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iyaayas01
Feb 19, 2010

Perry'd
They're two totally separate buckets. Your IRA is exactly that, an Individual Retirement Account. There's a yearly max on that because anyone can set one up for any reason with any type of investment security (stocks, mutual funds, bonds, even real estate, etc), so it would provide huge opportunities for tax chicanery if there wasn't an annual cap on contributions.

The TSP is an employer run defined contributions plan (basically a 401(k) for the government). There's no limit on Roth contributions to these plans, go hog wild.

The contribution limits for IRA do apply against both Roth and Traditional (so you can't contribute $5,500 to a Roth IRA and then contribute another $5K to a Traditional)...but unless you're in a highly unique tax situation there's really no reason to have a Traditional IRA in addition to a Roth. In any case when comparing Roth IRA to a Roth TSP there's no problems or limitations because they're two completely separate types of accounts, they just share the "Roth" label due to their tax advantaged structure.

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nwin
Feb 25, 2002

make's u think

iyaayas01 posted:

They're two totally separate buckets. Your IRA is exactly that, an Individual Retirement Account. There's a yearly max on that because anyone can set one up for any reason with any type of investment security (stocks, mutual funds, bonds, even real estate, etc), so it would provide huge opportunities for tax chicanery if there wasn't an annual cap on contributions.

The TSP is an employer run defined contributions plan (basically a 401(k) for the government). There's no limit on Roth contributions to these plans, go hog wild.

The contribution limits for IRA do apply against both Roth and Traditional (so you can't contribute $5,500 to a Roth IRA and then contribute another $5K to a Traditional)...but unless you're in a highly unique tax situation there's really no reason to have a Traditional IRA in addition to a Roth. In any case when comparing Roth IRA to a Roth TSP there's no problems or limitations because they're two completely separate types of accounts, they just share the "Roth" label due to their tax advantaged structure.

That's what I was under the impression of-thanks for the info.

Waroduce
Aug 5, 2008
My girlfriend has spoken to me about her joining the military in order to pay for gradschool. She has a mo-tard AF guy shes friends with who wont shut up about how awesome it is, and one of her friends was also in the airforce, got out and is collecting 3k a month and going to law school for free.

She is worried about paying for grad school. She's 27, has a criminal justice or some such degree from UF, and has a decent legal job, and is looking for more hence the interest in the military.

I told her she'd hate it but she wont believe me and shes asked me about joining for benefits and i pretty much just laugh her out of the room due to you guys, several guys ive spoken to ( 2 Nam era SEALs and a friends friend who was a green beret in afghanistan) and generally all the bullshit i hear about military life.

Can someone give me some reasons why she shouldn't join so the next time this comes up I have something other to say than you're loving retarded?

CHICKEN SHOES
Oct 4, 2002
Slippery Tilde
have her watch that military rape documentary

Mike-o
Dec 25, 2004

Now I'm in your room
And I'm in your bed


Grimey Drawer

Hillary Clintons Thong posted:

have her watch that military rape documentary

That was my first thought before I even saw you said it.

Waroduce
Aug 5, 2008
Link and mo serious replied please

CHICKEN SHOES
Oct 4, 2002
Slippery Tilde

Waroduce posted:

Link and mo serious replied please

I was 100% serious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_War


If that doesn't piss them off then I guess they're meant for the military so you may as well let them join.

CHICKEN SHOES
Oct 4, 2002
Slippery Tilde
the effect of watching it with your company and realizing that a lot of them are rape apologists might not be there though

not caring here
Feb 22, 2012

blazemastah 2 dry 4 u
When I had to sit through that sexual assault awareness thing put on by those 2 actors within the confines of an infantry battalion....

Never saw such hopelessness and simultaneous disgust as I've seen on those actors faces when most of the soldiers present said it was totally okay to keep going if she said no.

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?

Waroduce posted:


Can someone give me some reasons why she shouldn't join so the next time this comes up I have something other to say than you're loving retarded?

I almost lost $20,000 in pay because finance people at two different bases were incompetent. (I noticed an irregularity in the separation paperwork, that's how the error was discovered. If I hadn't noticed, it wouldn't have ever been caught).
It took over 6 months to get that $20,000 because I had to resubmit all my paperwork multiple times (my PII, son's PII, birth certificate copies, court documents) because they lost it.
I lost over 30 days of leave when I got out (even after selling back the maximum amount).
I didn't see my kid for three years because I couldn't get more than two days of leave at a time because of TDYs/deployments/training requirements.
My hearing is hosed and my knee is a mess but the doctors didn't document any of it so I'm hosed for disability.
The CSAF is attempting to suspend a good portion of your first amendment rights (want to complain about the AF to your spouse? Better not do it via text, email, or any other means that they think they can seize).

