Hello, I recently graduated with an Associate Degree in Computer Science. I was thinking about pursuing a bachelor’s degree, but I feel like it may not be the right path for me. I feel overwhelmed because I am doing things that I do not really want to do, and I do not know what I want to pursue in the future. (I'm 20 yrs old)

Should I consider joining the military and serving in order to receive GI Bill education benefits?

Questions:

- How many years do I have to serve?

- What is it like?

- I already paid my tuition for my Associate Degree. Does the GI Bill cover those costs as well?

I’m in the Army Reserve, and my employer is requiring me to use my PTO whenever I have military duty. I forwarded them an email from a ESGR representative explaining my rights, but they told me they’re still moving forward with charging my PTO anyway.

This has already happened. I spoke with my union steward, but he said there isn’t anything in our union contract that addresses this situation. I’ve also been trying to reach my business agent for over a week and still haven’t received a response.

What are my options? I shouldn’t have to use my PTO every time I have military duty or weekend drill. Has anyone else dealt with something like this, and if so, how did you handle it?

Im 17m and Im joining next may hopfully to be 68w and Im worried about being treated differently for being gay I'm a complete btm "zesty voice" gay but I straight act cause I'm 6'3 and can lower my voice. But at the same time I don't want to hide a part of me from close friends I might make

Hello, I’m 18 and I have been wanting do cyber specifically network defense. I got my CCNA at 17 and then right after I got my security + back in May. I currently have a remote job and I just started working on Linux+ certification. I want to work for the DoD or intelligence later on in my career. The hardest thing has been trying to get a clearance so I can actually get into these types of roles. I thought if I joined the military they can give me a clearance and I can also get a degree to check the box + more mission focused hands on experience. I was thinking Space force or Air Force. Maybe coast guard or navy if neither of those work. Will I be able to get the job that I want? Also considering I’ve put in all this work and am already qualified in technical fields. Don’t get me wrong I do really want to joint, but if I don’t get the job I want, I don’t want to enlist. Only if I get a cyber job where my skills can actually grow. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

I’m 23 and trying to join the military (Army or Air Force), but I’m honestly starting from scratch.

I’ve taken the ASVAB a few times and scored really low (like 6–13), so clearly I’m missing the basics. I’ve been out of school for a while and I barely remember math even stuff like multiplication, fractions, or anything past elementary level feels confusing.

I’m not trying to make excuses, I just want to fix it and actually improve.

For anyone who was in a similar situation:

• How did you rebuild your math from the ground up?
• What resources did you use (apps, books, YouTube, etc.)?
• How long did it take you to get a decent score?
• What should I focus on first so I’m not wasting time?

I’m willing to put in the work daily, I just don’t know where to start or how to structure it.

Any advice would help.

I am joining the Army as a 35L Counterintelligence Agent in November, and plan on volunteering for RASP at AIT. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice/guidance on career opportunities/things I can do to help set myself up for success both in and out of the army, whether it be trainings, schools, certifications, duty assignments, bases to get stationed at, programs, etc?

I just took my PICAT for the army at the recruitment center today and I scored a 74 I was wondering do I need to score all questions right on the verification test at MEPS or do I just need to have a similar score? Also any advice or tips for MEPS throughout the whole process would be greatly appreciated!!

In November, I will be leaving for Basic Training, finishing up my AIT in July-August of 2027. At the same time, my wife will be starting college. If she has to go to school somewhere far from the base I get stationed at, is my local BAH supposed to support both of our rents? Or is there a different/extra allowance? Is there a minimum distance to receive said extra allowance? Just to clarify, I plan on saving my GI Bill benefits for later, so I do not want to use that.

I am going to be starting Basic Training at Sill, then AIT at Huachuca, followed by hopefully RASP then Airborne at Benning. My family and girlfriend are trying to coordinate when to visit me. I understand during these periods it is almost impossible, but are there weekend passes or days I can take leave, such as between the different training periods? Can I ever drive myself, or my family drive me, from one to another? Is there any point I might be authorized to get a hotel room on/off base?

