Thinking about joining the military..

[Gomojoe]

There are plenty of folks who work on degrees while deployed. I am still waiting to see something beyond conjecture that the AF has more technical jobs, or is looked at more favorably by an employer? The Air Force has a pretty specific scope of operations compared to say the Army or Navy, but this mission, for the most part, is also covered by other branches, so many of the same "technical" jobs are spread throughout the DOD. Also, depending on the job, a USMC or Army infantry NCO or officer may have a very noticeable edge in the leadership department. Not every good job is purely technology based.

I am taking specific umbrage with this because after nearly 20 years, the my branch is better than yours crap gets old, and is NEVER backed up by actual facts. Each branch has a mission, and does it well. Also, each branch offers opportunities for those willing to look for them. Different folks are looking to get different things out of a military enlistment or career, and a given branch may or may not be able to fulfill that for them.



To the OP, I do not think anyone is offended, we are just making sure that you really evaluate your motivations. It is very true that 20% of your people cause 80% of your problems, and this is generally from folks who did not have their intentions and motivations sorted out before joining.

I am not saying one branch is better than another. What I am saying is that the branches ARE different than one another. I am positive that you could find someone who graduated from Phoenix online who is more successful than someone who graduated from MIT, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend that someone go to MIT versus Phoenix should they have the option. And I'm not saying other branches are Phoenix online. I am just saying stating a few possibilities doesn't change the reality of the situation. As far as a technical position vs a infantry position, I 100% agree that the infantry position probably has more leadership skills than the technical, but I don't know any employer who is going to hire someone with only infantry experience into a higher paid position(not that it couldn't happen). Because the Air Force specializes in Air it requires minimal people to run their equipment compared to the amount of people required to run, say a ship. They also don't provide significant ground forces like the army and the marines, so the bulk of what jobs the air force does have are either support positions or technical positions which translate to civilian life pretty well. Now my exception to the technical side is that if you are going to try and get an engineering position I think the navy has some really top notch stuff. Some of the best EEs I have worked with are out of the Navy. Having seen the way their training differs than the Air Forces in this field I can see why. Navy goes way more in depth. Anyway, just throwing out other things to consider. Another thing that is different between the branches is discipline. The Air Force is undeniably less disciplined. Enlisted can often be seen referring to officers on a first name basis and the chain of command, while outlined the same on paper as the other branches, is much more ethereal and relaxed. From my experience the navy is probably the most strict and therefore the Marines are very close as well.