Godholio fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Mar 3, 2016

CHICKEN SHOES
Oct 4, 2002
Slippery Tilde

Godholio posted:

.
The CSAF is attempting to suspend a good portion of your first amendment rights (want to complain about the AF to your spouse? Better not do it via text, email, or any other means that they think they can seize).

lmao what

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
It's a long and complicated story, but the really short and incomplete version is that a dozen or so officers' careers are ruined because they were texting each other Miley Cyrus lyrics that raised suspicions of drug use. Phones were illegally seized, people were detained without representation, OSI agents threatened witnesses, it was a complete shitshow. The officers in question were instructor pilots who lost their wings and got paperwork (career ender for an O) and were on their way to being kicked out. Other officers who wrote memoranda as character references were also disciplined. Eventually all that was supposed to be reversed (we're going on 3 or 4 months and everything is still hosed) because everyone passed their drug tests and it became clear it was just a joke using loving song lyrics. But then the CSAF sent out a message that basically said "Anything you write or transmit is fair game, so watch what you say." So far this has gone legally unchallenged.

Edit: That's actually the really short and incomplete version.

CHICKEN SHOES
Oct 4, 2002
Slippery Tilde

Godholio posted:

It's a long and complicated story, but the really short and incomplete version is that a dozen or so officers' careers are ruined because they were texting each other Miley Cyrus lyrics that raised suspicions of drug use. Phones were illegally seized, people were detained without representation, OSI agents threatened witnesses, it was a complete shitshow. The officers in question were instructor pilots who lost their wings and got paperwork (career ender for an O) and were on their way to being kicked out. Other officers who wrote memoranda as character references were also disciplined. Eventually all that was supposed to be reversed (we're going on 3 or 4 months and everything is still hosed) because everyone passed their drug tests and it became clear it was just a joke using loving song lyrics. But then the CSAF sent out a message that basically said "Anything you write or transmit is fair game, so watch what you say." So far this has gone legally unchallenged.

Edit: That's actually the really short and incomplete version.

what the gently caress, is there a good comprehensive read on this?

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
I'm not sure if there's a good single article because this developed over several weeks, but JQP has been all over it the whole time. Here are two articles that hit it pretty well...there are others linked in the articles:
Witchhunt
Zero privacy

torgeaux
Dec 31, 2004
I serve...

Waroduce posted:

My girlfriend has spoken to me about her joining the military in order to pay for gradschool. She has a mo-tard AF guy shes friends with who wont shut up about how awesome it is, and one of her friends was also in the airforce, got out and is collecting 3k a month and going to law school for free.

She is worried about paying for grad school. She's 27, has a criminal justice or some such degree from UF, and has a decent legal job, and is looking for more hence the interest in the military.

I told her she'd hate it but she wont believe me and shes asked me about joining for benefits and i pretty much just laugh her out of the room due to you guys, several guys ive spoken to ( 2 Nam era SEALs and a friends friend who was a green beret in afghanistan) and generally all the bullshit i hear about military life.

Can someone give me some reasons why she shouldn't join so the next time this comes up I have something other to say than you're loving retarded?

Military paralegal work sucks. Since that's her area, she'll hate it. Almost no true paralegal work, more akin to legal secretary.

JacksLibido
Jul 21, 2004

Waroduce posted:

My girlfriend has spoken to me about her joining the military in order to pay for gradschool. She has a mo-tard AF guy shes friends with who wont shut up about how awesome it is, and one of her friends was also in the airforce, got out and is collecting 3k a month and going to law school for free.

She is worried about paying for grad school. She's 27, has a criminal justice or some such degree from UF, and has a decent legal job, and is looking for more hence the interest in the military.

I told her she'd hate it but she wont believe me and shes asked me about joining for benefits and i pretty much just laugh her out of the room due to you guys, several guys ive spoken to ( 2 Nam era SEALs and a friends friend who was a green beret in afghanistan) and generally all the bullshit i hear about military life.

Can someone give me some reasons why she shouldn't join so the next time this comes up I have something other to say than you're loving retarded?

