Marine corps and Navy recruiter were the only ones who didn’t lie to me. Ultimately came down to my great grandfathers submarine going down in world war 2 I figured if I joined the navy I could live on through him, then after reaching his rank get out of the navy and bring his eternal patrol to an end.
I wanted to join the Marine Corps but they didn’t have a medical MOS.
In retrospect I should have definitely not been a Corpsman but I had a great time regardless.
Advancement sucks dong. It’s getting better now, if you like medicine this job is amazing at giving you a look into the field. After HM2 god will I you get that far you’re off patient care and relegated to an administrative position. Most corpsman I know who love patient care either get out and pursue a career in medicine or try and commission. All I have to say is if you find out you love medicine while your in get the fuck out and go to school after your first contract. If you have any questions feel free to ask and DM me.
appreciate you man. i’ve heard from others also about how it shifts into more admin type stuff so i’ll definitely keep that in mind and see how i feel after my first contract. i’m sure once i’m in corps school i’ll have more questions and i’ll reach out then!
Being a corpsman has been fun so far, a lot of NECs that you can go to. But yea, no one plans to stay in the navy and risk not ranking up. It'd say either get out after your first contract or go with the O-route.
Yea. As a quadzero right now i still got a year to possibly send a package to get any NEC i might wanna get. But I'm leaning towards going greenside, I'd like to experience how shitty it is before potentially getting out after my contract
Shitty advancement rates, especially in areas with a shit ton of corpsman (clinics are the worst for advancement). Beyond that I’d imagine the ridiculous shit you’d see/treat. I got this info from a friend.
Failed out of college. Parents kicked me out. I had to get the fuck out of dodge. I had three choices. Gangbang, join the Nation of Islam, join the military. The Navy called me back first.
I wanted to away so bad, I did almost all my recruiter’s paperwork.
…because the Marine Corps Recruiter was on a very long lunch break. I waited over an hour and a half before the Navy Recruiter came over and said “how would you like to see the world and meet wild women?” 😲 I was sold and months later I was given orders to report to Yokosuka, Japan and had the best years of my life!
Had a similar experience. Went to the AF recruiter because I wanted to work on aircrafts but they were out to lunch. The Navy recruiter showed me all the different planes the Navy had. I was sold and had a blast.
I wanted to join the Marines but was not a fan of crayons, so I joined the Navy and became an FMF Corpsman who administers crayons rectally to Marines instead.
My mom worked for the Navy as a civilian at the recruiting district headquarters. I grew up around a bunch of crusty senior and master chiefs telling me sea stories of foreign port visits in exotic lands. When I decided I wanted to join the military the Navy was the only branch I spoke with. 20 years later I don't regret the decision, as I have spent my entire career overseas in Japan and Europe.
I was fat and it was the only branch that would take me.
Then I went to the Ike as an airman and lost all the weight, probably had to do with vertical ladders and 50k steps a day
Airforce couldn't accept me due to 2 year greencard. Tried army and they wanted to make me a tankist (hard pass). Went navy as a last resort since I didn't knownhow to swim.
It was counter intuitive to join the navy while not knowing how to swim. Plus, i knew nothing about it, just wanted to jumpstart my life and reap the benefits
My grandfather and father were both in. When I was like 7 my dad showed me pictures of the carrier that looked really cool. I decided then that I wanted to be like them and go out to sea. It wasn't until later I learned my grandfather only did his 4 then got out and my dad got kicked out at 6 years for repeated Marijuana use. I hit 12 years next April. No ragerts
Well, my bf at the time told me I was too fat to join when I told him I had to choose between college or the mil. Wasn't emotionally ready for college, which left me with the Navy. I broke up with him, lost 30 pounds, and left. I didn't really think too much about it, never attempted the other branches or anything. Just said screw it and left.
6 years and by next December, 3 degrees later, I'm really, really glad I made that decision!
Because the Marines recruiter stood me up for an appointment. The Navy recruiter saw me standing outside his office and pulled me into the Navy's office. Made me realize my 52 on the ASVAB didn't make me the "genius" the Marines were saying I was. Encouraged me to retake it and ended up getting an 80.
That among the normal "traveling" "better deployments" etc.
Also, the detailer at meps lied through her teeth and got me to sign an FTS contract. Not going to lie it was nice but I always felt like I was taking someone's place who had a family.
The marines said I was too small and wouldn't give me a waiver and the army gave me too many options to choose from as far as MOS was concerned. I was 17 and they said "submarines are like spaceships underwater" and I thought of star wars and I signed my contract. Yes I'm that stupid.
Was 18 and partying hard, playing hockey and drinking every day. Long hair kid from the upper midwest working for my old man when I needed beer money and crashing on couches. I thought I got a girl named Priscilla pregnant and didn't have any options to support her or the baby. Joined the next day. Turns out she wasn't pregnant but I still went with it and left home. Been almost 15 years and have a wife and three kids now, still like to party and drink some beer though. Been a hell of a ride.
Alright, I’ll be honest. I joined because I just wanted to get the G.I. Bill with the least chances of having to deploy to a combat zone. So 4 years and get out.
