What are the benefits of joining the Army?

lets see…make a list cons first

CONS: Death No controll over your life Shitty pay Worse jobs DEATH a hell of a lot of pain death and Death

PROS: “I GOT NOTHING”

Want a real challenge…Become a firefighter…or if you like a cop…though if you go cop be prepared for a lifetime full of people hating you

Ok as you can see the people that have talked down about the Army have never served. Yes there is some bad things in the military that you can die from, but if you think about it, a police officer or a fire fighter can die to, hell even a post office worker can get shot at by an upset worker. So here are some Cons and here are some Pros:

Cons

• if you do the 4 year or the 2 year term that is 2-4 years of not seeing your family.
• that is basicly it for cons

Pros: 20,000$ signing bonus

• when you first get done with BCT you are making about 1200$ a month
• you can get a rank a year just about so at the end of your 4 years you will be an e-4, which they get paid about 1500$ a month -family can live with you on base for free, and it is free living
• if you live on base you are the first deployed and the first to come home
• free health and dental
• 20$ a month car insurance and it is the best car insurace in america but it is only given to members or retired members of the armed forces
• if you are to die, your wife or your kids, you pick get 400,000$ and they are taken care of for life or until they remarry.
• if you go into aviation you are will be able to get a job in aviation when you get out
• if you do reserve the military pays for your schooling
• also if you go to college and do ROTC for 4 years, and then join the military you will go in as an officer and you will make about 90,000$ a year

Ok…I’m not going to say “don’t join” or “do join”, but I will tell you my husband joined the Army 8 months ago. He was told several things when he joined that made it seem great! Not one of those promises have been kept! We have had nothing but problems from the start! When he left for basic training, I took my daughter and tried to get our dependent ID cards and our medical insurance. Well, I couldn’t get our ID cards for a month because it took that long for his name to show up in the system. You can’t set up the Tricare Medical insurance until you have you ID cards, so I ended up having to pay full price and take my daughter to the doctor as an uninsured patient because the Army screwed up. They said I would be re-embursed… still haven’t seen it! Also, we did not recieve his first paycheck from the Army for 2 months, and it wasn’t even right! Our housing allowence had not been included, once again I contacted them and “oops…well, we’ll re-emburse you”… still haven’t seen it! Ok, so my husband finally finished basic training and was on his way to AIT. I moved to his AIT location because it was supposed to be 22 weeks long, which meant he should have been able to live with me. Still hasn’t happened. He injured his back during basic. Since he is unable to run now, due to his injury, he is not allowed to stay off the base with us on the weekends. They basically punish the soldiers for being hurt. If you get hurt then you have to do extra work and you can’t go out on the weekends like everyone else. Lately we have been looking forward to leaving here and being able to live together again, but now the Army has put a stop to that. They came around asking for volunteers for a 2 year accompanied tour to Korea. My husband and several other people signed fopr it because they were told it would be accompanied (meaning family would go). Turns out they were given 2 years in Korea, but it is actually unaccompanied. The Army is saying “oops, that must have been a misprint or type-o, oh well”. So, basically, my point is the Army lies to get things they want! They have not been truthful to us the entire time we’ve experienced. I just want anyone thinking of joining the Army to understand that if you have a family, this may not be the best thing. Starting out, they do not get paid very much and family time is not an option. The Army is not family oriented like the recruiter will tell you. You will miss birthdays, holidays, and births of your children. The Army does not care if your wife has the flu and there is no one to watch your children! The Army does not care if your wife is delivering a baby! The Army does not even care if you yourself are injured! Please please please think about this befor joining.

I’m not going to try to talk you out of joining the Army. If you feel like it is the right thing to do than do it.

I wouldn’t join the army thinking that it will enhance your life. Recruiters make it sound like the best deal in the world but they lie. Pretty much everything they tell you verbally will be lies; even things you get in writing the military can usually find ways out of. I know guys who volunteered for Korea and Vietnam who have been trying for decades to get the benefits they were promised to no avail.

If you want to serve your country and you believe joining the military is the best way to do it than more power to you. Just don’t expect much in return for your sacrifice.

I know plenty of kids who grew up with dad in the military. They lived one level above poverty and had to move every few years. Some liked the adventure of living different places but most didn’t. It can be a tough life for your family even if you don’t end up maimed or killed.

