- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Parents with kids who have enlisted — what did you wish you knew before they signed up?
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:16 pm to Florida_Man1981
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:16 pm to Florida_Man1981
quote:Branch?
I ended up staying till this year. Home on terminal leave now. Retired as an O5 after starting out as an E1. Left on my own terms can't ask for any more than tha
1
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:38 pm to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
quote:That he and his high school girlfriend, who also did ROTC and enlisted too, were marrying without letting anyone know. Came home from Michigan married.
what did you wish you knew before they signed up?
(My brother's oldest son.)
Her 1st deployment was on a sub, and he got sent to be a communications guy at one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. He slept in a tent outside, but worked in the AC every day. He was regular Navy then. He grew up in Anchorage, I think they liked that he spoke Japanese and Russian in high school.
It's been a great career for him, and his wife finished college after her initial enlistment. He's a SWCC Warrant Officer now. She's a Mechanical Engineer. They have a daughter who's into drama, and a son who's into Super Mario.
God bless people who care enough to volunteer.
This post was edited on 12/27/24 at 8:41 pm
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:40 pm to TheOcean
quote:Mine did alright by me. Got my MOS and first duty station guaranteed along with $10k (in 1998). Only thing he fricked me on was telling me Area 1 in South Korea was a cush, highly sought after, duty station which I'm sure he only did for shits and giggles. And after spending my own time dealing with shithead privates, I totally get why he'd have thought that was funny.
Recruiters always lie. Always
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:41 pm to upgrayedd
Before my son went to basic he asked me for advice - I told him, "don't be first, and don't be last"
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:43 pm to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Man, the various services are SO different in some ways that will impact the enlistee, and a lot of this really depends on what kind of job your kid is signing up for. At this point maybe you should spend some time browsing /r/Navy and other military subreddits to get an idea.
One thing culturally to look out for in the Navy is that lower enlisted, often up until you're an E7, in certain jobs are treated rather shabbily.
Other things people like to enlist for that sound cool, such as nuke technician or "SEAL contract", actually have a very high washout rate, and once you fail that, they and not you get to decide what your MOS will be. They may stick you in some horrible job for 6 years, cleaning bird poop off the deck. Some of these attractive career fields turn out to be a nice source of warm bodies to fill crappy jobs the Navy can't get enough people to enlist for, such as undesignated seaman.
Despite that there are, obviously, a lot of opportunities for a young person in the Navy who wants to work hard. Picking a good job is one part of it. And the Navy is having personnel problems too, they can't keep enough good people. If your son is willing to commit to working hard for several years he can probably rise up fairly quickly.
One thing culturally to look out for in the Navy is that lower enlisted, often up until you're an E7, in certain jobs are treated rather shabbily.
Other things people like to enlist for that sound cool, such as nuke technician or "SEAL contract", actually have a very high washout rate, and once you fail that, they and not you get to decide what your MOS will be. They may stick you in some horrible job for 6 years, cleaning bird poop off the deck. Some of these attractive career fields turn out to be a nice source of warm bodies to fill crappy jobs the Navy can't get enough people to enlist for, such as undesignated seaman.
Despite that there are, obviously, a lot of opportunities for a young person in the Navy who wants to work hard. Picking a good job is one part of it. And the Navy is having personnel problems too, they can't keep enough good people. If your son is willing to commit to working hard for several years he can probably rise up fairly quickly.
Posted on 12/27/24 at 8:56 pm to ExtraGravy
quote:
Other things people like to enlist for that sound cool, such as nuke technician or "SEAL contract", actually have a very high washout rate, and once you fail that, they and not you get to decide what your MOS will be. They may stick you in some horrible job for 6 years, cleaning bird poop off the deck. Some of these attractive career fields turn out to be a nice source of warm bodies to fill crappy jobs the Navy can't get enough people to enlist for, such as undesignated seaman.
This OP. Your son needs to make sure that he can realistically do what he wants. You need to be honest he is capable of that. I’ve heard of some people taking a private physical before their military physical to make sure they don’t wash out of their physical.
Most of the guys that I know that hated their military time ended up in a secondary or terciary field for one reason or another.
Posted on 12/27/24 at 9:26 pm to northshorebamaman
There are definitely good recruiters out there. But they all drink the Kool aid
Posted on 12/27/24 at 9:34 pm to baldona
Personally, and I don’t know how this works now a days in regards to them keeping your information. But I’d strongly consider talking to 2 different recruiters to get a different opinion.
As said also, the branches are very very different. Let’s take something like he wants to be a navy seal. As said, if he washes out there’s not a lot of similar jobs in the navy. I know a guy that did that, due to a physical, and he went on to be an officer on surface ships and hated his life.
Instead, you take the army and maybe you wash out of ranger school but you still have tons of similar jobs available to you.
Depending on what he wants, some branches will guarantee that job or at least to go to that school or training. Others may ‘promise’ but it’s far from a guarantee.
As said also, the branches are very very different. Let’s take something like he wants to be a navy seal. As said, if he washes out there’s not a lot of similar jobs in the navy. I know a guy that did that, due to a physical, and he went on to be an officer on surface ships and hated his life.
