What branch of the military would you join.

[Viking 0]

I realise several of you guys are or have been in the military. For you the question is if you had to do it again.
For me it would be Navy or Marines.
incase your wondering no i am not joining up, i was just thinking.
I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[mnischalke 0]

Viking,
Any guess what my only response could be?
Uncle Sam's Misguided Children
Go be a combat correspondent ... Worked for me.
mike
A bucket of Jet A can heat an entire county if burned all at once.

[AggieDave 6]

MARINES!
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.-General George Patton-

[scottbre 0]

Salvation Army. "Let the rabbits wear glasses. . . "

[diver123 0]

If I had to do it again, the Marines!
"pull high! It's lower than you think..."

[skybytch 259]

Well I'm too old to enlist now... but if I weren't, for me it'd be Army or Air Force. Army cuz I could tryout for the Golden Knights, Air Force cuz from what I've heard it's the kick-backest (is that a word?) of the services.
Couldn't handle the time away from land in the Navy and the Marines... well, I'm not THAT tough! pull and flare,
lisa
--
Life is tough, but I'm tougher

[PalmettoTiger 1]

If I hadn't done some fishing in the shallow end of the gene pool, I'd be spending this summer at Quantico. My dad got an all-expenses-paid tour of Southeast Asia in 1969-70 courtesy of the USMC, and I've always admired him for that.
PTiger

[MiataDRM 0]

I've been in the Marine Corps a little under 8 years. I started out as a Private in the enlisted ranks & I recently earned my commission as a 2ndLt last spring. I have worked w/ all the services in the past few years; while I have much respect for all the services...I would NEVER trade my Eagle, Globe & Anchor for any other uniform! To simplify my reason...while other services have larger budgets ($$$) & better living conditions, the Marine Corps has the BEST overall LEADERSHIP around. I'm never at a loss to find a hero or a mentor to look up to.
**I'm a Pschydiver!
Majdi

[freefallfreak 0]

Bytch,

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kick-backest (is that a word?)

Have you been working too long and too hard?? Lol, I looked for that word but couldn't find it in any of my reference books, so the best I can say is - try again...lol. (And you are a "Moderator?? Lol.) Methinks you need a little altitude adjustment...wanna jump?? I'll be through SC (SoCal) in a few weeks (again) and I'd be more than happy to pay for a lift ticket, if it will help your vocabulary...lol. Besides, I need the practice...(Damn new Spectre canopy is driving me nuts...can't swoop the thing very well...)
TripleF
PS Did you notice I didn't "hijack" this thread with the word "BOOBIES"??? Lol....

[Viking 0]

uh uh come down to Otay and i think we can sneak a two way in
I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[freefallfreak 0]

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i think we can sneak a two way in

Oh shit, am I in trouble again?? I'd expect Clay to offer a "two way" -- but Viking?? Lol...
Ok, dude...I'll let ya' know when I'm on the way there...lol.
TripleF
Geez, I didn't even say "BOOBIES once...

[Viking 0]

oh don't worry i mean anything other than a quicky..........jump that is. I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[Remster 24]

I'd go for that service where you get to jump all sorts of airplanes and do really secret missions that no one else in the world knows about... but I guess they find you instead of you finding them.... I'm sure you could get in touch wiuth one of their retired serviceman!
Remster
Muff 914

[hisgoofyness 0]

well call me partial but i would have to say air force
not just because i was in the air force, but the living conditions were better, and with my job as a loadmaster, i actually got to do more round jumps, we were always dropping grunts here and there
hisgoofyness
its a bird, its a plane, no wait, its one goofy s.o.b.

[wingnut 0]

if i had it to do over again i would still go into the air force...just in the reserves.... this damn everyday shit sucks sometimes....now the 30 days paid vac. is cool..... ......only 3 years left on this enlistment...................

