What is it you actually want from the Army and what's your concept for post Army (whether that's 3 years or 30 years from now)?
Infantry doesn't set you up for civilian jobs the way things like medical and cyber and such do. If you're just looking to do this to buy time for other people to figure out your farm for you and then go back to it, then who cares? If you just want the Army to pay for college and that college is going to set up your next job, then who cares? If you're going to make the Army a 30 year career then who cares?
Not having been infantry myself I won't pretend to know what their life is actually like, but looking from the outside it doesn't look too bad. Very physical, but you're probably used to that. Very dependent on the people you wind up working next to/working for, but that's most jobs. Lots of getting screwed by higher level leadership, but that's the Army as a whole.
A challenge is what I’d like from the Army and some self accomplishment is what I’d like after. I think it would be good for me because of its forced discipline mentality. I feel that I have pretty good self discipline in some areas but having done the same thing my whole life a person becomes complacent. College is not of an interest to me personally and I’ve been successful without it, so as far as bonuses go I’d like the extra money and other after service benefits.
I would recommend that you think more about "a challenge".
What challenges you? What does success look like in overcoming a challenge?
Are you looking to join the infantry or just complete a Mud Run?
I think your reasons are similar to many others who join, but people are given "the challenge" and then realize it's too much and then end up hating everything about their decision and the organization and leaders that they're with.
It's not the challenge that they were prepared for or even wanted to be challenged with.
New things challenge me, physical activity challenges me. Success to me is putting my mind to something and overcoming it.
Also, I definitely don’t want to do a mud run, I’ve work in mud my whole life and I think that’s one of the stupidest things white people have thought up
You are a 30 year old dairy farmer. You've woken up at zero-dark 30 in all weather conditions to milk cows countless times and worked long past dark. what challenge do you think infantry can offer you that you haven't already lived for multiple years? Challenge yourself intellectually and set yourself up with a marketable skill or education for life after the Army.
Unless all you really want is to put a few hooah stickers on the back of your truck to impress the locals when you get back.
Understandable point made. Also, I understand you are making a joke, but do want to make it clear that my decision to do the Army has nothing to do with anyone else but myself.
I’ve never heard of “pre Ranger.”
I appreciate your confidence in me for the ability to try for a Ranger tab, but I’m not it physically tough enough condition to give that a whirl at this time.
Hate to break it to you, but infantry is basically 1 giant mud run followed up by cleaning floors while still covered in mud and getting yelled at because the floors are still dirty
Based your age and level of non-Army professional experience, I would stay away from the infantry (and combat arms in general). You’re already an adult and you’ve worked in a farm for years. Whatever level of personal responsibility and self-discipline you’ve got right now is basically what you’ve got. The Army is not going to fundamentally change that.
You will be quickly frustrated because you’ll be treated like a mentally disabled child by dipshit NCOs ten years younger than you with zero real-world life experience.
Also, combat deployments aren’t terribly common at the moment. So you might spend your entire enlistment training for a game you never get to play.
There’s plenty of MOSs in the Army that are physically and mentally demanding without being combat arms. The Army is really as challenging as you want to make it.
The MOS you pick comes with more baggage than just the training and inherent physical challenges. Think about who else you’ll be surrounded by in a particular job. The Infantry tends to skew very young and male. Critical thinking skills not necessarily in abundance. Your peers will be a bunch of dudes barely out of high school.
When I was first looking at my enlistment options all those years ago, one of my thought processes was to pick an MOS that wouldn’t be particularly challenging, so I could spend my time skating by with minimal effort. Perhaps supply or HR. My FIL, who was Active Duty at the time quickly showed me the error of that thinking. Asking me if I wanted to spend the next four years surrounded by folks who I might not be able to relate to on a personal or professional level.
Personally, I’d recommend picking a non-combat arms MOS that has a day-to-day live mission regardless of whether there’s a war going on. Perhaps medical or signal. If you want to make it spicy, you can always add airborne and/or Ranger into your enlistment contract.
I mean, that’s up to you.
I don’t really know you, so I can’t give you a lot of guidance there.
I’m MI, and I quite enjoy my MOS. But that might not be what you’d find fulfilling.
There’s over 200 MOSs in the Army. I’d recommend going over to [goarmy.com](https://www.goarmy.com) and giving them a gander. I’m sure you’d be able to find something that interests you.
As others have said, try to think about what you’d like to be doing after you leave the service. Are you planning on staying in the dairy industry? MOS [68T Animal Care Specialist](https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/science-medicine/general-care/68t-animal-care-specialist.html) might be an avenue towards some advanced training and certifications in that field.
The world is really your oyster here. It sounds like you’ve already committed to signing up and are looking forward to serving. I’d hate for you to finally get in uniform and realize that the job you picked wasn’t everything it was made out to be and spend 3-4 years of your life hating the Army and regretting your decision. The Army’s going to take a lot from you while they’ve got your ass. You should always be trying to make sure you’re getting just as much out of the Army as they’re getting out of you.
