Milking the Army for training

[Son of Liberty]

So this last friday, I had an interesting experience which really increased my enthusiasm & intention for joining the Army.

Quick background: I'm 20, male, white, college student, interested in fitness, the outdoors, guns, always been interested in military shit, and consider myself literate on the subject of modern warfare.

For the last year or so, Ive been under the opinion that the Marines are the most capable, fucking-hardcore badass military force on the planet.

I have 3 friends who are grunts in the Marines

On Friday, I was jiu jitsu and we were stretching out at the end of class and this guy in his 30s was showing some bruises to the guy he had been sparring with. It was a small class, being that it was Friday evening and all, and it soon turned into a question-session, because it turned out the bruised guy was a Boston cop, stationed in the most crime-ridden precinct, and he was an Iraq vet.

As I said, Ive always been interested in the military.

Just so turned out, the guy's gym bag was next to mine in the changing area, so I decided to ask him about what branch he was in, MOS, etc.

Turned out he was an MP in the marine reserves.

I started to go on about how I really respect the Marines after reading what I have about them and how I have friends in the Marines, etc But I got an extremely interesting response from this dude.

He basically said: "Meh, Marines, Army, little difference. Marines receive more initial training, that doesn't mean their better. If I had to join again (and I would in a heart beat), I'd go Army. Why? Cuz that's where the money is. Huge signing bonuses these days. And you get to choose you're MOS and get fuck loads of training if you want it."

SO HERE'S MY QUESTION:
If I were to join the Army after college, for say a 3 year enlistment as an officer, could I "milk" the Army for training? Could I/what's the likelihood of being able to constantly go from school to school, becoming proficient in all sorts of cool military shit as well as extremely valuable skills (foreign languages, technical/mechanical skills)?

[nutsack]

Not really.

What sort of skills are you after? Infantry skills? You could join as infantry and maybe change to a technical job at some point. Someone else might be able to answer your question better as I'm not serving yet, just going by what I've read.

[HAS]

Yes, the government wants to give you l33t skillz.

[Son of Liberty]

Originally Posted by HAS

Yes, the government wants to give you l33t skillz.

lawls

[xilikeeggs0]

It's possible, but don't expect to be able to get out after 3 years. If the army invests that much time and money into you, you're not going anywhere.

[nutsack]

Originally Posted by xilikeeggs0

It's possible, but don't expect to be able to get out after 3 years. If the army invests that much time and money into you, you're not going anywhere.

Yea, most technical trades come with a contract.

[MOA]

The only "cool" schools that you want to "milk" from the army are in the MOS's that require you to give 110% to get into. Army rangers, EOD, SF, ect... I dont know how the Army infantry does it but marine grunts dont go to bad ass schools. Most grunts "0311's" only go to SOI and maybe if they're lucky and squad leader school if they are exceptional leaders. If you want to speak a foreign language buy Rosetta Stone.

[Struwwelpeter]

If you want to learn mechanical skills just to go any Autozone in the nation and give the manager a blowjob. He'll show you the ropes. Autozone requires that you be a homosexual, a motherfucking faggot, to attain the position of manager.

[Hate]

I dunno about "milking" the Army for training, but I do know that if you want it, the options are available in every division, depending on what you do. I could see the Army offering all sorts of benefits, training, etc, but you may not have time for it. Where you're going and what kind of training you want is relative. If you're looking for outdoorsy, combat oriented training, I suggest going Army. If you're looking for naval survival skills, I say go Navy. If you want technical training, go Air Force.