best military branch for engineering--military pays for college

[t-maxxracer32]

wutsup guys.

some of you know that i am getting ready for my big college move and ive been thinking more and more about having to pay for my college and all that crap that comes with it.

couple weeks ago i thought about having some military branch pay for it.

i really dont know much about it except for they pay for the college then you are with them for 4-5 years after.

i dont think ill join the army or marines but possible the air force or navy.

honestly i do not want to be deployed. i have heard that certain branches, certain jobs will have a high % of not going out to fight.

i realize that with an engineering degree i wont be the front lines but i would still prefer not to have to leave. yes i am a pussy for thinking this but o well.

so wha do you guys think would be best for an engineer. computer or electrical probably.

anyone have any type of thoughts about this whole "pay for college" deal.?

any input would help out a lot!

thanks!

[_paralyzed_]

might have just pissed off some of the military guys. You want all the positives but none of the negatives. I understand what you're asking, but did you read what you wrote? I think you should just pay for college, and call it a life lesson.

[rabosi]

As a former air force recruit I'd say air force but I think navy would be a good option too except for the possibility of serving months at a time on a ship or sub. Also, I believe all the services have research facilities. If you were able to get into one of those it'd be very unlikely you would be anywhere close to combat.

[maxair45]

Some close family members of mine have been in the army for about three years(not exactally sure what branch) and have yet to be deployed. He is dealing with tanks and the computer systems on them. I write to him every now and then and he says he loves it and would reccomend it.

[JThiessen]

If I could go back and do it over again, I would go this route.

That being said, it is a commitment of the highest level. On one hand, I dont know if you have what it takes to make a commitment like this, but on the other hand, it may be the best thing that could happen to you. The military has made great men/leaders out of people who would otherwise have been some of societies lesser individuals.

From my understanding, if you go through college on a GI bill (ROTC), once you graduate you are put into the service as an officer, or at least into the officer training ranks. You do your grunt work on weekends/summers while you are in school. As far as being deployed, that is completely up to the military. You do not get a say in it one way or another. You do what is needed, no questions asked.

Get the specifics from one of your local recruiters.

[ssspconcepts]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

might have just pissed off some of the military guys. You want all the positives but none of the negatives. I understand what you're asking, but did you read what you wrote? I think you should just pay for college, and call it a life lesson.

Yeesh...I don't think I have ever seen anyone write something like that in public. You are dead right brother-no doubt it did piss off some of the former/current military guys. Somebody needs to study up on the Spartans or at least watch the movie 300. I spent six short years in the Marines and I did it because I wanted to serve...no other reason to join or even bothering to go to see a recruiter if you ask me. I will say this...I did also take advantage of the academic education benefits (I make a distinction by using "academic" because everyday in the service of the country was a practical learning experience). I ended up getting a BS and MA degree...I completed some academic classes while serving. The US Navy nuclear program probably has what he is looking for. Although...as others have already pointed out...it requires dedication and instant willingness to make the commitment.

Originally Posted by t-maxxracer32

wutsup guys.

some of you know that i am getting ready for my big college move and ive been thinking more and more about having to pay for my college and all that crap that comes with it.

couple weeks ago i thought about having some military branch pay for it.

i really dont know much about it except for they pay for the college then you are with them for 4-5 years after.

i dont think ill join the army or marines but possible the air force or navy.

honestly i do not want to be deployed. i have heard that certain branches, certain jobs will have a high % of not going out to fight.

i realize that with an engineering degree i wont be the front lines but i would still prefer not to have to leave. yes i am a pussy for thinking this but o well.

so wha do you guys think would be best for an engineer. computer or electrical probably.

anyone have any type of thoughts about this whole "pay for college" deal.?

any input would help out a lot!

thanks!

IMO if your are questioning yourself (calling yourself a pussy) the military probubly isnt the right choice for you. If you have a problem with being told what to do and being organized you will have a problem, I do believe the military is good in teaching leadership and team work. I have seen different employers like to hire former military....

