Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

I know some of you guys have prior military experience. I'm interested in joining the Navy, and I'm wondering how long it will take from the time I apply to the time I get scheduled for basic training (on average). Also, what's the basic pay? Does it depend on your specific job? I want to be an air traffic controller, but I'm 32, so I think I may be too old... Otherwise, my background is journalism/arts, so I wonder what I would get for working in that field...

Also, I'm not sure if I should move back to the US (and ship all my stuff back), or if they will relocate me from Korea.

This is my Plan B. I really need to leave Korea. Please help!!

[Demonicat]

Sounds to me like your best bet is to go here:
http://www.navy.com/

Pay depends highly upon your rank, I'm assuming that you have a bachelors and no disqualifiers (drug dealing, gun violations, or domestic assault). As such you willl probably want to go through OCS (officer candidate school). the thing about this is that after completion you WILL be an officer and much higher paid, but WILL NOT get to choose your MOS (mission operative specialty (?)- Job), rather you will be assigned an MOS due to your abilities and the needs of the Navy. In fact, I believe that you may have no choice in the matter anyway with the Navy (sorry, Army is my specialty) and your MOS may be assigned anyway.

A college grad going through OCS will be accorded the rank of ensign and paid:$37,567.56
If you go enlisted, you will (probably) be an E-4, petty officer 3rd class and get paid:$22,139
For more info on pay go to http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5891

As far as your age is concerned, 32 is a bit old, but not disqualifing. Wavers begin (again, I'm talking army, so...) at age 34. You may be discouiraged from some of the more hoo-ah(!) jobs, but air traffic controller should be fine. In fact at your age, if you have experience in air traffic control, you may want to look into being a warrant officer- I won't detail this as your post leads me to believe that you don't have expereince.

As far as the shipping out of Korea goes, I honestly don't and am really wondering that myself as I'm working my way back into the Army right now. Good luck and HOO-AHH!

[hellofaniceguy]

Everyone joining the military starts at the lowest rank....E1 or O1...unless you have prior service and the recruiter might be able to get you your old rank or one lower.
MOS...you CAN choose your job...depending on your score...the tests you'll be taking. If you score low...then it's the job the military assigns you to.
If you have college...no reason to be an enlisted person!!! Be an Officer.
You can either pick up cigarette butts as an E1 or tell someone to do it as an O1! Well...you get the idea...Officers are managers....enlisted are the workhorses and backbone of the military.
Navy? You'll be at sea most of the time. More than 60% at least...usually.
Army? Easy but very difficult to make rank..unless you are SQUARED away!
Air Force? It's EASY! Rank is difficult. The AF is alot like civilian life.
Marines? If you have what it takes...you could be one of the few, the proud...the Marines.
The Marines are a department of the Navy...the Men's department.
Lower ranking Officers usually lead the battles...upper ranking call the shots far from the action.
The longer you sign up for....the better your chances of getting the MOS you want.

[Gopher]

Why in the hell would you want to join the Navy when you could join the Marine Corps? Forget OCS, be a Marine NCO and be a badass...

[periwinkle]

I'm too old for the Marines or the Air Force. I'm also female, btw. Is it easy to get into OCS? I qualified as an (airplane) navigator back in 1997, but failed the medical to do ANYTHING as an unrestricted officer (vision is too poor). Do you guys think my rcords would still be on file at Great Lakes? The recruiter is now retired....

[The Great Toad]