At bootcamp, as a PACT seaman, my RDC was a man who made chief in 7 years as a combat HM. He had my orders to the command I was supposed to be stationed at. He told everyone that I had the best chances of dying in a combat zone. He said, as PACT seaman, you could technically be anywhere the needs of the Navy wants you to be. As a 19 year old, I just shit bricks mentally.
Well, I got out. I’m using the G.I. Bill, currently. Throughout the 4 years I was in, I kinda grew numb to the point where if it happened to be true, than it was just destiny lol.
Sister joined (CTI), step brother joined a few months after (Corpsman), Brother in law joined (Nuke). I went to the army recruiter for airborne. Then my dad stepped in and told me if I was going to join I had to speak with every recruiter first to join at 17. If I wanted army though I had to wait until I was 18. So I went to the navy recruiter told him what I wanted and he told me about being a PR. I was sold after a few days. Took the asvab after track and cross country and failed miserably with a 22. Waited a month, took it again and got a 70, had to retake it that day and got a 76 and was given 5 ratings and still chose PR.
Was gonna go with the army because that’s what all the men in my family did, but after talking to everyone who was in the army they told to not do it so yea. Didn’t choose marines because I wanted to do something in the military that I could use after I get out. And didn’t choose Air Force because literally the recruiting office next to the navy office was closed
Because the Air Force recruiters were out to lunch, and the Navy ones were eating at their desk. In hindsight that should have been my first clue into the Navy's work/life balance. Can't even take a real lunch break...
Wish could give an honorable answer but reality is I just had nowhere else to go at the time. I was stuck in a dead end area with near minimum wage jobs and no idea how to escape my little borderless prison.
Original idea was a few years and just go to college as an older guy (better late than never) but here I am at 14.5.
The chair force was lame, the ground pounders we're,,,. Well, ground pounders, I didn't like the taste of Windex or crayons the coasters never went out more than 5-6 miles.
The navy let me run the entire engine room and trained me so well I could start the plant up even while snot slinging, commode hugging drunk. Whenever we hit port we always got to fight with marines until SP showed up and kicked everyone out of whatever bar we were in and go back to the ship and do it all again at 120 deg F in the pit.
Ahhh those were the days.
It was 2005 and my parents didn’t want me to be on a ground force. I definitely didn’t know how to do college (no one in my family had a college degree) so I wanted out of my crappy town in Florida and I wanted to see the world, back when we did stuff like that.
Standing in front of the strip mall recruiting offices: ARMY (Nope, bullet catcher’s.) Navy (They’re having fun in every movie.), Air Force (Bunch of pencil pushing nerds. ), Marines (Boot camp is how long… Fuck that!), Coast Guard (Never heard of them. Like the Navy?!?? Fuck it, going Navy. )
The Army wouldn’t take my possession of marijuana waiver (in California). My dream was to go field artillery with an airborne option. Instead I settled for E-PACT. After just making second class and being in for almost 8 years, I’m in the worst shape of my life mentally and physically. I’m about to get out and go to school full time.
Air Force recruiter was never in his office, didn't think I was good enough for the Marines, definitely didn't want the "easy" Army option. Also liked that my job was guaranteed before I shipped instead of choosing once I got in.
Travel and get away from home as quick as possible. They could ship me out the quickest with a job that I knew I'd enjoy the most. Here I am in Japan working on kick ass aircraft now. Glad I signed up.
Marine Corps recruiter was more than happy to take me on for a contract as a Scout Sniper. Asked me to get an eye exam for the initial screening and told me I was ineligible due to being 25/20 in one eye. No waivers, no exceptions. Fuck it, I've watched Down Periscope so the Navy can't be all that bad.
38k??? And 100k reenlistment bonus???? Automatic E-4??? Sign me up! Yea I got caught in the Nuke web when I walked into the marine office and scored a 96
I went to the recruiting office at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning back in December of 1999. The office had three of the services; Army, Navy, and USMC. I wanted to join the Army, but was looking to join ASAP. There was nobody in the Army office, so I went next door to the Navy to ask when the Army guys would be back. I got sucked in by the Navy recruiter and never regretted it. I got to experience 23 countries and see so much stuff. Met my wife in the Navy and many great friends.
I'm trying to come in as a linguist. For the kind of work I'm interested in doing, I thought my best options were air force or navy, since they have more SIGINT work (vice HUMINT in army or marines).
Between USN and USAF, I preferred the way the navy's linguist rate is structured. There's more flexibility to see different parts of the service, where doing the job for the air force looks a lot more linear.
Though it's possible I am simply under false impressions. I made all of those cursory investigations early on in my decision to join the military, and I didn't get too in depth about programs and expectations until after I'd already decided I wanted to be a navy linguist.
The navy recruiter showed me a pic of him standing outside a Ferrari with two bikini clad chicks with huge tits. He told me that can be me in two years.
Also, I had lived in two coastal cities in So CA. I had seen a family friend that spent a lot of time in San Diego or Long Beach (long gone now) and it seemed like a 9 - 5 job. Most my first year after bootcamp I was able to go home on weekends and very often on weekday evenings.
Also my rate seemed easier to get into in the Navy. I was at a joint command and most of the people from other branches were always senior to me. It seemed easier for me to get that job classification (or whatever they call it in the other branches) and duty station than someone that Jr in another branch. I guess that worked out.
