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When a son/daughter is 18 he/she can sign without a parent's permission, and with or without their support.
The fears of war are not unfounded, but he has a much larger chance of dying in an auto accident here at home.
I choose to support my son, as I know this is not a whim for him nor does he hold an idealistic view of what the military entails.
The OP asks which questions she can effectively ask the recruiter or where to obtain more info.
(The contract spells out how long Active Duty, Active Reserve, and Inactive Reserve is.)
I do know of a few doctors who have been reactivated later in their career due to having a critical need MOS, so it is possible, but not as likely in most MOS choices.
Last edited by Besitomio; 02-19-2009 at 08:04 PM..
Oh, that was/is another critical need MOS, as professionals are in demand.
(Of my two friends, one was a surgeon, the other anesthesiologist.)
One of the lawyers we knew in Tampa, wasn't reactivated,
but volunteered to go Active once he knew of the need, a paycut indeed,
but he was (and is) honored to serve.
I know what you are feeling, Mom. All 3 of my sons have been, or are in the Army. I have lived in fear for their safety since 1988. Two went in out of high school, and we made the last one finish college first in hopes he would change his mind, but no such luck. The first one just retired and had an exciting and distinguished career in special operations (although he was seriously wounded, but recovered), the middle one was a helicopter mechanic and was in for six years, and the baby has only been in for two years and is a tabbed Ranger.
All decisions regarding your son's MOS must be decided BEFORE he signs anything. Once he signs the contract he will have no leverage whatsoever. Recruiters are between a rock and a hard place. They have a quota to meet, and have a lot of plain unglamorous slots to fill. Everyone wants to be a Ranger or some other high profile job, but not everyone can. My youngest son, was coached through the process the whole way by his oldest brother who told him to get up and walk out if he was not given the contract he wanted. After a whole day of waiting around, my son got up to leave and was stopped at the door by an officer who asked him "What do I have to do to get you to sign up today?" He got his Ranger slot, and if he hadn't he would have kept on walking.
I don't know what sort of job your son is interested in, but I can tell you that 2 out of 3 of my sons have loved the military life, all 3 have had amazing adventures, and all 3 are really fine upstanding men because of the Army experience.
If yuo check they wil tell you his exact years of active; and in active reserve services . When I was in it was a tatal of 6 yrs depending if you were drafted or not.Your contrct wil give thsi infomation so keep a copy/ Most epole who said they lied really didn;t qualify for their poicked field and it wqas likely in teh contract that they foolishly didn't read. Too bad that some ranted their political jehad ;rather than answered the questions you ask.
Too bad that some ranted their political jehad ;rather than answered the questions you ask.
Might be a good point, if it wasn't so obvious that the US are the bad guys. The vast majority of Iraqis support the guy who threw his shoes at Bush. Americans made Iraqis far worse off, not better. Ignorance is not an excuse for a soldier who participates in that. It might good for someone whose son is about to participate, to be reminded of that.
The contract says that all bets are off during wartime. Anyone can be recalled. Since we have a war on terrorism, and terrorism will always exist, we will have wartime forevermore. Hence people who sign that contract are potentially signing their whole lives away. There's no honor in killing innocent people so American corporations can boost profits.
Might be a good point, if it wasn't so obvious that the US are the bad guys. ...There's no honor in killing innocent people so American corporations can boost profits.
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OK, got it, sorry. The point about the contract applies here, though. It's a lifetime commitment during wartime, and wartime is now and possibly for the rest of the kid's life. What I would ask the recruiter is, can it be put in writing by an authorized gov't official, that the commitment is for a certain # of years maximum, without exception. Unless such language is put into the contract, I suggest that the son not sign his life away.
Can't agree much about what the above poster wrote. I'm nearly finished with a 22 yr career. I've been fortunate to have leaders who cared about my welfare, whether it was job satisfaction, my training, my chance to see the world/travel.
I started as a Private First Class (PFC) and will leave as a Lieutenant Colonel.
I've been deployed to Honduras, Croatia, Afghanistan. During each of those deployments I left a stronger, more disciplined person.
I earned a Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree all through the Army.
I've lived or visited probably 30 countries either through leisure travel or assignments. I've always have visited my home town (my parents) on average every year at lest once.
I'm in my early 40s, ready to start a second career - while earning $42k inflation protected pension with healthcare benefits for life. I don't see too many other corporations or industries that'll give me that benefit in today's economic times.
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