Where to start? Do you remember those first few days before you or your spouse joined the military? The first time you met your oh-so-honest recruiter? Those fab few months of Basic whether being there yourself or with your lonely butt waiting not-so-patiently for his/her return? How about your specialized training? Experience with your first FRG?
There are a million questions, really, that never seem to get answered before one surrenders to the whiles of Uncle Sam. I now have a brother-in-law about to sign his life away and I wanted to help out his wife-to-be. Let her know a little of what goes on beyond that first decision of, "Let's join the Army."
So, first question (in two parts):
How do you get what you want from your recruiter? What do you wish you would have done differently?
7 comments:
How to get what you want from your recruiter...you go in and say, "I only want to come in as BLANK, because i have a (brother, father, uncle, etc) who is active duty, and if i can't, then i don't sign."
Trust me, they want the numbers, they will work with you when you show how savvy you are about military ways.
The other part has too many aspects that i wish i knew and could fill a book!
Get EVERYTHING in writing. If the recruiter promises you something, don't believe it until you see it in official, documented, irrefutable writing. Don't sign anything until you do--don't believe the recruiter when he says that he'll get it to you. Get it first.
Also, I think we blame the recruiters a little too much. Really, you need to educate yourself as much as possible. Signing a multi-year commitment to do something that may very well put your life in danger for some of it without being as educated about the decision as possible is just plain stupid.
One of the most common things I've found new recruits are unaware of is that no matter how many years your initial enlistment is for--be it 3, 4, 5..., you have signed up for 8 years. If you get out under the eight years, you very well may be called back in, and there's nothing you can do about it. I know numerous people that that has happened to.
I agree with Emily, to get what you want, just tell them what you want and don't let them give you anything else. And if they won't work with you, call a different recruiter. I didn't come in as a military wife, but once I got married I know that there were all sorts of resources I found out about, like SITES and the household goods 800 number (that I don't know off the top of my head) that made moving much less scary. And I always tried to find someone who had been where we were going to ask a million questions to. Good luck to your brother-in-law and his wife!
We got a pretty good deal from our recruiter. We were even going to wait until after basic training to get married, but he called us in, sat us down (I felt like I was meeting with the Bishop) and told us why that was a really dumb idea and all the benefits of marrying first. So, we got married a whopping 7 days before Matt left. That was 3 whole days of preparation.
He also hooked Matt up with the best job we could have lucked into and we got an awesome enlistment bonus.
I do have to say that Matt is probably the luckiest person I know. Things like that just happen for him. Had it been me enlisting, I could probably fill novels with the ways everything would have gone wrong.
So, my advice comes from other people's stories. Know what you want-do the research because there are some really awesome jobs you can do, good training to be had, and lots of choices. If they don't have what you want available, look at other branches, or wait, because it will most likely open up. Mostly I agree with everyone else...educate yourself...know what you are getting in for!
There are some good recruiters out there, and there are some bad recruiters out there.
A lot of it depends on how much they are being pressured from above to get more people in the service. At the time I joined the Air Force, they weren't really hurting bad for people, so it was relatively easy for our recruiter to meet his requirements, and thus no incentive to hide a thing. He was very straightforward.
You can really gauge a lot of it on how much they pressure you to sign up, and in what timeframe. If someone has the luxury to spend a half year or more to make the decision on whether or not to join, they can gauge their recruiter's interest level, and also make contacts with other people who do join right away and ask them about it before they sign on the dotted line.
Finally, there is a *huge* difference between all branches of the military. They all do wonderful things, but there is a big difference, so it is important not to just talk to one recruiter, and it is also important to not think that what the Air Force recruiter told you will also be true for the Marine Corps!
So, there is my advice, in addition to getting everything in writing. I would also advise strongly that someone insists on not signing on the dotted line unless they are also guaranteed the job that they want. I know the Air Force does this, and I believe other services have followed suit.
And finally, look at ROTC as well as talking to the recruiter. It may be that someone would rather go that route...best to make a fully informed decision. For that matter, they can also look at the military academies, although depending on the person they may already have feelings about the academies.
One of Adam's platoon sergeants at DLI had this to say about recruiters:
If MI is the top 5 percent of the military, what does that make everyone else - including your recruiter?
My best advice is to take a friend that is currently active duty or national guard with you - preferrably someone who has a little rank and experience behind them. You'll be amazed at what kinds of insights and benefits they can make sure you get that especially active duty recruiters aren't willing to fork over.
Jen! How are you? It's been years! Are you still enjoying life in the military?
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