Only Officers have rank, you have rate and rating until you reach 0-1 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
Just because you complete 4-10-20 yrs of college does not garuntee you an enlistment as an officer. The military can be a very promising career for someone in your situation. You have college experience, and you can push that to get you where/what you want.
It is hard to explain the military to someone who has no idea about it. I would say you could speak to my father about it on the phone if you wanted, but he's away. Was home for a day or two before he had to leave again. That is one thing you have to think about. If you have, or plan on having a family soon, then be weary. Many civilians are honestly not prepared for being apart so much, and many couples end up divorcing due to infedelity.
Are you good at obeying orders? Are you the type of person who feels that they cannot properly function and obey when someone else is telling them what to do? DO you think that regardless, no one should be your boss, or have control of you? Do you know how to give respect, deserved or not, because of stature? You have to be able to work for your Chiefs/DIVOS regardless of whether or not you like them. You have to be able to be told what to do, and take it as it is, not as a personal attack against your integrity and character. You have to understand, they are the boss, and you are the worker. You also have to have mucho responsibility. Although you can easily get by without any, you just will not find yourself being asked to re-inlist, or your Department Head/ CO of the ship (assuming you're in the Navy) pushing you to take tests to accel and either make it to chief or officer.
Are you physically fit? I know the physical reqs have dropped quite a bit, but if you're severely overweight and cannot do a situp to save your life and are dying after 1/4mile, then maybe you should take some time and shape up before you consider it.
Military is great for some, horrible for others. Either way, it is garunteed money, garunteed opportunity to accel, and a sure fire way to gain extremely valuable experience, life changing opportunities, and an opportunity to experience a completely different way of living. Some of the greatest people I have come to meet have been in the military as well.
While I may not be in the military myself, I have grown up in the military, and I know all about the life. Moving every 2.5-3yrs has not been easy, but I have gained so much from it and would not change it for the world. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk some more.
BTW, Devellian and another member on the board are/were active duty military. You can speak to them and I'm sure they would be more than willing to let you know what they think.
Either way though, Navy will always be t3h w1n!
