I'm going to enlist, any Army 31B's (MP's)[or 11B/19D] out there that have opinions?

[CavTrooper]

OCS candidates only get one school option in thier contract, OCS, that is all, there will be no Airborne, Air Assault, or anything else.

OCS boards are conducted once a month at the Battalion level and once a quarter (I think) at the USAREC level.

You must meet the in-service standards for height and weight.

Get your credit in order and hopefull you have no law or medical issues that you need to worry about. Boken bones, surgeries, etc, will need all medical records.

Once you hit your height/weight goal, your recruiter will begin processing everything, until then you are considered "unqualified". Its a process, it will take time, stick with it and you will succeed.

[JJKESSEL]

Cav, again thank you. Sorry I didn't get a chance to give you a call. I am good with legal and medical. Just to confirm body fat is 24% for OCS? I will be 29 going on 30 next year when I graduate, will there be any trouble getting a waiver? I also missed the cut off date to apply for graduation for next spring, but I heard however that I can get a letter from the school stating that I met the graduation requirements.

MRX, I have not looked into the CAARNG, what are the benefits?

Jeff (from work)

[MRX9989]

Benefit-wise, it's not too different from the active component. You and your dependents will qualify for military health insurance (Tricare). You get access to military-only stores that are usually tax-free. You can stay at the Hale Koa on Waikiki Beach real cheap. You can fly in a C-130 to pretty much anywhere we have a base. You have a wide variety of service-only banking, insurance and loan options from the USAA. These are just the things that come to mind right now...

Retirement and pension qualification works a little different, though time in service years are accumulated the same. I'm not too familiar with how this works, however.

It can be hard balancing full time work with IDT, but it can be done.

It seems like we have a lot of CAARNG members here on calguns, so I would recommend seeking them out for various opinions about serving. Personally, I think the Guard is an excellent way to pursue civilian interests while also serving your country and developing yourself professionally.

[ljdouglas]

One One Bravo is not a place for a man with a wife and three kids.

[kapache]

Family first BRO! you should had joined when you where single, your KIDS and Wife need a husband and a father.

[CavTrooper]

So you cant be a warrior and a family man?

Everyone has their reason why and excuses why they didnt serve.

Do what makes you happy. If your familiy life is strong they will stay with you, if its not, it will end eventually anyways.

[develown]

So you cant be a warrior and a family man?

Everyone has their reason why and excuses why they didnt serve.

Do what makes you happy. If your familiy life is strong they will stay with you, if its not, it will end eventually anyways.

Statistics do show that divorces are higher in the military. I my self became a statistic. While i cant, and don't blame the army for my divorce, it certainly didn't help.

But i do encourage any married army service member to read AR 608-99 to know what your getting into. You'll find out real quick how much alimony or child support your going to be forced to pay your wife (In absence of any court order) during divorce proceedings. I kept a printed out copy at home that i slept on in the hope of absorbing the information through osmosis. :P

[JJKESSEL]

Family, I had kids young, and my wife didn't want me to join so I didn't, the kids are older, all school age now and it was actually my wife that approached me and told me if I want to, the time is now. So the time is now. Ijdouglas, I love those statements, because it is oppinions that I want, but you're not telling me the "why." I don't follow peoples oppinions, but I do consider points-of-view. So please, enlighten me.

[ljdouglas]

Family, I had kids young, and my wife didn't want me to join so I didn't, the kids are older, all school age now and it was actually my wife that approached me and told me if I want to, the time is now. So the time is now. Ijdouglas, I love those statements, because it is oppinions that I want, but you're not telling me the "why." I don't follow peoples oppinions, but I do consider points-of-view. So please, enlighten me.

When you choose to be an infantryman you make the most personal commitment a human can make. You are putting yourself at the point of the spear. The casualty rates, in any conflict, lean heavily toward the infantry. In my opinion the job of a beginning infantryman should be left to the young and single.
You don't want to give your wife a new title, like "Widow", and interact with your children through old photographs.
This is not to say, avoid the combat arms. There are a significant number of highly perilous positions other than Rifleman where survival rates are somewhat better.
You chose to create a family. You have huge obligations there, and being Audie Murphy doesn't quite fit into my thinking.

LJDouglas
USA RVN 1966-1967

[kapache]

From my personal point of view, I prefer being a Warrior first before a Family man. I prefer say I served than possibly leaving a widow wife and fatherless kids nothing will guarantee you that you are coming back home safe.

[Bizcuits]

If you end up divorced 10 years from now anyways, would you rather look back and say "at least I did it" or "damn the ***** kept me from that too".

I've spent the last 5 years in regret, I'm not going to spend the next 20 years as a married man in regret, only to have it fall apart too and be in even further regret. Like CavTrooper said if it's strong enough to last, they'll stand by you, if they won't stand by you then it'll eventually fall apart anyways.

[Midian]

You'll be sent to a dangerous place and you'll be enforcing the will of others.

[CavTrooper]

Statistics do show that divorces are higher in the military. I my self became a statistic. While i cant, and don't blame the army for my divorce, it certainly didn't help.

But i do encourage any married army service member to read AR 608-99 to know what your getting into. You'll find out real quick how much alimony or child support your going to be forced to pay your wife (In absence of any court order) during divorce proceedings. I kept a printed out copy at home that i slept on in the hope of absorbing the information through osmosis. :P

Typically, you have young idiots getting married too early for the wrong reasons, this is a recipe for disaster. A strong relationship will withstand any hardships, deployments or otherwise. Being in the Military doesnt break up relationships, it only exposes weaknesses that were already there.

[CavTrooper]

You'll be sent to a dangerous place and you'll be enforcing the will of others.

By the force of arms even!

[kapache]

Yet again the moral of this post is should he join the Arm Services having a wife and KIDS! not why he got married so young or if his relationship can withstand a deployment.