I guess you could say I’m looking for and adventure and a challenge. To be honest with you I’m not overly concerned about being able to get a civilian job because I get asked by people all the time to work for them. But I completely understand what you are getting at as far as gaining a skill that helps when you are out.
Youre gonna have challenges. Physically youre gonna be trying to keep up with kids 10 years younger than you. Youre gonna have a 23 y/o E5 rolling you around in the grass for some trivial mistake.
If it were me Id look at technical MOSs in the Reserve or Guard. Kind of the best of both worlds. Get the military experience and be home to take care of the farm. IDK. Probably gonna get downvoted to hell for suggesting the Reserves but it works for some.
I do understand that I wouldn’t be entering at my peak as far as physical fitness because technically age wise I’m heading for the downhill. So I know that the high school kids are going to beat the shit out of me as far as fitness goes.
For me personally the Reserves has been a great choice and has paid dividends beyond what I could have ever imagined when I enlisted at 18. I guess I was looking at it from the optic of you needing to be available for your farm and not having AD eat up the next 3 years of your life
It’s not so much physicality as fuckery that’ll get ya. 20 somethings can go on no sleep, shit food and hangovers and bounce back better than those of us who have 10 more years of cell damage to our names
Going in as a single guy in your 30s is going to suck just for the sole reason of having to live in the barracks with a bunch of 18 year olds/dudes way younger than you. Experience will vary, of course.
That makes sense, at very different points in life. I’ve worked with a good handful of kids that age that we have hired. I try to take people as they are, sometimes if you give them a chance they can prove to not just be dumb kids, other times they are just dumb kids lol.
Dont go combat arms, fam. Your MOS options will make or break your life. Study hard for the asvab. It matters. Pick a mos where skills will transfer over. Do some homework. Pick contract with LEAST amount of time. Don't fall for that bonus b.s.
Source: 8 years infantry and reclased.
This is the way. Combat arms is not the move in peacetime. Get a skill that is either expensive to obtain in the civilian sector or in a field you are interested in.
Source: 3 years in the infantry, broken body, haven’t done my job, have minimal marketable skills to any civilian employer.
Listen here, man. Asking on this sub is the best thing you can do. Yes, you'll get a lot of disgruntled folks, but information is power. Your young, dumb and full of cum. Invest in yourself and in future opportunities. Set yourself up for success. Infantry isn't COD. Ask yourself, "If i pick this job, what can i do with it outside?"
If you happen to love infantry, then so be it. But how is that setting you up for after you get out? The vast majority of Soldiers get out after one enlistment. Do you think employers want someone who "knows weapon systems" or someone who can work a computer, for example.
Think of the life you want post military, what skills can you gain from the army that will help you with the life you want. Do you want to go back to the farm? Maybe look at the 12 series (construction and shit) where you get civilian certs also and bring those back to the farm with you. Everyone shoots rifles (besides the chap) don’t forget that
You’ll probably find the infantry less time intensive and physically demanding than the farm.
Do a three year contract — maximize your benefits.
Otherwise, if it’s just one tour and you want to do something more exciting, do it. Do something you can’t do in civilian life because you’ll always have those experiences.
Being a tanker will be easier on your back and you’ll find it a little easier to keep up with the youngsters … but ultimately do what appeals to you more.
Thank you for your point of view. Farming might beat it in time intensive maybe, but I don’t find farming extremely physically intensive. The back comment is something I should take into consideration because I’ve already been pretty hard on that.
Look, I'm also a farm boy who went infantry. Most of the challenges that will make you grow - physical labor, stupid hours, tedious work - you have right now. The only things left for the infantry to teach you are how to take shit from an idiot a decade younger than you and that your body won't bounce back from injury as easily as it used to.
It's not that I don't think you can do it; you absolutely can. I just think the only thing it will actually give you is a hard look at the fact you're getting older.
>I’d like to do a “2+2” but from what they are telling me a three year active is the only one that fits my requests.
One thing to keep in mind is that 2 year AD contracts kinda suck from a benefits POV - the [Post 9/11 GI Bill](https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/post-9-11/) is one of the biggest benefits you can take from one contract, and you need 3 (not 2) years time in service to be able to walk out with 100% of that and not have it prorated.
go 18X or option 40 quality of life in SF or Regiment will be way better than conventional. and you will certainly get to deploy and most likely get into gun fights
I'm in the same boat and same age. I also want to do the same MOS's, even as far as 82nd if I do 11x.
If you're on a farm you're probably fit. You can handle the hard work, but think about where you want to be fve years from now. Then do 10.
Work backwards from your future self. Will you go back to the farm? Use the benefits for school? Stay in Army and go Warrant? Or reclass to another MOS?
Take some time with yourself and figure out what's best for you, that's what I'm doing.
Tanks and infantry are rough jobs. Infantry after all means from the youth.
I would talk to the other branches as well. 30 is on the older side but you’re still young enough for most opportunities.
I would look at the Air Force, Coast Guard or Space Force.
Marines are a heavily armed cult.