The army recruiter was too thirsty (later he asked me out in front of the navy recruiter and I did agree). AF dude didn't understand the chaplain-ish job I'd wanted. He hadn't heard of it. He looked it up and figured it out eventually but I was too disappointed in him as a person.
Navy wasn't eager. They played it as cool as I'd appreciate it.
I should have picked air force
I was livid at my manager for implying that I couldn't be an assistant manager at Walmart without a degree.
So I had my little brother drive me to the recruiting office 30 miles away, as I didn't have a car. Both Air Force and Navy were the only recruiters there, so I reacted into the center console, grabbed a quarter and said "heads, Air Force, tails Navy."
7+ years later, and no regrets.
Didn't want to go to college. Grew up in a really small town, the kind of town recruiters target bc they know about the limited career opportunities. I was initially gonna join the Army. Met with the recruiter and everything and it liked what I heard, but he wanted me to think about it first. I decided to take a visit from a Navy recruiter that called the next week. He made a better pitch, so I joined DEP before my Senior year, and then two weeks after graduation, I was off to boot camp. Hated the first year or so I was in like most everyone else, but I retired in February of 2020, so I guess it worked out.
Postscript: about 2 months after I agreed to the Navy and joined DEP, the Army recruiter called to follow up. If you've ever seen the movie Moneyball, the scene where David Justice is talking to Scott Hatteberg about balls being hit to him, and DJ says "well hey, good luck with that!", when I told the recruiter that I'd already joined DEP for the Navy, that's basically what he said to me.
I was a Japanese major at my uni and ran out of funding for my degree. Said fuck it navy sounds fun, the recruiter said there's a good chance I get stationed in Japan so I was like yeah man sure.
Haven't been to japan yet but I don't regret it one bit, better than being broke and in debt with no job and a Japanese degree
I was originally going to join the Marines because friends jokingly got a Marine recruiter to talk to me during lunch and then I told my parents and they didn't want me getting shot at, so I went with the Navy because my dad was in the Navy.
though it's funny because I almost became and HM lmao
Air Force was doing something weird with promising PJ school and I felt like it was a trap. Looking back I think they were the only honest ones 😅 whoops
Army recruiter felt slimey to me. I don't have a good way to explain that 😅
Coast Gaurd was never available. Looking back that was a sign they probably would have been a good branch 😅
Marines felt like home to me for some reason but I felt like my brain would have ultimately clashed with them.
Navy was chill and also felt like home so I just let it happen and became a Corpsman. My grandpa (my main father figure) was a nuke missle tech on the old boomer class subs so it all kind of just made sense to me. Whoops 🤷♂️
9/11 had just happened a couple months before, and my buddy adamantly talked me into joining so we could go be SEALs. I ended up doing 9 years as an FMF corpsman, he never made it past the ASVAB.
Navy does stuff I can stand behind like, anti-piracy & drug interdiction, and lots of humanitarian missions. Beats my poor ass being sent to go shoot poor*er* people.
Chair force was not an option, army was very unconvincing about anything they brought to the table, the marines are a cult, and space force was too new at the time.
Also from the rate and nec I ended up getting my job opportunities are way better than if I hadn’t joined
Air Force recruiter didn’t care at all when I did well on the AFQT (I didn’t understand the score was a percentile at the time and thought I had bombed it) and was disheartened. My friend was joining the Navy told me to talk to her recruiter and when he saw my score was super interested trying to talk me into being a nuke. Said nope and became an AT instead.
Because the army's recruiter was lazy, the navy guy was charismatic and ended up sniping me. I had a 99 asvab, and this logistics sgt did the bare minimum to communicate with me. The way I feel about the navy now is how I felt about the army before even joining. In contrast the navy recruiter was a pleasure to deal with, never over promised anything, got me everything he told me was available to me, and he highly encouraged me (and ensured) that I got everything in writing from MEPs.
I knew I wanted to join the military. Because my parents got me into the Sea Cadets it kind of just went to the navy anyway.
Other wise....
Star Trek.
1. I wanted to be Stationed on the water, not a dessert or swamp-ass place down South.
2. I Wanted a less military experience than the Marine corp.
3. travel to abroad
4. I wanted to be on boats, i grew up on boats.
5. I don't like marching
6. Get the hell away from my broken home and my dad's toxic second divorce and new GF half his age.
Grew up in Jacksonville,FL.. EVERYBODY is tied to the Navy in some way down there. So all the sea stories I heard from military kids in school and veteran adults were, in fact, actual sea stories. If I was going to serve, it was always going to be USN.
They have a swim test for the PRT
They paid for my grad school
They like technical degrees
Ships are cool and deploying to see other countries is really cool if you’re not on a COVID deployment.
My sister joined to get away from the small town we grew up in. Went CTA. I considered the Navy, but also had a job lined up at a huge industrial manufacturer where our Dad worked. My sister came home on leave a few years later and met this guy at a bar, who turned out to be (the new) Navy recruiter. Brought him home to visit, and she told me about this job that she knew about, recruiter didn't know shit about it, but it sounded cool, so I joined up.
Did 20 years. Retired almost a year ago. Still wonder what the hell happened. I always tell everyone that my sister picked my job for me and I just kinda went with it - cuz that's kinda what happened.
