Wow...the childhood goes by fast.

[Freak]

Yeah...I just got a call from the Army (one of their recruiters), and they're trying to get me to sign up. I swear, this is nuts. I'm only 16 (17 in October), but...what happened to my childhood. It's gone. :shock:

[coldfire409]

Get used to them. I'm 23 and they still call me, eventhough I live in a diffrent state. When I was 17 one of the recruiters totaled my car and while waiting for the police to show up at the accident scene he was trying to recruit me. In court trying to get his insurance company to pay for the damages he was trying to recruit me. See Farenheit 9/11 and you'll see all of their techniques.

[BirdMom]

Be afraid, be VERY afraid...my husband's nephew officially got out two years ago and started getting letters to get his affairs in order, that they could call him back into the reserve shortly - well, the guy did the really crazy thing and is in transit to Iraq as a contractor. He'll get $120,000 for 18 months over there, of which the government will only tax $40,000. However, he's going to be doing maintenance on Humvees, and had to sign a contract that he will not leave the base at any time (DUH!!! :shock :)

His fiancee got out last June and now she's starting to get the same letters. I think he took the money so they could get married debt free, but jeeze what a way to go...the Army can take you back for up to 8 years after you get out. My brother is still in the reserve - he was supposed to go to Iraq, but now they're sending his unit to Kosovo, so the guys who are in the Balkans can go to Iraq...hardly a friendly assignment. He already decided he's retiring from the military as soon as his hitch in Kosovo is up...

[biscuit_meeko]

hi.. you seem a little young to be chased after by recruiters.. I joined my senior year of high school at 17 and still needed a waiver signed by my parents... Please if you haven't done so already, avoid joining as long as you can.. you have a couple more years of school left and things happen so quick in that time you may regret having signed up Delayed Entry by then.. Give yourself another year or 2 after graduation and see how you feel then. I know the army is hurting for bodies, but they can wait for you to grow into yours a little more IMHO. javascript:emoticon(' :( ')
Sad

While the army was a great growing experience for me, I know for a fact it's not for everyone.. and then there's that whole IRR thing hanging over you like the ghost of Christmas future.. *shudder* Most folks don't think they will ever be called up for that.. or like they say 'in case of dire national emergency' not as the backdoor draft that it seems to be.javascript:emoticon(':!:')
Exclamation

[BirdMom]

I know the army is hurting for bodies, but they can wait for you to grow into yours a little more IMHO.

Bodies is the opererative word! I don't know who's losing more - the Marines or the Army. My brother is a paratrooper, and last time I spoke to him he didn't say what his retraining was (he's been back and forth from the base for weeks now, probably will be until his deployment). I just picture all the newbies ending up in the Infantry (human cannon fodder) which sucks worst of all...

My brother was talking about this t-shirt that some of the guys had made up - 1st picture was an infantry guy getting shot at saying "it sucks to be me." 2nd picture was a ranger slogging through a swamp holding his rifle way up to prevent it getting soaked saying "it sucks worse to be me." Can't remember what the 3rd picture was, but the last one was an Air Force pilot in the cockpit of a bomber looking back at the explosion he just left behind saying "it sucks worse to be them."

[IndyBob]

He'll get $120,000 for 18 months over there, of which the government will only tax $40,000.

There is a Master Sergeant who I work with in the fire department who just retired from the Air Force here at my base and he got a job as a Fire Chief in Iraq for 12 months and he will be making $15,000 a month :shock: . (15k*12=180k for 12 months of work)Thats out ragous. And he gets 10 days of vacation every 3 months so he is planning on comming home to see his family.

[IndyBob]

I know the army is hurting for bodies, but they can wait for you to grow into yours a little more IMHO.

The Army is hurting, but the Air Force is trying to get rid of people.They are offering an early release from your service commitment, no strings attached. They currently need to get rid of some 23k people. I'm putting in for it. Why subject myself to getting deployed to Iraq or the middle east. Plus I can make almost 3 times as much with an equivilant civilian job and have none of the military BS. Thats really a no brainer.

[BirdMom]

Why subject myself to getting deployed to Iraq or the middle east. Plus I can make almost 3 times as much with an equivilant civilian job and have none of the military BS. Thats really a no brainer.

No kidding! One of my girlfriends from high school was an Air Force brat - her dad retired as a Col., then got a job with TRW in El Segundo not too long after we graduated. He did much better financially in the contractor world...best of luck getting a good job when you get out!

[SpaceRanger]

I started getting calls from them when I was about 16 too... I actually still REALLY want to sign with the army. I was an army brat, loved growing up on the bases and got to see so many neat places from Hawaii to Europe. Mom wants me to wait another year though.

[Weeble]

Not to stir up trouble but why would you want to hire yourself out as a cog in the killing machine by joining the Armed Forces right now? I'm sure your parents don't want you coming home in a box and I hope that you don't just happen to like killing people...