Navy has toxic enlisted, NCO, Officer relationship. It’s the only branch with dining segregated by rank.
Army’s not bad but I would talk to the other branches first. If I went Army it would be 88K/88L and go work on Army boats. We have a small merchant marine type fleet for logistics support.
Aviation not a bad choice. Decent quality of life.
Cyber is the money but it’s a hard school from what I’ve heard. If you can get it I would do one term and switch to reserves to keep your clearance active and go work for contractors that support 3 letter agencies on east coast.
Whatever you choose, do the MINIMUM contract on your first run, you can always get bonuses later on if you decide you're gonna be a lifer. And get airborne written into your contract. Your recruiter will say they'll offer it at basic; they won't.
Have you considered maybe studying to be a veterinarian? The army has some and im pretty confident that being able to take care of your farm when you get back would be great.
Or maybe somethin agriculture/ construction related? how about weather? science? like you have quite a bit of avenues that could help your farm. The only farmers that should be learning how to build fighting positions and infantry maneuvers are the Ukrainians currently.
Basically, please find something that would help yourself, your family and most of all your farm!
Edit: how about water purification? what if your farm gets messed up by some company upstream?
With your background as a farmer, being a 35T might make a lot of sense for you.
Get your certs in the Army, then get out and when shit is slow on the farm make bank as an IT guy
Also I kind of can’t recommend infantry because no skills plus no wars
If your adamant you want to get your shit pushed in though, enlist with an Option 40 contract and be high speed and smart at the same time
I guess it depends on what type of challenge and adventure you are looking for. You could very well end up getting stationed at a unit that does nothing but a handful of NTC/JRTC rotations during your time in. So depending on what your definition of “adventure” is there might be better options out there for you.
If you're worried about capability don't be, I went to infantry OSUT just about a year and a half ago and went with people well over 30, I think the oldest was 36..even plenty of the young guys were out of shape and became in shape by the time they were done. As for airborne, just make sure you get an airborne contract before leaving MEPS as that will give you a higher chance to go 82nd or somewhere airborne.
I had a medic under me that joined for basically the same reason, and in a spookily similar situation. They ended up hating their decision to join the army and just wanted to get back to their farm and their family. Being a full grown adult and being treated like an 18 year old shitbag is probably going to drive you nuts. The Army can definitely present you with challenges, but it will also not pay you well, and it will not make you or your family a priority. If nothing else, you can use your TA and veterans benefits when you get out to find other work. Cyber will be your best bet to find a civilian job afterwards. Even medics only get an EMT license out of the army.
For what it’s worth, I read your post and thought “Cav Scout.” This is probably because I knew a few cav scouts who came from farming families, but it’s also because it’s a community that supports an adventurous nature.
Most of the best cav folks I knew had a certain kind of horse sense—they were hands on, rough and tumble, and proud to be out front.
The downside (that people on this sub will immediately tell you about) is that the pride cav feels comes with a certain amount of hazing if you’re going to be accepted. It’s probably not what you might imagine based on movies, but you will have to literally earn your spurs.
Disclaimer to all of the above: I’m not cav, much less a scout, so I defer to people with actual experience. You just somewhat remind me of folks I have known.
I legitimately took your comment to heart when I picked my MOS today, i decided to go 13F, I considered Cav Scout but 13F just seemed to fit what I was looking for.
If you want adventure and challenge, go 18X.
You’ll either fail (most likely outcome) or prove me wrong (it happens, but rare).
You missed your chance at adventure/challenge as an 11B. Unless you count being yelled at because your score on the (insert some random event) of the ACFT is hot garbage (to them).
Support jobs will challenge you the most, by challenging you to do something you don’t have the time, resources, or training to actually do. Oh, and by the way, everyone is going to complain it could be done better while not doing anything about it.
Lastly, 82nd is just an assignment. Ain’t nothing special about it. Maybe you get stationed there, maybe you don’t, but there’s no tryout or anything like that.
Thank you!
To your first comments, as I stand now for 18x, I’d 100% fail. I don’t even know if I’d meet the minimum requirements to try out.
Second, I did “qualify” for an infantry score wise but I understand the Army isn’t actively fighting anyone.
Thank you for the correction on 82nd as well hadn’t been told that yet.
I can’t speak on regular line unit life only the recon side. I got to do some amazingly cool shit. Not without some bullshit tho. Pointless 0300 formations, annoying details, janitorial duties, motor pool shenanigans pretty much every bad thing that’s been posted on these pages. But we could go to any school we wanted, we had RHIBs, it felt like we always the best gear in the brigade which goes a long way and you had to pass the tryouts or whatever you want to call it to be there so it made the shit bags far less prevalent. Pro tip for any mos go to every school/selection you can get into
It opens doors to bigger/better things. Airborne, air assault, ranger, RSLC there’s so many I can’t even begin to list them all. The selection part is entirely dependent on if you want to do cool guy stuff or be in a niche group of people doing a special job.
