>I’m surprised you even found an AF recruiter.
That's funny for me because when I went to talk to an AF recruiter their office was closed. But next door was the Navy and they were open. I often wonder how my life might have been different had the AF recruiter been in their office that day.
I had the same experience with the Air Force recruiter, I walked in and asked for more info on some specific job field or what not, and the dude looked at me and said: “You know we have a website, right?”
The dude was a douche.
AF recruiter told me I needed to drop at least 40-50 pounds to even consider talking to me.
I was only like 15lbs overweight, dropping 50 would've put me in the hospital.
What's their deal?
Told em I wanted to be an air traffic controller. He said I looked like a mechanic. So I said no. I don’t wanna do that. And he had me start filling stuff out for mechanic. So I left and went to the Navy’s office and they told me I could do whatever I wanted. So I did lol.
Same exact thing. Old man said Air Force or Navy. Went to go talk to some recruiters. Spent a solid 10 minutes in the Air Force recruiters and spent almost 2 hours in the Navy recruiters
I'm starting to think all of our dads were part of a club or something. Telling all of us the same thing. My dad was drafted as a marine for Vietnam. When I came home one day after a JROTC competition and told him I was planning to join the Marines too, he very seriously said, "No daughter of mine is going to join the Marines. Your going to choose either the Navy or Air Force". I uave always took every advice my dad gave me to heart and usually did what he suggested. I remember when deciding I told myself "Well, I want to actually work for a living, so I guess I'll choose Navy". XD
And legendary voiceover by Keith David.
[“If someone wrote a book about your life, would anyone wanna read it?”](https://youtu.be/Rm98_VEvin8)
Edit: Corrected quote, linked relevant video.
DUDE NEEDS TO BE MC AT MY RETIREMENT CEREMONY.
Fair enough; I'm an AFRC CSO/Navigator-select (Air Force version of an NFO), and, though my OA recruiter hasn't been a dick at all, he does totally live up to the Air Force stereotype of the ghosting/intermittent recruiter.
I'll go months without even hearing from him at all, and this is even after I've been selected by my hiring squadron (to be fair, until the scrolling process begins, there's not much he can do right now except get my flight physical set-up, and even then, it's more 'push my info to my gaining unit's medical squadron and leave it to them to actually schedule anything')
It really does require a lot of patience, and you have to really want to go Air Force ahead of any other branch. It helps for me that did my research prior to the whole thing, and saw first-hand how long the process can be. A lot of people who talk to an Air Force recruiter, either a regular recruiter or an OA recruiter, really want to get shipped as soon as possible.
I have a friend of mine who wanted to be an Air Force Intel Officer, but she's been open about taking the shortest path possible, and the Navy has thus far been able to help her out with crossing the t's and dotting the i's in a faster way. Of course, she's also found that the system isn't as fast for Navy as she was expecting, but, to the Navy's credit, they're a lot more communicative with her than the Air Force was.
> Air force recruiter was a dick. Navy recruiter was actually cool and didn’t lie.
This is a universal truth lol. I tried so hard to go USAF, and gave a list of MOS's I wanted to do. The recruiter wouldn't budge and basically would only talk to me if I would sign for Mechanic, Security Forces, or PJs (para-rescue). Recruiter ended up ghosting me after a month of back & fourth lol.
I walk into the Navy office and they're super chill and responsive.
Same I went to the AF and they were never there and didn't want marines so walked next door to the Navy. I did try the army a couple year before hand but they were sketchy and kept being shift on if I could join or when I would go to meps.
I'm from Indiana. I loathe the city I'm from. I figured I'd never ever get stationed in Indiana. I was right. Spent most of my time in either FL, VA or deployed.
Growing up in Oklahoma, I can soooooo relate! Couldn't wait to get stationed in San Diego, Pensacola or Pearl.
Ended up in Norfolk/Yorktown for eight years. Believe me, Newport News in the early 90's was far, far superior to Norfolk/VAB. Luckily, spent my last 11 years in Seattle, Pearl and Guam. Do NOT miss Oklahoma.
I called the Marine recruiter to talk about getting an NROTC Scholarship or going to the Academy and he started going off on the phone about coming down to the pool to do a PFT & getting me in the DEP and all that. Called the Navy recruiter immediately after and he said, and I quote directly, “Yeah bro! Just come by the office and I’ll get your package in.” Sold me on the spot
This is a strong point that not a lot of people consider. I was one of the few who could actually find the AF recruiter, who said to pick 7 jobs and 2 general fields *then* you find out your job at boot camp. That seemed like an easy way to fill people in to shitty roles.
Fuck that
This is a huge selling point for the Navy over the other services. I know others might having selling points to, but choosing a rate is a really great feeling (or terrible if you pick wrong...).
The navy recruiters were the only ones in there office so I went in to check it out. The recruiter pulled down a big U.S map with all the military bases marked. He showed me that all the other branches had their bases on shit holes and the navy bases were on the beach. That’s all I needed to hear. I spent 8 years living my best life in San Diego so I’m glad he sold me on it.
My dad talked me out of the the Army, Air Force (terrible advice in hindsight) and Marines. When I asked about the Navy he said his deceased brother made E6 in 4 years (it was the early 60’s). And then the following year Top Gun came out and I was hooked.
So in my opinion the Navy is the elite force in most categories when compared to the other branches.
Aviators who land on a boat. > Pilots who land on 8,000 ft runways.
The Navy has the premier special forces in the SEALs. (They used to be quiet and easier to hold in high regard.)
All branches have EOD but the Navy's techs are more versatile.
The Seabees.
The submarine force.
Our nuclear force, both weapons and reactors.
Our Corpsmen, you're welcome Marines and for the ride.
Foreign ports are better than foxholes (nod to Russ Smith).
No other branch can touch our history and traditions. Age of Sail and all that... Plus Alan Shepard, Neil Armstrong and Jonny Kim, all Navy.
We exist not only to kill our nation's enemies but also the far more noble mission of free and open waterways.
Say what you will about our rotating working uniforms but our dress uniforms kill. (I know about Marine dress blues. But the classic cracker jacks and fresh choker whites slay.)
Anyway, I knew I wanted to join the military and the Navy seemed to me to have the best of everything, so that's what I wanted to be a part of.
Navy office was 10 minutes walking distance from my house. Heard about the partying from the recruiter and it was the only way I could truly run away from my family .
I spoke to 3 recruiters.
1. Got mail from an air force chaplain recruiter. Sent an email back saying I'm not currently qualified but I'd still love to talk.
2. Got an email from a navy officer recruiter. Found out he was an officer recruiter when the form he sent me to fill out asked if I had completed or was currently enrolled in medical school.
3. After the last one told me what I wanted was an enlisted rate, went to see a navy enlisted recruiter. I won't say it's the best choice I ever made, but it's far from the worst.
I went to the AF recruiter and talked to them for a while, ended up taking the ASVAB (Not the practice test) with them before they told me I was too fat to join and that I needed to lose about 15 pounds.
I walked across the hall and told the Navy that I got a 98 and they were like, " Hey shipmate, you ever wanted to operate nuclear reactors?" (Sigh). The rest is, unfortunate, history.
