joining the navy

[Radeonx]

I'd think it through for a while just so you are sure that you want to actually join the Navy.
This seems like a very large impulse decision, and considering that you're pretty much choosing to make being in the Navy your career for a while, I'd think it through more than "Fuck this, I'm bored. Let's join the Navy!"

Hell, that's what I did! And no, I didn't make a career out of it and I hated most of it, but I still feel like I'm a better person for having gone through it. And it looks good on a resume.

And on the opposite end I've met people who found that their experience in the Army/Marines/Navy/Air Force was a waste of time and they hated every minute of it. It set them back years, and they were better off just going to whatever college they originally planned.
It is different for every person.

 

[AK47Marine]

Watch out for the Marines,

Hey! Our collective hygiene has improved alot the past decade and we've started working out the need to kill everything we see with our therapist

still have a bit of a drinking problem though...

 

[DefunctTheory]

If its the US Navy, bummer for you.

They don't give out good offers anymore.

Other than that, welcome to the brotherhood of war fights.

Well you can get some good deals if you finish college. I'm planning on becoming a Naval Engineer and have gotten some deals from them in the mail, and they'll pay for my college. Once I graduate I become an Officer. My Grandfather did the same thing when he joined the Air Force and became a teacher afterwards.
OT: Which Naval career do you have in mind? By that I mean which field of work you are signing up for.

Thats not really a deal... its standard practice.

And I'd beware. The Navy, like the Army, is at max capacity. They may not offer you the job you want, if they have no need for it.

True, I've got fall back plans set up as well. I do know that it is at a high capacity since I live in San Diego. It's getting harder and harder to get in, but mainly being a Shipwright has been a career I've wanted since I was 3 years old, or to just work on maintenance for the ships. Do you know of any offers they might have given before?

Bonuses in excess of 10k (Going as high as 20k), choice of duty station, choice of unit, choice of job.

These used to be the big ones. They are, for the most part, gone.

Watch out for the Marines,

...we've started working out the need to kill everything we see with our therapist

Horse shit. I've seen you Marines in action.

Crazy bastards... I love yah, but your still crazy.

 

[Roxas1359]

If its the US Navy, bummer for you.

They don't give out good offers anymore.

Other than that, welcome to the brotherhood of war fights.

Well you can get some good deals if you finish college. I'm planning on becoming a Naval Engineer and have gotten some deals from them in the mail, and they'll pay for my college. Once I graduate I become an Officer. My Grandfather did the same thing when he joined the Air Force and became a teacher afterwards.
OT: Which Naval career do you have in mind? By that I mean which field of work you are signing up for.

Thats not really a deal... its standard practice.

And I'd beware. The Navy, like the Army, is at max capacity. They may not offer you the job you want, if they have no need for it.

True, I've got fall back plans set up as well. I do know that it is at a high capacity since I live in San Diego. It's getting harder and harder to get in, but mainly being a Shipwright has been a career I've wanted since I was 3 years old, or to just work on maintenance for the ships. Do you know of any offers they might have given before?

Bonuses in excess of 10k (Going as high as 20k), choice of duty station, choice of unit, choice of job.

These used to be the big ones. They are, for the most part, gone.

Hm, so they no longer allow choice of job? I can understand duty station, unit choice, and the bonuses being not offered much anymore, but why choice of job?

 

[AK47Marine]

Hm, so they no longer allow choice of job? I can understand duty station, unit choice, and the bonuses being not offered much anymore, but why choice of job?

Choice of job is still offered, it's not really a perk it's just part of contracting, whether or not there's space in the job you want is another story however, also if you have the ASVAB scores for that job in the first place. You can still stand a bonus for certain MOS's as well, but they are much rarer then they were a couple years back.

These used to be the big ones. They are, for the most part, gone.

Watch out for the Marines,

...we've started working out the need to kill everything we see with our therapist

Horse shit. I've seen you Marines in action.

Crazy bastards... I love yah, but your still crazy.

