Enlistment Questions
I am currently a student studying Biology at a state college but i've grown really restless for the past 5 months. I'm an Eagle Scout and I've been preforming modestly well at college, but I feel like while im in my youth I should take the opportunity to form a bond with a group of people, travel, as well as serve my country.
In short i've always been attracted to the military to some degree and I have good friends who are enlisted in the Navy and Marines. My question is it possible, and if so what should I do, for a 19 year old Eagle Scout with a 3.1 GPA become a Hospital Corpsman? I'd like to know as many details so I know what I'm getting myself into.
And yes I do plan to talk to a recruiting office soon, but I'd still like to hear your opinions.
Posted Apr 8, 2012, 12:03 AM UTC
Not to rag on the enlisted man at all, I have the up most respect for them; but allot of them wish they would have went to college or get out after 4 years so they can. It's a nice way of saying stop complaining get your education, do ROTC if you want to lead troops into combat....not to mention the money isn't bad.
Im enlisted and have my BS, all but two of my Marines in my squad are in college or done with it, just saying.
Seriously, being enlisted these days and having a degree is pretty common. I know tons of people who have degrees. That said, officers get the silver platter so I don't blame their advice.
Understandable and thanks for the honestly. I'll look into ROTC. Still I'd like to hear more opinions.
I was that kid just like you, I wanted to say fuck school and become a warrant; I was already an 11B in the guard at the time. It took the ROTC MSG who was prior Delta to pull my head out of my ass. You might not like it now but you'll be thankful later that you did it. If you really want to prove your self join the Guard go to basic and AIT but STAY IN SCHOOL.
Thank you. I'll definitely weigh this into my final choice, it's nice seeing insight from people who were in my position. I'll set up a meeting with the ROTC office next week and get more details.
There's another option besides dropping out now and going OCS later. I finished school, then enlisted with a bachelor's. I ended up being very satisfied with my experience during my 5 year enlistment, found myself a contractor job (which is basically a halfway house for getting used to being a civilian again, while still being around the military world you understand), and then used my GI Bill to go to grad school.
If I had gone officer, I would have ended up with more money up front, but a significantly less generous education benefit which would've wiped away the difference. Plus, I seemed to have better job satisfaction once I became an NCO, as compared to the junior officers.
Also officers dont lead men into combat. NCOs do, trust me.
Not always true. But I do rely on my NCOs when we roll out.
Officers set conditions for success. I planned the training and worked with them to ensure we were all ready to go. Saying one group does more is kind of a false statement. I've seen some real shitty NCOs I wouldn't trust leading themselves out of a rolled up carpet... But that's not every NCO and doesn't qualify all NCOs as incompetent.