Figuring out where to enlist, any advice?

Question

I've been unable to get back into college due to financial situations for a year now, within about 4 months my family is moving away. I've lived in about 10 different places in my life, and my father is not in the military, and I have no intention of going with them this time. I'm almost 20, and would like to be able to stay where I am for the first time in my life, so I've decided the best bet for me is to enlist. I have no degree, and can't get back into school, and retail jobs just don't pay enough anymore.

However its becoming pretty obvious to me now that if I enlist, even though I'll make enough money to have my own place to live it will be far away from where I am now. Which would really cause the ends to thwart the means.

I've looked at Coast Guard, Army, Marines, and Navy so far, and though Coast Guard is the best bet for me that I've seen the recruiter I spoke to said I would not be able to live in New Jersey still and serve. It's the only downfall I've seen so far and its the exact downfall I set out to avoid.

Anyone have any ideas? Perhaps the Air Force would be able to remedy my situation?

Answer 1

Any military branch role will involve travel and living in new places.

Try it out! You will love the Coast Guard. It is a unique military branch with a wide range of missions from Iraq to Search and Rescue.

Answer 2

The any reserve is the way you want to go, because any where there going to send you where they want you, plus joing the military right now, kinda sucks, because lets face it were about to go to war with another country soon, so youll probably end up in a conflict, thanks for helping out though, support the troops!  

Answer 3

It doesn't matter what branch you join, if you go active duty then you will move every 2-3 yrs if you can't deal with that then the active duty military life is not for you. And even in the Reserves or National Guard you will deploy for 4-6months at the shortest (and that is AF)

Answer 4

Alkthough New Jersey may seem like a war zone, you will probably be deployed elsewhere no matter what branch you join.  At least the recruiter is being up front with you.  

That said, go Navy... you get to see the world and have a lesser chance of being killed or wounded in combat.  

Dude, they send reservists to every s-hole in the world to fight.  And not only do they have to fight, but because of their lack of training, the do so in an inferior manner.

Answer 5

Honestly, and I'm not saying this to be snarky, but if you want to stay where you are, joining the military is the LAST thing you should do.  It's no different than moving around with your family - you're told when and where to go and you have little to no say in the matter.

Try this URL.  It's a long read, but it'll tell you anything/everything you need to know about the military:

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup...

Answer 6

Pretty much any service you choose you are looking at relocation of some sort be it for basic or just straight up getting sent to Japan, Iraq, wherever. Part of being military is living somewhere for a few years and then going somewhere else. If you are looking for stabability as far as a secure job the military is a good idea, as far as stabability of where you live and not having to move the military may be the worse thing for you possible. If I had to do it again I would choose Air Force but that is just me.

Answer 7

Maybe you should look into becoming a cop or something? You can't go to a community college? You know you can become a nurse in two years and they make good money right off the bat. If you don't wanna move much though, military life isn't for you.

Air Force would be your best bet in my opinion. I don't think you'd get deployed, but you would have to move to another state, I'm not sure whether or not the Air Force has a base in NJ. The Air Force also has plenty of career oppurtunities and they pay for college. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but my friends housing is being paid for also.  

Answer 8

If you want to stay where you're living now, you'll have to go Reserve.  Otherwise you'll be stationed somewhere else.  National Guard has units in every state.

Answer 9

I'd suggest the Reserves, plus you get to go to college for free. Navy reserves is nice and MC is also something you would be interested in.

The Coast Guard yeah, but it's not a guarantee for you to stay in Jersey.

Look into the Reserves, I recommend a lot http://www.mynavyonline.com you can get direct answers and specific answers as far as money goes, benefits, rating description, etc.

But if you are interested in enlisting Navy active I recommend MC. (check out the description http://extensis.cnrc.navy.mil/factsheets...

Good luck!