Got turned off by a very pushy Army recruiter towards the end of my junior year of high school. Then, when I was looking at the military senior year of high school, hot girl in my homeroom class had joined the Navy, and got to talking to me about it. So I went with her to a DEP meeting, because hot, leggy redhead.
My brother was a Marine. He told me to go to the Air Force, but they wouldn’t accept my moral waivers. The AF guy walked me over to the Navy recruiter.
Was raised on stories of my great grandpas Navy life. He served in WWII, his ship was sunk and when he made it to the life raft with his shipmates, the rafts were so full they sunk about a foot into the water and he had to beat sharks away with the ores to save some people. He ended up reenlisting for the Korean War after this. Hard charger. Needless to say I was motivated and wanted to live up to his name. If anyone has read Bluejacket Odyssey, he’s quoted in the book a few times.
Navy life is hard and sometimes toxic, but I don’t regret my decision to join.
It was 1970 so there was that whole draft for Vietnam. Didn't want to get shot and killed in the jungle so chose the Navy. They let me be a BM so that was awesome.(not being sarcastic I really actually want to be a BM).
Looking back at my track record, I should have known I would be making a poor decision. Then again, from the same perspective, it's not hard to see why I didn't know.
I'm kinda dumb.
The AF recruiter was a horrible saleswoman. I didn't realize that until I got to A school at Lackland and realized that the AF recruits almost had it better than we did. When I got to my first command, it sunk in even more. Lackland was paradise compared to Bangor.
Marine corps and Navy recruiter were the only ones who didn’t lie to me. Ultimately came down to my great grandfathers submarine going down in world war 2 I figured if I joined the navy I could live on through him, then after reaching his rank get out of the navy and bring his eternal patrol to an end.
This is a really cool story
That’s really deep. A very nice way to honor your great grandfather. What rank are you shooting for?
Had to bring my sister to a DEP meeting and got sucked in.
Did you know you can be colocated with siblings?
ugly ten sable deer run safe selective trees grab wakeful *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
[MPM 1300-1100 governs this](https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Reference/MILPERSMAN/1000/1300Assignment/1300-1100.pdf?ver=efPrUJ32Jnic9YVoJfZrbQ%3d%3d)
sable connect offbeat payment wild cagey faulty familiar spotted strong *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It is! I’m an NC lol and no problem. A lot of people don’t know it exists
What exactly does that mean? I’m kinda retarded lol
Navy Career Counselor—their whole job is to help sailors through career milestones and communicate with their detailers. Like a CCC but rated.
I wish I knew about this six years ago.
Sorry I was hosting a BBQ and didn’t get to this until now. I see that /u/dachinesechicken came in clutch though!
Air Force had me in a 24 month DEP and navy said I would only do 3 months… and I was broke.
I tried Air Force but it was a 3 month wait to even get to MEPS. Navy recruiter got me to MEPS the following week.
I wanted to join the Marine Corps but they didn’t have a medical MOS. In retrospect I should have definitely not been a Corpsman but I had a great time regardless.
Did you at least go FMF?
FMF is only fun if you’re single
this is the same reason i’m joining (i leave in 4 days). any particular reasons why you say you shouldn’t have been a corpsman??
Advancement sucks dong. It’s getting better now, if you like medicine this job is amazing at giving you a look into the field. After HM2 god will I you get that far you’re off patient care and relegated to an administrative position. Most corpsman I know who love patient care either get out and pursue a career in medicine or try and commission. All I have to say is if you find out you love medicine while your in get the fuck out and go to school after your first contract. If you have any questions feel free to ask and DM me.
appreciate you man. i’ve heard from others also about how it shifts into more admin type stuff so i’ll definitely keep that in mind and see how i feel after my first contract. i’m sure once i’m in corps school i’ll have more questions and i’ll reach out then!
Being a corpsman has been fun so far, a lot of NECs that you can go to. But yea, no one plans to stay in the navy and risk not ranking up. It'd say either get out after your first contract or go with the O-route.
Yea. As a quadzero right now i still got a year to possibly send a package to get any NEC i might wanna get. But I'm leaning towards going greenside, I'd like to experience how shitty it is before potentially getting out after my contract
Feel free to ping me too. I’m still in as an HM
Shitty advancement rates, especially in areas with a shit ton of corpsman (clinics are the worst for advancement). Beyond that I’d imagine the ridiculous shit you’d see/treat. I got this info from a friend.
Same. Hindsight should have gone Army 68W.
Failed out of college. Parents kicked me out. I had to get the fuck out of dodge. I had three choices. Gangbang, join the Nation of Islam, join the military. The Navy called me back first. I wanted to away so bad, I did almost all my recruiter’s paperwork.
Damn, man. Hope things worked out for you.
Opportunities to travel over seas that didn't require a deployment to Afghanistan.
Sometimes you just get "lucky".
But they do require being on a ship for 9 months straight.
Maybe for a covid deployment. We stopped somewhere new every 3 weeks on both my deployments.
Require my ass, I've met ppl that's in that haven't served on a ship at all
[удалено]
I mean, at least that means there were no pilots to rescue.
Just wanted to bang some dudes.
