I know that this probably isn't the right place to ask questions but I'll ask anyway. I'm 20 years old and have less than 6 months left until I graduate college with an associates degree in HVAC ( heating and air). I've done some research and from what I have seen they offer several things I'm interested in ( hand to hand combat, survival training , weapons training, just to name a few) I was just wondering if I may ask ( without being rude) that if you served in the military( first off thank you for your service) would you be willing to give me any advise? Thank you for reading my post and thank you for any and all answers.

Are you wanting to go officer or enlisted?

Honestly I didn't know I had any option besides enlisted.

First of all, the Armed Forces are not for everybody. As a former Non-Commissioned Officer I can speak to your situation by stating this; Beyond what a recruiter may be telling you, you need to talk to a large number of former and/or current service members to build your own opinions before making a decision that will change the course of your life.

Keep in mind, the purpose of any Army is to train and develop soldiers to fight in wars. Period.

Think about what that might entail before moving forward.

Good Luck.

Sound advise. I work at a gas station and feed store and among the customers I've met that were veterans ( National Guard, Army, Marines, Air Force) I can only recall two that told me not to do it. The others said they never regret going into the service. Alot of my friends are in the NG and most of them love it. I recently asked one what basic was like and he basically said "it's hard but I would do it all over again". I'm thinking Army because I want full survival and hand to hand training.

With a 2 yr degree, you don't have any option but enlisted. With a 4 yr Bachelor's degree, you could become an officer. I served 26.5 yrs, and the military of today is not the military I joined 30 yrs ago. Talk to as many people as you can before making a decision. Good luck!

Things have changed since I signed up back in 1979. I was going to suggest that he get his 4 year degree and go OCS. But that is not for everyone either.

.......and here is why;

"because I want"

I Served for 10 years in the Marines. I left post 9/11

My suggestion is to take the ASVAB online and see what kind of overall score you get. Based on that it will tell you what you are qualified (brain wise) to do. This will help make an informed decision. You can look at the different careers they have and pick one based on the scores you got. I will tell you that All Marines are trained for combat, and learn hand to hand. The same isn't always true for other branches. I started as a Grunt and then moved into communications, but still spent most of my time with infantry. I was able to use those skills to get a job after i left in something that allows me to live comfortably. I went to college and now am very happy with my life. Find something that interests you, something that you could do afterwards.. Then while you are in make sure and finish your degree, but make sure it's in something that will support your family. Make a plan on where you want to be, find the steps that will help you get there, and do it.

Each Branch has it's specialty. There is a lot of overlap in jobs, but lets just say that there is a world of difference between a NG guy that shows up one weekend a month and plays soldier for the weekend, and someone that is a Grunt and does it every day.

If you want to roll in the mud, shoot things, and go to schools like survival, then NG is not it.
The Airforce is more of a life style. They do what they do well and have a large budget, but they act more like a job then a commitment.

I loved the time in the service, i don't regret it. I learned a lot.. I am not sure that i would join with the current president. It's just flat dangerous and undervalued. I have friends that are getting ready to retire, and tell me that they are just handcuffed and left out to hang before being able to defend themselves.

What most vets don't openly tell you is that WAR, is an ugly place, it's full of very ugly things that change you. It's something that most vets will tell you to not seek out and to avoid.
It has taken me years to come back from it. I have heard the sounds of gunfire in anger and run towards the sounds of it.. It's not something to seek out.

I will also share that I was a Marine hand to hand Black belt with red stripe, It's dangerous and you have to suppress it and in the few times that i wasn't able to just walk away from a situation, I had to be very careful to not just slide into habbits and training.
I attended 2 weeks of Jungle survival, Cold Weather survival, mountain, and desert survival schools. I also attended advanced cold weather training in Barrow Alaska with the Inuet (sp)
I would do all of those schools again before i would do SERE again. I took the advance SERE and will tell you that 4 years of college was a breeze compaired to 9 weeks of boot camp. Boot camp was a cake walk compaired to Combat school, and All ten years and all of the training was easy compaired to the two weeks of SERE school. Lets just say that the two times i was water boarded was a breeze compaired to what other things they have in there.

I'm Air Force and have been in 19 years, will retire next year. The Air Force has civil engineers, and in your case, HVAC technicians that take care of the HVAC on base and deployed locations. With your prior experience, I could see you excelling in that career field.

[quote=hunter22mag]I know that this probably isn't the right place to ask questions but I'll ask anyway. I'm 20 years old and have less than 6 months left until I graduate college with an associates degree in HVAC ( heating and air). I've done some research and from what I have seen they offer several things I'm interested in ( hand to hand combat, survival training , weapons training, just to name a few) I was just wondering if I may ask ( without being rude) that if you served in the military( first off thank you for your service) would you be willing to give me any advise? Thank you for reading my post and thank you for any and al


The training you are "seeking" won't do you much good on your journey through life. But the military experience will teach you a lot about all the different walks of life in a short period of time compared to your life journey. I received the training you are looking for and I would have to say looking back that I am glad I went in the Army and had the experience but sure wish I would have done something different. Combat and war are not fun and not as glamorous as they have been made out to be. There is a lot of hard work and personal sacrifice but in the end it will teach you a lot about people and make you a stronger person.
For feeding a family, providing them security,taking care of them, giving them & you a better life you would be better off with HVAC. It will provide you with more financial gains than the military would.
You are only 20 years old so if you are thinking of the military now is the time to do it. Enlist for three years after you graduate...get the training you think you want, and if you don't like it get out and pursue your HVAC career. Your military experience should help you obtain employment and may open up some opportunities for you. Another plus for the military is the fact you can retire at a lot earlier age than working on the outside. I am sure you could also get into HVAC in the military if you wanted to.
I wish you the best in whatever you decide and hope that if you choose the military you go into it with a open mind willing to learn because believe me...it isn't for everyone!!!
US ARmy 1968-1971

