I spent 24 years in service First with the US Navy and then switched over to the US Army. (Ex-wife didn't want me to go back overseas), anyway I have seen and worked with ever branch of service and I can tell you form experience that the army will not get you the training you want. I have 2 kids in service right now both in the Air Force. I push for the air force for one they take better care of their people and you can get more training that be of more use in civilian life if you decide to get out.
I always tell someone to go in for 4 years and in that 4 years you take advantage of everything uncle sam has to offer. Get the GI Bill and any college you can on his dime and then if you decide to get out you are set with good job training and some schooling as well as being able to go back to school if you want to. But if you decide to stay in you reenlist for another 4 only.
anyone who says they are going to go in and do the 20 and retire are fooling themselves because 9 out of 10 times they will hate the first 4 and then want out and not do anything to secure themselves a good future. take advantage of everything in the first 4 years and like I said if you decide to stay in just keep doing it. also remember that in the first 10 years or until you make E5 you can change your MOS. But like others have also said if you have the training and schooling in HVAC I would continue in that field and get as much training as the military can give you. Its a good field to learn for a civilian career later on. Good luck

I would suggest if you do go into the Military do something that would help your career if you get out. You might not want to do the long haul but the technical jobs that military has will help you in the long run. I honestly would not worry about the survival schools (SERE), airborne, air assault, Ranger etc unless you pick a job that will need it such as infantry. I look at it like this. The government invests A LOT of money in you why do it on something you can switch over. Now I understand if you have to deep desire, need, morale capacity to want to do infantry, cav scout, artillery etc but just to did because you don't know... Nah you will probably hate your life. I say if not active duty go Reserves it will help pay for more college. It is currently paying for my Engineering degree.

I was enlisted for 12 years before getting my degree and commission. If you want to join the "New Military" I would recommend continuing your education and get a commission? Being in charge of a company shows future employers your managerial skills and that will take you places and get you jobs that you wouldn't ordinarily get from being a grunt. I know........done both, got the scars.

The army has very many opportunities that most don't ever even consider that can really give you a let up in the civilian world. You can look up some of the cool 35 series jobs. Those seem to be in high demand

I got out a few years ago on a medical retirement i fought for a long time. I should have been forced to retired for medical reasons but i fought it do to all the schools as ASI I had the Army agreed to just recluse me it was in a job I hated the put a guy who could barely spell my name and had memory problem in an office after 14yrs in line units. I can say the army I left was not the one i joined, and they know this that is whay they are cutting back. they dont need every all the bodies that the needed to keep up op tempo in theater 2 my of neighbors were forced to retire at 17 years if your going to go in go for something in the signal corp it was my last duty station I worked in an office on a training base some of the soldier wold get kicked out befor they graduated because the had job offers while they were in school There schooling was close to a year or longer the worked with the satellites systems these coppery wold send head hunter to hang out were the students hung out and they would poach them with large incomes and sign bonuses my first 14yrs in the army despite all the schools i had I never got to work in those filled there were just quificitions and schools that looked good in paper just because you go airborne does not mean you will ever be in an airborne unit it or air assault ranger school you will ever be a ranger its just a reciting tool. They say if you sign we will send you to airborne school you get 5 jump something to wear on your uniform and that it. I am 4th generation Army I served in Iraq 2 times for almost 3yrs I came home with a few metals Managed to survive 7 IED in an unarmed HMMVE for my efforts I receive 100% disability a few purple hearts and a few others afused spine 7 pinched nerves in my lower back sever joint problems from my ankle to my shoulder lost a large chunk of my memory have almost no short term memory suffer night mares every night can hardly walk most days Lost all the soldiers I started off with except 1 I am on 2 different morphine long and short actingot to mention a fentynol patch not to mention the muscle relaxants for the spasms the bring me to tears they are sill pulling shrapnel out of my back and neck suffered a skull fracture Burns on my neck and back it took me almost 6 yrs to get to this point in my reading writing and grammar as you can tell it is horrible i have a pice of a bullet loged agents my spine pushing on nervs that cant be removed Despite being all tore up and usless by my 35th birdie I would do it all over agin what makes the Army or another Branch of service good or bad is your leader ship and the guys you in your squad and Platoon. as stated earlier its not for every one, it has to be something you want to do if you are on the fence it may not be for you all the schools listed above the odds of you doing them is slim unless you have it in your contract or you are just lucky to get stationed with the airborne units or air assault just because you go the Ranger school does not mean you will be selected to go to a ranger unite you will just have a tab and something on you d214 saying you attended. SERS forget unless your special ops or a pilot but you have to remember they Military is cutting back to options are slim guys are being forced to retire early I live Next to Ft Hood the larges military base we have; its across the street from me. My wife still works on Post. Yes i get a disability income but I cant do much do to all my injurys during my deployments. like mentions before no mater what job you pick the main purpose is to fight wars most my replacement soldier were mechanics pulled from supply or cooks so just know that going in you dont have to be in combat ares unite to end up there driving around in a sector over and over for 12 hrs if nothing happen a lot of days we were going there e18-24 hrs do to making contact being struck by IEDs waiting on EOD if you were smart you would look in to the coast guard they are pick very picky who they accept my son was excepted but after collage next year we are moving back to Thailand the cost guard lets you try the job for a bit the let you decide if you like it or not if you dont like you pick something els and try it. till you find a fit sorry for the crappy writing spelling and grammar like i said i suffered a sever head injury while in Iraq I lost a big part of my memory and i dont trust what i do remember i also have almost no or very little short term memory i can for get what i did 5 mins ago or if i get side tracked dont go off what the requited says They cant lie to you its illegal but the can and emphasis and make an job sound great and show you a high speed video of anything and make it look and sound cool thy will not always tell the whole store about a job so like said above do your research or if you were like me you just did not care you just wanted to join it wont matter what you choose one thing you need to look at is the jobs promotion rate. when I joined for
SGT and SSG the points were at the lowest they can be for those ranks after i was promoted to Staff Sargent the points maxed out an are still maxed to this day making rank means more pay but also more responsibility not only for your actions but those how serve under you