Damn... Our reputation precedes us every where we go lol. Which reminds me of one of the Iraqi Army (bad guy version not the good guy version) propaganda about Marines. Including gems like how all Marines have to kill one relative in cold blood to be accepted to boot camp.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Hm, so they no longer allow choice of job? I can understand duty station, unit choice, and the bonuses being not offered much anymore, but why choice of job?

Unlike the Army, which will give you any job you desire, regardless of need, the navy will allow you to pick a field (Say, mechanic), and a preferred specialty (Say, heavy Wheel).

Now, if they don't need heavy wheel by the time you finish basic, guess what... tough shit, you're now a Tread Mechanic (the Navy has these). So you go to Advanced Training to be a Tread Mechanic... awesome. Only the guy you were supposed to replace decided to re-enlist at the last moment.

Well, damn, looks the Navy doesn't need mechanics after all. But chin up: you can be retrained as a computer technician!

its rare that it gets this bad, but it has happened. An old friend of mine signed up to be an electrician, was trained as a carpenter, then as a metal worker, and finally ended up as a run way repair man.

The Navy makes no guarantees. And if they do, they are LIEING.

Note: The likely hood of such a catastrophe occurring is not high. But ask yourself: do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

EDIT: The Army will NOT give you any job you want. What they will do is this: if you pick a job, and the Army says yes, then THATS YOUR JOB (Unless the job is cut off. But that only happens in Signal now a days.).

 

[gorillahertz]

When I was in, it was dependent upon how well you did in your chosen school. You pick a "path" in the recruiter's office and if you do better than everybody else in your class, then you get to pick your final duty station first. Choice of job is mostly decided with your recruiter, and you should pick something that will give you marketable skills when you get out. ie: shooting missiles is fun, but who's gonna pay you to do that in the civilian world?

 

[THAC0]

do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

for most people this is just life.

at least you get a job that pays you for 3+ years.

 

[DefunctTheory]

do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

for most people this is just life.

at least you get a job that pays you for 3+ years.

No, you don't understand.

Even civilians have a choice: they can quit and become bums, work at McDonalds, etc.

In the Military, for those 3 years, you WILL be doing that job. There is no quiting, no reassignment (Without a new contract), no freedom: You will do that job, or the Military will Fuck. You. Up.

There are advantages to having a garunteed job, even if you hate it, but before you go in, you have to realize that you ARE signing your life away.

A Drill Sergeant one told me how strange ti is that to become a Guardian of Freedom, you must first give up your own.

 

[gorillahertz]

do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

for most people this is just life.

at least you get a job that pays you for 3+ years.

I have to agree there!

 

[Roxas1359]

Hm, so they no longer allow choice of job? I can understand duty station, unit choice, and the bonuses being not offered much anymore, but why choice of job?

Choice of job is still offered, it's not really a perk it's just part of contracting, whether or not there's space in the job you want is another story however, also if you have the ASVAB scores for that job in the first place. You can still stand a bonus for certain MOS's as well, but they are much rarer then they were a couple years back.

Okay. I'm on military.com reading about it right now. I remember my friend took those when he enlisted in the Marines a few months back. Oh and I've seen marines in action too what with living in San Diego, and my AP U.S History teacher was a former marine during Vietnam.

Hm, so they no longer allow choice of job? I can understand duty station, unit choice, and the bonuses being not offered much anymore, but why choice of job?

Unlike the Army, which will give you any job you desire, regardless of need, the navy will allow you to pick a field (Say, mechanic), and a preferred specialty (Say, heavy Wheel).

Now, if they don't need heavy wheel by the time you finish basic, guess what... tough shit, you're now a Tread Mechanic (the Navy has these). So you go to Advanced Training to be a Tread Mechanic... awesome. Only the guy you were supposed to replace decided to re-enlist at the last moment.

Well, damn, looks the Navy doesn't need mechanics after all. But chin up: you can be retrained as a computer technician!

its rare that it gets this bad, but it has happened. An old friend of mine signed up to be an electrician, was trained as a carpenter, then as a metal worker, and finally ended up as a run way repair man.