Honestly it isn't a terrible idea depending on what she wants to do. It's been a while since I've looked but I'm pretty sure there's a JAG direct accession program. If she got picked up she'd go to law school on the govt. dime then go through a 2 week kiddie course where she learns who to salute and who salutes her, and she'd come out a Capt. making like $85-90k equivalent (don't know if JAGs get special duty pay). A program like that would be legit.

If she's looking to enlist just for the GI bill (and not go guard or reserve or something) then she's going to have a terrible time. She's going to be treated the same as some 18yo fuckwit. She'll have to take out other peoples trash, file random papers because the O's are too busy to, get coffee and all that other stupid stuff, basically like she's an idiot child. It's fine for an 18yo just leaving mommy and daddy's house, it's completely different for someone who's 27, with a degree, living as an adult and looking to go to grad school.

FWIW I'm at my 8 year mark going for my Majors board next year and I love it. But I also joined late (25yo) and was miserable as a banker/insurance salesman. Honestly this is the easiest job I've ever had (I've been a banker, insurance salesman, drove trucks for FedEx, and worked in a library) and the pay is pretty drat awesome. I'm an EWO on EC-130h for reference.

JacksLibido fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Mar 4, 2016

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
Small world. I just spent a week listening to one of your patches speak a foreign language with engineers.

JacksLibido
Jul 21, 2004

Godholio posted:

Small world. I just spent a week listening to one of your patches speak a foreign language with engineers.

Who and where?

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
Sheldon, at Fallon.

iyaayas01
Feb 19, 2010

Perry'd
hey waroduce my wife, who is a prior E officer (enlisted at 20, commissioned at 32) said your gf would be crazy to enlist at 27. For my wife even just being a couple years ahead of her peers (airman at 20 vs 18, NCO at 25 vs 23, etc) drove her crazy. I've said it before but I can't imagine anyone who enlists on AD above about age 25, and that's being generous. Just as one example....in your average four year enlistment, you will be lucky if you get to leave the dorms by your fourth year. At a lot of bases you will do an entire four year enlistment in the dorms. You are literally required, by law, to live on a military installation, in government controlled housing, subject to being roused at 2 in the morning on a Friday night/Saturday morning to go sit in a theater for 6 hrs while everyone goes and pisses in a cup and your bosses go and ransack the space you live in. I am not exaggerating in the slightest, this is literally a thing that happens to dorm rats at least once every couple months on most US Air Force installations. This is because the majority of your "peers" are gently caress-tard 18 year olds. You are 27, but to everyone in a position of authority you are no different than the idiot 18 year olds.

Real talk if she just wants to get the GI Bill bennies best bet is to keep rolling the dice for a USAF OTS slot, do her four with whatever bullshit non-rated/support officer AFSC she winds up with, and get out and get those Uncle Sam fun bux courtesy of the post-9/11. I say that as someone with one of the most bullshit support officer jobs out there (mx officer).....anyone can do this (lovely) job for four years, life even as the lowest of the low on the officer side is still infinitely better than being enlisted.

That said if she's open to alternatives the direct commission law school/JAG option isn't bad if she's interested in law school. Also the ANG/Reserves are a decent way to get GI bill benefits without having to put up with the bullshit of AD, so if she can somehow luck into an AGR ANG/Reserve enlisted job might be something worth considering depending on the AFSC/what she's interested in. Although you probably have a higher chance of getting in to AF OTS than you do of getting an AGR gig with no prior experience (especially since they've been opening the floodgates of OTS lately, even for non-priors)

JacksLibido
Jul 21, 2004

Godholio posted:

Sheldon, at Fallon.

lol very good friend of mine. Would you believe he's a massive gun nut?

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
I would not have guessed that. We could've talked guns in addition to trading aircrew and idiot stories.

Battle Rockers
Aug 3, 2008

i wanna witness ur slit
So I've just reached out to my local state university's military/veteran's office and AFROTC detachment with some questions about joining AFROTC/going back to school after a bit of a hiatus.

My main question is that I'm currently an Army Reservist, and I'd ideally like to keep serving with my unit, while doing AFROTC at the same time. How hard is it to do something like that when you're talking about different branches? I would technically be eligible for IRR a good 4 months before I would need to commission as an Air Force officer due to age limit. Is that sort of thing possible, or do I have to get out of my Army contract and into a new AF one?