Everyone's story is a little different. I loved it when I was a private, but that's because they sent me overseas then, I got to shoot stuff and be hard as woodpecker lips. I went from pouring belts of ammunition from a 240 and generally being a gnarly [beeep] to picking up cigarette butts and helping with arms room layouts. I hated being in garrison because it always felt like my leadership was finding excuses to keep me there, normally until after the chow hall had closed, for literally no reason. Like, sitting outside waiting on formation for 4 hours every day type waiting, sweeping sidewalks over and over again to ensure they'll pass inspections that'll never happen. When I made sergeant I only got treated worse, but also had to keep privates motivated despite their higher CoC's penchant for dishing out paperwork and article 15s like candy and refusing access to the friggin chow hall you're paying for (try explaining to your soldiers they can't eat like everyone else in the battalion because your company command is doing it's THIRD LEADERS HUDDLE OF THE DAY AND IT'S 1830 HRS). Needless to say my battalion was pretty much all e7 and above ranger qualified, and would micromanage even the company FRG meetings to the point that it was mandatory that you attended and paid for the terrible lunch comprised of burnt hot dogs and assorted potato chips even if you were single. This was usually a few days after you sat through classes all day, once a month or so, to remind you not to shoot yourself in the face because you hate your life (My gosh why? I freaking love feeling like I'm 50, being treated like I'm 5, but really being 21), and not to rape people because that's bad too, m'kay? Of course this was when we were downsizing, so everyone was throwing everyone under the bus religiously just to hold on to their jobs. Get stationed in Hawai'i they said! It's mother****ing paradise they said!
As you can see, my hatred flows like the Mississippi. I had some good experiences too, don't get me wrong, but after 4 years of this, I was completely over it despite making e5 fast as [beeep]. You've got to really want it, and understand you're going to make sacrifices not just for your country but for your leaderships careers, whether you like it or not. It was worth it when I was 18, it wasn't anymore when I was 22. I wish I could paint a brighter picture, but I served while there was a Democrat in office, and I'd rather shove a wet noodle up a bobcats rear than do it again.

Lol buddy I understand your frustration. I went in in 07 during the surge. It was a crazy few years but I remember loving the army life. And deployment for w 5 months is a struggle but nothing compared to garrison life. All that being said. Before you make the same mistake I have along with most other guys I know, think hard about getting out. Especially now that we have a pro military pres. I was glad I was out for the first 2 or 3 years then it hit me that I'll never get to do anything quite like that again

*15 months

I will admit it was a journey that built a better me. I appreciate things like food, water and sleep like most civilians will never imagine. I do get bored, but I have a garden and a will to hunt that's very real, and they keep me happy. My brigade was the last to head over with full combat intent in Kunar, so the Colonel made sure we were always making someone's day worse than ours. Nothing beats The rumble of 155's after a hot tic. The guys that relieved us got pasted every time they left the wire from what I hear, they did everything we told them not to do, and paid for it. Mainly they rarely patrolled. They were all out of shape e4s and a sprinkling of pfcs. We had one e4 in our platoon, the rest were pfc and below, with e5 team leads. Discipline was handed down like the hammer blows of Thor and it showed, only a few wounded. You'll never be in control of your experience past being squared away and liked by your leadership until you are the leadership, then you've gotta be on top of your game 24/7.

welcome, and now you know. It's not something anyone can really teach you. The hard work, exhaustion, and training as hard as you can. (living by the no one drown in their own sweat theme) makes a lot more sense once you get there and spend 99% board and 1% wishing you trained more.

Glad you made it back, wish you the best.