The Navy makes no guarantees. And if they do, they are LIEING.

Note: The likely hood of such a catastrophe occurring is not high. But ask yourself: do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

EDIT: The Army will NOT give you any job you want. What they will do is this: if you pick a job, and the Army says yes, then THATS YOUR JOB (Unless the job is cut off. But that only happens in Signal now a days.).

Well that could happen, but like you said it is rare. But I've also got back up plans to for such possibilities. And like it was said, you at least have a paying job in these times of uncertainty.

 

[DevilWolf47]

Watch out for the Marines,

Hey! Our collective hygiene has improved alot the past decade and we've started working out the need to kill everything we see with our therapist

still have a bit of a drinking problem though...

I know. My uncle was a Marine. Only occasionally reeked of death because he liked to hunt and fish for his food.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Well that could happen, but like you said it is rare. But I've also got back up plans to for such possibilities. And like it was said, you at least have a paying job in these times of uncertainty.

There is no back up plan. By the time you get shuffled, the trains at its destination. Too late.

I'm not trying to tell anyone that the navy is a bad idea, only that its not fool proof. I'm just pointing out worst case scenarios.

I almost joined the Navy, but the recruiter wouldn't do anything unless I said I would go submarine. Thousands of feet under water strapped to two nuclear reactors and multiple nuclear warheads?

I'll pass.

 

[gorillahertz]

do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

for most people this is just life.

at least you get a job that pays you for 3+ years.

No, you don't understand.

Even civilians have a choice: they can quit and become bums, work at McDonalds, etc.

In the Military, for those 3 years, you WILL be doing that job. There is no quiting, no reassignment (Without a new contract), no freedom: You will do that job, or the Military will Fuck. You. Up.

There are advantages to having a garunteed job, even if you hate it, but before you go in, you have to realize that you ARE signing your life away.

A Drill Sergeant one told me how strange ti is that to become a Guardian of Freedom, you must first give up your own.

Really? We give up our freedom when we buy a car or a house, or raise a family. As far as commitment goes, the Navy is just Life with a set of training wheels. Would you rather flip burgers or blow shit up?

 

[linkvegeta]

so, i am in grad school right now and it is boring the crap out of me. So, rather than just saying screw it and dropping out.

Monday i am going to go join the Navy. They gave me a really good offer a couple of years ago, and i have been kicking myself for walking away from it ever since. So, since i am not getting any younger i figured i might as well join now.

anyone else in willing to tell me a bit what its like? personal xp? anything like that?

I joined awhile back, while I dont regret joining I am glad I left. The training was an experience of a life time but once your on a ship and ready to go and you learn about the people.... lets just say, army or air force are much better choices. If you want a job working with assholes that are stressed out all the time and being stressed out all the time and very irregular hours, being gone all the time and not seeing your family very much, I say go for it.

Personally I would say go for the training and after that get out as soon as possible.

 

[Roxas1359]

Well that could happen, but like you said it is rare. But I've also got back up plans to for such possibilities. And like it was said, you at least have a paying job in these times of uncertainty.

There is no back up plan. By the time you get shuffled, the trains at its destination. Too late.

I'm not trying to tell anyone that the navy is a bad idea, only that its not fool proof. I'm just pointing out worst case scenarios.

I almost joined the Navy, but the recruiter wouldn't do anything unless I said I would go submarine. Thousands of feet under water strapped to two nuclear reactors and multiple nuclear warheads?

I'll pass.

Oh I know it's not fool proof, but I'd still want to join to experience it myself. Worst case scenarios may occur, but as long as I can get into it and do some good I'll be happy for the time being. Sorry for the lame response, kinda tired from taking tests at school.

 

[gorillahertz]

Well that could happen, but like you said it is rare. But I've also got back up plans to for such possibilities. And like it was said, you at least have a paying job in these times of uncertainty.

There is no back up plan. By the time you get shuffled, the trains at its destination. Too late.

I'm not trying to tell anyone that the navy is a bad idea, only that its not fool proof. I'm just pointing out worst case scenarios.