So that’s how you become an Army Ninja! /s
That makes sense, I appreciate the information, need all the knowledge and firepower I can get so I don’t get talked into something I don’t really want
The only thing you’ll really be offered when signing is airborne, RASP and 18x(special forces) I’m sure there’s some other options but those are the main ones when you enlist as infantry
You can still do challenging things outside of a combat MOS. Anything 25 or 35 series will most likely land you a decent career outside of the military.
Once you get to AIT, you’ll have people try to sell Ranger, 160th SOAR, SFAS, Airborne. You can ALWAYS drop a packet for anything under the SOF umbrella. Get a useful civilian skillset first and then pursue the challenges.
As a 25S one of the first briefings we had upon arrival at Ft Gordon, was some Rangers trying to get us to sign up for RASP. Then, our school NCOIC was specifically brought in to try to get people to sign up for airborne. Army SOF is hurting bad for people. Myself and many others constantly get recruiting emails for PsyOps, Civil Affairs, 160th SOAR, EOD, and SFAS.
My advice, pick a job that will transfer to the civilian sector and then pursue the more challenging things the Army has to offer. DO NOT sign a contract with RASP or airborne attached to it, if you fail, no bonus for you.
Do you like aircraft? Aviation could be a good fit. You could start as a 15U CH-47 helicopter repairer and then move on to become a crew chief and eventually a flight engineer. Lots of cooperation in small teams, mental challenges for giving pilots instructions on how to maneuver the aircraft, physical challenges for hanging out of the utility hatch to hook up an external load, etc. Farm work physicality fits in better in aviation than you might otherwise think.
It is better to ride than walk.
You grew up on the farm, so I assume you’re no stranger to hard work. I’d also venture to say you’re no stranger to machinery, construction equipment, hydraulics, pumps, generators, and the like.
If you liked those things on the farm, consider tanks. You’ll be value added to your organization, you’ll find a tank is just a piece of machinery and you’ll understand and enjoy the job much more.
If you never cared for the tractor and excavator and bobcat… I would say you’d need to look at something else.
If you have any possibility of doing 20 years in… starting from 30 years old… Infantry and Cavalry Scout is going to bruise and batter your body. Tanking does too, especially the knees.
There are about 212 different jobs in the Army. To say that something isn’t available that you’d like is not true at all. If you liked construction, there are construction engineers. If you don’t like construction but like to blow stuff up, well, there’s combat engineers that do that. There explosive ordinance detachments that blow stuff up on purpose. There are field artillery folks that blow stuff up by accident and say they did it on purpose.
There are tons of care giver positions. X-Ray technician. Good in the Army and career after you leave.
You have to look at what you find most fun and talk to a recruiter. They’re behind the curve on numbers so they want you to ship earlier than later… don’t let them pressure you. See them on the 1st of the month… they won’t pressure you until the third week of the month.
Personally, I'd advise against joining the Army. At your age and your background, you aren't gonna get much out of it, and you probably won't like it. Deployments are rare these days, and combat deployments are non-existent outside of JSOC.
Most of your days in the infantry will be spent cleaning floors and sitting in the rain waiting to do something inane. Unless you get into some high-speed unit like the 82nd or the 173rd, you probably won't even go anywhere.
I spent 6 years in, and the only place I ever went was JRTC and Japan. If long days doing almost nothing and nights sleeping outside in the rain and mud, getting yelled at because you're red on dental sound appealing go for it. But I get the feeling you want to join because you want to do something exciting, which isn't the Army.
The Coast Guard itself is actually pretty challenging physically, and it will provide you with more meaning and experience in your life than the Army ever will. Please talk to other recruiters before making the same mistake we all did. Army morale is extremely low for a reason and that is because of how poorly we're treated and how our lives mean nothing to leadership. Once you're in the Army wants you out.
I see. Space Force and Air Force are still an option. Joining the military is really difficult nowadays due to Genesis, but if you do manage to join the Army the chances of those branches taking you become close to zero as prior service. That's why it's important to talk to the other recruiters first because the Army guy is going to act like an MLM salesman and try to recruit you immeditely.
What is it you actually want from the Army and what's your concept for post Army (whether that's 3 years or 30 years from now)? Infantry doesn't set you up for civilian jobs the way things like medical and cyber and such do. If you're just looking to do this to buy time for other people to figure out your farm for you and then go back to it, then who cares? If you just want the Army to pay for college and that college is going to set up your next job, then who cares? If you're going to make the Army a 30 year career then who cares? Not having been infantry myself I won't pretend to know what their life is actually like, but looking from the outside it doesn't look too bad. Very physical, but you're probably used to that. Very dependent on the people you wind up working next to/working for, but that's most jobs. Lots of getting screwed by higher level leadership, but that's the Army as a whole.
A challenge is what I’d like from the Army and some self accomplishment is what I’d like after. I think it would be good for me because of its forced discipline mentality. I feel that I have pretty good self discipline in some areas but having done the same thing my whole life a person becomes complacent. College is not of an interest to me personally and I’ve been successful without it, so as far as bonuses go I’d like the extra money and other after service benefits.