Man, where to start. The military is a great way to pay for college, and there is lots of money to be made there, believe it or not.

You have a couple options. First is ROTC, second is Student Loan Repayment option, and third is Green to Gold.

First option, ROTC. The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is an entry level military program that will train you to lead soldiers on and off the field. As an officer you will learn to deal with things like logistics, personnel, and financial management, on top of the duties that you are trained it. You will spend 4 years in college as an ROTC student and when you graduate you are committed to four years in the military. As a 2LT (second lieutenant) you will be given control of a platoon, approximately 20-40 experienced soldiers who will work with you as you further your leadership abilities. You will also make about twice as much as them, and still get 100% health and dental along with $500K in life insurance. Many officers spend an long time in the service, and I will cover that at the end.

The second option is the Student Loan Repayment option. You enlist in the Military after you have completed college and you forgo an enlistment bonus to have the US Government pay off your student loans. You will again be obligated to four years of service, but after this you are free to leave.

Green to Gold is another option, however it will not cover your student loans. You will instead go from becoming an enlisted soldier to being an officer. You will have earned the respect of your fellow soldiers when you gain your commission. This will obligate you to at least an additional four years, after you have already served about four years. This doesn't really help cover your college costs, but you can use your GI bill to pay for your Green To Gold schooling.

If you are young, please listen to what I am about to say. I can make you rich by serving in the Army. I am 30 years old, and if someone had showed me this when I was your age, I would be a lot better off right now.

Lets say you go to college for 4 years. You come out with $50k in student loans. You enlist into the Army and get no signing bonus, but since you went to college you are an officer. A first year officer makes $2600 a month, before additional allotments are added in. So per month, just out of college you are making around $3k, for a total of $36 a year. Not bad, not great either. Now in order for this to work you need to do twenty years of service. I know that's a lot but you will be 42 years old (18+4yrs college+20 years Army=42) An officer that has been in for 20 years should be a Lt. Col or above by that time. Base pay for a LTC with 20 years in is, $8000 a month, plus additional allotments and inflation, figure around $10k per month in twenty years.

That comes out to $120k a year at 42 years old. Ask around, that is really good money.

Now get out of the Army. After twenty years in you get to retire with half your pay for the rest of your life. That is $60k a year, guaranteed, for the rest of your life, and that's not even including any 401k that you may have setup. You are 42 years old. Get another job for 20 years. You'll be 62 this time. You will retire again, and get a second retirement package. Lets say you were getting $60k before, plus $40k a year from your retirement package. You are now making $100K a year, retired earlier than all your friends.

$100k a year, retired. That is fantastic money. I can go on and on about the Army, as I am serving right now, but if you join, you will see the other perks firsthand. People will respect you. Friends will always be there for you. You will be a member of a time honored corp. This things are priceless. People literally kill for them, and you get them for free. All you have to do is give a little time to the country.

As for getting deployed, there is another long and glorious speech that goes with that, but I am late for lunch and a movie.

Seriously, think about what I said. Older adults, look at these numbers and tell this kid that this is a lot of money.

Originally Posted by FireWire79

Man, where to start. The military is a great way to pay for college, and there is lots of money to be made there, believe it or not.

You have a couple options. First is ROTC, second is Student Loan Repayment option, and third is Green to Gold.

First option, ROTC. The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is an entry level military program that will train you to lead soldiers on and off the field. As an officer you will learn to deal with things like logistics, personnel, and financial management, on top of the duties that you are trained it. You will spend 4 years in college as an ROTC student and when you graduate you are committed to four years in the military. As a 2LT (second lieutenant) you will be given control of a platoon, approximately 20-40 experienced soldiers who will work with you as you further your leadership abilities. You will also make about twice as much as them, and still get 100% health and dental along with $500K in life insurance. Many officers spend an long time in the service, and I will cover that at the end.