I almost joined the Navy, but the recruiter wouldn't do anything unless I said I would go submarine. Thousands of feet under water strapped to two nuclear reactors and multiple nuclear warheads?

I'll pass.

You are SO over-reacting! I takes a good 10 to 15 YEARS for your balls to fall off due to radiation exposure.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I personally know more about the air force, but my cousin is in the Navy, so I know a bit. The training is intense, and it requires intelligence along with brute force. It's a challenge, but it's a true honor.
Hope you do well bro

 

[DefunctTheory]

Spoiler

Well that could happen, but like you said it is rare. But I've also got back up plans to for such possibilities. And like it was said, you at least have a paying job in these times of uncertainty.

There is no back up plan. By the time you get shuffled, the trains at its destination. Too late.

I'm not trying to tell anyone that the navy is a bad idea, only that its not fool proof. I'm just pointing out worst case scenarios.

I almost joined the Navy, but the recruiter wouldn't do anything unless I said I would go submarine. Thousands of feet under water strapped to two nuclear reactors and multiple nuclear warheads?

I'll pass.

You are SO over-reacting! I takes a good 10 to 15 YEARS for your balls to fall off due to radiation exposure.

I'm sterile from radiation exposure.

It only took 3 years.

And it was not from nuclear reactors.

Spoiler

Well that could happen, but like you said it is rare. But I've also got back up plans to for such possibilities. And like it was said, you at least have a paying job in these times of uncertainty.

There is no back up plan. By the time you get shuffled, the trains at its destination. Too late.

I'm not trying to tell anyone that the navy is a bad idea, only that its not fool proof. I'm just pointing out worst case scenarios.

I almost joined the Navy, but the recruiter wouldn't do anything unless I said I would go submarine. Thousands of feet under water strapped to two nuclear reactors and multiple nuclear warheads?

I'll pass.

Oh I know it's not fool proof, but I'd still want to join to experience it myself. Worst case scenarios may occur, but as long as I can get into it and do some good I'll be happy for the time being. Sorry for the lame response, kinda tired from taking tests at school.

Not lame. Its about the same answer I had before joining the Army.

Spoiler

do you want to be stuck in a job you hate for 3+ years?

for most people this is just life.

at least you get a job that pays you for 3+ years.

No, you don't understand.

Even civilians have a choice: they can quit and become bums, work at McDonalds, etc.

In the Military, for those 3 years, you WILL be doing that job. There is no quiting, no reassignment (Without a new contract), no freedom: You will do that job, or the Military will Fuck. You. Up.

There are advantages to having a garunteed job, even if you hate it, but before you go in, you have to realize that you ARE signing your life away.

A Drill Sergeant one told me how strange ti is that to become a Guardian of Freedom, you must first give up your own.

Really? We give up our freedom when we buy a car or a house, or raise a family. As far as commitment goes, the Navy is just Life with a set of training wheels. Would you rather flip burgers or blow shit up?

There are days where yes, I would rather be flipping burgers.

Honestly, those days never occur when I have a M249 or M203 in my hands, but the days of me resenting my choice to enlist are becoming more... frequent.

Of course, thats why I'm bailing out in July and joining the fine folk at Lockheed.

As for some of those freedoms... can't get a house unless your married, have exceeded E5 or higher (Or are an Officer), or are balls to the wall lucky. Depending on where your stationed, you may have restrictions on vehicle usage. And while the Military will help you raise your family, well... have fun dragging them across the continental USA, over seas, and trying to keep your wife from cheating while your deployed.

 

[The Long Road]

Three words for you:

Explosive
Ordnance
Disposal.

Hang with the cool people. Defuse bombs. Defy everyone's overdramatized expectations of gruesome fireball death. Show all those pussies back home what a REAL man does for a living.

No, seriously, Navy EOD is the best career in the Navy. Everything else is sitting on a ship (surface/sub warfare), sitting in airfield barracks or carrier JO quarters (aviation), or sitting no place in particular, wishing you could go frickin DO something (SEALs).

Initial Success or Total Failure!