I guess another general question would be, what kind of benefits would I expect to get out of serving Active Duty officer for 4 years that I can't already get doing 6/2 on the Army Reserve side? I've thought of a few but I might be wrong: better GI Bill, better VA Home Loan benefits, make more money, be more financially stable post-military career/more ready to get a head start in a good civilian career.

The degree I'd like to get is in Emergency Management, so there could be a lot of good government jobs in my future, or maybe even non-profits like the Red Cross.

Any perspectives from you lot would be appreciated. I enjoy lurking this forum but don't usually have a lot to say because I'm a just shitbird POG reservist.

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
There are no tangible "benefits" that are different between officer and enlisted besides more money. GI Bill is exactly the same, VA is exactly the same, health care is just as awful, retirement options are the same. There's a way to do your reserve/ROTC thing but I don't know any details other than I knew a guy 15 years ago who was doing it. You'll want to talk to the admissions officer at the ROTC detachment. It's probably an O-3, but this is the stuff he's supposed to know.

Red Crown
Oct 20, 2008

Pretend my finger's a knife.

A White Guy posted:

What up Military Goons.

So, I've thought about this for a while, but I want to join the Navy. My old man was a chief, his old man was a chief, my uncle was an officer blah blah basically there's a strong navy tradition in the family. Aside from this kinda unimportant motivation, I realized that my college degree (a bachelors of science in Environmental science) is not much use without some proper workplace experience. So, I figured I want to shoot for being a SWO, spend 4 years in the Navy, and then get out and use that sweet GI bill to pay for a Masters, and then parlay being a vet with a masters into getting employed in my field. I'm 22, and set to graduate this semester, so aside from the task of losing a bunch of weight, I want to join when I'm 23.

Advantages to my favor:

3.0 GPA, which I guess isn't a disadvantage
The old man was literally a recruiter for the Navy during the last years of his enlistment, so though his knowledge of practices may be outdated(he retired shortly after the 1st Gulf War), I'm still taking him down to the recruiter with me.
A few good letters of rec from my professors
Provided I don't get pulled over again for another two or three months, no arrests/convictions
Fluent in Spanish, which again is not a disadvantage at least

Disadvantages

1. I have a torn meniscus in my left knee. I haven't gotten an MRI yet (Tricare kicks in on the 1st), but either way, the long term prognosis is good, even if I end up having to get a menisctomoy. Would the fact that I have a repaired knee be an impediment/outright disqualification to becoming a SWO?
2. Peacetime military. I've been looking through This officer billet's opening spreadsheet and it seems like there's a tremendous need for aviation personnel right now. Are there any Goons out there who are Naval aviation peoples? I'm not exactly particular on what billet I eventually end up in, only that I'm firmly convinced that enlisting with a degree is a retarded move.

You're a shoe-in. If you apply, you will be accepted as either an Aviator (pilot guy), Naval Flight Officer (back seater - a combat systems operator) or a SWO. Go aviation. There is nothing inherently wrong with being a SWO - it can be a great job that gives you a wide variety of experiences and early leadership opportunities. Unfortunately, the surface community is and has been struggling with a culture that eats junior officers alive. I know some guys who really enjoy what they do because their captain rocks, I've known many more who hated it. The aviation side of the house is on a different planet, and it's a much, much nicer planet. You fly airplanes for a living, which is as nice as it sounds. It's a professionally demanding community but tends to cultivate a certain kind of casualness and humor.You ever met an aviator? Most of them don't get a gray hair on their heads before they take command of a squadron after 16-18 years in service, if that. The big downside is that it's a ten year service commitment.

Meniscus repair is not a disqualifier, several of the people I went to OCS with had that surgery at some point in their lives. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't even an issue for people in the aviation pipeline - which is much more medically discriminating. You will not be medically screened for aviation before you have signed your contract and shown up to OCS. Unfortunately, there is a real chance that you may find yourself having signed a contract that you can't complete, and will have to choose another career pipe in the Navy. In that case, you are generally allowed to attempt to join the Intel, Supply or SWO communities.

As for the peacetime Navy? I've been in for five minutes and I'm still in my training pipeline, so I can't say too much. That said, the Navy generally doesn't suffer from the same peacetime malaise as the Army and Marine Corps - it's just a different service. Ships and shore units can generally have some kind of productive purpose, and as the focus shifts from the desert back to the water, it'll probably only go uphill.

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013
Alright, tell me how screwed I am.