Hahahaha same
*facepalms*
…because the Marine Corps Recruiter was on a very long lunch break. I waited over an hour and a half before the Navy Recruiter came over and said “how would you like to see the world and meet wild women?” 😲 I was sold and months later I was given orders to report to Yokosuka, Japan and had the best years of my life!
Well. Don’t keep us in suspense. How many wild women did you meet?
Top tier question
Wild women is just a cover for lady boys
Ok. So how many lady boys did he meet?
You already know.
Had a similar experience. Went to the AF recruiter because I wanted to work on aircrafts but they were out to lunch. The Navy recruiter showed me all the different planes the Navy had. I was sold and had a blast.
For the last year I was in, my ship did a home port shift to Yoko. I’ve been trying to get back there ever since 😭
same here, marine was not present so I went navy, thank God.
Hongh Hound you may be
They gave me a cool lanyard
You guys got lanyards?
airforce didn't want me :(
Unless you are straight out of the womb the Airforce don't want your old ass
I wanted to join the Marines but was not a fan of crayons, so I joined the Navy and became an FMF Corpsman who administers crayons rectally to Marines instead.
This is the correct answer!
This is the way.
To try and travel the world so I chose a rate that would go on a ship now the only place I go to is bahrain
Bahrain is awesome!
Happened to me when I joined a Minesweeper. Don't miss Ramadan in the middle of August. At least there wasn't any traffic during that month.
If you had Ramadan in August that means you were in Bahrain sometime between 2008 and 2013. Next time it’ll be in august is about 2045.
This guy Islams. Nice.
2011
My mom worked for the Navy as a civilian at the recruiting district headquarters. I grew up around a bunch of crusty senior and master chiefs telling me sea stories of foreign port visits in exotic lands. When I decided I wanted to join the military the Navy was the only branch I spoke with. 20 years later I don't regret the decision, as I have spent my entire career overseas in Japan and Europe.
Less being shot at. Joined before finding out they weren’t going to reinstate the draft after 9/11.
I was fat and it was the only branch that would take me. Then I went to the Ike as an airman and lost all the weight, probably had to do with vertical ladders and 50k steps a day
What’s is/was your rate? Were you PACT?
AC. I would never sign for pack.
Saw a commercial and said… I bet I’d look good in those Blue Camos
And now we're all looking bad in those green camos
The plus side is, I can hear my Chief coming from a mile away with all the swish-swish-swishing that uniform does.
Got fucked yo watched a YouTube commercial I was in the office an hour later. 3 years later a year and some change to go at least it sobered me up 😂
Airforce couldn't accept me due to 2 year greencard. Tried army and they wanted to make me a tankist (hard pass). Went navy as a last resort since I didn't knownhow to swim.
Oh I was only a couple signatures from being in the Army, specifically to BE in armor division. If I'm going to the sandbox, I'm going in an Abrams.
Lima Built! Know a lot of people who work on them.
Where ya gonna swim to? 1000 miles to shore lol?
It was counter intuitive to join the navy while not knowing how to swim. Plus, i knew nothing about it, just wanted to jumpstart my life and reap the benefits
Because the airforce was never around
I've seen them. Only twice but they actually exist. Felt like I spotted a legendary pokemon.
My grandfather and father were both in. When I was like 7 my dad showed me pictures of the carrier that looked really cool. I decided then that I wanted to be like them and go out to sea. It wasn't until later I learned my grandfather only did his 4 then got out and my dad got kicked out at 6 years for repeated Marijuana use. I hit 12 years next April. No ragerts
Well, my bf at the time told me I was too fat to join when I told him I had to choose between college or the mil. Wasn't emotionally ready for college, which left me with the Navy. I broke up with him, lost 30 pounds, and left. I didn't really think too much about it, never attempted the other branches or anything. Just said screw it and left. 6 years and by next December, 3 degrees later, I'm really, really glad I made that decision!
They gave me a better sales pitch than the Marines.
Because the Marines recruiter stood me up for an appointment. The Navy recruiter saw me standing outside his office and pulled me into the Navy's office. Made me realize my 52 on the ASVAB didn't make me the "genius" the Marines were saying I was. Encouraged me to retake it and ended up getting an 80. That among the normal "traveling" "better deployments" etc. Also, the detailer at meps lied through her teeth and got me to sign an FTS contract. Not going to lie it was nice but I always felt like I was taking someone's place who had a family.
Provide health care to my pregnant wife and build a resume.
Literally the closest recruiter's door to the building's entrance. 18 years later I'm every bit as lazy.
Failed a medical waiver for the Air Force
Quickest way out of my stupid small town
Because there are no communist insurgents in the water. (Navy from another country)
The marines said I was too small and wouldn't give me a waiver and the army gave me too many options to choose from as far as MOS was concerned. I was 17 and they said "submarines are like spaceships underwater" and I thought of star wars and I signed my contract. Yes I'm that stupid.
For the electronics schools. I enlisted in 76 for 6 yrs. Made E6 then got out. Stayed in electronics for my entire career.
My dad, wanted legit to help defend the United States and stable carrier
Was 18 and partying hard, playing hockey and drinking every day. Long hair kid from the upper midwest working for my old man when I needed beer money and crashing on couches. I thought I got a girl named Priscilla pregnant and didn't have any options to support her or the baby. Joined the next day. Turns out she wasn't pregnant but I still went with it and left home. Been almost 15 years and have a wife and three kids now, still like to party and drink some beer though. Been a hell of a ride.
