Real Life Military

[Guest SamCaie]

Hey guys

Just wondering about military life. I know lots of you are actually in the military.

-What's your experiences?

-What rank are you, how long did it take to get there?

-It seems the income is quite low, but food & housing are of course covered by the military. Is the income pretty comfortable to live on?

 

I'm looking into joining real life military. What I'm most interested in is the Royal Canadian Air Force. I'd just like to hear from people who've already been in the military and what kind of advice/experiences they'd like to share!

[Guest RET.TSgt.Warlord=US=]

Hey there A1C.SamCaie, well I'll tell you how it is for myself, although we would be serving in two militaries of two different countries.

 

I'm a real life Lance Corporal in the United States Marines, been in 2 Years and 4 Months. My wage is comfortable to live on seeing as I have bills to pay, (Car Insurance, Car Loan, Phone Bill, NetFlix and a few others) So I pocket about 200 at the end of the month. Military Life is what you want it to be, for myself I can be bit of a hard***, only because I don't let peers walk over me, and I expect respect and dignity up and down the CoC because that's how my DI's(Drill Intructors had taught us). My MOS field, 1341 Heavy Engineer Equipment Mechanic, has me chasing for score for promotion (I hit the score to be promoted to Corporal, wasn't selected then the months following the score kept rising, thus I chase the score).

 

Do everything you can to work your way up in the Rank Structure, if you had been in the US Armed Forces, it would be stuff like Primary Military Education, Commandants Reading List, MCI's etc, which are all beneficial to the growth and self improvement. Also, physical exercise is a priority every day.

 

I know there are many others here who are/were active duty, even including some who are real life Officers, hopefully those gentlemen can give you some thought into it as well.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Semper Fi

[Guest LTC.DentalMav=US=]

Hey Sam, I am a real life Captain in the U.S. Air Force. I am not like most officers you will come across because I am a medical officer, specifically I am an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. My job is to make sure our soldiers/airmen/sailors/marines are well taken care of and fixed. My job, on the medical side, consists of the simple things like pulling teeth and placing implants, but I also break jaws, rearrange faces to look better, and I fix any facial/cranial trauma. You get half your face blown off or destroyed in a car accident then you are coming to me. Being a medical officer is amazing. They paid for school, I get paid as an officer and then I get added bonuses to "try and compensate for what I Would make on the civillian sector" (truth be told its no where close but still some amazing money). Unlike the enlisted and the "line officers" (non-medical officers) my promotions are soley based on TIG and not screwing up. IF I do my job and keep my nose cleanvI get promoted ~ every 6 years...but I Still have to do professional military education courses. All-in-all I love what I do and I love the fact that I can do it while serving my country. I make half (or less) than I would make in the civillian sector, but I would not change it for the world. Long hours, hard work, but I enjoy it :)

[Guest RET.TSgt.Warlord=US=]

Hey Sam, I am a real life Captain in the U.S. Air Force. I am not like most officers you will come across because I am a medical officer, specifically I am an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. My job is to make sure our soldiers/airmen/sailors/marines are well taken care of and fixed. My job, on the medical side, consists of the simple things like pulling teeth and placing implants, but I also break jaws, rearrange faces to look better, and I fix any facial/cranial trauma. You get half your face blown off or destroyed in a car accident then you are coming to me. Being a medical officer is amazing. They paid for school, I get paid as an officer and then I get added bonuses to "try and compensate for what I Would make on the civillian sector" (truth be told its no where close but still some amazing money). Unlike the enlisted and the "line officers" (non-medical officers) my promotions are soley based on TIG and not screwing up. IF I do my job and keep my nose cleanvI get promoted ~ every 6 years...but I Still have to do professional military education courses. All-in-all I love what I do and I love the fact that I can do it while serving my country. I make half (or less) than I would make in the civillian sector, but I would not change it for the world. Long hours, hard work, but I enjoy it :)

 

Instantly became jealous, sir. hehe

[Guest CI3arrage]

Hi, i left the UK Armed Forces nearly 5 years ago after 4 years of service. All i want to say is DO NOT join the infantry. It's an awesome job when training for operations etc. When on operations it is boring, dangerous and low paid. If i was to go back and join again i would have picked something that gave me a trade or something i could use on the outside world. I have had to end up going back to college and university in order for me to get somewhere in life outside of the military due to being Infantry. Trained killers really are no use out in civvi street, unless you do CP work (Close Protection). That's my two cents and i wish you all the best in your future endeavours.