I'm 25 years old, former officer of the Finnish Army, immigrated to the US. I did infantry and military police training. I want to commission in the US Military, but I need citizenship. Enlistment is the fastest way to get that.

I enlisted in the US Army, wanting to kick down doors. Got a reservation for 11x with airborne, but had a small bruise in my leg, which made them send me back frolm MEPs on my first try. I lost the reservation for airborne 11x and after receiving my waiver, went back to MEPS. No 11x was available and only combat-oriented airborne slots were 68w and 12b. It was 1645 and they told me I don't have time to call my recruiter, so I just chose combat engineer with airborne option.

I got second thoughts, since I don't want to build poo poo. I want to be as close to the shooty shooty action as possible.
So my recruiter recommends going back once more with a RENO to try to get 11x or airborne medic. They told me that since I really want airborne, they'll check for slots and if no airborne options for medics are there, I'll just keep my 12b.

Cue computer at MEPS. Boom, there is an open 68w with airborne. Hell yeah. Counselor tries to select it, it gives an error. It's because my waiver disqualified me from airborne. But I got a waiver for that waiver in two minutes. System still won't accept it, so counselor calls keystone. He calls them, says it's allright and all, I got my 68w with airborne option.

10 minutes later he realizes that he forgot to ask for the airborne option.
He calls again. It's no longer available.

"Hey, at least I can revert to airborne combat engy." Except I can't since he already changed my job. He just kinda fumbled it.

I really wanna jump from an airplane. I know I sound picky, I know I'm demanding, all that poo poo. But gently caress. I traveled countries and poo poo. I don't want useful civilian skills, I don't want good certifications. I want to be a professional soldier and do soldier poo poo. I wanna get as close to the action as possible. I don't want to be in a clinical setting my time as enlisted. I loved the cold, the sand, the suffering, the heavy packs, the long nights, all that. I'm not 18 years old and looking for my way out of my mom's basement. I goddamn came thru oceans to be a professional combat soldier in a country that won't kick me out to make room for more conscripts in my slot.

What are my options in getting to a line unit? What about getting airborne in AIT despite missing it from contract? I wanna jump from planes. Help me. Feeling motivation loss after my long and arduous journey to do this poo poo. I didn't even lose airborne option because of lies or malice, a NCO just hosed up. And he was super sorry afterwards but that's not loving helping me.

I'm imagining myself handing out tylenol in a clinic for years.

AFQT 89%, GT of 120, Rest in the upper 120's, lower 130's. I used to be a Firefighter too, so I'm worried I'll be too natural in the clinical setting or EMS and they'll like me doing that.

However, I'm not morbidly depressed either. I'm not dropping out of DEP or giving up or anything. I have slim chances to make it on time to maybe maybe be a naval aviator or an airforce/guard pilot so I'm loving going in right now to reach for the last straws before I'm too old.

If I wait as a civilian, my first chances of being a citizen are when I'm around 30-33 years old. Too late to be commissioned in many cases. So here we are.

Vahakyla fucked around with this message at 11:15 on Mar 26, 2016

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
What exactly have you signed?

Edit: Is there actually a fast-track to citizenship via military service? I know that's "common knowledge" but I've also heard it's BS. I don't currently know anybody with firsthand experience to ask.

not caring here
Feb 22, 2012

blazemastah 2 dry 4 u
It's legit. I went from being a permanent resident to actual citizen halfway through basic.

Crab Dad
Dec 28, 2002

behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB


A fellow boot became a citizen during boot.

From the Philippines if that matters.

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013

Godholio posted:

What exactly have you signed?

Edit: Is there actually a fast-track to citizenship via military service? I know that's "common knowledge" but I've also heard it's BS. I don't currently know anybody with firsthand experience to ask.

I've signed a enlistment with 68W for four years. Now waiting for ship out.

Mustang
Jun 18, 2006

“We don’t really know where this goes — and I’m not sure we really care.”

Vahakyla posted:

Alright, tell me how screwed I am.

I'm 25 years old, former officer of the Finnish Army, immigrated to the US. I did infantry and military police training. I want to commission in the US Military, but I need citizenship. Enlistment is the fastest way to get that.

I enlisted in the US Army, wanting to kick down doors. Got a reservation for 11x with airborne, but had a small bruise in my leg, which made them send me back frolm MEPs on my first try. I lost the reservation for airborne 11x and after receiving my waiver, went back to MEPS. No 11x was available and only combat-oriented airborne slots were 68w and 12b. It was 1645 and they told me I don't have time to call my recruiter, so I just chose combat engineer with airborne option.

