re: Is it too late to join the Navy at 35?

The only way I'd join at 35 is as an officer. You will have 21-22 year olds that outrank you and will be your supervisor. The military is much different than the civilian world. You can't tell that 21 year old to shove it up their arse if they ask you to do something without a reprimand.

Just my two cents as an Army vet.

You can do it. And it wouldn't be hard.

The biggest adjustment would be being around younger people in your peer ranks. If you were to stay in and get promoted several times, then no big deal.

I wouldn't have traded my decision to enlist and retire with over 20 years for anything else.

At 35, I was 2 years shy of retiring from the military.

Couldn't imagine joining at any age over 30 due to peer group issues. You will get frustrated being lumped in with and punished for the dumbassery of 18-21 year olds.

You can join the reserve that age for sure.

What trade or special skills do you possess?

I assume you will be applying for OCS. I don’t recommend enlisting in any branch at 36…

We had an old guy in our company at boot camp. He was mercilessly mocked by our company commanders for being old. He had a pretty tough time adjusting but made it. No idea what he did after boot. I sure wouldn't join the armed forces now. They're basically a social experiment for the chattering class who controls all things. If you don't mind losing your freedom for not much pay, then go for it.

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Maybe it’s a mid-life thing, but is 35 old enough for a mid-life crisis?

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Many people don’t make it to 70, so yeah.

When I was in the army we had a PVT that entered the Army at age 35. He was one of the best mechanics in our unit. If you get an MOS (job, not sure if Navy has MOS) that fits your skill set it could be a good thing. However you will likely be significantly underpaid your whole career b/c it will be a long time before your rank matches your experience.

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I am married (to a woman, no pics) but don’t have any kids.

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You may want to look at the pay scales to make sure $24k a year salary fits your salary and standard of living expectations. Yes you will likely get government housing which will be slightly better than gov't housing outside the military.

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had one around 40. Didn’t realize it but had nothing to do with decline in physical health, wanting a nice car, or anything fancy. Mostly depression type issues but got over that bump in the road. You may have some and not realize it yet, I sure as hell didn’t when I was going through it.

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That sounds rough, I just banged a lot of 20something chicks to get over that hump

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You can't really do that in the civilian world either

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But you can quit, get fired, walk away from getting an arse chewing, etc. If that 21 year old E-4 is yelling at you, you pretty much have to take it.

I'm 57 and could easy complete AF basic. I'm 95% sure I could complete Army boot camp. Not sure about Marine basic. I'm not gay, so would never attempt Navy basic.

The AF is an incredibly easy life, you'd have to put up with a bunch of whiney co-workers, but there's no yelling or hard physical training on the AF. It's essentially just a job.