Every year, thousands of young people choose to join the military not only to serve their country, but also to inject their educations and careers with valuable training and financial aid. While the Armed Forces work to maintain combat readiness in an age without a Cold War or a draft, men and women turn to military service not only for job skills, but also to get some cash toward college tuition from Uncle Sam.
Under the Montgomery G.I. Bill, military recruits can set aside money from their paychecks and have that money matched by the government . Other programs are specially designed to help you pay back government loans. Over $1 billion a year goes to educational programs for veterans; do you think you could use a piece of that?
Military career or college education? It's not an either/or decision. Many high-school graduates serve before enrolling in college. There are a number of reasons you might choose to enlist rather than head straight for the halls of higher learning. You might not feel prepared for college academically, financially or otherwise. Whatever your reason, there are two ways into the military, enrollment at a military academy or enlistment in the Armed Force that appeals to you most.
The Acadamies: The academies are elite colleges which focus heavily on military training and require applicants to provide a recommendation from an elected official or high-ranking military official. When you graduate from an academy, you're already a commissioned officer. Major military academies, such as the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, among the most prestigious schools in the U.S., often as well recognized as top Ivy League schools. Graduates traditionally commit a sizeable portion of their careers to the military, but a myriad of industries and fields are also ripe for the picking. As West Point reports, their graduates include "two U.S. Presidents, several ambassadors, state governors, legislators, judges, cabinet members, educators, astronauts, engineers, and corporate executives."
Enlistment: Enlistment is a much simpler process. Whether you're looking to join the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines or Coast Guard you must be at least 18 years of age and a U.S. citizen. In the Armed Forces you'll obviously be trained to defend your country in battle, but along the way, you also acquire skills that employers value on the corporate battlefield, where discipline, perseverance and professionalism are highly prized.
Basic training is a nine-week period during which the military trains recruits to be soldiers. Training differs depending on the branch of the military you elect to join. Military technology is highly complex in all branches; so if you're interested in computers, you might want to choose a branch based on its usual working conditions. If you've always wanted to fly an airplane, check out the Air Force.
Once basic training is finished soldiers are stationed and spend their days working at the post and learning new skills. You may have the opportunity to learn about telecommunications, engineering, medicine, computers, aviation and administration will be useful long after your military career has ended.
You've heard about a few ways to join the military and a few ways to get the military to finance your education, but your choices are only beginning. You'll need to decide just how much of your time you are willing to devote to military service; this will drastically effect your responsibilities, the amount of hours you are expected to serve on a regular basis and the length of your commitment to the military.
Active Duty (Full Time): Lt. Foxy Matthews valued his experiences during this time. "It's important to learn patience and perfection, and that's why recruits have to do so many tedious duties. It helped me pay attention to detail," says Matthews. As a recruit, you'll live in barracks. At newer bases, they are similar to dorm rooms. You'll be able to spend your free time taking advantage of base recreation facilities (including game rooms, pool tables, gyms and TV lounges).
ROTC (The Reserve Officer Training Corps): ROTC is a leadership training program which trains future Army officers. Available at 270 colleges and universities and 1,600 partnership schools across the country, Army ROTC is a class elective, taken like Economics or Physics. Though programs may vary from college to college, ROTC usually involves two hours of class time per week and another hour of physical training. In the classroom students learn the basics of military science and undergo officer training. The curriculum is structured so that students are qualified to become officers by the time they graduate from college; there is a strong emphasis on becoming a confident leader and efficient manager. "ROTC was like taking a business management class, but the examples were military situations instead of office scenarios," says former ROTC member Amy Brothers. For the best of the Corps there are scholarship rewards that can add up to $60,000 and other financial perks.
Army ROTC offers 4, 3 and 2 year scholarships up to $17,000 per year. Cadets are also provided a book allowance of $600 per year and a subsistence allowance of $250 per month for freshmen, $300 for sophomores, $350 for juniors and $400 for seniors.
The National Guard (Part Time): Unlike ROTC cadets, the members of the National Guard can be called up to active duty for war, but are more likely to staff domestic bases while the enlisted soldiers head to the front line. The Guard is also called to serve during natural disasters (floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.). The Guard is demographically more diverse as well, including veterans and medical personnel as well as students.
During the two-week summer assignment, enlistees learn one of six skills called Military Occupation Specialties (combat arms, combat support, combat service support, military police/intelligence, communications, or administrative).
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