Instead, you take the army and maybe you wash out of ranger school but you still have tons of similar jobs available to you.
Depending on what he wants, some branches will guarantee that job or at least to go to that school or training. Others may ‘promise’ but it’s far from a guarantee.
Posted on 12/27/24 at 9:36 pm to baldona
Talking to multiple recruiters is definitely a good idea. Good friend of mine is a LTC in the army. His daughter wanted to enlist in a very tough MOS. She talked to a couple recruiters who said it was impossible for her to get. Third recruiter said they could do it and she ended up getting her MOS. Trick is you have to make sure it is written in black and white in your contract
Posted on 12/27/24 at 9:36 pm to TheOcean
I was an Army recruiter for 4 years. With the information available on the internet, allowing a recruiter to lie to you is your fault.
I didn’t lie, ever. I didn’t provide info if the question wasn’t asked either.
I didn’t lie, ever. I didn’t provide info if the question wasn’t asked either.
Posted on 12/27/24 at 9:39 pm to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Are you in/near BR? Went through this with our son last year.
This post was edited on 12/27/24 at 9:41 pm
Posted on 12/27/24 at 9:48 pm to Boston911
False.
Recruiting is a numbers game, yes. It was our job to get people to enlist, the job did not matter. The only thing that matters to the recruiter is asvab score, 50 or above was quality and that’s what we needed.
The recruiting station has the quota, not individual recruiters. We were expected to write one a month though. As long as the station “boxed” (met mission) we were good.
Recruiting is a numbers game, yes. It was our job to get people to enlist, the job did not matter. The only thing that matters to the recruiter is asvab score, 50 or above was quality and that’s what we needed.
The recruiting station has the quota, not individual recruiters. We were expected to write one a month though. As long as the station “boxed” (met mission) we were good.
Posted on 12/27/24 at 10:31 pm to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
I have one son currently in the navy and one who was in for 7 years before getting out. My youngest is now considering joining. There is much more to cover than I can really do in a post here, but I’ll give it a go. ASVAB scores dictate what jobs they qualify for. When the navy has a slot for that job dictates when they go to boot camp>A school. No matter what job they pick, if they fail out of school, they go “undes” undesignated, to the fleet and it’s whatever the navy needs. For my kids, it was a fantastic bridge from scull full of mush to somewhat sensible young men. You can tag along if you want to with the recruiter, but you won’t make much of an influence. Navy recruiters do not have quotas in spite of popular belief, but if your kid scores high enough to go nuclear, they will push hard for that because they DO get bonuses for nukes. Recruiters don’t pick jobs, they just advise. Jobs are picked at MEPS. The detailers will absolutely push people to jobs where they have higher need. All in all, at least for my family, it’s been very good for my kids.
Posted on 12/27/24 at 10:41 pm to MikeAV8s
What jobs did your two sons who joined get?
Posted on 12/28/24 at 7:56 am to ExtraGravy
My son who is still in is AC. He just made chief. My son who got out was ET. He did 7, then used his GI bill and got his degree online with Troy University. The Navy has been a very good thing for both of them. However, there are a lot of stories that don’t end that way.
Posted on 12/28/24 at 7:57 am to TygerLyfe
quote:
Before my son went to basic he asked me for advice - I told him, "don't be first, and don't be last"
And don’t volunteer ever.
Posted on 12/28/24 at 8:04 am to Breaux
I was a recruiter as well. Voluntold to USAREC back in the day.
I didn't lie to recruits or families. But we had to lie our asses off to everyone else, every single day. Whether it be med docs, education docs, drug screens, etc. It was a crazy business and I was lucky to not have it adversely effect the rest of my career.
I didn't lie to recruits or families. But we had to lie our asses off to everyone else, every single day. Whether it be med docs, education docs, drug screens, etc. It was a crazy business and I was lucky to not have it adversely effect the rest of my career.
Posted on 12/28/24 at 8:39 am to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
I talked to all the branches but chose Army because it was the biggest and had the most options.
You can kick doors and do all sorts of high speed shite if you want. Then if you want to go back to college you can do ROTC. Or you can go warrant. Once you're done with basic branch time you can go functional area. If you stay enlisted and don't like your MOS you can reclass.
The Army has the hardest time meeting numbers because it's the biggest and therefore is more of a buyers market.
You can kick doors and do all sorts of high speed shite if you want. Then if you want to go back to college you can do ROTC. Or you can go warrant. Once you're done with basic branch time you can go functional area. If you stay enlisted and don't like your MOS you can reclass.
The Army has the hardest time meeting numbers because it's the biggest and therefore is more of a buyers market.
Posted on 12/28/24 at 8:48 am to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Sounds like your son wants to do this on his own. How about you cancel the Life360 account and let the kid be his own man.
Posted on 12/28/24 at 9:10 am to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
hopefully this has been mentioned, but get EVERYTHING they promise him on paper and signed..
Bonus, rate, etc....
Recruiters don't lie, but they can sure as frick leave things out
Bonus, rate, etc....
Recruiters don't lie, but they can sure as frick leave things out
Page 2 of 4
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News