How long is marine,navy, and airforce service?
Submitted by admin on April 12, 2010 – 11:03 pm6 Comments
voodoochild158xi asked:
Hey I hope someone on here can help me with this question because the U.S military sites were very brief on information. I was wondering how long is a term of service in either the marines, navy, or U.S.A.F. I would prefer to serve in the division that you stay the shortest in as I am only trying to make it to my parents for failing this semester of college and I am now getting kicked out of Penn State University. Also do they all pay for your college education along with having a branch of education available while serving?
You mean what is the shortest amount of time you can enlist for?
I think it is 2 years but that does not include basic traning and AIT. Not postive tho.
4 years a minimum…..
You are joining for the wrong reasons. You would be better off bartending or waiting tables and going to a local college.
4 years active/4 years inactive(reserve)=8
two to four year minimal.
You may be able to sign up for a job that only requires a four-year active duty obligation, but understand that no matter what your active duty obligation is, you are making an eight-year commitment. I just finished six years on active duty in the Navy, but I still have two years left in the inactive reserves. I am not a drilling reservist, so I don’t have to go in on weekends or anything like that, and I don’t get paid. It just means that I can still get called back to service. For my job in the Navy, getting called back is not likely, but it’s still a possibility.
The military does not unequivocally pay for your college education. I worked in the nuclear field, and the Navy has some kind of deal with Thomas Edison State University, a non-selective distance learning school with a weird accreditation, for nuclear-trained servicemembers to get a degree in “Nuclear Engineering Technology.” I have no idea whether or not that “degree” is worth anything anywhere. If you are interested in a particular job in the military, do your homework ahead of time to see if they offer some kind of degree program. Keep in mind that they may not let you even start working toward that degree until you’ve been in for a few years. My command wouldn’t let me start taking college classes until I had been in for about three years. If you need core classes, you can take CLEPs and distance learning classes for free, but there is no guarantee that they’ll transfer to a particular college. Look into whether or not your home state offers anything to veterans. In Connecticut, for example, veterans can get their tuition waived at any public college or university in the state. Also, if you pay $1000 into the Montgomery GI bill when you enlist and then pay another $600 before you get out, you can get about $1300 a month for 36 months as long as you are enrolled FULL TIME at an accredited school. You must have an honorable discharge, too.
Short answer: The military is not a walk in the park. There are ways to pay for school. Read the fine print.