Don't do it don't join the navy. You be caught on a ship of fools who miss their homes and hotrack together. If you join be an officer- do not join as a enlisted unless you love to clean, paint, and bust rust. I advise you join the Air Force but you said you can not so I just advise you to not join anything. Wow sorry about the boyfriend breakup (assumption). Ahhh but yes the pay info was right by the way. Anyhow you have to give me an enlistment bonus of two-hundred thousand dollars to get me back in the Marines. Air Force mmmm maybe 150K. I not sure why Gopher had such a good time in the Marines he must be a motivated hard dog who enjoyed digging fighting holes and humping. I do miss shootin all dem guns though that was da bomb. Lightin up everything fire everywhere like the blazing lasers of starwars. I miss the drive by shootings those where hella silly. (Yes the Marines do specialize in drive by shootings) When we walked into them Coca fields you should ahhh seen them commies run for their guns didn't get too far as the chunk chunk chunk sound of the mortars fell on them. Then I remember my secrete covert mission behind the North Korean Boder to rescue a captured South Korean Spy. I came in with my calico, snubby M16 and so 20 javelins strapped to my back. First I snuck into Kim Jung Ills Bedroom and whopped his candy arse for all the poor innocents he hurt. Then of course I stopped at a restaurant to try North Korean Kim Chee. Around this time I was out of ammo so I stole a Russian MIG Jet, but I did manage to bring some Communist Kim Chee back. Even now it is still aging in my reefer.

So as you can conclude I have a lot of Veteran experience- and my advice to you is not to join the military. Think about it you will be on a ship a ton of guys and you can only date about 1 percent of them. OFFICERS and ENLISTED MUST NEVER DATE. You only be able to date the other lieutenants. Also if you get on a ship with Marines you could get slammed into the wall if you failed to make a hole when they were doing a react drill. Obviously I never did this but I know of a Marine who brutally body checked a Fat old Navy Officer because he failed to get out of the way when he was sprinting to his react position.

Further you have absolutely no chance of guaranteeing your job place. The Military puts you where they want you. But, the best you can do is try to get an official contract from the recruiter that supposedly, in theory could guarantee your MOS and your first place of duty. But, this is often only guaranteed if you are a primo candidate... Again, I just make sure it was in your contract. Don't take a recruiter at his word. Maybe Gopher or Thundercat could tell you some horror stories of guys who got burnt out of their contract and ended up a cook or something...

[Gopher]

[edited]

[periwinkle]

So how long will it take me to get in (from application- basic training)? Also, my eyes are bad (they are correctable with contacts /glasses). I read that if I have severe astigmatism, I can be disqualified. Is this true? I can't imagine everyone in the military has good eyesight...

[Gopher]

[periwinkle]

Thanks, guys! I just applied for a job with Continental Airlines, as well, so we'll see what happens. I have a feeling I'll be disqualified for medical reasons for a military position (bad eyes...).

[joe_doufu]

I'm here because I got sick of the application process. That's part of it anyway.

In december, I took the Navy's officer test (ASTB?) and got a perfect score, applying for an Intelligence Officer program. A "board" had to meet to consider my (perfect) application. It took them four months to conclude that yes, they would recommend me for OCS. It took a month from that decision for my recruiter to put me in touch with an office where I could make an appointment to go and fill out three forms to request an appointment to get a physical. Eventually they granted me an appointment. Six months had passed since entering the recruiter's office. There was still the physical, a fitness test, and a security check left to go... I had passed only 1 out of the 4 stages of application. I realized that maybe the Navy was not about "adventure" after all, and I didn't want to be a bureaucrat getting fat behind a desk on a boat somewhere for five years. It looked like I wasn't going to join after all, so I decided not to go through the physical (with rectal exam) and I terminated my application.

I am tempted to apply to the military again, but if I do it I'll go Army and apply as enlisted. (they offer a $20k starting bonus for Linguists, and i hear the language school is awesome.) The Army would take me right away and I could always apply for officer programs later.

I realized a while ago that what I want is the experience of being in a war (hippie Canadians cringe now) but I don't really want to be a cog in a bureaucracy with an eight year committment. So I probably will never do it, but I dunno. We need a really exciting war in a place with good weather, for me to join up.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Yo.......


I am an American Republican and I am already cringing.

[pidgin]

Just for arguments sake, does anyone know what the age cut-offs are for the main branches of the US military?

Marines:
Navy:
Air Force:
Army:

Just wondering.
Thanks for any info.

[bosintang]

[FlagWaver]

maximum ages for non-prior service enlistment:

Active Army - 39
Army Reserve - 39
Active Air Force - 27
Air Force Reserve - 34
Active Navy - 34
Navy Reserve - 39
Active Marines - 28
Marine Corps Reserve - 29
Active and Reserve Coast Guard - 27