At a bit of a career path crossroads...

[actaeon277]

I guess it depends on what you wanted to do while in.
Boss people around, be an officer.
Work on the gear, enlisted.

 

[Trigger Time]

I guess it depends on what you wanted to do while in.
Boss people around, be an officer.
Work on the gear, enlisted.

Have lots of ribbons and medals, Air Force

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

I guess it depends on what you wanted to do while in.
Boss people around, be an officer.
Work on the gear, enlisted.

the one that pays more... haha.

Only half joking.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Have lots of ribbons and medals, Air Force

 

[actaeon277]

Have lots of ribbons and medals, Air Force

Join the Air Force. See Texas.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Join the Air Force. See Texas.

<-------- Join The Marine Corps, See Beaufort, SC. Jacksonville, NC. 29 Palms, CA and Okinawa, Japan.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Have lots of ribbons and medals, Air Force

I'm not going to disagree on that point. Looking at mine ribbon rack in my shadow box I'd have had two less in another branch (small arms marksmanship would be a badge, longevity would be hash marks, etc.) If not for the Basic Training ribbon I'd have had ZERO ribbons until I hit the three year mark and received the Good Conduct Medal.

Sometime in the 90s it started to get a bit ridiculous. Hhhmmm, seemed to coincide with Slick Willie either "Providing" or "Denying" (a lot of the operations were named PROVIDE this or DENY that) something where news cameras had showed up. I remember this AFN (American Forces Network) TV newsie who was a SrA (Senior Airman, E4) with 18 ribbons. I was a TSgt with 9. Hell, I had 17 when I retired and that's because one required two ribbons because of the devices (Outstanding Unit Award with 9 oak leaf clusters, won't fit on one ribbon. Hey, I was there and the unit was outstanding, just sayin... )

Please note I took the high road on this post. There were no references to Air Force troops being able to draft decoration citations that contain nouns and verbs in Times New Roman 12pt font, not Crayola 16 colors. Nor was there mention of actually getting there before it's over in the case of OPERATION STAINED DRESS (AKA Operation Allied Force).

I could go on but I'll just play the GPS card for the win.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Thank you for the write-up! I have a follow-up question: I have at least 2 years left of undergraduate study at IU. Anything you recommend I should do while I'm completing my studies? Should I join ROTC (or any other organization)? Consider a certain major/minor?

Finally returning to this after a detour: to borrow a line from the surface Navy, that's not in my lane. GPA North of 3.0 would get you in the right stack of applications.

Poly Sci major... story time! Back in 2002 young(er) MSgt KellyinAvon was working on a Manpower Requirements study for the 72nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (operational testing on the B-2 bomber.) At some point I'm talking to a B-2 pilot (USAF Academy grad, former B-52 pilot, engineering major at the USAFA). He mentioned going to meetings even though he wasn't on that particular test team. When I asked why (and you just can't make this up) he said, "Because the ROTC guys with Poly-Sci degrees can't understand what the engineers are saying."

You can go to Party-U, get a Poly-Sci degree and someday have engineers working for you. USAF!!!

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Or, you could enlist in the Marine Corps ( if they will have you ) and actually earn every ribbon and metal you get and see the world in the best looking uniforms The United States Armed Service has to offer.

 

[Kutnupe14]

OP, I know you mentioned the military, but what about federal agency? Your degree would translate seamlessly into the Foreign Service, and if you want to carry a gun overseas, how Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)? You get the world politics, the gun, the travel, and a pretty nice chunk of change.

 

[WebSnyper]

OP, I know you mentioned the military, but what about federal agency? Your degree would translate seamlessly into the Foreign Service, and if you want to carry a gun overseas, how Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)? You get the world politics, the gun, the travel, and a pretty nice chunk of change.

My son is in school doing a double major in Poli Sci and Econ with a minor in history and I mentioned something like this to him. I may have to mention it again after your post.

