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National Guard

  • Thread starter Rball
  • Start date

Rball

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So i owe like 60,000 for my student loans and i havent a clue how im going to pay it all off. So i was leaning towards National Guard or air force or something along those lines as they will pay off my dept. Trying to get first hand info on weather its worth it or not. The only thing keeping me from it is i have a 1 yr old girl. Im going to speak to a recruiter but they get payed for every person hey get signed up so they will say ne thing to get me to sign up. Id rather speak to somone who has done this or is active and get their opinion.

Thanks,
Ryan
 
I don't know anyone who's done the National Guard specifically, but I have know people in the Reserve and the Coast Guard and they seemed to have much better things to say about it than my friends and relatives in other branches of service. This will have a profound effect on the lives of you and your whole family, so I encourage you to do lots of research. Best luck.
~Joe
 
Yea like i said, having a new family is the hardest part, the only thing i am worried about is being sent to war or not being home to se my daughter grow up. Thanks for the kind words of wisdom.
 
thats to go to school if i already owe they will pay up to 50,000 towards paying it off.
 
I have very little direct experience with reserve forces (trained them a few times) but joining the military was probably the best thing I ever did. The military in general is a good place to learn a skill and build a good foundation for the rest of your life. I did 20 years in the Army and retired a little over 5 years ago. I was able to receive training in two high tech fields and now have skill sets that I will be able to draw on for the rest of my life; not to mention health care and a decent pension. I realize it is not a life style for everyone, but I think a lot of young adults would greatly benefit from the personal responsibility and discipline that is instilled in you during your training. As for a family, I won’t lie to you this may be harder on your family than it is on you, but there are also a lot of programs to help them as well. I hope this helps; however, if you have any specific questions or concerns please let me know.
 
I'm glad to hear you've had a positive experience ellison, but I've had just about the absolute opposite in terms of the medical benefits and family support programs. My father is in the army; he's a field surgeon and reached colonel several years before recently retiring. My family was basically ruined by his time in the service. While we were living abroad with him during his first deployment, we were fed disinformation about the danger of our area - while blockades were keeping supplies out, and nearby neighborhoods were being raided by guerillas, the military news service told us that combat was cooling down. My mom only learned the truth because our relatives stateside sent concerned letters and newspaper clippings about what was really going on. My dad's health has been strained to the point where he may not be able to work any more, and he's an emotional wreck from having to choose between work and family - add PTSD to that after his last tour in Iraq. Now that he's of no use to them, he's been cast aside. His second marriage is also on the rocks, his finances are in shambles, and he has very few options for support now that he's re-entering the civilian workforce. I shudder to think what would've become of him if he weren't high-ranking and well-trained.
While I was still covered on TriCare it was, far and away, the worst experience with an insurer I've ever had - and I was getting services on base. (Keep in mind that, since they dumped me off his plan, I've been dealing with state-sponsored insurers and low-income health clinics.) I've been chronically ill since I was a child and they could not wait to get rid of me - they even started denying me important tests and medications about a year before I no longer qualified as a dependent, because if I were diagnosed with the serious condition my doctors suspected I have, they wouldn't have been able to drop me. Their reasoning was that, if a condition was discovered, there wouldn't be enough time left on my coverage for treatment - for a chronic condition I'll have for the rest of my life. As a result, I've had to drop out of school and have been skirting homelessness ever since. So, if you think service will mean that you and your family will receive lifelong, quality medical care, keep in mind that there are some very heavy caveats.
As much as I have to gripe about my own family's situation, many of my friends who served had it much worse. I don't even want to get into the details, because it's too painful to think about.
I've met a lot of wonderful people through my tangental affiliations with the military, but they're all just grunts. The ones running the show... I don't have anything good to say about them. If you're going to go for it, keep your head down, watch your buddies' backs, get as much training as you can, and get back out as soon as the opportunity presents itself. To all of you who do serve, God bless you, I wish I could too - but even if I were able, I'd have serious doubts about this chain of command. Also, I hope I don't offend anyone with the above - I'm just being frank about what I've been through. My experience is probably - hopefully - not typical, and I believe the military has been making efforts to improve the support system for families since our time abroad. But be skeptical, and be informed, because this really is something that will change the rest of your life, in very profound ways.
~Joe
 
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Joe, I am sorry to hear that your family's experience with military service was so bad. And I must admit that it sure has its ups and downs, but I spent most of my career overseas and had great support for both me and my family.

Keith
 
Well, I have no intention of being contentious - I just wanted to share my experience as a caution. I'm happy to hear that you made it work. It makes me feel better about my own situation knowing that there are positive outcomes to service, as I've been privy to a lot of the ugliness and not many success stories. We'd be in sorry shape if there weren't guys out there like you.
~Joe
 
  • #10
I have one friend who has now exited his career as being a marine. He said that they have been really uncooperative with letting him leave when he had the chance and also with paying for his schooling. On top of that, he is emotionally scarred from being the last in his squad to survive and from taking the lives of several people. Granted, that is the marines, though, so the national guard or airforce may be much different.

But keep in mind what is going on in the world today.... There are talks of a No-fly zone in Libya... The unrest in the middle east has really just begun....

