I have to lean you towards the Marines, if i'm ask. Only cause I am one (92-96) 22nd MEU-SOC. from a common sense area, id say whatever you choose to make it a field you can use later in life. No where in life will my skills i learned be helpful. I cant carry an M-60 everyday, and our LPCs (boots) weren't that comfortable.

Come on Chris, You can tell us what you think of us dirty,dumb, Jarheads. We love it that way.

 

Tommy I don't have many issues with any branches other than the Army anymore after all the BS I dealt with the last 6+ years. I figure nothing can be worse than being in 1st Cav for 6 years and deploying with the same division 3 times, the same platoon twice. Talk about wanting to put a gun to my head every day for the last 2 year I was in. I've known you for 6 months now, when have you heard me talk sh*t? Well about you being a marine anyway. We're both Vets now and that's all.

 

I'm just picking at you as always. I've never heard you say anything bad about any branch that i can remember. I'm proud to call you and all our servicemen and women my brothers and sisters.

 

As an air force guy I have a massive amount of respect for marines, they are a cut above the rest and they do their job with out of date vehicles, sleep in the dirt, and make do with what they get, I have a brand new vest and M-4 while the grunt is trying to get his old m-16 unjammed, but they get the job done regardless.

Any body who says, air force guys are wimps, army guys are dumb, navy guys are flamers, etc obviously have no idea what really goes on in the military, when you watch CNN and see a bunch of marines " take over an airstrip" fail to realize that a small group of air force and army guys were air dropped in earlier and made sure the location was safe to "take over" so its really all branches working together, with out knowing it. The guys who you never see on the news, or really hear about are doing things to make everybodys job safer.

What im trying to say is whatever branch you are part of, you are in no way superior to another branch, and if you dont feel that way than thats fine, you obviously have no idea how things are run.

Thanks to all who have previously served...... Freedom is not Free

 

I spent 20 year in the Air Force, 83-03, 14 overseas, 7 different assignments all over the world. Loved every minute of it. I had a few joint duties during that time and can tell you without a doubt the Army is the worst. I was with them in Bosnia and they really treat their people like crap compared to what I was used to.

But like was said earlier, we're all on the same team at the end of the day....

 

Yes the army treats their people like dirt, compared to the AF

heres a story to maybe change your mind about the air force and what some of our guys do


Afghanistan actions earn airman 2 Silver Stars - Military News, News From Iraq & Afghanistan - Military Times

 

After 6 years and now being in the reserves I can attest to that. It's a miracle I made it home all 3 times without hurting myself or someone else besides Iraqis. I read the Bible every day last year all the way through from Genesis to Revelations which I think helped keep me sane.

 

thanks too all that served! anyhow
ive always kinda wanted to join but i dont really know. i will be going to school for welding but still wanna join the marines to weld. im afraid of what the recruiters say and dont wanna join cuse i dunno if i will be able to weld like i want to. might move me to infantry or somethin and that aitn my thing. anyone got advise for me? should i go to school and not join or should i join and then go to school after my enlistment is over?

 

To add some proof to the pudding about wages as a welder check it out:
Welder Salaries - Free Salary Search | Indeed.com
Welder Fabricator Salaries - Free Salary Search | Indeed.com

You never said what you called "good money" but the average salary for an EXPERIENCED welder is $35-40k and work in the trades is getting hard to come by for people with no work experience. For most people times are tough the first couple years out of college so plan ahead for that. Still more than you'll make in the military although you won't be making the national average salary right off the bat.

The only thing that would benefit you in the military would be some hands-on and job security. If you sign a contract to be a welder they can't send you to be infantry. Just never trust a recruiter and make sure you read everything you sign before you sign it.

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A little more math for you just because I'm bored and wide awake. Let's say you make $40k a year which is the national average. Keep in mind that this is for an experienced welder. You'll probably make $25-30k a year for the first few years.

$40k a year with 40 hour work weeks is about $19 an hour. IF you get jobs that keep you working full-time (I know A LOT of EXPERIENCED tradesmen that are out of work for months at a time), this comes to about $3000 a month BEFORE taxes. Figure a grand a month for an apartment and utilities and cable. Plus $500 for car insurance, groceries, cell phone, etc. Take about $200-300 or more for taxes and life insurance. That leaves you a little over a grand a month to play with (IF you have no credit card/bank loan debt). Now figure that you will be travelling almost constantly and per diem is never 100% of your expenses (just like a military recruiter, never believe a large company's recruiters). You may be better off joining the military after all.

 

If you're looking to learn to weld, as far as a trade goes, you're not going to want to go into Combat Engineer as an MOS...you'll want to go in as a welder, can't remember what the MOS is. Couple of things, again, like they said, if you go in, read every line on the contract, and ensure that it says exactly what you want on it.
Depending on what you want to do while you're in, the combat engineers in the field are utilized a lot with grunt patrols, searching out caches, and in some cases, blowing up unexploded ordnance. In garrison, they end up doing a lot of training, spending a ton of time out in the field, and whatnot.
In the past 11 years of experience, working hand in hand with Navy and Army units, the Marines (Active Duty, I'll keep my mouth shut on reservists, that's a whole different subject) are by far the most disciplined and respected. The Marine Corps is the ONLY branch out there that places large portions of responsibility on its Non Commissioned Officer corps, Corporals and Sergeants. I have been responsible for more personnel and equipment as a Corporal and Sergeant in the Marine Corps than some of the Army and Navy E6-E7's are. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go Marines again, just because. The benefits are definitely less overall than the other branches, but personally, I didn't join for the benefits.