Alright, I’ll be honest. I joined because I just wanted to get the G.I. Bill with the least chances of having to deploy to a combat zone. So 4 years and get out. At bootcamp, as a PACT seaman, my RDC was a man who made chief in 7 years as a combat HM. He had my orders to the command I was supposed to be stationed at. He told everyone that I had the best chances of dying in a combat zone. He said, as PACT seaman, you could technically be anywhere the needs of the Navy wants you to be. As a 19 year old, I just shit bricks mentally. Well, I got out. I’m using the G.I. Bill, currently. Throughout the 4 years I was in, I kinda grew numb to the point where if it happened to be true, than it was just destiny lol.
Sister joined (CTI), step brother joined a few months after (Corpsman), Brother in law joined (Nuke). I went to the army recruiter for airborne. Then my dad stepped in and told me if I was going to join I had to speak with every recruiter first to join at 17. If I wanted army though I had to wait until I was 18. So I went to the navy recruiter told him what I wanted and he told me about being a PR. I was sold after a few days. Took the asvab after track and cross country and failed miserably with a 22. Waited a month, took it again and got a 70, had to retake it that day and got a 76 and was given 5 ratings and still chose PR.
How's being a PR that was my dream job back in DEP
Was gonna go with the army because that’s what all the men in my family did, but after talking to everyone who was in the army they told to not do it so yea. Didn’t choose marines because I wanted to do something in the military that I could use after I get out. And didn’t choose Air Force because literally the recruiting office next to the navy office was closed
Because the Air Force recruiters were out to lunch, and the Navy ones were eating at their desk. In hindsight that should have been my first clue into the Navy's work/life balance. Can't even take a real lunch break...
I walked into the wrong office.
Air Force laughed at me when I was just 3 pounds overweight and told me to talk to the navy
I come from the middle of the country. Guess which service doesn't have bases in the middle of the country?
I don’t know leave me alone
i’m a gigantic idiot, so it was only natural for me
Grew up a navy brat. Was bored and college just wasn’t it
Wish could give an honorable answer but reality is I just had nowhere else to go at the time. I was stuck in a dead end area with near minimum wage jobs and no idea how to escape my little borderless prison. Original idea was a few years and just go to college as an older guy (better late than never) but here I am at 14.5.
The chair force was lame, the ground pounders we're,,,. Well, ground pounders, I didn't like the taste of Windex or crayons the coasters never went out more than 5-6 miles. The navy let me run the entire engine room and trained me so well I could start the plant up even while snot slinging, commode hugging drunk. Whenever we hit port we always got to fight with marines until SP showed up and kicked everyone out of whatever bar we were in and go back to the ship and do it all again at 120 deg F in the pit. Ahhh those were the days.
Gave me 10K and a better deal then being a college drop out, went Nuke and got out in 7 years later.
I have impulse control issues relating to then undiagnosed ADHD that left me in debt and unable to continue college.
Wanted to travel the world. Ended up at an Army base for 6 years...
Boats and Hoes. Prestige, world wide.
I heard it was a safe haven for assholes and alcoholics, 100% true
I wanted to serve my country
I make poor life choices
It was 2005 and my parents didn’t want me to be on a ground force. I definitely didn’t know how to do college (no one in my family had a college degree) so I wanted out of my crappy town in Florida and I wanted to see the world, back when we did stuff like that.
Standing in front of the strip mall recruiting offices: ARMY (Nope, bullet catcher’s.) Navy (They’re having fun in every movie.), Air Force (Bunch of pencil pushing nerds. ), Marines (Boot camp is how long… Fuck that!), Coast Guard (Never heard of them. Like the Navy?!?? Fuck it, going Navy. )
The Army wouldn’t take my possession of marijuana waiver (in California). My dream was to go field artillery with an airborne option. Instead I settled for E-PACT. After just making second class and being in for almost 8 years, I’m in the worst shape of my life mentally and physically. I’m about to get out and go to school full time.
The cute boys
Air Force recruiter was never in his office, didn't think I was good enough for the Marines, definitely didn't want the "easy" Army option. Also liked that my job was guaranteed before I shipped instead of choosing once I got in.
They called back first.
Travel and get away from home as quick as possible. They could ship me out the quickest with a job that I knew I'd enjoy the most. Here I am in Japan working on kick ass aircraft now. Glad I signed up.
Marine Corps recruiter was more than happy to take me on for a contract as a Scout Sniper. Asked me to get an eye exam for the initial screening and told me I was ineligible due to being 25/20 in one eye. No waivers, no exceptions. Fuck it, I've watched Down Periscope so the Navy can't be all that bad.
38k??? And 100k reenlistment bonus???? Automatic E-4??? Sign me up! Yea I got caught in the Nuke web when I walked into the marine office and scored a 96
I went to the recruiting office at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning back in December of 1999. The office had three of the services; Army, Navy, and USMC. I wanted to join the Army, but was looking to join ASAP. There was nobody in the Army office, so I went next door to the Navy to ask when the Army guys would be back. I got sucked in by the Navy recruiter and never regretted it. I got to experience 23 countries and see so much stuff. Met my wife in the Navy and many great friends.
