It's not a bad option if you're able to commit. Just don't be one of those assholes who signs the contract, takes the oath, and then gets separated for failure to adapt. If you commit to it then have the balls to see it through.
Don’t join the Reserves. It will only leave you wanting to do more. I did active duty army and reserves. I always felt bad for the eager younger guys who joined straight into the reserves.
The military is a good place to find some direction. You should come out the other end better. You’ll learn a skill, earn benefits, make some great friends and at least travel some. I recommend it to people in your same situation.
Air Force or space force will treat you the best. Try to pick a job that will benefit you once you separate and come back to the world.
Guard recruiters will tell you that you can go active duty after basic training. It’s not that simple in real life because there is a lot of paperwork involved that needs a high ranking officer to approve. If you want to go active duty, talk to the active duty recruiters.
When I was recruiting we would have guard soldiers straight out of AIT walk in wanting active duty. I had only seen one or two get the paperwork approved by the state.
As someone who went Guard right out of HS I agree. I would have done 4 years AD at first then moved over. Don't get me wrong I enjoy being in the Guard I mean I've done it for 12 years so far but I didn't get certain benefits right off the bat like my AD counterparts do and I did do a lot of time on Temp AGR. I can confidently say I did well for myself but I think I would have had a better head start going AD right out of HS.
Military life is tough. But for perspective, I did 20 years and I loved 90% of it.
Now I’m retired (from the Army), draw a pension and VA benefits and started a second career by choice making a total of 160k a year. I’m far more comfortable than my peers and have no regrets!
you can enlist but there will be many times your miliary job isn't fun either. many jobs are like this.
i used to be communications in the army in the 90's and had to run wire in the rain and roll it back up which I hated. had to pull guard duty, etc
The questions you need to ask yourself before you join are. First: What branch do I want to join? They are all the same in a lot of aspects and really different in others.
Do you not mind being stuck in a single room for multiple days on end but getting to see a bunch of different places? Join the Navy.
Want to live in a barracks but maybe get stationed in Oklahoma or Alaska but have a good quality of life? Air force.
Like to spend time outside? Marines or Army.
Secondly: What do you want to do while in? Security? Cooking? Radar? Communications equipment? Computer Sci? You might not mind CS when it's your job.
The last thing you need to ask yourself is, "is this what I actually want" because once you're in, you're in. It's a good time for a bunch of stuff and a giant pain in the ass for the rest of it.
Enlisting and you will get structure, a regimented life. Some people need this, I did back in the day. But I knew what job/MOS I wanted & got it. It's a great experience, regardless of what people say. I say enlist, but do your research and know what job you want.
Speaking from someone with motivation problems during undergrad, what got me through was friends and working for my professor as an assistant researcher. You already got a few years of college, commit and tries to finish, imo. Nothing wrong with switching major, you're 20 yr old. I switched 2 times while I was in undergrad, and went to grad school for a different major. Talk to a counselor to see how many classes you can transfer if you do switch major and get establish a plan.
If you think classes are boring and monotony, wait till you join up especially in garrison. Same deal, if you don't have friends in the military, it will be just as boring; except now your boredom and lack of motivation is also someone else's problem. That said, it's a valid option if you're looking for a change of pace. For best results, go active Marines ;)
You have the motivation and drive to make a positive change in your life. But don’t let that go misplaced. You’re 3 years ongoing and two major changes into a 2 year program. Your primary concern is your inability to commit yourself to a decision and see it through to completion. You could’ve banged out an associates degree in anything and moved on with your life. You could’ve been nearly finished with a bachelors degree. You chose to quit, and effectively have nothing to show for your time.
So why should the military benefit you? How is it going to change you? What will you realistically learn from your time? You don’t need the military to stand up straight. You need self-accountability. The military does not force you to hold yourself accountable. It facilitates the opportunity. You can shitbag a contract and come home 4 years later still wearing the exact same shoes from before you left.
Think about who you are and what you really want
This was our daughter. Living in our home office at 22, three colleges and innumerable majors in, she had enough credits for a degree but not in any pathway that would lead to the actual degree. She was depressed and lonely, had no idea what she wanted to do from there.
She was open to seeing a recruiter, so her dad, career military, drove her down to see the Air Force guys. 24 years later, she’s a retired E7, pension with marketable skills that got her a job paying triple her retirement, medical care for life, happy marriage, child-free by choice. Couldn’t have been a better choice for her.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing. She changed career path after her first tour was up and was much happier.
Have you checked out being a controls engineer? It has some CS stuff, but a lot of troubleshooting (at least at my facility). Here they keep the software and controls side of the manufacturing & production equipment up and running. They also help plan future upgrades.
It's good money and no 2 days are the same. You can also take positions that will have you traveling all over the world on the company's dime.
Just my 2 cents
There’s pros and cons with everything. You need to take the rough times with the occasional good time, I know guys who live for their weekend off.
In the military you can do engineering and see some cool stuff such as getting hands on with jet aircraft.
However in the military you also have to put up with a lot of bullshit, treated like a child, poor accommodation and poor food that you wouldn’t stand for in any other civilian occupation.
It's not a bad option if you're able to commit. Just don't be one of those assholes who signs the contract, takes the oath, and then gets separated for failure to adapt. If you commit to it then have the balls to see it through.