 

[gregkl]

I would recommend the Air Force. I come from a family of soldiers but my son decided to become an Airman. Best move he ever made. Since he is in and I want him to stay in, I ask every vet I recognize how long they stayed. With few exceptions, the ones that got out early wish they hadn't. The ones that got their 20 in are so glad they did. I would say that AF and Navy are close to 100% one of those two answers. Army, I run into more that say they put in their 4-6 and were happy to get out. Same with Marines.

My son is finishing up his degree while serving as a Tech Sgt. He has applied to OTS. Hopefully his will make it. He says even if he doesn't, he will make Master Sgt. and he is okay with finishing his 20 at that rank.

I am 30 years older than my son. If I am lucky and save my money in earnest I will be able to retire 2 years before he will. And I will scrape for the rest of my life while he can go on and do whatever he wants since he will have a pension and medical benefit to take with him.

I would encourage you to look very closely at military service. As long as you can accept the military way, you will do fine.

 

[Ark]

Take it from me, firsthand experience, if you are able to change your major to something more relevant, you should do it. BA in polisci is useful as a firestarting tool, at best. If you're not going to graduate or law school, don't waste your time. Can't comment on the military, but graduating from IUB with a BA in polisci was the mother of all "expectation meets reality" experiences for me. It's a history degree without enough history, a stats degree without enough stats, and a journalism degree without enough writing. It leaves you mediocre at a lot of things, exceptional at nothing, and in what I would call the lower 1/3 of marketable degrees.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

You can go to Party-U, get a Poly-Sci degree and someday have engineers working for you. USAF!!!

Best endorsement of any military branch I've ever heard.

(Purple only slightly necessary ) In all seriousness, that story almost makes me wish IU had some kind of engineering minor. I still have time to declare a minor, though I am pretty well set on PoliSci + Philosophy major...


...and before anyone says it... any suggestions to transfer to Purdue for engineering will be promptly and rightfully dismissed. Lol

Or, you could enlist in the Marine Corps ( if they will have you ) and actually earn every ribbon and metal you get and see the world in the best looking uniforms The United States Armed Service has to offer.

That is not out of the question, but the Air Force's money and medals might be > the Marines' uniforms...

I know several retired Marines that I should reach out to and get their opinion. Most of the ringing endorsements of a particular branch that I've heard have been from Airmen but I haven't been in close contact with as many Marines. So thanks for the reply!

OP, I know you mentioned the military, but what about federal agency? Your degree would translate seamlessly into the Foreign Service, and if you want to carry a gun overseas, how Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)? You get the world politics, the gun, the travel, and a pretty nice chunk of change.

Thank you for your suggestion!! I had never considered this or even heard of DSS. I'll start looking into this ASAP.

I would recommend the Air Force. I come from a family of soldiers but my son decided to become an Airman. Best move he ever made. Since he is in and I want him to stay in, I ask every vet I recognize how long they stayed. With few exceptions, the ones that got out early wish they hadn't. The ones that got their 20 in are so glad they did. I would say that AF and Navy are close to 100% one of those two answers. Army, I run into more that say they put in their 4-6 and were happy to get out. Same with Marines.

My son is finishing up his degree while serving as a Tech Sgt. He has applied to OTS. Hopefully his will make it. He says even if he doesn't, he will make Master Sgt. and he is okay with finishing his 20 at that rank.

I am 30 years older than my son. If I am lucky and save my money in earnest I will be able to retire 2 years before he will. And I will scrape for the rest of my life while he can go on and do whatever he wants since he will have a pension and medical benefit to take with him.

I would encourage you to look very closely at military service. As long as you can accept the military way, you will do fine.

Your Air Force recommendation is one I've heard a good bit over the past several years. Conforming to the "military way" is going to be a challenge, I think. But it sure seems like the benefits outweigh the negatives by a great margin.

Thanks for the anecdote and good luck to your son!

 

[JeepHammer]

If you want a cool uniform with medals...
You are joining for the wrong reason.

If you want to be a 'badass' you are joining for the wrong reason.

If you think you can do some good, and realize it's going to be a 24/7/365 job for little pay and a lot of grief, then it might be the right reason.