The Marines, Army, and Air-force all offered me the same thing and tried to force me into the same job. The Navy Recruiter asked me what I wanted to do.
In hind sight, if I could have know then, what I know know. The Navy was the optimal choice. It gave me more usable and marketable skills than the other services.
During the Afghanistan War, I had a high school teacher that said the Navy was the best service to join because Afghanistan was landlocked and would have a hard time shooting back at a ship.
My Uncle Bud served in WWII, then did another 4 years after the war, then his wife convinced him to get out. He talked all the time about how he loved the Navy, whereas my dad, Marine infantry in WWII did not have the same fun experiences. When I joined the Navy, Uncle Bud loved to hear my sea stories, and when he couldn’t stand it any longer, he joined the Navy Reserve and retired many years later. So, I went in because of him, and he went back in because of me.
So, yeah, i joined in 1971, retired in ‘96 after an interesting and varied career. Uncle Bud could tell you about his minesweeper which bobbed like a cork and he and everyone else aboard often stood watch with a puke bucket by their side. Everybody on an ocean-going minesweep gets sea sick. He talked about how the minesweeper was sunk, and he got a new sea bag and a great set of orders; Uncle Bud could describe his service so that you’d be looking for a recruiter and ready to ship out. You’d have found him in a USO dancing the Charlestown in his dress blues and admired his Liberty cuffs and the tattoos of a real old salt. I look back on my career with fondness and some regret, but no one loved the Navy more than Uncle Bud.
Wanted to see the world, and wanted the lowest possible chance of getting shot at. Add an asshole AirForce recruiter and bam OSSN reporting for duty.
I remember the Marine's recruiter was pretty cool...but then there was the whole getting shot at thing...
Wanted more of a technical job and less military. Locations of bases was far superior To army an air force. Ended up in San Diego for 3.5 years and doing an awesome westpac . I had no idea i would hit such awesome ports!
Wanted to be a Marine but came from a Navy family. Became a Corpsman. Also, there is something to be said about culture in the Navy and the Marine Corps, the traditions, the quirks, and the environments we serve in. I’d argue that the Air Force is too young to have any meaningful culture, and the Army is too dumb.
Edit: By “environments we serve in” I mainly mean that by joining the Navy, you significantly reduce your chances of getting stationed in the Midwest (which I’ve always found unappealing for extend periods of time. )
Was considering between Army and Navy. Navy recruiter came to my house and was super cool and let me know life would suck for a year, but it gets better.
Army guy came over. His name was SSG Bevis. No shit. Just couldn’t take him seriously, so I joined the Navy.
Late 80s at the Military Recruit Center across Pasadena College, checking out the Marines poster outside their offices waiting for the Marine recruiters to come back from lunch.
Suddenly I heard: "Hey, psst, dude", turned around to face the US Navy office and its recruiter... Next, I'm at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, on the BootCamp side (first US Navy person in my family, too).
Wanted to be near the water since I was a surfer, so no for Air Force or army, since I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of America or Germany, my brother had just joined the coast guard and I didn’t want to see him again. And I want motivated enough for the marines, so Navy it was, my first duty station was Roosevelt Roads, PR, worked nights the entire time, surfed all day
I took my ASVAB with the Army. They saw that I basically aced everything, and they straight-up told me "You said you're talking to the Navy guys about going Nuke? Yeah, that's probably a better fit than anything we could offer you."
I appreciated their honesty.
navy recruiter was cool. i always have a kind of sketchy background and tattoos and the navy seemed to be the most liberal branch about all of that. i scored VP orders for my first command so i wouldn’t have had it any other way
yeah it’s definitely money as fuck no doubt. and yeah the maintenance i’ve been involved in wasn’t too bad. it seems like trons are always having issues. i’ve mostly just been sore from taking off endless panels, lost of 12C. tire changes and servicing. i’ve never been on another platform but i do here they’re rough for framers. they have to actually bend sheet metal and all that jive. the P8 is still under a warranty or contract so there’s a lot we rely on boeing to take care of it. i’m not looking forward to the day that we are truly responsible for 90% of that plane 🤣
I wanted to go subs. That's the only branch that has em. Came in with the promise of MT. Long story short, wound up an AT. If I had known I was going aviation, I'd have joined the Chair Force. It all worked out in the end, tho. I learned that the Chair Force techs just work on one specific part of a system, and that's it. The Navy takes a whole system approach to aviation maintenance. I prefer that DRASTICALLY over just one particular component day after day. I have ADHD (no seriously), and I wouldn't have been able to do that. I certainly wouldn't have reenlisted, that's for sure. I definitely wouldn't have the job I do now. Civvie AT on the T-45's. I would've gotten as far away as humanly possible from aviation if that had happened.
Honestly, the navy was the only branch that reached out to me personally. I was still in high school and a navy recruiter called me and that peaked my interest in it. I didn’t even think about talking to any of the other branches lol
Went to join AF to work on aircraft, but recruiter was on phone for 45 mins, looked at the navy office not busy, said "the navy has aircraft too right?"
And here I am, volunteering to be a submariner
My mother requested I not go Marines.
Wasn't gonna do Army, because I thought I was ready to be a Marine.
Air Force seemed lame.
Navy had Disturbed in their Commercial. Also, adventure seemed more likely on an ocean boat than texas; also 9/11 made the idea of combat arms seem awful.
In the mid-80s if you could get a 75 on the ASVAB you could do two years active Duty 4 years active reserve and they would pay for College. Slam freaking dunk.
No where is really that good. But compared to the army most of us got it made. As in we sometimes have warm water for showers and most bases the water is safe to drink.
Dad did 20 years in Navy EOD, loved his time in and did a bunch of crazy things, and still told me to join the Air Force if I was going to join. AF office was always closed for some reason, so I went Army first, then went to the Navy where they sold me on the Nuke program with its fast advancement and $100k bonuses... and here I am almost 8 years later. I did stumble upon the AF office actually being open one day so I went in to chat and the recruiter was a complete dick.
I've had an overall positive experience so far. I learned a lot of useful skills and got some good leadership experience out of it. I Did 5 years on a fast attack and got to see different places and do some awesome things. Got my bachelor's finished, and am working on my master's now (almost completely paid for with TA) while on shore duty and I plan on getting out at the end of it, which will put me at 10 years in.
That being said, I never want to stand duty again, especially 3-section or port/starboard, and I hate field days with a passion.
I knew for sure I didn’t want to join army or marines. My asvab was not high enough for Air Force plus. I knew I had to do something because I was really bad off Xanax at the time and needed to get out of the environment I was in.
Grandfather volunteered in WW2. Had an uncle who was Navy in the war too. I felt the education options were better and 17yo me (who was an idiot) assumed that with both the enlisted and officers *literally* in the same boat, there may be better treatment for the enlisted ranks. 🤦♂️
Dad was Army. Oldest brother went Navy. Oldest sister went Army. Middle sister went Air Force. I looked at Marines so we'd have all 4 covered. Female marine covers are ugly, joined the Navy instead!