The second option is the Student Loan Repayment option. You enlist in the Military after you have completed college and you forgo an enlistment bonus to have the US Government pay off your student loans. You will again be obligated to four years of service, but after this you are free to leave.

Green to Gold is another option, however it will not cover your student loans. You will instead go from becoming an enlisted soldier to being an officer. You will have earned the respect of your fellow soldiers when you gain your commission. This will obligate you to at least an additional four years, after you have already served about four years. This doesn't really help cover your college costs, but you can use your GI bill to pay for your Green To Gold schooling.

If you are young, please listen to what I am about to say. I can make you rich by serving in the Army. I am 30 years old, and if someone had showed me this when I was your age, I would be a lot better off right now.

Lets say you go to college for 4 years. You come out with $50k in student loans. You enlist into the Army and get no signing bonus, but since you went to college you are an officer. A first year officer makes $2600 a month, before additional allotments are added in. So per month, just out of college you are making around $3k, for a total of $36 a year. Not bad, not great either. Now in order for this to work you need to do twenty years of service. I know that's a lot but you will be 42 years old (18+4yrs college+20 years Army=42) An officer that has been in for 20 years should be a Lt. Col or above by that time. Base pay for a LTC with 20 years in is, $8000 a month, plus additional allotments and inflation, figure around $10k per month in twenty years.

That comes out to $120k a year at 42 years old. Ask around, that is really good money.

Now get out of the Army. After twenty years in you get to retire with half your pay for the rest of your life. That is $60k a year, guaranteed, for the rest of your life, and that's not even including any 401k that you may have setup. You are 42 years old. Get another job for 20 years. You'll be 62 this time. You will retire again, and get a second retirement package. Lets say you were getting $60k before, plus $40k a year from your retirement package. You are now making $100K a year, retired earlier than all your friends.

$100k a year, retired. That is fantastic money. I can go on and on about the Army, as I am serving right now, but if you join, you will see the other perks firsthand. People will respect you. Friends will always be there for you. You will be a member of a time honored corp. This things are priceless. People literally kill for them, and you get them for free. All you have to do is give a little time to the country.

As for getting deployed, there is another long and glorious speech that goes with that, but I am late for lunch and a movie.

Seriously, think about what I said. Older adults, look at these numbers and tell this kid that this is a lot of money.

that does sound good.....and I do agree if that was explained to me like that when I was 18 I would have served...my boss is a former Marine, he was a gunny sergearnt and was offered early retirement after 16 yrs of service, and he started getting his monthly reirement checks as soon as he retired ($1600 a month)

[Gee]

We should kick the crap out of you Ryan. Not because you don't want to die on a front line somewhere in this world. Nobody wants to die, but for calling yourself a pussy. If the time came and you refused to serve. Then you would be a pussy you communist pig! The majority of the men and women in the military were all feeling the same as you before they joined up. I don't know how many joined because they want to be on the front line and increase the odds of death. I don't think you pissed off the amount of military personel as some think. I didn't read anything in there that said you wouldn't serve if you had to be deployed. I also didn't get the impression that you were expecting a hand out from the military. As you know the military isn't going to pay for your college. You are going to earn it.




Fireware79 almost had me walking out the door to go sign up. A little old now and they didn't approve of my juvinelle record the first time I tried. Turned out fine and still got to serve my country outside of the Military. You are are on the right track everyone needs to research all their options. Military can be very rewarding and I can't add anything to the above. I can say I have respect for those that have served thier country. Some good money can be made and that is a good retirement plan set up. I don't think you ever have to worry about getting layed off either.


On the other hand if you are just a momma's boy. The military will fix that. I've seen a few kids go in with little confidence and pussy mentality. All have them came out as men.