If you go some short of special forces, you will be trained into what people think are 'badass', but when you think of yourself as 'badass' its time for a reality check...

Learn a second and/or third language.
When you learn German, you will wind up in a Spanish or Arabic speaking country, and vise-versa.
I know that one first hand...
It's good to have options, and they occasionally screw up and send you someplace you can use it.

If you become an officer, find your senior NCOs and immediately ask them to keep you out of trouble.
When the s**t rolls down hill, take the blame.
When the (unicorn) unusual praise rolls down hill, give the credit to the NCOs/enlisted.
Don't be a 'Blue Falcon'.
Trouble in the ranks?, deal with it in house.
Make sure you have an open, TWO WAY door, information out gets information back, and the senior NCOs have their finger on the pulse of everything currently going on.

DON'T find something else to do when the unpleasant/unpopular things are happening (unless your NCOs ask you not to be there).
If you don't sweat & bleed with the rank & file, you get ZERO respect.
Screw the rank, when EVERYONE else is dirty, hungry & tired... get dirty, hungry & tired with them. They will tolerate anything, suck it up and follow you through hell itself if you do.
Actual 'Leaders' are in front, that's why they are called leaders, by definition.

---------

I'm with the other guys,
With the education, go with State Department, stop the wars before they start!
Intelligence services are ALWAYS looking for someone that can make heads or tails out of those 'Governments' (and I use the term loosely).
Doesn't have to be CIA/secret squirrel stuff, just knowing the history and making sense of what other cultures are up to, someone with an actual education in those jobs would be a big deal,
And when the current administration is out, State will be hiring like crazy,
A third of State has been fired or resigned and not replaced, so LOTS of potential for hire and quick advancement.

 

[patience0830]

Unless, you are in the Republic of Korea. Those ROK troops salute everybody in uniform. It’s all good, ROKy takes care of business.

ROK soldiers are among the best conditioned soldiers I've ever been privileged to meet.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Take it from me, firsthand experience, if you are able to change your major to something more relevant, you should do it. BA in polisci is useful as a firestarting tool, at best. If you're not going to graduate or law school, don't waste your time. Can't comment on the military, but graduating from IUB with a BA in polisci was the mother of all "expectation meets reality" experiences for me. It's a history degree without enough history, a stats degree without enough stats, and a journalism degree without enough writing. It leaves you mediocre at a lot of things, exceptional at nothing, and in what I would call the lower 1/3 of marketable degrees.

Thanks for the no-BS approach! I figure it warrants a little more info:

I still have one semester to fully decide on a major, but PoliSci is strongly appealing to me. I started out at IU thinking I wanted a Journalism degree. Took some Polisci classes on the side as a recommendation from some older friends. Out of all the classes I have taken so far, ranging from media to writing to the required maths and sciences, the classes I have enjoyed the most, i.e. devouring every required reading and ended up buying those books after the semesters completed so I could re-read them, have basically all been PoliSci related.

Plus: I'm a nerd. My bloodline is nerdy as hell. Almost all academics and doctors on mom's side. dad grew up in basically what was one of the poorest regions of the world and literally was educated out of fear the Soviets were going to invade the homeland. Only way out of the village was a scholarship of some sort. He was able to get it done, and now has a Ph.D... Yeah, my hero.

All this is to say: I want to get my masters then Ph.D. in PoliSci in the future and probably become a college professor.The nerdiness is simply in my blood. I knew this before I seriously considered joining the military, and now, I'm thinking I can complete graduate work while/after a military career.

So, basically, I think I agree with everything you wrote, especially saying PoliSci is hardly a marketable degree, but I am in that small tier of extreme nerds who wouldn't mind being called "Doctor" and "Professor" one day.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

If you want a cool uniform with medals...
You are joining for the wrong reason.

If you want to be a 'badass' you are joining for the wrong reason.

If you think you can do some good, and realize it's going to be a 24/7/365 job for little pay and a lot of grief, then it might be the right reason.

Agreed, none of those really matter to me. joking in any of my previous posts that may have alluded to that.