Yeah, you guys should go to college and get real jobs! My husband is a marine, and there are benefits of being in the service, but sometimes, I just wish I could be near my family and not 1500 miles away! If he does decide to join the service and gets a good score on his test, he should join the air force! He could learn a good trade that will help him get a great job later, (he should only stay in 1 term) you guys will both have medical and dental coverage, and the airforce doesn’t deploy as much as everyone else, at least that’s what I heard… DO NOT join the army, they stay overseas for YEARS at a time, and that is what ends a lot of these young marriages! You should be together and nothing is more important than that! I’m sure that you could be happier finding other careers!

firegod “ CONS: Death No controls over your life Sh*tty pay Worse jobs DEATH a hell of a lot of pain death and Death

PROS: “I GOT NOTHING”

just cause you join the military don’t mean you will die I have complete control over my life as much as the next guy the pay isn’t much but its steady and you don’t worry about medical or dental insurance, housing which military wide they are making nicer, I am a firefighter in the air force, I know of a lot crapper jobs on the outside

pros, collage pay carrier med and dental benefits for mil and family steady pay skills in career fields I’m not going to lie its not for everyone you do have to follow orders and deploy* there are rules and regulations to follow but its not as bad as fire god makes it to be. and if you go in for a 4 or 6 years enlistment you can come out with a degree and free of any student loans. It will teach you discipline (but not how to spell lol)

• I’m sure some solder will tell me not to complain about deployment cause the Air Force deploys for 4 months ans the army deploys for a year or more at a time.

Ok…I’m not going to say “don’t join” or “do join”, but I will tell you my husband joined the Army 8 months ago. He was told several things when he joined that made it seem great! Not one of those promises have been kept! We have had nothing but problems from the start! When he left for basic training, I took my daughter and tried to get our dependent ID cards and our medical insurance. Well, I couldn’t get our ID cards for a month because it took that long for his name to show up in the system. You can’t set up the Tricare Medical insurance until you have you ID cards, so I ended up having to pay full price and take my daughter to the doctor as an uninsured patient because the Army screwed up. They said I would be re-embursed… still haven’t seen it! Also, we did not recieve his first paycheck from the Army for 2 months, and it wasn’t even right! Our housing allowence had not been included, once again I contacted them and “oops…well, we’ll re-emburse you”… still haven’t seen it! Ok, so my husband finally finished basic training and was on his way to AIT. I moved to his AIT location because it was supposed to be 22 weeks long, which meant he should have been able to live with me. Still hasn’t happened. He injured his back during basic. Since he is unable to run now, due to his injury, he is not allowed to stay off the base with us on the weekends. They basically punish the soldiers for being hurt. If you get hurt then you have to do extra work and you can’t go out on the weekends like everyone else. Lately we have been looking forward to leaving here and being able to live together again, but now the Army has put a stop to that. They came around asking for volunteers for a 2 year accompanied tour to Korea. My husband and several other people signed fopr it because they were told it would be accompanied (meaning family would go). Turns out they were given 2 years in Korea, but it is actually unaccompanied. The Army is saying “oops, that must have been a misprint or type-o, oh well”. So, basically, my point is the Army lies to get things they want! They have not been truthful to us the entire time we’ve experienced. I just want anyone thinking of joining the Army to understand that if you have a family, this may not be the best thing. Starting out, they do not get paid very much and family time is not an option. The Army is not family oriented like the recruiter will tell you. You will miss birthdays, holidays, and births of your children. The Army does not care if your wife has the flu and there is no one to watch your children! The Army does not care if your wife is delivering a baby! The Army does not even care if you yourself are injured! Please please please think about this befor joining.

if you’re married he’ll get paid for. The militar trumps any collage, even just 4 years of the military will trump 8 of harvert, because you’re actually experiancing what you’re learning. You are taught by the BEST OF THE BEST. They learn respect, honor, pride, & partnership. If he’s in it for 20 years they’ll help pay for him to get his own buisness started(if that’s what he wants to do). & I believe they send vertern pay(though I’m not quite sure if that dpeends on the # of years they serve). & you both can join the american legion(they have interesting people there at bingo nights). & if ever need be at the American Legend a funrel service is free(depending, it’s usually free or really really cheap).

Ok, first off it’s not the army’s fault when a recruiter lies. All you can do is report them (and they will be taken care of). As far as the payment issues, that again is NOT the army, that is DFAS, which covers ALL government employee pay. DFAS is notorious for screwing up, however you WILL be reimbursed if they screw up. It may take 4 - 5 months, but have no fear, they will reimburse you.