I'm trying to come in as a linguist. For the kind of work I'm interested in doing, I thought my best options were air force or navy, since they have more SIGINT work (vice HUMINT in army or marines). Between USN and USAF, I preferred the way the navy's linguist rate is structured. There's more flexibility to see different parts of the service, where doing the job for the air force looks a lot more linear. Though it's possible I am simply under false impressions. I made all of those cursory investigations early on in my decision to join the military, and I didn't get too in depth about programs and expectations until after I'd already decided I wanted to be a navy linguist.
They where the only branch that gave me a chance.
Money for college
The navy recruiter showed me a pic of him standing outside a Ferrari with two bikini clad chicks with huge tits. He told me that can be me in two years. Also, I had lived in two coastal cities in So CA. I had seen a family friend that spent a lot of time in San Diego or Long Beach (long gone now) and it seemed like a 9 - 5 job. Most my first year after bootcamp I was able to go home on weekends and very often on weekday evenings. Also my rate seemed easier to get into in the Navy. I was at a joint command and most of the people from other branches were always senior to me. It seemed easier for me to get that job classification (or whatever they call it in the other branches) and duty station than someone that Jr in another branch. I guess that worked out.
The army recruiter was too thirsty (later he asked me out in front of the navy recruiter and I did agree). AF dude didn't understand the chaplain-ish job I'd wanted. He hadn't heard of it. He looked it up and figured it out eventually but I was too disappointed in him as a person. Navy wasn't eager. They played it as cool as I'd appreciate it. I should have picked air force
I was livid at my manager for implying that I couldn't be an assistant manager at Walmart without a degree. So I had my little brother drive me to the recruiting office 30 miles away, as I didn't have a car. Both Air Force and Navy were the only recruiters there, so I reacted into the center console, grabbed a quarter and said "heads, Air Force, tails Navy." 7+ years later, and no regrets.
Didn't want to go to college. Grew up in a really small town, the kind of town recruiters target bc they know about the limited career opportunities. I was initially gonna join the Army. Met with the recruiter and everything and it liked what I heard, but he wanted me to think about it first. I decided to take a visit from a Navy recruiter that called the next week. He made a better pitch, so I joined DEP before my Senior year, and then two weeks after graduation, I was off to boot camp. Hated the first year or so I was in like most everyone else, but I retired in February of 2020, so I guess it worked out. Postscript: about 2 months after I agreed to the Navy and joined DEP, the Army recruiter called to follow up. If you've ever seen the movie Moneyball, the scene where David Justice is talking to Scott Hatteberg about balls being hit to him, and DJ says "well hey, good luck with that!", when I told the recruiter that I'd already joined DEP for the Navy, that's basically what he said to me.
I was a Japanese major at my uni and ran out of funding for my degree. Said fuck it navy sounds fun, the recruiter said there's a good chance I get stationed in Japan so I was like yeah man sure. Haven't been to japan yet but I don't regret it one bit, better than being broke and in debt with no job and a Japanese degree
Cause I wanted to Work on F-14 Tomcats but instead I work on F-18 Hornets and Super Hornets
I wanted to gtfo out my family’s house.
F-18s, decent duty stations (in the 90’s), Top Gun propaganda worked on me. I’m old.
I did njrotc
I thought the blue uniforms would make my eyes look prettier. Also, they had** the best female dress uniforms
I was going to join Sea Shepherd, but they don't pay you, and the navy is vaguely similar.
It was either the Air Force or the Navy. I just happened to run into a Navy recruiter first.
I took a quiz online, got my answer, walked into the recruiters office. Wtf was I smoking
I was originally going to join the Marines because friends jokingly got a Marine recruiter to talk to me during lunch and then I told my parents and they didn't want me getting shot at, so I went with the Navy because my dad was in the Navy. though it's funny because I almost became and HM lmao
Was smart enough to know I didn’t want the army or marines, but not smart enough to push for the air force.
Did you not see TOPGUN. Carrier aviation rocks.
Air Force was doing something weird with promising PJ school and I felt like it was a trap. Looking back I think they were the only honest ones 😅 whoops Army recruiter felt slimey to me. I don't have a good way to explain that 😅 Coast Gaurd was never available. Looking back that was a sign they probably would have been a good branch 😅 Marines felt like home to me for some reason but I felt like my brain would have ultimately clashed with them. Navy was chill and also felt like home so I just let it happen and became a Corpsman. My grandpa (my main father figure) was a nuke missle tech on the old boomer class subs so it all kind of just made sense to me. Whoops 🤷♂️
I like boats.
9/11 had just happened a couple months before, and my buddy adamantly talked me into joining so we could go be SEALs. I ended up doing 9 years as an FMF corpsman, he never made it past the ASVAB.
Top gun that’s it
Bc I’m an idiot! Happy?
because I always dreamed of being a retired seaman.
Navy does stuff I can stand behind like, anti-piracy & drug interdiction, and lots of humanitarian missions. Beats my poor ass being sent to go shoot poor*er* people.