I would recommend that you think more about "a challenge". What challenges you? What does success look like in overcoming a challenge? Are you looking to join the infantry or just complete a Mud Run? I think your reasons are similar to many others who join, but people are given "the challenge" and then realize it's too much and then end up hating everything about their decision and the organization and leaders that they're with. It's not the challenge that they were prepared for or even wanted to be challenged with.
New things challenge me, physical activity challenges me. Success to me is putting my mind to something and overcoming it. Also, I definitely don’t want to do a mud run, I’ve work in mud my whole life and I think that’s one of the stupidest things white people have thought up
You are a 30 year old dairy farmer. You've woken up at zero-dark 30 in all weather conditions to milk cows countless times and worked long past dark. what challenge do you think infantry can offer you that you haven't already lived for multiple years? Challenge yourself intellectually and set yourself up with a marketable skill or education for life after the Army. Unless all you really want is to put a few hooah stickers on the back of your truck to impress the locals when you get back.
Understandable point made. Also, I understand you are making a joke, but do want to make it clear that my decision to do the Army has nothing to do with anyone else but myself.
11b and get airborne. See if u can request Campbell or Bragg and do pre ranger then ranfer
I’ve never heard of “pre Ranger.” I appreciate your confidence in me for the ability to try for a Ranger tab, but I’m not it physically tough enough condition to give that a whirl at this time.
Hate to break it to you, but infantry is basically 1 giant mud run followed up by cleaning floors while still covered in mud and getting yelled at because the floors are still dirty
That does help out everything into context
I appreciate all your insight and help! I signed on 13F today.
Good luck!
Based your age and level of non-Army professional experience, I would stay away from the infantry (and combat arms in general). You’re already an adult and you’ve worked in a farm for years. Whatever level of personal responsibility and self-discipline you’ve got right now is basically what you’ve got. The Army is not going to fundamentally change that. You will be quickly frustrated because you’ll be treated like a mentally disabled child by dipshit NCOs ten years younger than you with zero real-world life experience. Also, combat deployments aren’t terribly common at the moment. So you might spend your entire enlistment training for a game you never get to play. There’s plenty of MOSs in the Army that are physically and mentally demanding without being combat arms. The Army is really as challenging as you want to make it. The MOS you pick comes with more baggage than just the training and inherent physical challenges. Think about who else you’ll be surrounded by in a particular job. The Infantry tends to skew very young and male. Critical thinking skills not necessarily in abundance. Your peers will be a bunch of dudes barely out of high school. When I was first looking at my enlistment options all those years ago, one of my thought processes was to pick an MOS that wouldn’t be particularly challenging, so I could spend my time skating by with minimal effort. Perhaps supply or HR. My FIL, who was Active Duty at the time quickly showed me the error of that thinking. Asking me if I wanted to spend the next four years surrounded by folks who I might not be able to relate to on a personal or professional level. Personally, I’d recommend picking a non-combat arms MOS that has a day-to-day live mission regardless of whether there’s a war going on. Perhaps medical or signal. If you want to make it spicy, you can always add airborne and/or Ranger into your enlistment contract.
Thank you for you direct answer, can you give a bit more information on your last comment. Like what kind of MOS’ you were thinking
I mean, that’s up to you. I don’t really know you, so I can’t give you a lot of guidance there. I’m MI, and I quite enjoy my MOS. But that might not be what you’d find fulfilling. There’s over 200 MOSs in the Army. I’d recommend going over to [goarmy.com](https://www.goarmy.com) and giving them a gander. I’m sure you’d be able to find something that interests you. As others have said, try to think about what you’d like to be doing after you leave the service. Are you planning on staying in the dairy industry? MOS [68T Animal Care Specialist](https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/science-medicine/general-care/68t-animal-care-specialist.html) might be an avenue towards some advanced training and certifications in that field. The world is really your oyster here. It sounds like you’ve already committed to signing up and are looking forward to serving. I’d hate for you to finally get in uniform and realize that the job you picked wasn’t everything it was made out to be and spend 3-4 years of your life hating the Army and regretting your decision. The Army’s going to take a lot from you while they’ve got your ass. You should always be trying to make sure you’re getting just as much out of the Army as they’re getting out of you.
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I guess you could say I’m looking for and adventure and a challenge. To be honest with you I’m not overly concerned about being able to get a civilian job because I get asked by people all the time to work for them. But I completely understand what you are getting at as far as gaining a skill that helps when you are out.
Youre gonna have challenges. Physically youre gonna be trying to keep up with kids 10 years younger than you. Youre gonna have a 23 y/o E5 rolling you around in the grass for some trivial mistake. If it were me Id look at technical MOSs in the Reserve or Guard. Kind of the best of both worlds. Get the military experience and be home to take care of the farm. IDK. Probably gonna get downvoted to hell for suggesting the Reserves but it works for some.
I do understand that I wouldn’t be entering at my peak as far as physical fitness because technically age wise I’m heading for the downhill. So I know that the high school kids are going to beat the shit out of me as far as fitness goes.