I got second thoughts, since I don't want to build poo poo. I want to be as close to the shooty shooty action as possible.
So my recruiter recommends going back once more with a RENO to try to get 11x or airborne medic. They told me that since I really want airborne, they'll check for slots and if no airborne options for medics are there, I'll just keep my 12b.

Cue computer at MEPS. Boom, there is an open 68w with airborne. Hell yeah. Counselor tries to select it, it gives an error. It's because my waiver disqualified me from airborne. But I got a waiver for that waiver in two minutes. System still won't accept it, so counselor calls keystone. He calls them, says it's allright and all, I got my 68w with airborne option.

10 minutes later he realizes that he forgot to ask for the airborne option.
He calls again. It's no longer available.

"Hey, at least I can revert to airborne combat engy." Except I can't since he already changed my job. He just kinda fumbled it.

I really wanna jump from an airplane. I know I sound picky, I know I'm demanding, all that poo poo. But gently caress. I traveled countries and poo poo. I don't want useful civilian skills, I don't want good certifications. I want to be a professional soldier and do soldier poo poo. I wanna get as close to the action as possible. I don't want to be in a clinical setting my time as enlisted. I loved the cold, the sand, the suffering, the heavy packs, the long nights, all that. I'm not 18 years old and looking for my way out of my mom's basement. I goddamn came thru oceans to be a professional combat soldier in a country that won't kick me out to make room for more conscripts in my slot.

What are my options in getting to a line unit? What about getting airborne in AIT despite missing it from contract? I wanna jump from planes. Help me. Feeling motivation loss after my long and arduous journey to do this poo poo. I didn't even lose airborne option because of lies or malice, a NCO just hosed up. And he was super sorry afterwards but that's not loving helping me.

I'm imagining myself handing out tylenol in a clinic for years.

AFQT 89%, GT of 120, Rest in the upper 120's, lower 130's. I used to be a Firefighter too, so I'm worried I'll be too natural in the clinical setting or EMS and they'll like me doing that.

However, I'm not morbidly depressed either. I'm not dropping out of DEP or giving up or anything. I have slim chances to make it on time to maybe maybe be a naval aviator or an airforce/guard pilot so I'm loving going in right now to reach for the last straws before I'm too old.

If I wait as a civilian, my first chances of being a citizen are when I'm around 30-33 years old. Too late to be commissioned in many cases. So here we are.

Why are you so set on doing the Airborne thing? Odds are you'll end up in the 82nd which I have never heard anything good about other than from motards. On second thought, maybe you'll fit right in.

Regardless, if you want to commission just get your citizenship then put in an OCS packet when you can. From what I've heard they never get as many in service OCS applicants as they have slots for so you should be able to get an OCS slot. However you should be aware that as an officer you don't just pick a branch, well not exactly anyway. Each OCS class is allocated a certain number of slots for each branch which can vary greatly between classes, just depends on what the Army needs at the time. Hell, if you're still super motivated years down the road you can always drop a packet for SFAS and become this generations Larry Thorne. Just wikipedia'd him again, apparently he got his commission in the Signal Corps before going to SF.

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013

Mustang posted:

Why are you so set on doing the Airborne thing? Odds are you'll end up in the 82nd which I have never heard anything good about other than from motards. On second thought, maybe you'll fit right in.

Regardless, if you want to commission just get your citizenship then put in an OCS packet when you can. From what I've heard they never get as many in service OCS applicants as they have slots for so you should be able to get an OCS slot. However you should be aware that as an officer you don't just pick a branch, well not exactly anyway. Each OCS class is allocated a certain number of slots for each branch which can vary greatly between classes, just depends on what the Army needs at the time. Hell, if you're still super motivated years down the road you can always drop a packet for SFAS and become this generations Larry Thorne. Just wikipedia'd him again, apparently he got his commission in the Signal Corps before going to SF.

I want to jump from military airplanes. I always thought it'd be cool, so thus.

But as you kinda mentioned, my ultimate goal is commissioning, so I'll retain my motivation and all that and hence why giving up or pushing my ship out too far are not options for me. I have zero percent interest in useful civilian skills, and I'd like to get as much as the type of things only military can offer, like jumping from an airplane with a rifle. I'm just trying to find cool combat poo poo to do during this time to forget that I was the one leading the platoon at one point.