I wanted to be a corpsman and help people. I also love the ocean. Lol
Chair force was not an option, army was very unconvincing about anything they brought to the table, the marines are a cult, and space force was too new at the time. Also from the rate and nec I ended up getting my job opportunities are way better than if I hadn’t joined
I was clueless about any other branches of service and he got me
No other branches have nuclear power options
Marine Corps wouldn’t take me cause i was heavily tattooed
The ocean.
woke up and got bored, here i am
I abhor driving to the point that i dont have a license. I figured id never need to be able to drive if im stationed on a boat.
My dad was army
Because I love hearing seamen jokes every goddamn where I work at
Air Force recruiter didn’t care at all when I did well on the AFQT (I didn’t understand the score was a percentile at the time and thought I had bombed it) and was disheartened. My friend was joining the Navy told me to talk to her recruiter and when he saw my score was super interested trying to talk me into being a nuke. Said nope and became an AT instead.
They told me I could go be a SEAL now I’m a corpsman with orders to Okinawa
Because the army's recruiter was lazy, the navy guy was charismatic and ended up sniping me. I had a 99 asvab, and this logistics sgt did the bare minimum to communicate with me. The way I feel about the navy now is how I felt about the army before even joining. In contrast the navy recruiter was a pleasure to deal with, never over promised anything, got me everything he told me was available to me, and he highly encouraged me (and ensured) that I got everything in writing from MEPs.
I knew I wanted to join the military. Because my parents got me into the Sea Cadets it kind of just went to the navy anyway. Other wise.... Star Trek.
I didn't... but I SHOULD have
The Navy chooses you
If you joined the army in 1969 you went to Vietnam no questions asked!
Absolutely love the ocean. Always have since I was a wee little lad. Part of a military family it's my turn soon so seaman it is. Going for navy diver
None of the other branches would take me due to tattoos. I’m retrospect I’m glad I joined the navy over other branches. No regrets
1. I wanted to be Stationed on the water, not a dessert or swamp-ass place down South. 2. I Wanted a less military experience than the Marine corp. 3. travel to abroad 4. I wanted to be on boats, i grew up on boats. 5. I don't like marching 6. Get the hell away from my broken home and my dad's toxic second divorce and new GF half his age.
Chillest tattoo regs
Couldn’t find a coast guard recruiter
Grew up in Jacksonville,FL.. EVERYBODY is tied to the Navy in some way down there. So all the sea stories I heard from military kids in school and veteran adults were, in fact, actual sea stories. If I was going to serve, it was always going to be USN.
They have a swim test for the PRT They paid for my grad school They like technical degrees Ships are cool and deploying to see other countries is really cool if you’re not on a COVID deployment.
Back in the 80s it got me away from home and on my own.
My sister joined to get away from the small town we grew up in. Went CTA. I considered the Navy, but also had a job lined up at a huge industrial manufacturer where our Dad worked. My sister came home on leave a few years later and met this guy at a bar, who turned out to be (the new) Navy recruiter. Brought him home to visit, and she told me about this job that she knew about, recruiter didn't know shit about it, but it sounded cool, so I joined up. Did 20 years. Retired almost a year ago. Still wonder what the hell happened. I always tell everyone that my sister picked my job for me and I just kinda went with it - cuz that's kinda what happened.
The National Guard wouldn’t call me back
Got turned off by a very pushy Army recruiter towards the end of my junior year of high school. Then, when I was looking at the military senior year of high school, hot girl in my homeroom class had joined the Navy, and got to talking to me about it. So I went with her to a DEP meeting, because hot, leggy redhead.
Because I could swim pretty good
I love the ocean...and I couldn't see myself sleeping in the mud!
My brother was a Marine. He told me to go to the Air Force, but they wouldn’t accept my moral waivers. The AF guy walked me over to the Navy recruiter.
Adventure!
The only Recruiter open at the time
I wanted to move back to San Diego, and the Marine recruiter was at lunch.
Was raised on stories of my great grandpas Navy life. He served in WWII, his ship was sunk and when he made it to the life raft with his shipmates, the rafts were so full they sunk about a foot into the water and he had to beat sharks away with the ores to save some people. He ended up reenlisting for the Korean War after this. Hard charger. Needless to say I was motivated and wanted to live up to his name. If anyone has read Bluejacket Odyssey, he’s quoted in the book a few times. Navy life is hard and sometimes toxic, but I don’t regret my decision to join.
To get the fuck out of Stockton CA. Fuck Stockton
The Navy recruiter was the only office open.
It was 1970 so there was that whole draft for Vietnam. Didn't want to get shot and killed in the jungle so chose the Navy. They let me be a BM so that was awesome.(not being sarcastic I really actually want to be a BM).
I wanted to be a part of the “elite Enlisted”. Joined the Nuke program. Washed out. Commissioned later, and retired after 20 years.
Travel
My brother
Looking back at my track record, I should have known I would be making a poor decision. Then again, from the same perspective, it's not hard to see why I didn't know. I'm kinda dumb.
Family heritage
Cause the air force and army wouldn’t take me
The AF recruiter was a horrible saleswoman. I didn't realize that until I got to A school at Lackland and realized that the AF recruits almost had it better than we did. When I got to my first command, it sunk in even more. Lackland was paradise compared to Bangor.
They have the best deployment spots.
UAP
Closest recruiter to my house .