[jayjay283]

Firewire seems to know the deal, but heres my experience... 2 of my friends went in to the military right out of high school. 1 went in the army for 2 years and learned GPS on tanks or something and got $25K from the GI bill and had to work a bit but Graduated from ASU. My other buddy went into the Marines for 4 years and spent his days drinking beer on a beach in the Phillipines, he got 50k from the GI bill and graduated from UCLA. Either way they came out better men and had college money. I almost think everyone should go into the miltary, I didnt because as you, I didnt want to get shot. But after living in Manhattan during 911 I have severly changed my mind about that. Now im too old and out of shape, but I still have 20/20 vision and can shoot a gnats wing off at 300 yards. Maybe someday they will need me lol

[JThiessen]

Originally Posted by FireWire79

If you are young, please listen to what I am about to say. I can make you rich by serving in the Army. I am 30 years old, and if someone had showed me this when I was your age, I would be a lot better off right now.

Lets say you go to college for 4 years. You come out with $50k in student loans. You enlist into the Army and get no signing bonus, but since you went to college you are an officer. A first year officer makes $2600 a month, before additional allotments are added in. So per month, just out of college you are making around $3k, for a total of $36 a year. Not bad, not great either. Now in order for this to work you need to do twenty years of service. I know that's a lot but you will be 42 years old (18+4yrs college+20 years Army=42) An officer that has been in for 20 years should be a Lt. Col or above by that time. Base pay for a LTC with 20 years in is, $8000 a month, plus additional allotments and inflation, figure around $10k per month in twenty years.

That comes out to $120k a year at 42 years old. Ask around, that is really good money.

Now get out of the Army. After twenty years in you get to retire with half your pay for the rest of your life. That is $60k a year, guaranteed, for the rest of your life, and that's not even including any 401k that you may have setup. You are 42 years old. Get another job for 20 years. You'll be 62 this time. You will retire again, and get a second retirement package. Lets say you were getting $60k before, plus $40k a year from your retirement package. You are now making $100K a year, retired earlier than all your friends.

$100k a year, retired. That is fantastic money. I can go on and on about the Army, as I am serving right now, but if you join, you will see the other perks firsthand. People will respect you. Friends will always be there for you. You will be a member of a time honored corp. This things are priceless. People literally kill for them, and you get them for free. All you have to do is give a little time to the country.

Older adults, look at these numbers and tell this kid that this is a lot of money.

Good info Firewire - and I agree that being able to retire with military benefits at 42 would be a wonderful thing. I'm 42, and would be looking at that right now.....DAMN!

But..... your math tends to be "round up optomistic" - very similar to how my ex-wife miltary brat did her finances.......what are these magical "additional alotments"??

[George16]

I had been in the Navy for almost 18 years. I did all the grunt work even with my engineering degree because I enlisted. I could not join as an officer due to not being a US citizen at the time. If I had to do it all again, I'll make sure I go through one of those officer programs.

Since you're a pussy, the Air Force is your best option . You will not last long in the Navy with that kind of attitude or at least I'm hoping that the Navy will toughen you up after experiencing some deployments. You don't get to go on ships or subs with the Air Force. Deployments in the Navy are hard. Nonetheless, don't let those obstacles prevent you from achieving your goals.

Go officer through the ROTC program. You'll get to learn what you like and then serve after wards. Length of service after ROTC depends on the service you go into.

Edit - With this economy right now, more and more people are joining the military. In fact, in the Navy, the amount of enlistment bonuses had gone down for some skills.

[_paralyzed_]

I may be a bit of an ass sometimes, but my statements always bring out great debate!

I'm a non-conformist, and knew the military would never be for me. I wish I would have just conformed, and served my country. I would have gained pride, a sense of self accomplishment, helped my fellow man and be better off financially.

tmaxxracer32- you read what everyone has to say, I say if you think you can hack it, you won't regret it.

Magical Allotments to include:
Basic Allowance for Substance (BAS): $300 a month for groceries
Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH): $900-1200 a month for rent/mortgage (varies w/ area)
Cost of Living Allowance (COLA): $200-400 a month cost of living adjustment for personnel living overseas (as things just cost more over there)
Specialty Pay: $50-100 a month for additional special training (Paratrooper, Drill Sergeant, Recruiter etc...)

There are more, but those are the most common.