"up my noooossseee"- wingnut, at first euro dz.com boogie

[skydiver51 0]

If I went through again I would go back into the Marines again. Maybe it would be more fun the second time around.
Idiocy = Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

[aufreefly 0]

I would probably join the Navy again, but it has to be on submarines. The submarine community is in its own little world and I have never met so many intelligent, down to earth people anywhere except the dropzone.
michael hunt (yes, that is my real name...and i've heard them all)

[flyhi 24]

Sad to say, but considering everything, if I could do it over, I would not join any of the branches of the military. Trust me that I say this with a strong point of reference. A military career comes with a very high price for the individual and his/her family. For some the price is worth it. For me, it wasn't.
For those who were not in from 1992 to 2000, the Clinton years were not good years for your military or you. Levels of training declined as well as readiness. Your "Peace Dividend" resulted in force level reductions and base closures, which were determined by politics, not military necessity. Less than ten years after Desert Storm, we could not have duplicated that same effort in the same amount of time. Morale was abysmal and retention plummeted. Pilots were jumping ship so fast they had to institute six figure bonuses to keep them in. Often it didn't work. Prior to 9/11 flight hour levels (which are largely determined by fiscal budgeting constraints) had been reduced from 100% to 84% to 70%. Flight time equals proficiency. The more you fly the better you are.
Benefit erosion has been dramatic. Ask anyone caught up in the High Three for retirement fiasco. The military just initiated a Thrift Savings Plan, a semi-401k plan, but without employer contribution. Other federal workers receive employer contribution. Hurt on the job? You will get VA disability when you retire, but it is subtracted from your retired pay. Again, not the same as other federal employees.
Everyone has a horror story about military medical. Of the last five doctors I have seen, only one went to med school in the USA. Walmart is cheaper than the exchanges. And some posts charge you to use the "Morale Equipment", i.e. swimming pool.
I was not the least disappointed when none of my children opted for the military. Given the option the second time around, neither would I.
Is it hot in here, or am I crazy? - Charles Manson
flyhi

[ADRNALN 0]

I guess Iwould say the Corps, only because its the closest to the role of the Army which is my chosen service. Though I am bias have grown up as an army brat.

[jfields 0]

If I had to do it again, it would be totally different. Last time, I was Army enlisted. I went through Airborne training and served with the 82nd.
Not that I'm going back in, but if I did, I would probably be a Coastie officer. Yup. Coast Guard. I'd go in for pilot training, preferably helicopter. They have a healthy amount of flight time, doing real-world duty every bit as important as the Air Force. You can't get stationed anywhere too god-forsaken as a Coastie. And you can learn to fly helicopters that are also used in the civilian world. When you left, you'd have tons of hours in identical aircraft that you could fly as a civilian pilot.
From what I've heard, the lifestyle is much more like the Air Force, meaning that it is pleasant.
Anyway, that is my $.02 on military duty these days, subject to change...
Justin

[ADRNALN 0]

I have a sad Navy doctor story for you. My father had pancreatic cancer in 1988. The doctor at good ole Great Lakes NTC decide it would be a good time to practice a Whipple surgery (at that time it was experimental at Johns Hopkins). Needless to say the doctor never put the parts back together correctly so he suffered for over a year before he finally past away.
But the military was still able to f#$k him one last time. The local army post, Ft. Sheridan, was targeted for closure and the army told him, when he was deciding on his final resting place, that Ft. Sheridan would be turn into a National Cemetery. Well, about two years after he past away the army traded a developer the majority of Ft. Sheridan for a plot of land in DC to build the new army museum. Hell they even tried to close the cemetery and move the bodies to the new National cemetery in Joliet but there are a number of German POWs buried there and thanks to the Geneva Convention they weren't able to follow through with their plans.

[skybytch 259]

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Have you been working too long and too hard??

Yes! Damn PD rebate, we've been selling canopies like mad... and since it ends tomorrow I expect today to be nutso.

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I'll be through SC (SoCal) in a few weeks (again)

Lemme know when you'll be here; as long as it's a weekend day we can definitely go play... in freefall
pull and flare,
lisa
--
What would Scooby Doo?