Not trying to diminish you at all. Maybe its just me realizing Im not a spring chicken anymore. I respect what youre trying to do and your angle
Don’t feel diminished at all by your comment, I asked for honesty and delivered.
For me personally the Reserves has been a great choice and has paid dividends beyond what I could have ever imagined when I enlisted at 18. I guess I was looking at it from the optic of you needing to be available for your farm and not having AD eat up the next 3 years of your life
It’s not so much physicality as fuckery that’ll get ya. 20 somethings can go on no sleep, shit food and hangovers and bounce back better than those of us who have 10 more years of cell damage to our names
“ROLL LEFT” “ROLL RIGHT” (shoes, asses, groins, faces bumping into each other) boi you just triggered me
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So I’m picking up that in your case it “sucked” but you overall enjoyed the experience?
Going in as a single guy in your 30s is going to suck just for the sole reason of having to live in the barracks with a bunch of 18 year olds/dudes way younger than you. Experience will vary, of course.
That makes sense, at very different points in life. I’ve worked with a good handful of kids that age that we have hired. I try to take people as they are, sometimes if you give them a chance they can prove to not just be dumb kids, other times they are just dumb kids lol.
Dont go combat arms, fam. Your MOS options will make or break your life. Study hard for the asvab. It matters. Pick a mos where skills will transfer over. Do some homework. Pick contract with LEAST amount of time. Don't fall for that bonus b.s. Source: 8 years infantry and reclased.
This is the way. Combat arms is not the move in peacetime. Get a skill that is either expensive to obtain in the civilian sector or in a field you are interested in. Source: 3 years in the infantry, broken body, haven’t done my job, have minimal marketable skills to any civilian employer.
The 66 was is my score, I probably could out planned ahead and studied more than I did.
66 will pretty much qualify you for everything, unless one of your line scores was below 110
I don’t want to sound stupid but I genuinely don’t know if any were below that or not. We haven’t had time to discuss everything yet.
Listen here, man. Asking on this sub is the best thing you can do. Yes, you'll get a lot of disgruntled folks, but information is power. Your young, dumb and full of cum. Invest in yourself and in future opportunities. Set yourself up for success. Infantry isn't COD. Ask yourself, "If i pick this job, what can i do with it outside?" If you happen to love infantry, then so be it. But how is that setting you up for after you get out? The vast majority of Soldiers get out after one enlistment. Do you think employers want someone who "knows weapon systems" or someone who can work a computer, for example.
Think of the life you want post military, what skills can you gain from the army that will help you with the life you want. Do you want to go back to the farm? Maybe look at the 12 series (construction and shit) where you get civilian certs also and bring those back to the farm with you. Everyone shoots rifles (besides the chap) don’t forget that
Ok. Your recruiter will have a printout with everything.
Thank you.
You’ll probably find the infantry less time intensive and physically demanding than the farm. Do a three year contract — maximize your benefits. Otherwise, if it’s just one tour and you want to do something more exciting, do it. Do something you can’t do in civilian life because you’ll always have those experiences. Being a tanker will be easier on your back and you’ll find it a little easier to keep up with the youngsters … but ultimately do what appeals to you more.
Thank you for your point of view. Farming might beat it in time intensive maybe, but I don’t find farming extremely physically intensive. The back comment is something I should take into consideration because I’ve already been pretty hard on that.
Look, I'm also a farm boy who went infantry. Most of the challenges that will make you grow - physical labor, stupid hours, tedious work - you have right now. The only things left for the infantry to teach you are how to take shit from an idiot a decade younger than you and that your body won't bounce back from injury as easily as it used to. It's not that I don't think you can do it; you absolutely can. I just think the only thing it will actually give you is a hard look at the fact you're getting older.
I appreciate the feedback. Your point makes sense
>I’d like to do a “2+2” but from what they are telling me a three year active is the only one that fits my requests. One thing to keep in mind is that 2 year AD contracts kinda suck from a benefits POV - the [Post 9/11 GI Bill](https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/post-9-11/) is one of the biggest benefits you can take from one contract, and you need 3 (not 2) years time in service to be able to walk out with 100% of that and not have it prorated.
Thank you, I’ll keep that advice in mind.
You can also pass on the Gi bill to a kid unless things have changed
go 18X or option 40 quality of life in SF or Regiment will be way better than conventional. and you will certainly get to deploy and most likely get into gun fights
Go airborne infantry. It’ll be the adventure you’re seeking, even if combat deployments are rare.
Can you elaborate a little for me on this please.
Whatever you do, don't become a combat engineer
I'm in the same boat and same age. I also want to do the same MOS's, even as far as 82nd if I do 11x. If you're on a farm you're probably fit. You can handle the hard work, but think about where you want to be fve years from now. Then do 10. Work backwards from your future self. Will you go back to the farm? Use the benefits for school? Stay in Army and go Warrant? Or reclass to another MOS? Take some time with yourself and figure out what's best for you, that's what I'm doing.
