BF2S Forums Military: Before or after college?

FatherTed wrote:

lowing wrote:

College first. I promise.

Because then if you decide you don't like the military life, you can always do well as a civie?

I'm going uni before i think about the RAF, just so i'm not tying myself down to anything yet.

HurricaИe wrote:

imortal wrote:

I would say the military first.  Do not forget about other benifits from military service, such as the GI Bill.  That gives you a lot of money to help you through college.  Second, being a little older going through college helps.  You are just going to have to trust me on this; students who start college later do much better in school.  Also, having more 'experience' under your belt when you get to college will make you much more popular there.

a challenger appears!

imortal wrote:

I would say the military first.  Do not forget about other benifits from military service, such as the GI Bill.  That gives you a lot of money to help you through college.  Second, being a little older going through college helps.  You are just going to have to trust me on this; students who start college later do much better in school.  Also, having more 'experience' under your belt when you get to college will make you much more popular there.

FatherTed wrote:

lowing wrote:

College first. I promise.

Because then if you decide you don't like the military life, you can always do well as a civie?

I'm going uni before i think about the RAF, just so i'm not tying myself down to anything yet.

R0lyP0ly wrote:

Do what i did. Get an ROTC scholarship that makes college free, you get your education, and then you join the military.

and if you really want to be a pilot, join the Navy. Seriously. Not the air force.

imortal wrote:

lowing wrote:

R0lyP0ly wrote:

Do what i did. Get an ROTC scholarship that makes college free, you get your education, and then you join the military.

and if you really want to be a pilot, join the Navy. Seriously. Not the air force.

Good advice here Poseidon. Only thing is, join the branch that best suits you. The who is better, Navy, or Air Force, is nothing more than a pissing contest. Not many airlines care how many carrier night traps you have, just how many flight hours you have.

Also, if your goal is to become an airline pilot, concentrate on the larger, less sexy aircraft.  Try to fly the tankers, AWACS, transports.  It is not as sexy as a fighter pilot, but it is still flying, and it is a great experience.

Another reason to think of the military first is time.  If you are stationed stateside, you have free time.  You can go to a community college, you can get your civilian pilot's license and work on your ratings.  Then, once you get out of the military, you already have college credits, and will not spend as much time in school, or you can take fewer classes and either work or enjoy the spare time.

Look at it this way:  Spend 4 years in the Air Force (for example).  While in the airforce, you go to community college, get your common cprerequisite classes out of the way (for considerably less money, I might add).  Then, when you get out of the Air Force, you get your college done in not 4, but in 2 to 3 years.

Why do I say for 4 years?  There is one more benifit I did not mention.  If you become an officer after being enlisted for 4 years, you get a considerable pay increase.  From the 2008 pay scale, an O1 (2nd Leutinant or an Ensign) fresh from college makes $2543.40 a month.  If you have 4 years of enlisted experience under your belt before becoming an officer, an O1 makes $3199.80.

The path I am suggesting takes the long way around, yes.  But you seem to be taking the long view anyway; it helps to have options to look at.  One last thing.  If you DO decide to go into the Air Force before college, or another military branch, there is the question of what you should do.  Again, there are two paths to take.  Either you specialize in a skill that will make you better at your eventual career (A&P mechanic or meterology) or you decide to do something fun and completlely different, so you can have different and broader experiences.

lowing wrote:

imortal wrote:

lowing wrote:

Good advice here Poseidon. Only thing is, join the branch that best suits you. The who is better, Navy, or Air Force, is nothing more than a pissing contest. Not many airlines care how many carrier night traps you have, just how many flight hours you have.

Also, if your goal is to become an airline pilot, concentrate on the larger, less sexy aircraft.  Try to fly the tankers, AWACS, transports.  It is not as sexy as a fighter pilot, but it is still flying, and it is a great experience.

Another reason to think of the military first is time.  If you are stationed stateside, you have free time.  You can go to a community college, you can get your civilian pilot's license and work on your ratings.  Then, once you get out of the military, you already have college credits, and will not spend as much time in school, or you can take fewer classes and either work or enjoy the spare time.

Look at it this way:  Spend 4 years in the Air Force (for example).  While in the airforce, you go to community college, get your common cprerequisite classes out of the way (for considerably less money, I might add).  Then, when you get out of the Air Force, you get your college done in not 4, but in 2 to 3 years.

Why do I say for 4 years?  There is one more benifit I did not mention.  If you become an officer after being enlisted for 4 years, you get a considerable pay increase.  From the 2008 pay scale, an O1 (2nd Leutinant or an Ensign) fresh from college makes $2543.40 a month.  If you have 4 years of enlisted experience under your belt before becoming an officer, an O1 makes $3199.80.