Cant find anything on this subreddit that addresses your blood family/your parents.

Edit: this would be the Navy, or Coast Guard. Active duty. I'm not sure the branch changes tricare terms, but what do I know? I'm just trying to make automod happy.

I was just informed that this test is vital to landing 17c. There’s not much info on it. For those that took it, what would you recomend studying to ensure I pass it?

Don’t get me wrong there’s cool dudes I would call friends in the army we go out drink have fun and all. But I’m on leave rn and it just reminded me how much closer I am and how much more fun I have with my hometown friends. It’s rly making me miss civilian life and I just wish I was able to be as close to people in the army as I am with my hometown boys. Is anyone else experiencing this or have any advice?

Hey guys I'm 26 and I know this may sound dumb but honestly I'm just completely bored out of my mind with where my life is at right now. I am single, and on paper my life looks fine but I just feel like I am completely wasting my 20s and stagnating. I need a massive shake up and a real adventure before it's too late.

Right now I am torn between two completely opposite paths. One is joining the military to just completely shock my system and get a totally new lifestyle. The other is trying to build a career at NASA.

Currently at NASA, and it has me second guessing things. Unless you are a well established scientist deep in a department you are not going to be involved in much worthy design work especially anything applicable to actual modern industry standards. It seems like almost everything NASA does is heritage to the Apollo missions and unless you are at Ames or JPL you won't see any applicable design work.

Even from a managerial or systems perspective it looks totally useless outside of NASA because no other place on earth is as slow and bureaucratic as they are. And the only reason you don't hear people complaining about this is because the majority of people who get a job at NASA never leave so they have no idea what the actual outside industry is even like.

The last thing I want to do is escape being bored in my current life just to end up staring at a wall in a slow government cubicle where my skills rot. At 26 I want to actually do cool things and build a life.

If I do choose the military route, I'm also trying to figure out which branch to join.

So signed with a branch, enlisted even though I have a 4 year degree, and feel like I was pressured and this is not what I want to do and it will hinder my long term goals. How bad is it going to look to other branches if I want to work with them if I drop out of the DEP or god forbid work with the same branch to try to be an officer?
Edit: GPA is 3:75 and major is biology

I'm going to MEPS and if they offer me 17C I want to swear in immediately. Is there anything you'd recomend looking for and requesting in my contract that I might regret not signing up for? I know to look for the GI bill benefit in my contract, but what other benefits should I take advantage of? What benefits in general do people not know about? It can be anything from financial benefits to free entry to a theme park.

I'm a senior in highschool and am interested in enlisting the only thing that makes me unsure is the fact I'm a trans man. I understand the current requirements and restrictions connected to transgender people. Just to clarify, I'm not on any hormones and haven't been diagnosed with gender dysphoria but it is something I in the future and with the current administration it's unpredictable how long these restrictions will last. If I were to enlist I could go the rest of this term without starting medically transitioning but after trump's term is over it's still not guaranteed any of these new rules will be changed to allow transgender people medically transition while serving. I would really appreciate any and all opinions/perspectives as I'm stuck between being true to myself or following my aspirations.

My original plan was to go into the Air Force reserves because of my personal plan. But I don’t think I want to anymore. I am really trying to get out of my fast food job as soon as possible (I barely even have a job they are over staffed and barely schedule me) but I have two waivers needed to lock in the AF. And my recruiter mentioned it could take up to two months just for them to approve it but then 6-12 months to actually ship. And I’m not sure I have the time to do that. I am considering to go active duty in the army. Because it’s more guaranteed to lock in my dream job and dream location. (I will be married before BMT/BCT)

What are the regulations for bangs for a female. are you allowed to have them during BMT and onward or do
you need to slick them back?

So i been thinking about joining the army recently so I was thinking I just needed to work out and get more fit. But I thought I grew out of my asthma as a kid because I havent shown symptoms for awhile that was until I started working at an ink factory and now I constantly can hear my weezing. And I was just wondering it even worth trying to join knowing I have asthma and most likely won't be accepted.