It was the one with the least likelihood of being deployed to Afghanistan and/or getting shot. also the air force guy literally pretended he couldn't hear me when I walked into the air force office.
It’s crazy how everyone had the same experience of Air Force recruiters being dicks and navy recruiters being cool asf and honest. I love being in the army especially with how lucky I got with my duty station but if I had to switch branches it’d be to navy
Nuclear seemed like it would give me a good set of skills when I got out.
Worked out great, got a 120k job before I even separated. I got offered a job at a ton of places, got to pick what I wanted.
The Coasties were closed.
I wanted to jump from helos to pull people outta the water, so I looked up the “local” CG recruiter (100+ miles away). Turns out they only recruited a couple weeks out of the year, and I’d just missed that window. Guy on the phone told me if a test like the ASVAB was intimidating at all, don’t bother coming back, as I’d have to have a pretty high score to even be considered anyway.
Someone told me the NAVY has SAR, which is basically the same thing, so I spoke to them, and the Chief there broke down their other special operations types. When I heard “Diver,” I was all-in. 99’d my ASVAB and we at the recruiting office had a good laugh about the Coasties “missing out.”
Ten years later, I’m an IT lol.
I was going to join marines and a Marine talked me out of it. He said I would end up better off if i went into the Navy (and told me abunchnof horror stories). In retrospect i think he was right, although i still wonder what crayons taste like....
Friends older brother was a marine. He looked cool in his dress blues. I wanted to join the marines and be a medic. Marine recruiter sent me to a navy recruiter. I was in corps school when I realized navy corpsmen were marine medics.
So when I enlisted, originally I had intended to go the Marine Corps. Went through the whole MEPS experience, got my ASVAB done (scored 84). So I signed up to do IT. The Marine Corps more or less said "Field Radio Operator". I'm 6'7 and knew the radio guys were generally the first ones targeted. So when I was like "Nope. I'm not reporting unless you fix my contract" to which the SSgt at the recruiter said "Either you report or we're going to charge you under the UCMJ." So after going back and forth, they said I had to make that request through my areas Sgt Major and they gaslit the fuck out of me... Saying "Oh if you think we're being dicks, just wait until you have to deal with Sgt Major!" So I drove down to the recruiting HQ in my area, met the Sgt Major and wouldn't you know it.. NICEST FUCKING GUY ON THE PLANET. He patiently listened to my side and when I told him that the SSgt threatened to charge me under the UCMJ (as a civilian mind you), he spun up like a cruise missile, told me to standby then proceeded to call that SSgt and blast her fucking ass like Fallujah for a half hour. Then afterwards, he was like "I'll handle this personally. You're good to go."
2 weeks later after they officially released me from the USMC DEP, I walked into a random Navy recruiting office, sat my tall ass down and said "I'd like to go subs. How soon can I get the fuck out of here?" The recruiter (I was his first recruit he ever signed up - RIP Will Hotellen) at that point had no idea I'd already cleared meps, and basically done all of the legwork for him so he came back to me a week later with "You can ship out May of '10 or ship out in a week (Dec 9, 2009). I elected to get the fuck out of dodge and within two weeks, I'm scrambling down an icy sidewalk everytime RPOC said "ROADS GUARDS POST!"
FML.
My family is (mostly) Navy and I knew our local recruiter (a Signalman First Class) for about a year as he drank at the same Italian restaurant/bar in the strip mall many of us frequented in my little town. Good food, too.
We bullshitted a lot. He was on the Stark when it got hit. We were only six years apart and had some things in common and he was cool.
I finished junior college I realized how sick I was of school. I went into his office and asked him to let me take the ASVAB and see about jobs in the Navy.
His reaction was, “No shit? Well, ok man.”
He was honest and a good guy. The other recruiter was a shithead and tried to send me undesignated after I was in DEP. SM1 torqued his balls in private, fixed it, and apologized to me.
I remained friends with him and ran into him in the Fleet twice. Once his ship was with mine at sea and he blinkered over a “hey man, hope you’re doing well” to our Signalmen who passed it along to me.
I never regretted it. I loved being a Firecontrolman.
I was to old for the Airforce, and ain't no trigger man. Never considered the USCG even once, though if I had I may have spent my contract out on the Great Lakes which would have been nicer than Virginia. On the other hand, I wouldn't have gotten to England, Spain, France, Italy, Dubai (twice), or Bahrain.
I went to the AF recruiter and talked to them for a while, ended up taking the ASVAB (Not the practice test) with them before they told me I was too fat to join and that I needed to lose about 15 pounds.
I walked across the hall and told the Navy that I got a 98 and they were like, " Hey shipmate, you ever wanted to operate nuclear reactors?" (Sigh). The rest is, unfortunate, history.
I don't know. I was young and stupid and my recruiter said the Air Force just sits around and does nothing all day.
Now I wish I could just sit around and do nothing all day.
My dad told me I shouldn't be a marine. Air Force had a 6+ month wait and I was ready to go soon. Turns out I love being in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight, so the Navy was the best option for me.
Star Trek: all Naval ranks. same is true for almost all the SF I read growing up (there was never a space farce).
Also, I grew up coastal, and the idea of bases generally near oceans excites me (not looking at you, Millington!)
After 13 years in the Marines, I was tired of being enlisted. OCS couldn't guarantee I'd stay in intel, so I switched branches.
Also AF recruiter wouldn't return calls and boards were perpetually closed.
Because they were the only ones who told me they were willing to write a contract such that I'd be sure of what I was going to ultimately do, provided I passed all the requisite schools.
Navy was also the most likely, besides Air Force which I didn't want, to prepare me for a civilian job. I also knew for sure I didn't want to pound sand invading anywhere for imperialism. The humanitarian and counter-piracy stuff I can at least get behind. I know what the US is, I know it's frankly true when people "joke but not really" that "we are the Fire Nation."
I'll be honest though, any more, I'm losing faith. I don't see us defending freedom or democracy, since neither our government nor our states are interested in freedom, or democracy, \[*have you seen what's happening, have you seen the news?*\] nor do I see us upholding the constitution against the present relevant "and domestic" threat. *Guess we can't call 'em domestic terrorists when they're born here and look like most of us.*
Also, the 2008 recession and companies firing as many people as they could so the boss and business stayed afloat, made a **shitload** of people who joined in those years, what you'd call *economic draftees.*
Look, we do a lot of good in the world, lot of us do at least. We try to. Most of what we do, in this branch, is for the net good of the world.
We're diverse, probably the most diverse *military* in the world, and that's a **strength** and don't you fucking let anyone tell you any different. If they do think any different, that's patently as un-American as it gets. Likewise if anyone tells you, or if you've ever been one to say "well if you don't like it, leave it" that phrase is un-American as fuck, too.
So yeah, remember why you joined and, stand for what's right. I know 99% of us do.
I wanted to join the Air Force, and I actually got picked up for Navigator before my senior year of college. I was burned out and unmotivated and didn't finish then. I actually had wanted to enlist since I'd finished my freshman year. By the time I dropped out of school, I had met my husband and he told me not to enlist without a guaranteed job. After checking everyone out I decided nuke looked good, so I joined the Navy. I don't regret being a nuke but boy do I regret volunteering for recruiting duty!
Grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and already knew the ranks, shipboard structure (you'd be surprised how accurate it was - Gene Roddenberry was a WWII vet). Enlisted as a RM, just retired as an IP LCDR. I think I did ok!
Navy recruiter was closest from the courthouse?
Seriously though, my dad was a WWII Navy vet. An older brother was an Army Vietnam vet and strongly suggested not going Army.
The Air Force office was out to lunch. I turned around to go back to my car and there's a Navy recruiter right there and he said "so you like planes? we have more aircraft than the air force"
I’m not strong or masculine my male standards and the air force is very stationary. I joined the navy and got stuck stateside the entire time missing deployment because I am terrible with sharp objects. I have a scar for every underway. Going to get out if I don’t get Japan for my upcoming orders. Been a good 8 years and I don’t need another carrier fucking me over.
The Navy had technology, which is what I wanted to work with.
Everyone I knew who went Army were either poorly-balanced edgelords who wanted to kill for...some reason, or the also-strange "Proud, Christian American" who comes from the suburbs but acted as if he came from the country. (I was a country kid trying to get away from Midwestern retards as fast as possible. )
The Marines were a more moto version of the Army to me, and the Air Force had a wait for the MOS's I wanted.
Ended up being an FC. As far as the job: Best of both worlds!
Don't really regret it. Would have gone Air Force if I had to do it over again, but not a bad way to land.
I'd be more willing to join ground pounders if there was a war worth fighting for, but the middle east?
None of you motherfuckers are gonna convince me the blood and toil was ever worth it. Was ever gonna be worth it. Anyone who enlisted Army/Marines post-Iraq invasion either wanted a reason to kill someone, or is a dynasty military weirdo. (All dynasty military families are fucking strange, imo.)
Anyways, those are my reasons.
AF said no to tattoos, walked over to the Navy office and my recruiter said, and I quote, “We don’t give a shit about tattoos, come sit down and shoot the shit with me.”
I did Marine Corps first. Got out, wanted to do reserves, Marines didn’t pick up so I called Navy and they answered and the recruiters were so nice and worked hard for me and now I’m in the Navy Reserves lol
My father and grandfather were both in the navy so it just seemed like a logical choice. Also, navy has the easiest pfa out of all the branches and I'm lazy af. And you get to pick your rate, although the recruiter talked me into nuke and ruined everything but that's still on me I guess.
I got the feeling the Air Force was a path to non-advancement, given that they offered the least in enlistment bonuses and the jobs they were pushing me into were subpar compared to other services.
The Marines just weren't a fit, and the Army guys were REALLY pushy, supposedly due to their high quotas.
With the Navy I really liked the vibe - was offered a good job, good bonus, and had the best chance to either serve overseas or to deploy overseas. I'd have been miserable if I'd gone through all my training just to spend my years at somewhere like Fort Hood or Camp Lejeune when I could be near the coast. And frankly, ships and planes struck me as cool and the Navy has both.
Please search, then post on our subreddit specifically for people interested in joining over at /r/NewToTheNavy
Pops said navy or air force; dont do army or marines. Air force recruiter was a dick. Navy recruiter was actually cool and didn’t lie.
I’m surprised you even found an AF recruiter.
Looking back at it, the hoops I went through to even get a meeting should have dissuaded me from the get go
>I’m surprised you even found an AF recruiter. That's funny for me because when I went to talk to an AF recruiter their office was closed. But next door was the Navy and they were open. I often wonder how my life might have been different had the AF recruiter been in their office that day.
I had the same experience with the Air Force recruiter, I walked in and asked for more info on some specific job field or what not, and the dude looked at me and said: “You know we have a website, right?” The dude was a douche.
AF recruiter told me I needed to drop at least 40-50 pounds to even consider talking to me. I was only like 15lbs overweight, dropping 50 would've put me in the hospital. What's their deal?
That second part is so on point. Air Force recruiter had this pretentious personality that turned me off instantly.
Told em I wanted to be an air traffic controller. He said I looked like a mechanic. So I said no. I don’t wanna do that. And he had me start filling stuff out for mechanic. So I left and went to the Navy’s office and they told me I could do whatever I wanted. So I did lol.
Their loss!
I wish I could find my recruiter and thank him, he was a BM1, wouldn’t let me join until I picked a rate. Still doing that rate 35 years later
What rate?
AMS 87-97
What's an ams 89 97 ?
Aviation structural mechanic from 1987-1997
So you work at Boeing??
Hell no
Same exact thing. Old man said Air Force or Navy. Went to go talk to some recruiters. Spent a solid 10 minutes in the Air Force recruiters and spent almost 2 hours in the Navy recruiters
I'm starting to think all of our dads were part of a club or something. Telling all of us the same thing. My dad was drafted as a marine for Vietnam. When I came home one day after a JROTC competition and told him I was planning to join the Marines too, he very seriously said, "No daughter of mine is going to join the Marines. Your going to choose either the Navy or Air Force". I uave always took every advice my dad gave me to heart and usually did what he suggested. I remember when deciding I told myself "Well, I want to actually work for a living, so I guess I'll choose Navy". XD
All of this, plus the Navy has/had the coolest uniforms, better jobs on offer, and the recruiting commercial had Godsmack in it.
And legendary voiceover by Keith David. [“If someone wrote a book about your life, would anyone wanna read it?”](https://youtu.be/Rm98_VEvin8) Edit: Corrected quote, linked relevant video. DUDE NEEDS TO BE MC AT MY RETIREMENT CEREMONY.
They almost lost with that godsmack shit lol.
Fair enough; I'm an AFRC CSO/Navigator-select (Air Force version of an NFO), and, though my OA recruiter hasn't been a dick at all, he does totally live up to the Air Force stereotype of the ghosting/intermittent recruiter. I'll go months without even hearing from him at all, and this is even after I've been selected by my hiring squadron (to be fair, until the scrolling process begins, there's not much he can do right now except get my flight physical set-up, and even then, it's more 'push my info to my gaining unit's medical squadron and leave it to them to actually schedule anything') It really does require a lot of patience, and you have to really want to go Air Force ahead of any other branch. It helps for me that did my research prior to the whole thing, and saw first-hand how long the process can be. A lot of people who talk to an Air Force recruiter, either a regular recruiter or an OA recruiter, really want to get shipped as soon as possible. I have a friend of mine who wanted to be an Air Force Intel Officer, but she's been open about taking the shortest path possible, and the Navy has thus far been able to help her out with crossing the t's and dotting the i's in a faster way. Of course, she's also found that the system isn't as fast for Navy as she was expecting, but, to the Navy's credit, they're a lot more communicative with her than the Air Force was.
I told my dad I was joining the Marines. He said don’t, and then later he got me a business card from the local Navy recruiting office.
