The Real Military

Hello 29th,

I Thought That I Would Set Up A Discussion For Anyone Who Has or Is Thinking Of Joining The Military Considering What The 29th Is About.

Thanks

Comments

  • I'm thinking about it and I've also had many friends/family members who have served. What is it you want to know, Rct?

  • @T5 Lacey said:
    I'm thinking about it and I've also had many friends/family members who have served. What is it you want to know, Rct?

    Thanks for replying so quickly T5 Lacey, I'm interested as I myself am thinking of joining when I turn 18 (15 now) as a platoon officer in the British Army (Basically leading a team of men on missions from the front lines) What section are you thinking of joining?

  • Marines or joining the French Foreign Legion. If you're interested of becoming an officer, I'd consider looking at the Army Officer Scholarship Scheme. I decided not to go with it since military isn't my 1st choice, due to me having Asthma and other interests, but it's still very much a career prospect!

  • Thanks for your response T5 Lacey, It's very interesting to hear others stories and points of view. Thanks :) (That was NOT sarcasm by the way)

  • I was considering it but they didn't accept me for the conscription for whatever reasons. I don't really think there is much for me to bring there since our military isn't really that big to begin with.

  • I served in the US Navy for 5 years and got out after. My Rate was IT2 (Information Systems Technician Petty Officer Second Class) which is equivalent to a Sergeant in the ground forces. It was quite a ride, I lived in Italy for 2 1/2 Years, and then was stationed aboard a Guided Missile Destroyer (USS Halsey DDG-97). All in all I was able to visit 17 countries.. and traveled 45,000 miles by Sea.

    Some pieces of advice I received that really helped me in the stage you are at (interest),

    First, get an idea of what you want out of your service. Of course serving your country is one of them, but what do you want to experience and achieve? I've found that Navy's regardless of Nation do plenty of travel for example.

    Look at ALL branches of service for your respective Nation. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, etc. regardless of how you may feel about them. (In the US many forget or never bother to look at the Merchant Marines) The reality is you don't know the details of all respective services, and it's worth doing your homework to narrow down which meet your criteria of what you want to accomplish.

    Narrow down whether or not you want to go Enlisted or gain a Commission and go Officer- and stick to it. While there are more than likely programs to eventually gain rank as an Officer, more often than not, it's very difficult to be accepted in and then achieve it.

    Narrow down the 'rate' 'mos' or basically jobs you want to do- I stuck to a top 5 so to speak. Then do extensive research in all of them- particularly, try to figure out what the day-to-day lifestyle will be, and what working conditions are most common. You want to have some idea of what you are getting into before you sign up.

    Finally, figure out the physical/academic requirements for your chosen paths and do your best to achieve them. Start now; Boot Camp generally isn't the place to get in shape but rather the place to perfect it.

    I hope that helps and good luck in your respective pursuits

  • I already have a contract written with the Danish Royal Guards (Danish equivalent of the British guards who guard Buckingham Palace). My basic training starts 3 April next year... Don't plan on making a career out of it, but it should be 8 interesting months. I'm also contemplating becoming a reserve Officer before or after my bachelor, since it's not a bad training/education to get for future leadership tasks later in life in a civilian job.

  • edited April 2016

    I've already put in an application to join the Canadian Armed Forces (the Canadian Army to be specific) as an Armoured Crewman, A.K.A, A tanker. I've wanted this to be my career since I was about 10 years old. Currently I'm waiting on a Date to write my aptitude test. I'm hoping i can get into BMQ(Basic Military Qualification) about Mid-summer, Cause I absolutely friggin' hate the winter. cant stand it. It's a terrible season.

  • I have been thinking about getting in the Portuguese Fuziliers (Marines) or in the Artillery.
    I know that here you can join either with 18/19 but you will enlist as Private and can only get as far as 1st Sergeant, basically you can are the adjudant of the Officer in command of a Platoon, but you lose a lot in monetary/career spectrum.
    What I wanna do is do Uni outside graduate in History and get a post-degree in Geoploitics and Military History and then get a chance of entering with 25-27 years as a Officer Trainning recruit, which would get me after the 6 months of trainning to a rank of 2nd Lieutnant, the difficulty is with the number of people who are needed which is less than 5,000 versus the one's who try to enter. My family long served the Portuguese Armed Forces, my greatgrandfather and his brother served in WW1, the 1st in Africa getting the rank of 1st Lieutnant in Infantry in Mozambique, the latter in France with The Portuguese Expeditionary Force, he was with British units and got gased, came back Shell Shocked so badly he tried to kill himself twice, the revolver jammed at the 2nd time, but the 1st time was a close call, he had immense lung problems, eventually dying from breathing complications. My greatgrandfather still served in World War II and served as commanding officer in the Island of Mozambique, he used to recall those times (my family told me) as dangerous and insecure, he saw german U-Boots on the far and reported those contacts to the Headquarters.

    My grandfather was a nurse on the Portuguese War Navy, and my Grandfather's brother a mechanic in the Portuguese Air Force, he has funny and so dangerous adventurous, he flew B-17s, B29.

    If any of you are interested in such stories, I will hapilly tell you those.

  • I always keep a tab on the French Foreign Legion

  • You also have to think about going overseas, I did two tours to Afghan and I´ll tell you this: It changes a man. Some of the stuff from that time still gives me nightmares.

  • edited May 2019

    As an Estonian I will go through conscription(8 or 11 months, I will take 11) once 19. As it ends when I'm 20, I will go into officer training and become infantry officer in Estonian Defence Forces, Ground forces. 3 years of officer school and I will emerge when 23, as NooremLeitnant(Jr. Lieutenant, equilevant of 2nd Lt, second lowest officer rank after Lipnik(Ensign) which is reserve officer rank mostly.)

  • i got out about 5 years ago from the US Army, served as a Signal Support Systems Specialist, or commo as everyone else in the army called us. basically, glorified troubleshooters. wasnt until i was leaving that we were actually being put into specializations. good times.

    im sure anyone else here who served in a military can drop a few cents of experience in for anyone looking to join a military. from what to do, to what should i expect, to "got any pointers on what i should expect during my deployment", were here. just give a holla.

  • I got out of the Army in 2015 after doing almost 5 years as an Infantryman; the one thing i can say is keep your mind open. Take in all your options if you want a specific job and it isn't available then don't settle for another one tell your recruiter to contact you when there is an opening; explore all the branches if you have the chance. I could have joined the Air Force but didn't want to wait 9 - 12 months to ship for basic so I decided to go into the Army. As an infantryman when we weren't training in the field for months at a time or deployed we were landscapers, carpenters, painters, mechanics, laborers and anything you can imagine we did. There was a saying that I remember is that we were a Jack of All Trades. Best part was my recruiter didn't lie to me. He told me i would do a ton of stuff that didn't pertain to my job and it would suck at times but it would be worth it.

  • i'm in the Marine Corps now, if you have any questions man, feel free to hit me up and i'll provide the best answers i can for you.

  • I just enlisted in the Marines, and am shipping out for Basic november 25th. I look at this as a cool little preview of discipline and order following. I've gone through ROTC, but this is just kind of a little extra practice. Just saw this thread and thought I'd throw my two cents in :P

  • Dont do it, go to uni and design things to sell to the military instead. :smile:

  • Naval Aviation is the way to go. If anyone is still contemplating a career in the military, go to college, get the easiest degree you can, and go sign up as an aviation officer.

  • Currently serving as a medic in the Norwegian Army.

  • Chally 2 crewman in British army.

  • Thinking about joining the Army after I get out of Highschool to be an Abrams crewman.

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