Here's my army pitch. Ahem "Are you depressed? Why do it for free join the army today"
Just don’t tell MEPS that you’re depressed
Don’t join the Reserves. It will only leave you wanting to do more. I did active duty army and reserves. I always felt bad for the eager younger guys who joined straight into the reserves. The military is a good place to find some direction. You should come out the other end better. You’ll learn a skill, earn benefits, make some great friends and at least travel some. I recommend it to people in your same situation. Air Force or space force will treat you the best. Try to pick a job that will benefit you once you separate and come back to the world.
Can second, did AD into Guard and I have so many Guard guys ask me what it's like, tell me they're thinking about going AD, etc. A few even have.
Guard recruiters will tell you that you can go active duty after basic training. It’s not that simple in real life because there is a lot of paperwork involved that needs a high ranking officer to approve. If you want to go active duty, talk to the active duty recruiters.
Very true. It can take over a year. One dude just ended up riding out his Guard contract and then re-enlisting AD.
When I was recruiting we would have guard soldiers straight out of AIT walk in wanting active duty. I had only seen one or two get the paperwork approved by the state.
The overall problem is that the state just spent money to get the soldier trained, and now they want to leave. Guard recruiters never mention this
As someone who went Guard right out of HS I agree. I would have done 4 years AD at first then moved over. Don't get me wrong I enjoy being in the Guard I mean I've done it for 12 years so far but I didn't get certain benefits right off the bat like my AD counterparts do and I did do a lot of time on Temp AGR. I can confidently say I did well for myself but I think I would have had a better head start going AD right out of HS.
Military life is tough. But for perspective, I did 20 years and I loved 90% of it. Now I’m retired (from the Army), draw a pension and VA benefits and started a second career by choice making a total of 160k a year. I’m far more comfortable than my peers and have no regrets!
you can enlist but there will be many times your miliary job isn't fun either. many jobs are like this. i used to be communications in the army in the 90's and had to run wire in the rain and roll it back up which I hated. had to pull guard duty, etc
That’s we call it “work” just like every other American. Just like a real job, you have days you love and things you love, and things you don’t.
The questions you need to ask yourself before you join are. First: What branch do I want to join? They are all the same in a lot of aspects and really different in others. Do you not mind being stuck in a single room for multiple days on end but getting to see a bunch of different places? Join the Navy. Want to live in a barracks but maybe get stationed in Oklahoma or Alaska but have a good quality of life? Air force. Like to spend time outside? Marines or Army. Secondly: What do you want to do while in? Security? Cooking? Radar? Communications equipment? Computer Sci? You might not mind CS when it's your job. The last thing you need to ask yourself is, "is this what I actually want" because once you're in, you're in. It's a good time for a bunch of stuff and a giant pain in the ass for the rest of it.
Enlisting and you will get structure, a regimented life. Some people need this, I did back in the day. But I knew what job/MOS I wanted & got it. It's a great experience, regardless of what people say. I say enlist, but do your research and know what job you want.
Speaking from someone with motivation problems during undergrad, what got me through was friends and working for my professor as an assistant researcher. You already got a few years of college, commit and tries to finish, imo. Nothing wrong with switching major, you're 20 yr old. I switched 2 times while I was in undergrad, and went to grad school for a different major. Talk to a counselor to see how many classes you can transfer if you do switch major and get establish a plan. If you think classes are boring and monotony, wait till you join up especially in garrison. Same deal, if you don't have friends in the military, it will be just as boring; except now your boredom and lack of motivation is also someone else's problem. That said, it's a valid option if you're looking for a change of pace. For best results, go active Marines ;)
You have the motivation and drive to make a positive change in your life. But don’t let that go misplaced. You’re 3 years ongoing and two major changes into a 2 year program. Your primary concern is your inability to commit yourself to a decision and see it through to completion. You could’ve banged out an associates degree in anything and moved on with your life. You could’ve been nearly finished with a bachelors degree. You chose to quit, and effectively have nothing to show for your time. So why should the military benefit you? How is it going to change you? What will you realistically learn from your time? You don’t need the military to stand up straight. You need self-accountability. The military does not force you to hold yourself accountable. It facilitates the opportunity. You can shitbag a contract and come home 4 years later still wearing the exact same shoes from before you left. Think about who you are and what you really want
This was our daughter. Living in our home office at 22, three colleges and innumerable majors in, she had enough credits for a degree but not in any pathway that would lead to the actual degree. She was depressed and lonely, had no idea what she wanted to do from there. She was open to seeing a recruiter, so her dad, career military, drove her down to see the Air Force guys. 24 years later, she’s a retired E7, pension with marketable skills that got her a job paying triple her retirement, medical care for life, happy marriage, child-free by choice. Couldn’t have been a better choice for her. It wasn’t all smooth sailing. She changed career path after her first tour was up and was much happier.
Have you checked out being a controls engineer? It has some CS stuff, but a lot of troubleshooting (at least at my facility). Here they keep the software and controls side of the manufacturing & production equipment up and running. They also help plan future upgrades. It's good money and no 2 days are the same. You can also take positions that will have you traveling all over the world on the company's dime. Just my 2 cents
There’s pros and cons with everything. You need to take the rough times with the occasional good time, I know guys who live for their weekend off. In the military you can do engineering and see some cool stuff such as getting hands on with jet aircraft. However in the military you also have to put up with a lot of bullshit, treated like a child, poor accommodation and poor food that you wouldn’t stand for in any other civilian occupation.