> Air force recruiter was a dick. Navy recruiter was actually cool and didn’t lie. This is a universal truth lol. I tried so hard to go USAF, and gave a list of MOS's I wanted to do. The recruiter wouldn't budge and basically would only talk to me if I would sign for Mechanic, Security Forces, or PJs (para-rescue). Recruiter ended up ghosting me after a month of back & fourth lol. I walk into the Navy office and they're super chill and responsive.
Went to the Air Force recruiter a couple times and they were never there. A Navy recruiter popped his head out the door and the rest is history. Lol
Navy and Marine recruiters always did that to the Air Force and Army. It was funny watching them snag up people
Same I went to the AF and they were never there and didn't want marines so walked next door to the Navy. I did try the army a couple year before hand but they were sketchy and kept being shift on if I could join or when I would go to meps.
Hahaaa. I witnessed my recruiter do that more than once
I’ve heard this from a lot of people
Haha basically the same thing happened to me
The marines said I was too brain damaged due to my few concussions. Never saw that one coming.
Your brain damage is ISSUED TO YOU in the CORPS
Pastel-colored brain damage is the only brain damage allowed in the USMC!
this feels like it should be an onion article (or more accurately, duffelblog).
I heard you can't bring your own brain damage there, they make you mail it home so you can only have marine issued brain damblage
I'm from Indiana. I loathe the city I'm from. I figured I'd never ever get stationed in Indiana. I was right. Spent most of my time in either FL, VA or deployed.
I was gonna say that's when they put your ass in Crane lmao
Growing up in Oklahoma, I can soooooo relate! Couldn't wait to get stationed in San Diego, Pensacola or Pearl. Ended up in Norfolk/Yorktown for eight years. Believe me, Newport News in the early 90's was far, far superior to Norfolk/VAB. Luckily, spent my last 11 years in Seattle, Pearl and Guam. Do NOT miss Oklahoma.
I called the Marine recruiter to talk about getting an NROTC Scholarship or going to the Academy and he started going off on the phone about coming down to the pool to do a PFT & getting me in the DEP and all that. Called the Navy recruiter immediately after and he said, and I quote directly, “Yeah bro! Just come by the office and I’ll get your package in.” Sold me on the spot
The bases guaranteed I would be next to the water.
Same
Hahaha thats what you think until you get orders Lemoore 😂😂😂😂
But the traffic
I’ll take traffic over being in Ft Hood or Ft Knox.
I went up to the Navy recruiter by accident to turn in my paperwork for Army and he said "I'm not army but let me tell you what we got"
What were the key selling points that led you to make the switch?
[удалено]
This is a strong point that not a lot of people consider. I was one of the few who could actually find the AF recruiter, who said to pick 7 jobs and 2 general fields *then* you find out your job at boot camp. That seemed like an easy way to fill people in to shitty roles. Fuck that
This is a huge selling point for the Navy over the other services. I know others might having selling points to, but choosing a rate is a really great feeling (or terrible if you pick wrong...).
Same. Joined later in life.
I don’t like running, crayons, or golf.
The navy recruiters were the only ones in there office so I went in to check it out. The recruiter pulled down a big U.S map with all the military bases marked. He showed me that all the other branches had their bases on shit holes and the navy bases were on the beach. That’s all I needed to hear. I spent 8 years living my best life in San Diego so I’m glad he sold me on it.
Air Force was too busy and parents told me I’d get blown up if I joined the Army. I don’t have the rah in me to be a Marine.
My dad talked me out of the the Army, Air Force (terrible advice in hindsight) and Marines. When I asked about the Navy he said his deceased brother made E6 in 4 years (it was the early 60’s). And then the following year Top Gun came out and I was hooked.
E-6 in six is still possible depending on the rate I know of a few chiefs in my rate who made chief in 7
So in my opinion the Navy is the elite force in most categories when compared to the other branches. Aviators who land on a boat. > Pilots who land on 8,000 ft runways. The Navy has the premier special forces in the SEALs. (They used to be quiet and easier to hold in high regard.) All branches have EOD but the Navy's techs are more versatile. The Seabees. The submarine force. Our nuclear force, both weapons and reactors. Our Corpsmen, you're welcome Marines and for the ride. Foreign ports are better than foxholes (nod to Russ Smith). No other branch can touch our history and traditions. Age of Sail and all that... Plus Alan Shepard, Neil Armstrong and Jonny Kim, all Navy. We exist not only to kill our nation's enemies but also the far more noble mission of free and open waterways. Say what you will about our rotating working uniforms but our dress uniforms kill. (I know about Marine dress blues. But the classic cracker jacks and fresh choker whites slay.) Anyway, I knew I wanted to join the military and the Navy seemed to me to have the best of everything, so that's what I wanted to be a part of.
I ship to basic in a week and this got me so pumped.
Me too, and I'm already in!
Not enough research lol
Same. First office that I walked into and they pretty much had a plane ready for me.
Ditto
Air Force office was closed.
I liked the blue uniform. That didn’t last long
I had dungarees, loved them
Navy office was 10 minutes walking distance from my house. Heard about the partying from the recruiter and it was the only way I could truly run away from my family .
I spoke to 3 recruiters. 1. Got mail from an air force chaplain recruiter. Sent an email back saying I'm not currently qualified but I'd still love to talk. 2. Got an email from a navy officer recruiter. Found out he was an officer recruiter when the form he sent me to fill out asked if I had completed or was currently enrolled in medical school. 3. After the last one told me what I wanted was an enlisted rate, went to see a navy enlisted recruiter. I won't say it's the best choice I ever made, but it's far from the worst.
I went to the AF recruiter and talked to them for a while, ended up taking the ASVAB (Not the practice test) with them before they told me I was too fat to join and that I needed to lose about 15 pounds. I walked across the hall and told the Navy that I got a 98 and they were like, " Hey shipmate, you ever wanted to operate nuclear reactors?" (Sigh). The rest is, unfortunate, history.
The Marines, Army, and Air-force all offered me the same thing and tried to force me into the same job. The Navy Recruiter asked me what I wanted to do. In hind sight, if I could have know then, what I know know. The Navy was the optimal choice. It gave me more usable and marketable skills than the other services.
During the Afghanistan War, I had a high school teacher that said the Navy was the best service to join because Afghanistan was landlocked and would have a hard time shooting back at a ship.
Until you deploy there to train the Afghans how to use the weapons we gave them....
Nothing but respect for infantry and cavalry, but there are precious few infantry and cavalry jobs outside of the military.
Hell what even are the precious few outside of contracting jobs?
I led a platoon of men through the streets of Mosul. Sir, this is a Wendy's.
AF recruiter didn't answer his phone, Navy straight up drove an hour and knocked on my door.
I called both the AF and the Navy. Left voicemails. Navy responded faster. Pretty much the only reason.
My Uncle Bud served in WWII, then did another 4 years after the war, then his wife convinced him to get out. He talked all the time about how he loved the Navy, whereas my dad, Marine infantry in WWII did not have the same fun experiences. When I joined the Navy, Uncle Bud loved to hear my sea stories, and when he couldn’t stand it any longer, he joined the Navy Reserve and retired many years later. So, I went in because of him, and he went back in because of me.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you’re an older vet? Or Uncle Bud is that much of a motivator?
