i need some advise, from somebody that's not as bias as all the people that i see every day. i can't think of anyone less biased on this then my friends from across the country!

so, i'm going to college, and will be struggling to pay for it even after selling my car and dropping insurance and all the additional expenses. i'm looking into the national guards program for tuition assistance. the basics are as follows: (the good)
$20,000 cash sign on bonus
$10,500 tuition each year. (my school will be about 13,000, but i have the rest taken care of by my one rich family member which has promised to help me a long way back.)
$660 per week in cash
they buy your books.

the bad:
8 years of service: 6 years, including the 4 at school, of one weekend a month. not too bad
2 additional years of being "on call" so that they can send you to iraq to die
basic training that sets you back a semester and requires you to work your *** off for 6 months

that's about it basically. i talked to a recruiter today. i'm just looking for any advise and maybe some insight from military people on here.
also, i'm looking into the program that the coast guard has. if it is as good, i will definately do it. then the being sent to iraq to die part isn't a problem.

 

oh i forgot the big kicker. with the $10000 that they give you right when you start (half of the 20,000 sign on), i could sell my car and get a low mileage TT!
that would just make my life to drive a nice TT through college. and cash wouldn't be a problem after that because you start getting paid full time as soon as you start basic training.
so lets lay it out: the above listed military work to make money instead of be in debt through college, and have a TT!
or...
sell my car, bum rides, and work 20+ hours a week while attending full time school to be in debt...
WWZD?

 

i wouldnt spend their money till college is over, the guard is cushy but as you can see your signed on much longer than just normal ROTC which makes you do traininer around your school schedual and no comitment until after you graduate. and then i believe its only 4 years. its much shorter plus your a reserve officer in training so i dont know if thats even a required iraq position. let alone how long is the war really gonna last, if its still going on once you graduate WTF!!!! you know.

 

yea the ROTC would be preferable, but the recruiter was telling me i missed that deadline already or somehting, so if i went into it later, either way, i'd probably be on a list ready to go to iraq. i'm sure it will be over within 4 years, but my point with that was that there will likely be another by then. so the chance of deployment goes down, but it's always present

 

and thanks for the advise. i just started looking into ROTC a bit more. the recruiter was a bit vague on that topic

 

join the Navy. pretty much 0 chance of heading to Iraq for most jobs.

 

true that. do you know if they have that same awesome program as the national guard?

 

i got $40k for school, plus the VA home loan. 4 years active duty.

 

well that sounds good. i'll look into that too

 

while you are checking out the coast guard, i believe the worst ---degree of difficulty and danger-- job the coasties have is jumping into hurrricane water from a mebbe ok helicopter---mebbe made in usa--and try to save some stoooopit yachtay who cannot figger out his degree of knowledge and skill enough to stay the f inside a foogin bay or lake or home during a red flag warning.............woooooooooohoooooooooo.....cra zy boyzzzz......

 

Its my personal experience that it is better to just go military. Join the army put in your 4 years. You`ll spend a year at home between basic and AIT, The pay is awesome if you can remember not to spend all your money. Serve your 4 and get full ride college afterwards, and your lifetime benefits. You will spend time in Iraq probably, but join a tanker unit and get in with a mobile HQ, you will see very little combat and enjoy a pretty good life. Probably spend 2 years in Germany and 6-9 months in Iraq. To get mobile HQ you gotta kiss and kick *** though. Excel at everything you do. 6 months before you are shipped back get your college lined up so you can start right away. Then when you start school join the guard at a higher pay rate with very little chance of being recalled. You cannot beat the benefits you get from going full time Military. Just remember do not spend your money while there. Buy only what you need to survive. Alot of kids spend their entire pay on hookers and toys, when they get out they got nothing. The experience you will get from 4 years in the military will be priceless. You will have a lot of people that respect you for it, and those that don`t have no reason to live. I may not agree with the war in Iraq, but I will never say a bad thing about those of us that are over there fighting. Ultimately it is your choice though. Do what you feel you need to. As long as you got youth on your side.

