I 26 should i join the military

Military retirees who are in the High 3 Retirement System receive 2. Members who are participating in the new Blended Retirement System BRS use the same calculations, except that you would use a 2. The other is a Continuation Pay Bonus, which is a mid-career cash bonus for extending your service commitment. Enlisted members earn somewhat less than commissioned officers. However, their pensions are based on the same formula and receive the same cost of living increases each year.

So you can easily run the numbers and get a rough approximation of potential retirement benefits. This is primarily caused by the media. The reality is many military specialties are no more dangerous than their civilian counterparts. Your branch of service and your career field will go along way toward determining the risk you will be exposed to.

Military members may be eligible for VA service-connected disability benefits if they are injured or become ill during their military service.

Receiving a VA disability rating makes the veteran eligible for lifetime disability compensation benefits. The best recommendation I have is to speak with some current or former military members to get an idea of their experiences.

Keep in mind that everyone has a unique experience, so it is your job to read between the lines. Also, understand that each branch of the military is different.

We can put you in touch with recruiters from the different military branches. Learn about the benefits of serving your country, paying for school, military career paths, and more: sign up now and hear from a recruiter near you. Hobbies like BMX, motocross, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding and others are now full-time sports for many young athletes.

Get the scoop on discounts and latest award-winning military content. Right in your inbox. View more newsletters on our Subscriptions page. The Naval Sea Cadet Corps was established in and looks "to build leaders of character" through military instruction and In-flight refuelers, also known as boom operators, can pump more than tens of thousands of pounds of gas at a time.

The Judge Advocate General's Corps handles matters of military justice and military law, and acceptance requires a four-year Summer is not a restful period at West Point. Every class there is involved in some exercises during Cadet Summer Training. Admissions liaison officers act as a mentor, sounding board and guiding light rolled into one, and every service academy The U. There are different rules for enlisting and for officer programs.

Enlisting: Enlisted members do the hands-on work of the military. They need at least a high school degree; a GED may not suffice.

Officer: Officers are the managers of the military. Most officer programs require a college degree at minimum and are very competitive. Many officers have master's or higher degrees. Before you visit your local recruiter , be sure you meet the minimum qualifications for serving in the U.

Armed Forces. Some qualifications are required by all five services:. Age limits vary based on active-duty, previous service or reserve. In addition, year-old applicants require parental consent. Everyone else in the same week of training, who enlisted in the same aptitude program will also have a list that looks exactly like yours. They will be making choices, as well. Those wishing to enlist in the Air Force must be very flexible when it comes to job assignment.

For the past two years and currently , the Air Force has done exceptionally well in recruiting. In fact, the Air Force has thousands of more volunteers than they have enlistment slots for. Because the Air Force has many more applicants than they have slots for, it is very common for an applicant to process through MEPS, and return enlisted in the DEP Delayed Enlistment Program without a reserved job-slot or shipping date. Instead, while at MEPS, they provide a list of job and aptitude area preferences to the job counselor, then they are placed on the QWL Qualified Waiting List , for one of their preferences to become available.

This can take several months. Plain and simple. In order to join the Air Force, one must be flexible with both job selections and dates of availability. The down side? The Air Force will — at times — work someone outside of the job they were trained in. This usually happens when someone does something that results in temporary disqualification from their normal job, or if someone volunteers for a special job or project.

While both programs are available, most enlist under the Guaranteed Job program. Again, whether or not you will be offered the job you want depends upon your qualifications, and the needs of the service.

An example would be the Nuclear Program. These programs generally require higher ASVAB line scores, and require a longer service commitment, but offer accelerated promotions, greater training opportunities, and higher enlistment bonuses. Very, very few Marine applicants get a guaranteed job mostly those with college degrees or high ASVAB scores, applying for certain, designated technical specialties. MOS job is a distant second.

Coast Guard. A few schools and therefore jobs are offered during basic training. As well as offering the fewest guaranteed jobs, the Coast Guard has the fewest overall jobs about 23 of any of the services. On the plus side, for the most part, all of the Coast Guard jobs directly relate to a civilian occupation. Reserves and National Guard. This is because, unlike the active duty forces, who recruit for available slots all over the world, Guard and Reserve recruiters recruit for specific unit vacancies in their local areas.

Regardless of what some of the military recruiting commercials on TV indicate, the military is not a job-placement agency. This is especially true for jobs that everyone wants like computer programming , or jobs that only have a few people assigned.

For example, the Air Force has over 22, Security Forces cops assigned. Compare that to the physical therapist specialists authorized, and you can see that the chances of jobs being open for Security Forces is several dozens of times greater than openings for physical therapists.

If you are focused on only one or two job possibilities, you are likely to be disappointed. This may or may not be true. Each of the services have different requirements when it comes to retraining.

In the Army and Air Force, one must usually serve a minimum amount of time usually 36 months for a 4-year enlistment and agree to re-enlist to be eligible for retraining.

Even then, approval is based upon individual circumstances, and the needs of the service. For all of the services, if the job you are serving in is extremely short-manned, or if the job you want to re-train into is over-manned, your retraining application is not likely to be approved.

When you enlist in the DEP, you are actually in the military. You are enlisted in the inactive reserves, and are legally and morally bound by your enlistment contract. When you sign on the dotted line in the National Guard, you immediately become a member of your National Guard Unit.

This is a binding contract, and if the military wanted to, they could prosecute you for not shipping out on the date specified on the contract. However, current regulations and policies require the military services to discharge you from the DEP, if — at any time before shipping out — you apply to be released from the contract the request should be in writing and should state the reason you wish to be discharged from the DEP. In fact, the only bad consequences to dropping out of the DEP, is that if you later want to enlist in that same service, it will be on THEIR terms, not yours.

Most services have policies that require a waiver processing for recruits who previously dropped out of DEP of their service. That being said, if you request a discharge from the DEP, expect your recruiter to be justifiably angry. See The Delayed Enlistment Program for more detailed information. This is the contract that is used for military enlistments and re-enlistments.

Of all the paperwork you signed during the process to join the military, this is the most important document. See Part 3 of this series for more information about the DEP. In fact, the bottom of the very first page of the enlistment contract contains the following clause:. The agreements in this section and attached annex es are all the promises made to me by the Government. This is because military members are already entitled to it by law.

For example, medical care, base pay, and the Montgomery G. Second, those enlisting on active duty will have at least two enlistment contracts — the initial contract for the Delayed Enlistment Program, and a final contract that one will sign on the day they go to MEPS to ship out to basic training.

Enlistment Periods. Thought you were enlisting for four years? Think again. It may surprise you to learn that ALL non-prior service enlistments in the United States Military incurs a total eight year service obligation. When you sign that enlistment contract, you are obligating yourself to the military for a total of eight years.

Paragraph 10a of the enlistment contract states:. Any part of that service not served on active duty must be served in a Reserve Component unless I am sooner discharged. You serve your four years and get out. This total 8 year service commitment applies whether you enlist on active duty, or join the Reserves or National Guard. The key is, once you join, if there are any conflicts going on, the military can hold you past your normal separation or retirement date.

Up until October , the Army and Navy were the only services that offered active duty enlistments for periods of less than four years. However, because of enlistment shortages, the Army has dramatically expanded slots under this program in and