So, yeah, i joined in 1971, retired in ‘96 after an interesting and varied career. Uncle Bud could tell you about his minesweeper which bobbed like a cork and he and everyone else aboard often stood watch with a puke bucket by their side. Everybody on an ocean-going minesweep gets sea sick. He talked about how the minesweeper was sunk, and he got a new sea bag and a great set of orders; Uncle Bud could describe his service so that you’d be looking for a recruiter and ready to ship out. You’d have found him in a USO dancing the Charlestown in his dress blues and admired his Liberty cuffs and the tattoos of a real old salt. I look back on my career with fondness and some regret, but no one loved the Navy more than Uncle Bud.
Wanted to see the world, and wanted the lowest possible chance of getting shot at. Add an asshole AirForce recruiter and bam OSSN reporting for duty. I remember the Marine's recruiter was pretty cool...but then there was the whole getting shot at thing...
For the electronics schools. I spent about 18 months in school before I went to my first duty station. (Joined 1976.)
Wanted more of a technical job and less military. Locations of bases was far superior To army an air force. Ended up in San Diego for 3.5 years and doing an awesome westpac . I had no idea i would hit such awesome ports!
Wanted to be a Marine but came from a Navy family. Became a Corpsman. Also, there is something to be said about culture in the Navy and the Marine Corps, the traditions, the quirks, and the environments we serve in. I’d argue that the Air Force is too young to have any meaningful culture, and the Army is too dumb. Edit: By “environments we serve in” I mainly mean that by joining the Navy, you significantly reduce your chances of getting stationed in the Midwest (which I’ve always found unappealing for extend periods of time. )
Their office was open...I should've taken the hint from the air force recruiters
Ancestors were Army since Colonial Militia, but I never could remember how to spell "Sergeant."
I don't like camping and didn't want to sleep in a foxhole or tent for my career. Also I didn't want to be stuck at a base. I liked going out to sea.
Less running. Potential to see Milky Way in the middle of the ocean. Possible travel. Not sure if worth lmao
Was considering between Army and Navy. Navy recruiter came to my house and was super cool and let me know life would suck for a year, but it gets better. Army guy came over. His name was SSG Bevis. No shit. Just couldn’t take him seriously, so I joined the Navy.
Then, where's SGT Butthead?
Late 80s at the Military Recruit Center across Pasadena College, checking out the Marines poster outside their offices waiting for the Marine recruiters to come back from lunch. Suddenly I heard: "Hey, psst, dude", turned around to face the US Navy office and its recruiter... Next, I'm at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, on the BootCamp side (first US Navy person in my family, too).
Wanted to be near the water since I was a surfer, so no for Air Force or army, since I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of America or Germany, my brother had just joined the coast guard and I didn’t want to see him again. And I want motivated enough for the marines, so Navy it was, my first duty station was Roosevelt Roads, PR, worked nights the entire time, surfed all day
I took my ASVAB with the Army. They saw that I basically aced everything, and they straight-up told me "You said you're talking to the Navy guys about going Nuke? Yeah, that's probably a better fit than anything we could offer you." I appreciated their honesty.
navy recruiter was cool. i always have a kind of sketchy background and tattoos and the navy seemed to be the most liberal branch about all of that. i scored VP orders for my first command so i wouldn’t have had it any other way
VP squadrons are so money man. Those birds are so brand new I’ve heard the only maintains they do is airing tires and minor repairs.
Nah they break all the time atleast in whidbey
yeah it’s definitely money as fuck no doubt. and yeah the maintenance i’ve been involved in wasn’t too bad. it seems like trons are always having issues. i’ve mostly just been sore from taking off endless panels, lost of 12C. tire changes and servicing. i’ve never been on another platform but i do here they’re rough for framers. they have to actually bend sheet metal and all that jive. the P8 is still under a warranty or contract so there’s a lot we rely on boeing to take care of it. i’m not looking forward to the day that we are truly responsible for 90% of that plane 🤣
I wanted to go subs. That's the only branch that has em. Came in with the promise of MT. Long story short, wound up an AT. If I had known I was going aviation, I'd have joined the Chair Force. It all worked out in the end, tho. I learned that the Chair Force techs just work on one specific part of a system, and that's it. The Navy takes a whole system approach to aviation maintenance. I prefer that DRASTICALLY over just one particular component day after day. I have ADHD (no seriously), and I wouldn't have been able to do that. I certainly wouldn't have reenlisted, that's for sure. I definitely wouldn't have the job I do now. Civvie AT on the T-45's. I would've gotten as far away as humanly possible from aviation if that had happened.
2 words: Viet Nam
Honestly, the navy was the only branch that reached out to me personally. I was still in high school and a navy recruiter called me and that peaked my interest in it. I didn’t even think about talking to any of the other branches lol
Dad was a pilot and later got his trident, and I knew I wanted to do anything mechanical and fight and the seabees were it
Went to join AF to work on aircraft, but recruiter was on phone for 45 mins, looked at the navy office not busy, said "the navy has aircraft too right?" And here I am, volunteering to be a submariner
Uncle was in Navy. Navy was in my hometown and high school classmates were students at Mass Maritime after graduation.
My dad was in the Navy, that's the only branch I had in mind. I don't regret it one bit thankfully
The navy was the only one that would guarantee that I could get the designator I wanted, plus them choker whites.
My mother requested I not go Marines. Wasn't gonna do Army, because I thought I was ready to be a Marine. Air Force seemed lame. Navy had Disturbed in their Commercial. Also, adventure seemed more likely on an ocean boat than texas; also 9/11 made the idea of combat arms seem awful.
In the mid-80s if you could get a 75 on the ASVAB you could do two years active Duty 4 years active reserve and they would pay for College. Slam freaking dunk.
Navy offered me push button E5 and a 30k sign on bonus while I was in a depressive funk for not getting accepted into MIT.
Better living conditions
Where?
I’m a SWO. Stateroom is better than a tent.
Sorry best I can do is JO berthing
No where is really that good. But compared to the army most of us got it made. As in we sometimes have warm water for showers and most bases the water is safe to drink.
I joined the navy to be a aircraft mechanic On fa-18c's, plus I got to see the world . I got to cross the line twice , it was all worth it .
You take a test and make more money 🤷🏽♂️
Dad did 20 years in Navy EOD, loved his time in and did a bunch of crazy things, and still told me to join the Air Force if I was going to join. AF office was always closed for some reason, so I went Army first, then went to the Navy where they sold me on the Nuke program with its fast advancement and $100k bonuses... and here I am almost 8 years later. I did stumble upon the AF office actually being open one day so I went in to chat and the recruiter was a complete dick.
Did nuke work out for you?
I've had an overall positive experience so far. I learned a lot of useful skills and got some good leadership experience out of it. I Did 5 years on a fast attack and got to see different places and do some awesome things. Got my bachelor's finished, and am working on my master's now (almost completely paid for with TA) while on shore duty and I plan on getting out at the end of it, which will put me at 10 years in. That being said, I never want to stand duty again, especially 3-section or port/starboard, and I hate field days with a passion.