The path I am suggesting takes the long way around, yes.  But you seem to be taking the long view anyway; it helps to have options to look at.  One last thing.  If you DO decide to go into the Air Force before college, or another military branch, there is the question of what you should do.  Again, there are two paths to take.  Either you specialize in a skill that will make you better at your eventual career (A&P mechanic or meterology) or you decide to do something fun and completlely different, so you can have different and broader experiences.

HOWEVER!!, In the real world, working all day, exercises, deployments, weekend duty, etc......leaves little time for classes, even if you were awake enough to take them.

Why spend money on a pilots license when you can get all of your ratings for free while you fly in the military? Concentrate on one thing first 100%. Then move on to the next and concentrate on it 100%. 4 years of college and 6 years in the military afterwards to build your flying resume.

Last edited by imortal (2008-04-12 18:26:32)

imortal wrote:

lowing wrote:

imortal wrote:

Also, if your goal is to become an airline pilot, concentrate on the larger, less sexy aircraft.  Try to fly the tankers, AWACS, transports.  It is not as sexy as a fighter pilot, but it is still flying, and it is a great experience.

Another reason to think of the military first is time.  If you are stationed stateside, you have free time.  You can go to a community college, you can get your civilian pilot's license and work on your ratings.  Then, once you get out of the military, you already have college credits, and will not spend as much time in school, or you can take fewer classes and either work or enjoy the spare time.

Look at it this way:  Spend 4 years in the Air Force (for example).  While in the airforce, you go to community college, get your common cprerequisite classes out of the way (for considerably less money, I might add).  Then, when you get out of the Air Force, you get your college done in not 4, but in 2 to 3 years.

Why do I say for 4 years?  There is one more benifit I did not mention.  If you become an officer after being enlisted for 4 years, you get a considerable pay increase.  From the 2008 pay scale, an O1 (2nd Leutinant or an Ensign) fresh from college makes $2543.40 a month.  If you have 4 years of enlisted experience under your belt before becoming an officer, an O1 makes $3199.80.

The path I am suggesting takes the long way around, yes.  But you seem to be taking the long view anyway; it helps to have options to look at.  One last thing.  If you DO decide to go into the Air Force before college, or another military branch, there is the question of what you should do.  Again, there are two paths to take.  Either you specialize in a skill that will make you better at your eventual career (A&P mechanic or meterology) or you decide to do something fun and completlely different, so you can have different and broader experiences.

HOWEVER!!, In the real world, working all day, exercises, deployments, weekend duty, etc......leaves little time for classes, even if you were awake enough to take them.

Why spend money on a pilots license when you can get all of your ratings for free while you fly in the military? Concentrate on one thing first 100%. Then move on to the next and concentrate on it 100%. 4 years of college and 6 years in the military afterwards to build your flying resume.

Granted, if you become a pilot, the Air Force will teach you to fly.  But there is nothing preventing you from learning earlier and flying for fun instead of for pay.  And while there is late evening and weekend duties that will take some of your time, the Air Force will keep you around the base, unlike the Army and Marines, which needs to take you into the field for realistic training.  If you live on base, you can still make it to your own bed each night.

I KNOW you can get classes in while in the military.  I have seen people do it.  I did not, mainly because I was not that far-sighted at the time.  IF I could do it again, you better believe I would.  I was in the army 8 years.  In that time, I had 1 tour in Iraq, 2 tours in Bosnia, 1 month fighting forest fires, and got slogged out into the mud and the woods for 2 to 4 months so many times I lost count.  And yet, I STILL could have easily have taken classes.  At most military bases, there are community colleges that have many, many military students.  They are used to the... unusual schedules military service creates.

EDIT:  Also, fresh out of high school and in the military, you have a unique situation, money-wise.  The military pays for your food, pays for your housing.  And they pay you.  The question becomes what you use your money for.  A lot of young servicemembers party, using their money on partying, flashy cars, electronics.  When your entire paycheck is basically disposable income, you tend to dispose of your income.  If you can resist that impulse, and set some money aside for saving and education, you will be better set up for life.  And using your money for productive goals means less money to get yourself in trouble with.

lowing wrote:

Well, what you suggest can be done, and has been, but c'mon really, why put all of that on a person that actually has a choice between college BEFORE military and college DURING military? Why subject yourself to all of the enlisted bullshit when they do not really need to put up with it?

I was enlisted in the Air Force, I got my A&P while I was in, and went on to an airline career ( actually several) I am also a private pilot.

The thing is, what you suggest works for people that do not have many options. Poseidon apparently does.