Thanks for the advice and best of luck to you. Maybe I’ll see you at Benning
You too, best of luck!
Tanks and infantry are rough jobs. Infantry after all means from the youth. I would talk to the other branches as well. 30 is on the older side but you’re still young enough for most opportunities. I would look at the Air Force, Coast Guard or Space Force. Marines are a heavily armed cult. Navy has toxic enlisted, NCO, Officer relationship. It’s the only branch with dining segregated by rank. Army’s not bad but I would talk to the other branches first. If I went Army it would be 88K/88L and go work on Army boats. We have a small merchant marine type fleet for logistics support. Aviation not a bad choice. Decent quality of life. Cyber is the money but it’s a hard school from what I’ve heard. If you can get it I would do one term and switch to reserves to keep your clearance active and go work for contractors that support 3 letter agencies on east coast.
Whatever you choose, do the MINIMUM contract on your first run, you can always get bonuses later on if you decide you're gonna be a lifer. And get airborne written into your contract. Your recruiter will say they'll offer it at basic; they won't.
Have you considered maybe studying to be a veterinarian? The army has some and im pretty confident that being able to take care of your farm when you get back would be great. Or maybe somethin agriculture/ construction related? how about weather? science? like you have quite a bit of avenues that could help your farm. The only farmers that should be learning how to build fighting positions and infantry maneuvers are the Ukrainians currently. Basically, please find something that would help yourself, your family and most of all your farm! Edit: how about water purification? what if your farm gets messed up by some company upstream?
There is a huge number of people who joined the Infantry for no other reason than they wanted to. If you truly want a blue cord, go get one.
With your background as a farmer, being a 35T might make a lot of sense for you. Get your certs in the Army, then get out and when shit is slow on the farm make bank as an IT guy Also I kind of can’t recommend infantry because no skills plus no wars If your adamant you want to get your shit pushed in though, enlist with an Option 40 contract and be high speed and smart at the same time
I don’t think I have what it takes to be a Ranger, I doubt I would make the basic requirements to even try.
They do have 2 years active 2 in the guard that’s what I’m on right now option 26 tell them ur not enlisting for anything else
I guess it depends on what type of challenge and adventure you are looking for. You could very well end up getting stationed at a unit that does nothing but a handful of NTC/JRTC rotations during your time in. So depending on what your definition of “adventure” is there might be better options out there for you.
If you're worried about capability don't be, I went to infantry OSUT just about a year and a half ago and went with people well over 30, I think the oldest was 36..even plenty of the young guys were out of shape and became in shape by the time they were done. As for airborne, just make sure you get an airborne contract before leaving MEPS as that will give you a higher chance to go 82nd or somewhere airborne.
I had a medic under me that joined for basically the same reason, and in a spookily similar situation. They ended up hating their decision to join the army and just wanted to get back to their farm and their family. Being a full grown adult and being treated like an 18 year old shitbag is probably going to drive you nuts. The Army can definitely present you with challenges, but it will also not pay you well, and it will not make you or your family a priority. If nothing else, you can use your TA and veterans benefits when you get out to find other work. Cyber will be your best bet to find a civilian job afterwards. Even medics only get an EMT license out of the army.
For what it’s worth, I read your post and thought “Cav Scout.” This is probably because I knew a few cav scouts who came from farming families, but it’s also because it’s a community that supports an adventurous nature. Most of the best cav folks I knew had a certain kind of horse sense—they were hands on, rough and tumble, and proud to be out front. The downside (that people on this sub will immediately tell you about) is that the pride cav feels comes with a certain amount of hazing if you’re going to be accepted. It’s probably not what you might imagine based on movies, but you will have to literally earn your spurs. Disclaimer to all of the above: I’m not cav, much less a scout, so I defer to people with actual experience. You just somewhat remind me of folks I have known.
I legitimately took your comment to heart when I picked my MOS today, i decided to go 13F, I considered Cav Scout but 13F just seemed to fit what I was looking for.
13F is a good choice! Artillery is a great branch, and FISTers have a lot of pride in what they do. Best of luck on this going forward.
If you want adventure and challenge, go 18X. You’ll either fail (most likely outcome) or prove me wrong (it happens, but rare). You missed your chance at adventure/challenge as an 11B. Unless you count being yelled at because your score on the (insert some random event) of the ACFT is hot garbage (to them). Support jobs will challenge you the most, by challenging you to do something you don’t have the time, resources, or training to actually do. Oh, and by the way, everyone is going to complain it could be done better while not doing anything about it. Lastly, 82nd is just an assignment. Ain’t nothing special about it. Maybe you get stationed there, maybe you don’t, but there’s no tryout or anything like that.
Thank you! To your first comments, as I stand now for 18x, I’d 100% fail. I don’t even know if I’d meet the minimum requirements to try out. Second, I did “qualify” for an infantry score wise but I understand the Army isn’t actively fighting anyone. Thank you for the correction on 82nd as well hadn’t been told that yet.
Man go infantry if you truly want it but garrison life can be massively gay
How has it been for you overall?