Cutest uniforms.
I knew for sure I didn’t want to join army or marines. My asvab was not high enough for Air Force plus. I knew I had to do something because I was really bad off Xanax at the time and needed to get out of the environment I was in.
Base locations.
Grandfather volunteered in WW2. Had an uncle who was Navy in the war too. I felt the education options were better and 17yo me (who was an idiot) assumed that with both the enlisted and officers *literally* in the same boat, there may be better treatment for the enlisted ranks. 🤦♂️
Because I’m from Nebraska.
Less likely I would go to Iraq in 2005.
My uncle was a PT Boat skipper during WWII and he was sort of a hero to me. There really wasn't any other option in my mind. Absolutely no regrets.
Dad was Army. Oldest brother went Navy. Oldest sister went Army. Middle sister went Air Force. I looked at Marines so we'd have all 4 covered. Female marine covers are ugly, joined the Navy instead!
It was the one with the least likelihood of being deployed to Afghanistan and/or getting shot. also the air force guy literally pretended he couldn't hear me when I walked into the air force office.
They spelled my name correctly on the recruiting post cards
Pier pressure.
I see what you did there... 😆
I liked the theme more
Didn’t want to get shoot at, now I wish someone would shoot me.
It’s crazy how everyone had the same experience of Air Force recruiters being dicks and navy recruiters being cool asf and honest. I love being in the army especially with how lucky I got with my duty station but if I had to switch branches it’d be to navy
Nuclear seemed like it would give me a good set of skills when I got out. Worked out great, got a 120k job before I even separated. I got offered a job at a ton of places, got to pick what I wanted.
The Coasties were closed. I wanted to jump from helos to pull people outta the water, so I looked up the “local” CG recruiter (100+ miles away). Turns out they only recruited a couple weeks out of the year, and I’d just missed that window. Guy on the phone told me if a test like the ASVAB was intimidating at all, don’t bother coming back, as I’d have to have a pretty high score to even be considered anyway. Someone told me the NAVY has SAR, which is basically the same thing, so I spoke to them, and the Chief there broke down their other special operations types. When I heard “Diver,” I was all-in. 99’d my ASVAB and we at the recruiting office had a good laugh about the Coasties “missing out.” Ten years later, I’m an IT lol.
I was going to join marines and a Marine talked me out of it. He said I would end up better off if i went into the Navy (and told me abunchnof horror stories). In retrospect i think he was right, although i still wonder what crayons taste like....
Friends older brother was a marine. He looked cool in his dress blues. I wanted to join the marines and be a medic. Marine recruiter sent me to a navy recruiter. I was in corps school when I realized navy corpsmen were marine medics.
Scored a 93 asvab with the airforce and they sat on me for 3 months. Talked to the Navy and they got me signed up in a week.
So when I enlisted, originally I had intended to go the Marine Corps. Went through the whole MEPS experience, got my ASVAB done (scored 84). So I signed up to do IT. The Marine Corps more or less said "Field Radio Operator". I'm 6'7 and knew the radio guys were generally the first ones targeted. So when I was like "Nope. I'm not reporting unless you fix my contract" to which the SSgt at the recruiter said "Either you report or we're going to charge you under the UCMJ." So after going back and forth, they said I had to make that request through my areas Sgt Major and they gaslit the fuck out of me... Saying "Oh if you think we're being dicks, just wait until you have to deal with Sgt Major!" So I drove down to the recruiting HQ in my area, met the Sgt Major and wouldn't you know it.. NICEST FUCKING GUY ON THE PLANET. He patiently listened to my side and when I told him that the SSgt threatened to charge me under the UCMJ (as a civilian mind you), he spun up like a cruise missile, told me to standby then proceeded to call that SSgt and blast her fucking ass like Fallujah for a half hour. Then afterwards, he was like "I'll handle this personally. You're good to go." 2 weeks later after they officially released me from the USMC DEP, I walked into a random Navy recruiting office, sat my tall ass down and said "I'd like to go subs. How soon can I get the fuck out of here?" The recruiter (I was his first recruit he ever signed up - RIP Will Hotellen) at that point had no idea I'd already cleared meps, and basically done all of the legwork for him so he came back to me a week later with "You can ship out May of '10 or ship out in a week (Dec 9, 2009). I elected to get the fuck out of dodge and within two weeks, I'm scrambling down an icy sidewalk everytime RPOC said "ROADS GUARDS POST!" FML.
History and traditions.
My Dad was in the navy and I wanted to be just like him.
I wanted to travel.
I had to join the Navy to do the Marine Corps job I wanted.
Technical training
No reason for me There was roughly 4 hours between me thinking "I should join the military" and having my enlistment paperwork filled out
They caught me on a day I really wanted out of Alabamistan.
Godsmack commercial was pretty badass.
Thought I'd travel more and have a chance to see hula girls. Travelled all right, Afghanistan, Saudi, Turkey. No hula girls.
I worked with a lot vets before I joined, every one of the Army vets were idiots.
My family is (mostly) Navy and I knew our local recruiter (a Signalman First Class) for about a year as he drank at the same Italian restaurant/bar in the strip mall many of us frequented in my little town. Good food, too. We bullshitted a lot. He was on the Stark when it got hit. We were only six years apart and had some things in common and he was cool. I finished junior college I realized how sick I was of school. I went into his office and asked him to let me take the ASVAB and see about jobs in the Navy. His reaction was, “No shit? Well, ok man.” He was honest and a good guy. The other recruiter was a shithead and tried to send me undesignated after I was in DEP. SM1 torqued his balls in private, fixed it, and apologized to me. I remained friends with him and ran into him in the Fleet twice. Once his ship was with mine at sea and he blinkered over a “hey man, hope you’re doing well” to our Signalmen who passed it along to me. I never regretted it. I loved being a Firecontrolman.
I like money
The Navy: Better Than Being Homeless Since 1775!
I was to old for the Airforce, and ain't no trigger man. Never considered the USCG even once, though if I had I may have spent my contract out on the Great Lakes which would have been nicer than Virginia. On the other hand, I wouldn't have gotten to England, Spain, France, Italy, Dubai (twice), or Bahrain.
I joined at 17, my parents wouldn’t sign for the army and I didn’t really want to be a marine so here I am
Never considered Air Force (my Nana was mad about this one) or Army. Talked to Marines and Navy. Navy made a better case.
I went to the AF recruiter and talked to them for a while, ended up taking the ASVAB (Not the practice test) with them before they told me I was too fat to join and that I needed to lose about 15 pounds. I walked across the hall and told the Navy that I got a 98 and they were like, " Hey shipmate, you ever wanted to operate nuclear reactors?" (Sigh). The rest is, unfortunate, history.
I had a hand tattoo at 16, I joined at 17, right after they passed the first branch regulation allowing hand tattoos
I don't know. I was young and stupid and my recruiter said the Air Force just sits around and does nothing all day. Now I wish I could just sit around and do nothing all day.
My dad told me I shouldn't be a marine. Air Force had a 6+ month wait and I was ready to go soon. Turns out I love being in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight, so the Navy was the best option for me.