I'm aware of officer branches and the availability of them seasonally, and that's fine. Like said, Aviation for any branch is still a glimmer in the distance but if, and most likely when, that fails, Rotary WO might interest, or just any officer slot in the Army, but preferably combat.

Vahakyla fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Mar 26, 2016

Mustang
Jun 18, 2006

“We don’t really know where this goes — and I’m not sure we really care.”
At OCS there is almost assuredly going to be a good number of slots for either Infantry, Armor or Field Artillery, it's just the numbers of each fluctuate. Aviation is possible from OCS but very unlikely, it's not one of the branches that OCS gets slots for. There's a good amount of paperwork you have to put together and then put in a DA 4187 while at OCS for Aviation.

If you want a combat arms branch as an officer from OCS you'll be fine, you just won't have too much of a say on which of the 3 you'll get. Infantry and Armor are both at Benning so they have the most follow on schools available to them since the post is full of various courses. As an Armor officer you are unlikely to actually go to a unit with tanks, less than a quarter of ABOLC LTs go on to become tankers as PLs, the majority go to either Infantry or Stryker BCTs to become scout PLs.

FA sounds horrible from friends that went through FA BOLC, lots of math.

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013
Aight, this encourages me a lot. Combat Arms from OCS is the goal anyway if can't fly so I'll just take the enlisted life with a smile.

I'd rather not do field arty, lol.

Vahakyla fucked around with this message at 08:19 on Mar 27, 2016

Hamlet442
Mar 2, 2008
Can you still jump into 18X contracts as a civilian? That might be a bit closer to what you're looking for. Or is citizenship a requirement?

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013
Security clearance required, so mostly limited to citizens. Can however try to get citizenship during BCT and if I get it, volunteer for RASP and see if I get to go.

Vahakyla fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Mar 28, 2016

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

I found an AF recruiter I can work with, took the ASVAB pretest he gave me-- according to him it functioned as a real test and I just have to take a short "verification"-- and I scored a 99. I read on some small forum a month ago about an option available at MEPS to people who score >96 where they are allowed to hold off and wait for their first pick to become available, but I'm a fool who only bookmarks useless things, so I can't find anything about it now. Has anybody heard about this? I have 10 jobs I'm interested in, but I still have leftover money from my job, so if I have an option to wait I think I'd take it.

Crab Dad
Dec 28, 2002

behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB


Goddamn. If that 96+ is true I could have held out for culinary specialist-navy seal.
Neat if true.

Dead Reckoning
Sep 13, 2011

Vahakyla posted:

What are my options in getting to a line unit? What about getting airborne in AIT despite missing it from contract? I wanna jump from planes. Help me. Feeling motivation loss after my long and arduous journey to do this poo poo. I didn't even lose airborne option because of lies or malice, a NCO just hosed up. And he was super sorry afterwards but that's not loving helping me.

Vahakyla posted:

I want to jump from military airplanes. I always thought it'd be cool, so thus.

But as you kinda mentioned, my ultimate goal is commissioning, so I'll retain my motivation and all that and hence why giving up or pushing my ship out too far are not options for me. I have zero percent interest in useful civilian skills, and I'd like to get as much as the type of things only military can offer, like jumping from an airplane with a rifle. I'm just trying to find cool combat poo poo to do during this time to forget that I was the one leading the platoon at one point.

I'm aware of officer branches and the availability of them seasonally, and that's fine. Like said, Aviation for any branch is still a glimmer in the distance but if, and most likely when, that fails, Rotary WO might interest, or just any officer slot in the Army, but preferably combat.
A few folks I've spoken with said that the Army will send enlisted and officers from leg/mechanized infantry units to Airborne and Ranger courses if they are good performers and show an interest. I'm not sure what exactly you'd have to do, but it's worth expressing your desires to your commander once you get to your unit after training. That said, Airborne-style jumping kinda sucks. Civilian free-fall is much more fun, if a rather expensive hobby.

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Vahakyla
May 3, 2013
Well the Army decided to loving shaft me today. Informing that my ship out date of 11th april is pushed to the 1st of september due to security checks of green card holders being backlogged.

I quit my job already and my teacher wife didn't take a school year contract for next year.

I'm amazingly frustrated and I'd go to the Marines but but I imagine the checks there are the same.


gently caress. gently caress.

gently caress.

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