Son Enlisting in the Army

[amaristella]

Nov 9, 2015 22:47:53 GMT -5 moolarkey said:

Nov 9, 2015 22:41:00 GMT -5 Stan said:

But why? I get prickly at the idea that being an officer is automatically better. 

Didn't say being an officer is better. I didn't give a reason. So if you're getting prickly over what I DID say, then that's on you.

My reasons would be - getting their college education, learning about the military and deciding if it is the right way of life for them, general maturing before taking on that type of commitment.  With AF ROTC you don't have a commitment until summer before your junior year so you can spend 2 years in ROTC with no military commitment but you learn a lot that will help you in life from both being in college and being in ROTC. Should you stay in, you'll earn other skills that will help you both in the military and outside the military should you only serve your minimum commitment.

Recently I've been thinking that the loans 18 year-olds take out in order to get their college education are also a pretty serious commitment. AF ROTC seems to be run a little bit differently than some of the other branches. And even from one location to the next. Many contracts do come with a repayment clause and I have heard of cases where it was enforced.

I would also argue that many veterans I know learned a lot of important skills from their 4 year enlistment that benefited them later on when they entered the civilian work force. That part easily goes both ways.

Depending on the individual some people really are better suited to do military first and college second.

[calmcosmo]

I agree with whoever said that if the recruiter is making negative blanket statements about any branch or "side" (O vs. E) that he is probably a bad source.

My husband went to the Naval Academy (was signed in at 17 by his parents) and graduated in 2002. He has been active duty for the past 13+ years. He's an aviator and in his corner of the military the officers are the war fighters. He flies off a carrier into combat. The enlisted personnel in his squadron are talented, dedicated, and awesome workers. They are maintainers, administrators, career counselors - lots of great jobs - but they aren't on the tip of the spear. So in our small part of the military, it is absolutely NOT the case that officers are at a desk while the enlisted fight.

I think there is a lot of merit to enlisting and then trying to commission later if desired. It isn't my husband's journey, but we've met a ton of people who have gone that route and are very happy they did. We've also heard from enlisted friends that they appreciate officers who have lived the enlisted life.

As a mom it is important to be supportive but also to be a guiding hand - especially at 17. I would personally require that my son meet with more than one recruiter (be it another branch of service or the ROTC side) before signing the consent. They require consent at 17 for a reason - your son doesn't necessarily have the maturity to make this decision on his own. And more information is NEVER a bad idea. Think of it as a second opinion of sorts, and if he walks away wanting the Army even more then you have just solidified his choice.

Good luck to him!

[lizard1131]

Oct 19, 2015 16:28:12 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Oct 19, 2015 16:15:10 GMT -5 Stan said:

Well, I'm an Army officer (part timer in the Guard), and I don't think I waste my time. My job will be more people managing than shoot shoot bang bang, but officers are important (lol). Any time I hear a recruiter say something pejorative about anyone else in the military, it's because they're either tools or they're trying to make mission. ...

This is what I was thinking, too. I'm not confident that the recruiter my son talked with had my son's actual best interest first-and-foremost when talking to him. I worry that he's more concerned about his quota or his monthly goal or whatever measure his bosses use to evaluate him than the best path for my son, whom he only just met that afternoon.  I don't know how to get him to see that, though, without him talking to non-recruiter-types, too. I love your suggestion about investigating the other branches, too. 

He might kind of have military in his destiny. His first five years of life we lived on a very isolated military base. Kwajalein, MH. Thank you so much for all this info. 

OT:  My grandparents lived on Kwaj for a loooooong time in the 70s.