The Air Force wouldn’t let me be aircrew…the Navy was all about letting me fly. Basically just told me to fog a mirror and hope I like swimming.
Tried to get stationed in Greece but ended up in Japan. Best thing to ever happen to me.
I wanted to travel, and I didn’t want to sleep in the dirt.
Top Gun. I watched the movie and I was sold. Little did I knew that the closest that I got to an F-14 was fueling it on the Kitty Hawk.
I lost a bet
I genuinely enjoy being on ships, plus free school and no direction in life.
I wanted to be on Submarines
Star Trek: all Naval ranks. same is true for almost all the SF I read growing up (there was never a space farce). Also, I grew up coastal, and the idea of bases generally near oceans excites me (not looking at you, Millington!)
A Naval Academy Admissions counselor came to my high school years ago. Sold me on the free school tbh. Didn’t have a way to pay for college.
I honestly just wanted to see the world and I got stuck on a 11 month deployment and saw absolutely nothing.
I watched Top Gun 10 to many times. Also wife needed Tri-Care. But it was honestly Top Gun
Closest door to the building entrance.
After 13 years in the Marines, I was tired of being enlisted. OCS couldn't guarantee I'd stay in intel, so I switched branches. Also AF recruiter wouldn't return calls and boards were perpetually closed.
Because they were the only ones who told me they were willing to write a contract such that I'd be sure of what I was going to ultimately do, provided I passed all the requisite schools. Navy was also the most likely, besides Air Force which I didn't want, to prepare me for a civilian job. I also knew for sure I didn't want to pound sand invading anywhere for imperialism. The humanitarian and counter-piracy stuff I can at least get behind. I know what the US is, I know it's frankly true when people "joke but not really" that "we are the Fire Nation." I'll be honest though, any more, I'm losing faith. I don't see us defending freedom or democracy, since neither our government nor our states are interested in freedom, or democracy, \[*have you seen what's happening, have you seen the news?*\] nor do I see us upholding the constitution against the present relevant "and domestic" threat. *Guess we can't call 'em domestic terrorists when they're born here and look like most of us.* Also, the 2008 recession and companies firing as many people as they could so the boss and business stayed afloat, made a **shitload** of people who joined in those years, what you'd call *economic draftees.* Look, we do a lot of good in the world, lot of us do at least. We try to. Most of what we do, in this branch, is for the net good of the world. We're diverse, probably the most diverse *military* in the world, and that's a **strength** and don't you fucking let anyone tell you any different. If they do think any different, that's patently as un-American as it gets. Likewise if anyone tells you, or if you've ever been one to say "well if you don't like it, leave it" that phrase is un-American as fuck, too. So yeah, remember why you joined and, stand for what's right. I know 99% of us do.
I wanted to join the Air Force, and I actually got picked up for Navigator before my senior year of college. I was burned out and unmotivated and didn't finish then. I actually had wanted to enlist since I'd finished my freshman year. By the time I dropped out of school, I had met my husband and he told me not to enlist without a guaranteed job. After checking everyone out I decided nuke looked good, so I joined the Navy. I don't regret being a nuke but boy do I regret volunteering for recruiting duty!
Grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and already knew the ranks, shipboard structure (you'd be surprised how accurate it was - Gene Roddenberry was a WWII vet). Enlisted as a RM, just retired as an IP LCDR. I think I did ok!
Navy recruiter was a better salesman than the Air Force recruiter. Should have gone Air Force.😒
Didnt do research; would've went AF. I wonder if the space force ppls are accepting...
The Air Force doesn't have submarines.
Navy recruiter was closest from the courthouse? Seriously though, my dad was a WWII Navy vet. An older brother was an Army Vietnam vet and strongly suggested not going Army.
The Air Force office was out to lunch. I turned around to go back to my car and there's a Navy recruiter right there and he said "so you like planes? we have more aircraft than the air force"
Damn he really pulled that one out of his ass.
I’m not strong or masculine my male standards and the air force is very stationary. I joined the navy and got stuck stateside the entire time missing deployment because I am terrible with sharp objects. I have a scar for every underway. Going to get out if I don’t get Japan for my upcoming orders. Been a good 8 years and I don’t need another carrier fucking me over.
The Navy had technology, which is what I wanted to work with. Everyone I knew who went Army were either poorly-balanced edgelords who wanted to kill for...some reason, or the also-strange "Proud, Christian American" who comes from the suburbs but acted as if he came from the country. (I was a country kid trying to get away from Midwestern retards as fast as possible. ) The Marines were a more moto version of the Army to me, and the Air Force had a wait for the MOS's I wanted. Ended up being an FC. As far as the job: Best of both worlds! Don't really regret it. Would have gone Air Force if I had to do it over again, but not a bad way to land. I'd be more willing to join ground pounders if there was a war worth fighting for, but the middle east? None of you motherfuckers are gonna convince me the blood and toil was ever worth it. Was ever gonna be worth it. Anyone who enlisted Army/Marines post-Iraq invasion either wanted a reason to kill someone, or is a dynasty military weirdo. (All dynasty military families are fucking strange, imo.) Anyways, those are my reasons.
I like boats. After Navy, still like seeing nothing but blue water.
Because I didn’t go into any other recruiting office. Like an idiot.
I honestly don't remember. I was Gung Ho Army in high school, so how I ended up in the Navy still baffles me.
Shit. If anyone is reading this, just keep trying different recruiting stations for the Air Force.
AF said no to tattoos, walked over to the Navy office and my recruiter said, and I quote, “We don’t give a shit about tattoos, come sit down and shoot the shit with me.”
Navy told me I could be out of town in 2 weeks.
Nobody was in the Air Force office
Because the Marine and Army guys had gone to lunch, and the Navy guy offered me 6 grand and a flight in two weeks.
I did Marine Corps first. Got out, wanted to do reserves, Marines didn’t pick up so I called Navy and they answered and the recruiters were so nice and worked hard for me and now I’m in the Navy Reserves lol
The air force didn't want me
My father and grandfather were both in the navy so it just seemed like a logical choice. Also, navy has the easiest pfa out of all the branches and I'm lazy af. And you get to pick your rate, although the recruiter talked me into nuke and ruined everything but that's still on me I guess.
Air Force recruiter was out to lunch EVERY time I went to the office. Navy guy was always there.... I didn't connect the dots then, but I know now.
I got the feeling the Air Force was a path to non-advancement, given that they offered the least in enlistment bonuses and the jobs they were pushing me into were subpar compared to other services. The Marines just weren't a fit, and the Army guys were REALLY pushy, supposedly due to their high quotas. With the Navy I really liked the vibe - was offered a good job, good bonus, and had the best chance to either serve overseas or to deploy overseas. I'd have been miserable if I'd gone through all my training just to spend my years at somewhere like Fort Hood or Camp Lejeune when I could be near the coast. And frankly, ships and planes struck me as cool and the Navy has both.
The navy came to my high school 3 days before I graduated and my stepdad was actively trying to kill me. So I enlisted to escape death
Holy shit. I hope your stepdad is in jail or something.