I joined the Army not knowing what I wanted to do. I just wanted to get away from the neighborhood, no jobs, etc. and see what was out there. That was back in 1971, fresh out of high school and during Viet Nam. I had many MOS over the years and when I decided to leave and start a family, the counselor told me there was no civilian application for my set of skills.
Know what it is you want before going. The Army will teach you just enough hand-to-hand combat to get your a$$ kicked in a bar fight. I've studied martial arts for over 40 years now so I know. Survival schools? Get a Boy Scout handbook from the 1950's and teach yourself. If you're on this forum, you probably know enough about hunting to feed yourself in the wilderness already. There is good money to be made in HVAC and you may even start your own company after awhile.
If you are serious, get in to the best physical shape you can but do not drop your BF% below 15-18%, run 2 miles for time, lots of pushups/pullups/situps and then think Airborne, not Special Forces. Airborne will be easier, then Ranger school and after reaching e-5, look at Special Forces if you think that's what you want to do. Martial arts are taught on most every base and after hours.
Be ready to take a lot of crap but when you graduate from training, you will look back and think you would do it all over again.
US Army 1971-85

Jump Instructor; Today we will be jumping at an altitude of 5500 feet.
Me; Uh, sir...wouldn't it be faster if we jumped at, say 500 feet?
Jump Instructor; You idiot! At 500 feet, your parachute will have barely enough time to fully deploy!
Me: Ohhhhhh, I didn't know we were going to have parachutes.

You really need to do a serious and very honest self evaluation, as well as possibly a series of career aptitude tests before making that decision...

If you don't mind putting your self (and daily life) totally in the hands of others in authority, considering that you may not always think their decisions are either fair, or safe, then you might be a good candidate for the military...As stated before, the military today is not what it used to be, some of the standards seem to have dropped a little to accommodate different types of applicants...

I'm certainly not 'anti-military', but have dealt with many that were sold down a somewhat 'primrose path' as to what they would encounter prior to enlistment, only to find out that they were blatantly lied to by the recruiter in an effort to boost his/her numbers, and once you are in, you are in for better or worse...Just like a marriage...

If you would like to talk in depth about your expectations and get a realistic idea of what it will be like feel free to pm me your contact info and we can talk about it. It is not a decision to take lightly. But I am one of the ones that can tell you I do not regret one second of it.

I'm active duty Air Force with almost 18 years, retiring right at 20 years and not a minute later. As most have already said the military has changed a lot over the years, regardless of which branch of service. I started out with my first 12 years in vehicle maintenance, specifically heavy equipment and flightline vehicles. The last 4 years of that I was an instructor at the vehicle mechanic tech school. Then I was told too many of my rank in that career field, so pick another job with a shortage or take a hike. I cross trained into education and training, which basically traded my tool box for a desk and computer. Now I run the aircraft maintenance training center on Joint Base Charleston in SC. I did 2 years on an Army base in Italy and 4 years on a Navy base so I have a little bit to compare to, as well as many friends and relatives in other branches.

I don't know you obviously, so without knowing your aptitude and long term goals it's hard to recommend a branch that fits you well. So...from my own life experiences of been there done that and looking back on a lot of things, here is my recommendation. Sign up for the AF and do 4 years, period. You will get the post 9/11 GI Bill, veterans preference the rest of your life, tuition assistance while you're in, invaluable life experience and when you are done you will only be 25, which is still young. Get a "job" in the military that relates to what you are good at and want to do...HVAC. Pick up hand to hand combat and survival as a hobby...so you can turn it off and on when you want. When you do it as a job day in and day out, it will lose it's luster and what will you do with that when you get out? Get a job and skill that will pay your bills and support a family when those priorities in your life change and evolve. Right now you "want" to do combat and survival, but when you are 40 and raising a family you will have different "needs". As previously mentioned, HVAC falls under the Civil Engineer Squadron (CE). CE is a great unit to be a part of...they have a good time and just kind of do their own thing...somewhat of the "rogue" unit on base sometimes.

My own priorities changed over the years between when I joined and now. For about the first 13 years I drank too much and chased easy women, lived through things I probably shouldn't have and had too much fun for one guy...I wouldn't change any of it. Once I got my head screwed on straight, my priorities changed. The military has paid for my bachelor's degree in human resources and is now paying for my master's degree that will be done when I retire. I transferred my post 9/11 GI bill to my wife and we didn't pay for anything but books for her master's AND doctorate in nursing...I won't have to worry about it in 2 years when I retire....all done and paid for. The new GI Bill can be transferred to your dependents, spouse OR kids...so when you do have kids and 20 years down the road you are looking at paying for their college...that check to the college from the GI Bill instead of your bank account will make that 4 years VERY well worth it.

Also as previously mentioned, talk to as many people with first hand knowledge and experience that you can. Most of your recruiters are great people, some just happen to be in a spot where they have to meet quotas and work for leadership that is non-flexible..."meet your numbers or else". I was lucky to have a great recruiter that gave me straight answers and honest expectations, quite a few others haven't been so lucky. If you were close enough you could come to work with me for a few days and I would take you around base to show you as many different jobs as possible...folks are quite often surprised at how many different jobs or careers are involved base wide. How far are you from Little Rock?...I may have a couple friends still there that could do that for you.

I could fill this whole page on pros and cons, do this or do that, and even contradict myself on it 10 times in the process. If you have any other specific questions feel free to ask all you want or send me a pm.