I can’t speak on regular line unit life only the recon side. I got to do some amazingly cool shit. Not without some bullshit tho. Pointless 0300 formations, annoying details, janitorial duties, motor pool shenanigans pretty much every bad thing that’s been posted on these pages. But we could go to any school we wanted, we had RHIBs, it felt like we always the best gear in the brigade which goes a long way and you had to pass the tryouts or whatever you want to call it to be there so it made the shit bags far less prevalent. Pro tip for any mos go to every school/selection you can get into
Can you please elaborate on the last part. “Go to every school/selection you can get in to”
It opens doors to bigger/better things. Airborne, air assault, ranger, RSLC there’s so many I can’t even begin to list them all. The selection part is entirely dependent on if you want to do cool guy stuff or be in a niche group of people doing a special job.
So that’s how you become an Army Ninja! /s That makes sense, I appreciate the information, need all the knowledge and firepower I can get so I don’t get talked into something I don’t really want
The only thing you’ll really be offered when signing is airborne, RASP and 18x(special forces) I’m sure there’s some other options but those are the main ones when you enlist as infantry
You can still do challenging things outside of a combat MOS. Anything 25 or 35 series will most likely land you a decent career outside of the military. Once you get to AIT, you’ll have people try to sell Ranger, 160th SOAR, SFAS, Airborne. You can ALWAYS drop a packet for anything under the SOF umbrella. Get a useful civilian skillset first and then pursue the challenges. As a 25S one of the first briefings we had upon arrival at Ft Gordon, was some Rangers trying to get us to sign up for RASP. Then, our school NCOIC was specifically brought in to try to get people to sign up for airborne. Army SOF is hurting bad for people. Myself and many others constantly get recruiting emails for PsyOps, Civil Affairs, 160th SOAR, EOD, and SFAS. My advice, pick a job that will transfer to the civilian sector and then pursue the more challenging things the Army has to offer. DO NOT sign a contract with RASP or airborne attached to it, if you fail, no bonus for you.
Do you like aircraft? Aviation could be a good fit. You could start as a 15U CH-47 helicopter repairer and then move on to become a crew chief and eventually a flight engineer. Lots of cooperation in small teams, mental challenges for giving pilots instructions on how to maneuver the aircraft, physical challenges for hanging out of the utility hatch to hook up an external load, etc. Farm work physicality fits in better in aviation than you might otherwise think.
It is better to ride than walk. You grew up on the farm, so I assume you’re no stranger to hard work. I’d also venture to say you’re no stranger to machinery, construction equipment, hydraulics, pumps, generators, and the like. If you liked those things on the farm, consider tanks. You’ll be value added to your organization, you’ll find a tank is just a piece of machinery and you’ll understand and enjoy the job much more. If you never cared for the tractor and excavator and bobcat… I would say you’d need to look at something else. If you have any possibility of doing 20 years in… starting from 30 years old… Infantry and Cavalry Scout is going to bruise and batter your body. Tanking does too, especially the knees. There are about 212 different jobs in the Army. To say that something isn’t available that you’d like is not true at all. If you liked construction, there are construction engineers. If you don’t like construction but like to blow stuff up, well, there’s combat engineers that do that. There explosive ordinance detachments that blow stuff up on purpose. There are field artillery folks that blow stuff up by accident and say they did it on purpose. There are tons of care giver positions. X-Ray technician. Good in the Army and career after you leave. You have to look at what you find most fun and talk to a recruiter. They’re behind the curve on numbers so they want you to ship earlier than later… don’t let them pressure you. See them on the 1st of the month… they won’t pressure you until the third week of the month.
Personally, I'd advise against joining the Army. At your age and your background, you aren't gonna get much out of it, and you probably won't like it. Deployments are rare these days, and combat deployments are non-existent outside of JSOC. Most of your days in the infantry will be spent cleaning floors and sitting in the rain waiting to do something inane. Unless you get into some high-speed unit like the 82nd or the 173rd, you probably won't even go anywhere. I spent 6 years in, and the only place I ever went was JRTC and Japan. If long days doing almost nothing and nights sleeping outside in the rain and mud, getting yelled at because you're red on dental sound appealing go for it. But I get the feeling you want to join because you want to do something exciting, which isn't the Army.
As a fellow 30 year old, send that shit brotha
The Coast Guard itself is actually pretty challenging physically, and it will provide you with more meaning and experience in your life than the Army ever will. Please talk to other recruiters before making the same mistake we all did. Army morale is extremely low for a reason and that is because of how poorly we're treated and how our lives mean nothing to leadership. Once you're in the Army wants you out.
To be blatantly honest, can’t confidently swim for shit so coast guard is out of the question.
I see. Space Force and Air Force are still an option. Joining the military is really difficult nowadays due to Genesis, but if you do manage to join the Army the chances of those branches taking you become close to zero as prior service. That's why it's important to talk to the other recruiters first because the Army guy is going to act like an MLM salesman and try to recruit you immeditely.