and 34 weeks of Advanced Individual Training with on-the-job instructions. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field, including practice in repairing precision instruments.

Some of the skills you’ll learn are:
•Calibration and repair of precision-measuring instruments
•Use of blueprints and schematics

It was an awesome job when I was in, 7 or 9 person teams with a WO as the detachment commander. It's changed a little since then, but it's still a great MOS for getting a civilian job after the Army. It certainly worked well for me!

I work with soldiers daily, and I see the same things now that I saw when I joined. The Army is what you make it, you can excel if you are willing to work or you can barely make it through your enlistment and hope for a honorable discharge.

From reading about the kid who's future we've been discussing, I think he would excel in any of the services. Go enlisted and then GO WARRANT OFFICER! Best job in the Army by far.

What ever he does, don't do this:


http://www.ktvu.com/news/soldier-goes-awol-steals-humvee

Yes, he should do it and I recommend he go in to combat arms - infantry, armor or artillery (chicks dig guys with big guns ).

It's some of the most fun and some of the most physically challenging, yet rewarding, things you will ever do.

Do it while you're young. If after his first enlistment he decides he wants to stay he can always change his MOS.

Yeah, it's a helluva way to make a living.

If he's the type of kid who is mechanically inclined, I'd recommend the Air Force as an aviation mechanic, crew chief or avionics technician. I'd also strongly recommend obtaining an Airframe/Powerplant or Radiomen's license while in and let Uncle Sam pay for it. The after military service career future is very promising with fewer and fewer young people going into the aerospace career field. Best of luck to your son.