re: 16yo Son wants to be a medic in army or marines

Make sure any promises by the military recruiter are placed in writing, otherwise your son will be up the creek with no paddle.

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The bad thing about trying out to be a PJ is that there is around a 85% attrition rate going through traing that takes over 2 years. Some of the hardest in the military. He said he can't live with himself if he doesn't try. I'm proud he wants to serve but scared for him at the same time

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you can just feel something about to pop off and don't want my son anywhere near, i really think he wants to prove something to me or himself, im so proud of him for having his shite together way more than I did, but I dont want him going to ukraine and getting shot by some russian neither

I’m as pro-American as they come, but right now, and for a long time, have been controlled by the MIC/Pentagon/Globalist Elite and defense contractors.

They make money by sending our youth to endless battles where they leave them there in the blink of an eye.

No way I would encourage my son to join the modern day forces run by guys in heals and lipstick.

Our soldiers have to play by the rules of engagement & hands tied behind their backs, while the Taliban has more rights than our guys.

In all Due respect to you and your son, but Screw that, I’d find another way. We are about to be in battles all over the place if we don’t. Turn this around quickly, so he may not even have a choice.

Been a paramedic for fire department 24 years and was an emt for 2 years. I don’t know much about military. I will advise not to go work for any random ambulance service, 5 years he will be burnt out and regretting it. The firefighter route is good but he needs to be cautious on getting on a fire dept that runs ambulance service. Unfortunately I chose a department with ambulances.

Many fire departments will hire you and at least pay to send him to emt school. Paramedic school can be expensive and varies by department whether they will pay or not. If he can find a good fire department that pays extra for being a medic but doesn’t have ambulances I’d go that route. Even for fire departments, if they have ambulances, expect to be stuck on them first 10-15 years.


Eta: I’ll say this, I’ve advised my kids to stay away from first responder type jobs, at least from busy departments, especially involving ambulances. I wish I had chose a different path

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but the Army medics and Navy/Marine corpsmen I encountered in Vietnam were heroes, to a man and very well trained for a future in emergency medicine.

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One of my uncles was an Army medic in Vietnam. I can only imagine the things he saw and dealt with on a daily basis. He had a lot of stories and I wish he was still around to tell them. I remember him telling me a story about running over a Vietnamese soldier that was shooting at him with a truck, and he followed it up with a "frick that guy".

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If his lifelong plan is to be an EMT-B for Acadian have at it, but if I had a kid I’d be giving him real advice

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I’d rather my kid flip burgers than be an emt at Acadian

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I find it positively fascinating that the kid wants to be an EMT and people are suggesting setting his sights on being a PJ. PJs are tier 2 (tier 1 if 24th STS). Who is going to go through that hell with the plan to get out and be an EMT? It is like someone saying they want to be a paralegal and the suggestion is to go to Stanford or Yale law school to get there.

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was thinking the same thing

son of a friend of mine was a PJ in Iraq and Afghanistan and he went through some really intense training and combat.

the medical part of his job was the easy part. the toughest was being inserted for a downed helicopter, miles deep in to enemy held territories

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Tell him to joint the military and do something completely different. Mechanic, HVAC, information security…anything. Get experience and knowledge in a completely different career path. Then use the military to pay for his schooling to become an EMT/paramedic. That way when/if he gets burnt out he has something he can fall back on and do something different. There is such a huge shortage of police/EMS right now they’re just looking for a pulse in some places.

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Best advice in the thread, jealous I didn’t put it this way.

I was a Navy Corpsman. Got my EMT national cert. It was the best time of my life... Early 90s in San Diego lol. Marines will treat you good. I learned independence and motivation in the military. Got all kinds of experience and certs. You can also specialize as a Corpsman. You do way more than civilian nurses. I have friends who have moved on to be civilian surgical techs, respiratory techs, PAs.

I used my GI bill to get a degree and moved onto something else but that experience shaped me.

I was an Army medic, fun times at Ft. Sam Houston.

I also did a rotation at Ft. Stewart with civilian staff for brushing soldiers up on their basic combat casualty skills such as needle chest decompression

I learned how to administer fentanyl ketamine iv fluids plus know how to perform a cricothyrotomy