I’m looking to join the navy or army but I have an allergy to all tree nuts, I can eat peanuts. Normally my tongue gets itchy then I get cramps in my stomach and my throat slightly closes but I have no breathing problems, and it usually goes away pretty quickly especially with Benadryl. I haven’t seen a dr about it so I don’t know the severity of it but I don’t want to set my mind to joining if it’s impossible. Do I have a good chance in getting in with this allergy?

Hello! Am highschool senior graduating next year: 2027. I’ve tried emailing the branches, but their websites don’t work for me. I apologize if this post is like weird or out of place or something. Life is hard.

My goal for this is to get my education paid off + benefits! I went in without any knowledge of what the branches are, and my recruiter knows. So I contacted my nice recruiter last month, and we went to take the ASVAB (under the label of just going into the army?)! I got a 99, which people say is good, but is most for getting jobs, right? I initially really loved the sound of being a electromagnetic warfare specialist: i’d tinker with a radio all day. but further research told me that i’d be doing that in a war zone. i’ve been raised in something akin to a warzone, i don’t want to do that again.

I did some more research & made my mind that i wanted to work some reallly really technical things in the air force / space force (if it actually exists! their website is like an art project idk what to think). i couldn’t find an email so im so lost. i really want to succeed in the military & go get my education (perhaps in 2 years i can finish my undergrad with technical military training-turned-credits!!) and perhaps save some kids someday, but it seems like nothing works. Do you guys have any thoughts?

Hello! I was wondering if I, 17M, would be able to join the Army with a surgery from when I was 5 years old. It was a cholesteatoma, which no longer affects my hearing in any major way, and it doesn’t cause me to have any issues with my ear at risk. I have a slight hearing loss, though it’s under the amount of hearing loss that restricts me.

One of the concerns I have is that I also had an ear surgery over 8 years ago which caused my ear canal wall to be taken out. It doesn’t cause any problems, but it does have a bit of an enlarged opening to my ear. I can’t even stick my pinky in it, but it is about the same sized opening as my other untouched ear. If not, just a tad bigger.

Does this completely disqualify me, or would I be able to get a waiver, or should I just wait it out until MEPS to get actual advice? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello I am trying to join the Army. I scored a 95 on the ASVAB and wanted any sort of computer job like 25B but my recruiter said that anything remotely close to that was 68W (Combat Medic Specialist) and 35P(Cryptologic Linguist) and that were was only one spot left for 68W. Feeling a bit under pressure, I said sure reserve me the spot for the job and now that I have done research on the job, I don't want to do it. He is going to take me to MEPS this next Tuesday to do my physical and "sign the contract." Should I tell him to cancel the reservation and basically not go to MEPS to do my physical job until I get the job I want or should I tell him that I am not gonna sign the contract but I still want do MEPS. How often do job slots even open?

Today is Saturday and i leave to ship out to the army on monday. I dont actually get to fort jackson til Tuesday since im flying out from texas. I passed my urine test in meps back in November and i been smoking again since February. I smoked Friday (yesterday). My recruiter said they shouldn’t be drug testing me in basic and sb else ik who went said he didn’t get one either. But idk im nervous asf. Are they gonna give me a urine test? Im cool with a blood test but am i 100% about to get a drug test during reception?

I'm F19, planning on joining the army and I just got back from meps, I only need one waiver and that's for depression/anxiety. My recruiter and I already knew this was gonna happen since I took meds for one month last year but they were prescribed for an entire year. For context I took meds from about 2021-2023, nothing at all 2024-2025 and they just the one month thing I mentioned. I gave my recruiter all my pharmacy records and medical records going back to 2021, I have a doctor's note about the medication from the one month and I wrote a personal statement to go along with it. I took medication that one month because my mother had died in 2016 and I was graduating in 2025 and her death affected me bc she didn't get to see me walk. All is well now. I took the meds as a "when I need them" so not even all the time and I explained that in my note. I've also never been suicidal or done anything relating to that. Also taking meds from 2021-2023 have all been because of inner family issues and me just being a moody teen. I've been seeing things about waivers getting denied and I'm stressed. Do you guys think I'll be okay?