If you go some short of special forces, you will be trained into what people think are 'badass', but when you think of yourself as 'badass' its time for a reality check...

Learn a second and/or third language.
When you learn German, you will wind up in a Spanish or Arabic speaking country, and vise-versa.
I know that one first hand...
It's good to have options, and they occasionally screw up and send you someplace you can use it.

Currently taking Arabic classes, I am verbally almost fluent, just ironing out the reading/writing at this point.

If you become an officer, find your senior NCOs and immediately ask them to keep you out of trouble.
When the s**t rolls down hill, take the blame.
When the (unicorn) unusual praise rolls down hill, give the credit to the NCOs/enlisted.
Don't be a 'Blue Falcon'.
Trouble in the ranks?, deal with it in house.
Make sure you have an open, TWO WAY door, information out gets information back, and the senior NCOs have their finger on the pulse of everything currently going on.

DON'T find something else to do when the unpleasant/unpopular things are happening (unless your NCOs ask you not to be there).
If you don't sweat & bleed with the rank & file, you get ZERO respect.
Screw the rank, when EVERYONE else is dirty, hungry & tired... get dirty, hungry & tired with them. They will tolerate anything, suck it up and follow you through hell itself if you do.
Actual 'Leaders' are in front, that's why they are called leaders, by definition.

I have heard a lot about how officers are pampered compared to enlisted rank. I despise so called "leaders" who only "lead" with their demands and not their actions. I am not the type to sleep in a warm tent if my fellow man is sleeping in the frigid cold. Wasn't raised that way. Feel sorry for people that were.

I'm with the other guys,
With the education, go with State Department, stop the wars before they start!
Intelligence services are ALWAYS looking for someone that can make heads or tails out of those 'Governments' (and I use the term loosely).
Doesn't have to be CIA/secret squirrel stuff, just knowing the history and making sense of what other cultures are up to, someone with an actual education in those jobs would be a big deal,
And when the current administration is out, State will be hiring like crazy,
A third of State has been fired or resigned and not replaced, so LOTS of potential for hire and quick advancement.

Thanks for the whole write-up. Kutnupe's suggestion is leading me to some research now. Federal agency never seemed like it might appeal to me but I am totally ignorant on the whole deal so it warrants some digging before I dismiss it entirely.

 

[Ark]

I still have one semester to fully decide on a major, but PoliSci is strongly appealing to me. I started out at IU thinking I wanted a Journalism degree. Took some Polisci classes on the side as a recommendation from some older friends. Out of all the classes I have taken so far, ranging from media to writing to the required maths and sciences, the classes I have enjoyed the most, i.e. devouring every required reading and ended up buying those books after the semesters completed so I could re-read them, have basically all been PoliSci related.

Similar to my experience. I had a great time, and it definitely suited me more than any other options I considered at the time. Once you're hooked on it, you're hooked. I also jumped ship from an initial interest in journalism due to the sheer terror of actually looking at how journalism degrees were panning out for people. Career prospects aside, it was far better of an experience for me to succeed at something I liked than fail at something I was forcing myself to choke down.

The commitment required for PhD track is not far short of an initial enlistment term in the military. If that's what you really want to do, you should prioritize that now instead of assuming it will still be on the table after x number of years in the military. Again, I am not qualified to speak on the merits of military service, I just caution against the assumption that service will be a simple, closed-ended phase of your life, after which you will be the exact same person with the exact same capabilities and interests, ready to pick up where you left off. Plans don't survive contact with the enemy.

That said, lord knows the academia of political science could use more people with some military experience. As much as I did like the polisci faculty at IUB, they were dyed in the wool academics with academic opinions, and would benefit from rubbing elbows with people who experienced the ant's eye view of foreign policy in the real world.

 

[jinks]

You could consider becoming an officer in the National Guard or Reserves now. Money is available for education. This comes with an obligation for a weekend drill each month, a two week training period each year and any additional training required. You receive four days pay for the weekend drill and a days pay for any additional time. There is a possibility of deployment.