You can’t judge the Army based on BCT and AIT. armywifetoddlermom I’m assuming your hubby is a 25B if he’s doing 22 weeks of AIT. Good news is when deployed he’ll be relatively safe (won’t be going out on patrol,etc.etc.) He’ll more than likely be what we call a “TOC-roach” meaning he’ll work in the tactical operations center (if he is,in fact a 25B)

Anyway, for the OP, there are many many benefits, and a majority of people DO NOT experience the screw ups mentioned earlier. Sometimes it happens, there’s a few hundred thousand people in the army, add in spouses and dependents and now your in the millions, of course things are going to get lost/slip through the cracks. The army WILL resolve the issues, it just takes time as the paperwork has to pass all the way up the chain,then all the way back down.

Some benefits are EXCELLENT health care for spouses/dependents. Tri-care is actually quite good, especially for the price (various depending on whether you go tricare standard or tricare prime)

Free housing (can’t really beat that). Now you can’t pick whatever house you want, there is a limit based on rank and the number of dependents that determines your monthly basic housing allowance (you only get this if you live off post, if there’s space available on post, you’ll live there and won’t receive basic housing allowance). However if you live off post, I believe for a PFC with a wife the sum is somewhere around 1200 - 1500 a month (this sum includes the max they’ll pay for the house payment/rent + utilities). Note that this is also based on where you live(each zip code has a different cost of living so the BHA is adjusted accordingly). If you want a house that costs more than that to maintain,however, the difference will be out of pocket. But they give you plenty for a nice sized house.

The also pay for you to eat, you get BAS (basic allowance for subsistence). Again,the amount depends on rank/number of dependents, but is usually more than enough (especially when you factor in the slightly reduced price of shopping at the commissary).

The Montgomery GI Bill will allow for around 1200 - 1400 a month AFTER he is out of the army, for college, and only as a full time student (for a half time/quarter time student the amount drops). It is around 36,000 total, but more money can be put into it (initially 1200) to raise it higher, which will equal more money per month, as a full time student.

Any bonus that he signs up for at MEPS, this can include up to 40,000 cash (which will be paid out over the course of his enlistment, usually 10,000 the first year and the rest being split up into 4 more payments, once a year), or money that can be used specifically for college(which will be in addition to the Montgomery GI Bill, make sure he does not turn down the GI bill).

There are numerous other benefits, as in depending on what his MOS is, he may receive training that will be with him for a lifetime, or that will look really good on a resume’/qualify him to do certain things (like HAZMAT,for example) that can translate to big bucks in the civilian life.

You get JAG, and will have FREE lawyers at your and his disposal.

The army will take care of you. Just remember you can’t please everyone all the time, so there are those that have been victims of government screw ups, but those don’t happen to everyone, it’s quite rare. If it does happen, it hurts for the short run,long term they will fix everything if anything goes wrong, but a vast majority of everyone have no problems.

The army is probably THE BEST option to someone if they have no college/aren’t qualified to make more than 10 - 15$ an hour,depending on what MOS(military occupation specialty) he chooses. something like a 25B (information technology specialist) will provide certifications and training that will allow him to get just about any IT job when he gets out of the army. Other jobs, like 13F(fire support specialist) which is what I was, don’t qualify you for jack in the civilian world. I’m actually going back in the army and reclassing to a 25B, because I’ll soon be married and the economy here in Michigan is such that I just can’t find work.

I hope I’ve answered your question satisfactorily. The decision whether to or not is ultimately up to him. Remember, he does NOT HAVE to choose a combat job, if they try and force him into one at MEPS (it IS NOT!!! the recruiters who choose your job, it’s usually a civilian at the military entrance and processing station that sits with you in front of a computer,and YOU choose your job). tell him to hold out.

For example, say he wants to be a 25B, and has a high enough ASVAB score to be one,but the civilian says something like “that job is not available” or “well you should look at being a 13F/11B/combat job” tell your husband to say “well thanks, but no thanks, I’ll come back at a later point in time when the job I want is available”.

I guarantee that they’ll get him into the job he wants if he does that. Don’t be scared, and don’t let them force him into a job he might not want. They will try to bribe him with bonus money, but trust me. It’s better to get the job you want, than one you don’t want and a little bit of extra cash. The money goes QUICK, the job stays for a long time,lol