I, personally, would like to keep my neck out of that business!
 
  • #11
Of all of the branches, I have heard the Air Force is the "easiest". No offense, but unless you have a degree with that 60K in loans and it is of use to the military, I would stay away from Army or Marines unless you are prepared for the likelyhood of ground combat.

Do you have Student Loans or just personal loans? If personal, then you may want to consider bankruptcy. That would be better than risking your life to pay back some bank. Student Loans are a different matter I think, but you may want to talk to a lawyer anyway to see what they say.

I personally wouldn't be reluctant to look at that option if I was in your situation. It's not just for banks, businesses, and celebrities. Normal people can file bankruptcy too to protect themselves.
 
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  • #12
if you dont want to be deployed DO NOT join the national guard, you can and often will be deployed to places like Afghanistan and you often will have bullets whizzing by you just like if you were regular army or marines...a local guy i know was National Guard and wound up being on a team that was kicking in doors clearing houses in Baghdad......Coast Guard is likely the safest route of any if its a course you want to take and will almost certainly get stationed somewhere in the US and your lil girl can come with you....

my best friend is current National Guard/former Army and will likely be going over with in the next year, had he not been in the recruiting end he would have gone over already with the other local guys.....my buddy would trade what he is doing for the world....it is a great fit for some, not so with others.....
 
  • #13
Yea my degree is in outdoor rereation from paul smiths college, my praticum was 30 days in the woods living on the land in the heart of the adirondacks and we traveled over 130 miles with 100+ lb packs. What would be one with the LEAST chance of deployment? Thanks for all the coments everyone i appreciate it.

---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:50 PM ----------

We had training in search and rescue, first aid, wilderness first aid and first responder.
 
  • #14
Another thing to remember, you will have to sign guardenship of your daughter over to a family member, unless her mother is in the picture. They want you to be 100% deployable.
 
  • #15
Sounds to me like you should maybe look into the forest service.
~Joe
 
  • #16
Sounds to me like you should maybe look into the forest service.
~Joe

kida what im thinking.....really dont think he is gonna like the military....
 
  • #17
Yea mom is in picture, Here in ny there is DEC department of environmental conservation and Forest rangers. There has been so far this year 1100 lay offs with them, Positions open up every like 4-7 yrs as you basically have to wait for somone to retire, not to mention they just bumped it to a 4 yr degree minimum. Pay isnt that great either.....They dont have the whole we will pay for ur loans thing like the army n stuff has
 
  • #18
Why are you just looking at your own state? If you're considering military, a move is almost inevitable, so the NY job market is kind of irrelevant. I'd look at job markets elsewhere before falling back on the service. As for paying for your loans, no, most jobs don't have a program that will do that for you, but except at the lowest levels, compensation for military service is pretty low. And that's not even factoring in that you'll basically be putting your life on hold for the next six to eight years at a minimum. If you got a decent private job, and were conservative about your spending, you could pay your loans and still wind up with more cash in your pocket than you would serving.
~Joe
 
  • #19
Well back to the main problem with the baby, trying to stay as close to family as possible. I was planning on DEC when i started my major then 6 months before i graduated the state changed it from 2 yr to 4 yr to filter out all the aplicants for the few jobs they had each year.....kinda screwd me but yea thanks for all the comments its def helping. I firgured if i commit my self for 6 yrs its all payed then i can go from there. I went to buy a house.....they said if i didnt go to school i could but because i owe so much they wont give me a loan wich is bogus considering the payments would have been under 400 when im paying almost a 1000 for rent .......

---------- Post added at 07:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:04 PM ----------

right now i work at a 5 star resort making 12$ n hour wich isnt crap.......if i can get a job as s police officer or something that pays and gives benefits but ny sucks
 
  • #20
Yea mom is in picture, Here in ny there is DEC department of environmental conservation and Forest rangers. There has been so far this year 1100 lay offs with them, Positions open up every like 4-7 yrs as you basically have to wait for somone to retire, not to mention they just bumped it to a 4 yr degree minimum. Pay isnt that great either.....They dont have the whole we will pay for ur loans thing like the army n stuff has

Have you thought about a career change? You can get MCSE certified (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) for a minimum of like 500-1000 bucks. What most of those ads you see and hear don't tell you is that all you have to do is pass the test. You can do this on your own with the many many books available on the course material. You don't have to go to those centers and take any courses. Of course, this can help but if you are low on money and have self motivation you can do it all on your own. It costs like 100 bucks to take the tests and books on each course typically run 20-50 depending on new or used. 6 tests are required for MCSE certification if I recall. It really doesn't take that long to get a certification. Helpdesk skills are pretty basic. If you are already good with a computer, then you are about 50% there.

Once you get a job in IT, most employeers will then pay for you to further your certifications and become much more of a commodity. Many of the people I work with started in career paths other than IT. One of my good work buddy's was an aviation tech and also a pilot. Entry level helpdesk techs can typically make 40-50K starting out. The more certifications and qualifications you get, the more you have the potential to make. I know some guys that make 250K+ as storage consultants for places like EMC, Dell, etc. They started out as HS graduates who decided to get certified in some tech skill.

Just a thought.
 
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