 

Protip: Community College for your first two years is a lot cheaper. Find one thats connected to a huge school and just party at the larger schools if you want the college experience for cheap.

 

Not sure joining the military would be a good idea just for the tuition money, unless the military is also something you really want to be involved with... your life won't be fully in your control.

 

my school offers AROTC (airforce) and unless you become a pilot (which you wont i garuntee it) you wont see action. do heavy machine operator or something and you pave runways.

 

zhag: that's nothing! i wouldn't get to be a diver with this program anyway. i would be a mechaninc or just a general bitch i guess.

mhinrichs: thanks a lot for the advise. it is good to hear some possitive advise from someone with experience. i think that now a days, the better program is the one that puts you through college first. but i havn't had all that much time to research it all that much.

i think i've reached a decision: i'm going to talk to a CG recruiter and see if they have the same or a similar program. if they do, i'll do it. if it's not as good... well, i'm a bit sceptical of the national guard, just because i just don't want to go to iraq. chance of death aside, i like to have a safe heaven pretty close. it's my nature. i have to be on my own floors. iraq surely doesn't feel like that...

snw, if i do the coast guard thing and like my 4 years during college, i WILL be a pilot! lol, not through the scenario that you said, but i want to fly the search and rescue helicopters

 

with the coast guard, you will live to drive again..........good luck........i think it is just totally hilarious that cg is considered a service branch when their big thing is saving lives of snotties gone wrong------at least the bullets are from ma nature.....i know theyt do other stuff, but that is my laff.........

 

coasties don't always stay over here. we did joint ops with some coast guard (yes, USCG) boats when i was in the gulf. they put the little coastie boats on a big submergeable cargo ship and haul them over there.

 

i see it the odds are you probally wont get to school and they'll tell you, iraq time, and make up some bs story about how they get arround any deals made.

coast guard or navy. or bit the bullet and go for it your self which is what i plan on doing

 

every branch has a guard and reserve section. Even airforce. If you join the airforce and make it in as a computer programer (i did and i know absolute **** about programming) You will almost never see the sandbox unless you volunteer to go (good money, never see combat, cushy everything). Just a warning though, rank progression is slow and you have to have a major Bull-**** tolerance alot of the time. Active duty AF covers all you're college expenses, plus 10g after you seperate (GI Bill) for continued education. Only downside is you don't get a sign on bonus unless you join EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) or Linguist. That may have changed since i joined back in Nov '06 but i can almost guarantee EOD still gives a sign on bonus.

 

i'm hearing a lot that the guard won't hesitate to pull me out of college to go to iraq... i've pretty much decided against them. i think the only one i would do is coast guard. if they have a good schooling program, i'll do it.

zhag: they arn't only saving snoties, they would save you too! and they do do their part to defend the country. after 9-11, there were coasties all around the brooklyn bridge and stuff. they also do a lot of ice breaking so that trade ships can travel well. they do a lot more then you seem to give them credit for!

 

Have you considered taking out student loans? 13k a year is nothing if you're not paying interest on it until after you graduate. Better than joining the service if thats not your thing IMO.

 

yea i'm sure that i'll use my share of student moans lol. 4k a year at least

 

civilian contractor employees make Bank in the desert. They get paid more than military does, and its not like there is alot to spend it on over there, so you end up bringing most of it back with you. Yes, its dangerous. But it could very well be worth it. My older brother (proof the job requires no brains at all, just guts) is over there right now as a civilian contract employee and hes making extremely good money. Last I heard from him he was at Anaconda Base.

 

You can do ROTC, check with your school to see if they offer it. If not, they can tell you which neighboring school does, and you can speak with the Colonel there. There is no deadline for ROTC unless you're less than 2 years from graduating, or your GPA is too low. It will be 6 weeks in boot camp, and a 4 year commitment after you graduate, but you will be commissioned as a 2nd Lt. which pays fairly well. You also get a monthly stipend while in school. Save most of it, and you will have a nice chunk of change to get you on your feet when you're done.

 

that sounds pretty good. it's so hard to get information about things like that from anybody besides the ones that have done it lol. all the websites and the recruiters are so vague