If an Air National Guard base is close do that yesterday. They paid for something like 80-90% of my tuition and then I received 6-700 dollars a month when enrolled for at least 12 hours of school on top of a 10K signing bonus (which I think is higher now). I had a boring job because I’m colorblind but my brother got to work on the planes all day and go on some really cool deployments.
I graduated from college with somewhere between 20-30K in the bank which is the exact opposite of a lot of people.
BAH around here is about $2,000 a month * 36 months of 9/11 GI bill coverage = $72,000 over 3 years. Theoretically if you let him live rent free at home he could bank this entire amount (this is for full time enrollment and minimum service requirement being met) . In addition tuition is paid up to the max rate of the most expensive state school in your state (here it is UMD I believe) and there is a book stipend.
[quote]ProRaven wrote:
Bumping this to get more input. Thanks to all previous replies. My son is talking to a few Air Force friends of mine this week to get their input. Any other input on your experience of combining the military with college is appreciated. Thanks. [/quote]
I’m not sure if it was mentioned or not, but the Marine Corps (I assume all branches) offer tuition assistance while on active duty that is completely separate from the GI Bill. Your son would just have to fill out the paper work with his command. There are often colleges right on base. [/quote]
This is true, but 90% of the guys I knew while I was in did not get to utilize it. It isn’t impossible, but it depends on a number of factors
I did the Army reserves right out of high school. I got some pretty good benefits but by the time a lot of the post 9/11 benefits came through, I was nearly done or didn’t qualify for b/c I started basic training in August 2001.
I’d say do it. It’s a great resume builder, I was 22 years old and in charge of anywhere 5-20 people for different things. No where else will you get that kind of experience. It really does put you in a better place.
The financial benefits change a lot so seeing what they have now may not be a good way to assess.
If I had to do it over again, I’d probably do the Air Force reserves. Much easier life style, BUT harder to get promoted. I think the benefits b/w Army and Air Force are pretty similar.
I’ve had a few friends do the Marine Reserves and not one of them enjoyed it. At first they did, but after a year or 2, they literally hated their life and could not wait to get out.
[quote]ProRaven wrote:
Bumping this to get more input. Thanks to all previous replies. My son is talking to a few Air Force friends of mine this week to get their input. Any other input on your experience of combining the military with college is appreciated. Thanks. [/quote]
I’m not sure if it was mentioned or not, but the Marine Corps (I assume all branches) offer tuition assistance while on active duty that is completely separate from the GI Bill. Your son would just have to fill out the paper work with his command. There are often colleges right on base. [/quote]
This is true, but 90% of the guys I knew while I was in did not get to utilize it. It isn’t impossible, but it depends on a number of factors[/quote]
I was in AFROTC during college. I started late, I forgot the program’s name, but I went in with 3 years left. I had to go to an extended field training.
I loved it.
It was exactly what I needed.
I was going through a period in college searching for something, and it gave me the structure and discipline I needed. I also made a few real good friends. My Uncle retired a 3 Star General so I always considered the Air Force as a potential career.
But I highly recommend the Air Force. Very professional.
My experience is dated but the reasons are probably still relevant.
I enlisted in the Army straight out of HS. I wasn’t ready to go into college yet and wanted a bit more adventure. I was living in Europe at the time and didn’t want to go back to the U.S. either. The Army had the best college fund and had a european guarantee. I picked an MOS that was challenging but would not set me up for a civilian job. But this was by design. I didn’t want to enlist to simply do what I could be doing on the outside. I knew I was going to go to college sometime but I just didn’t know when. I wanted a job where I would be deployed a bunch and that was something “more traditional” and in the combat arms real. I did my three years and got out and went right into college. Having vet status definitely helped get me into college and the discipline that I gained while serving helped me stay focused. Getting all of the partying out of my system definitely helped.
I later applied for, and was accepted into the Marine Corps officer program. Again, prior service definitely helped me there too.
I’m not sure I would necessarily recommend a trade before college. Our world is shaping up to be much different and many of the things we do now aren’t going to be around for much longer. Enlisting, if they are only planning on one tour, is a pretty short stretch of time so why not let them do something that they want to do? I would have hated it if I had done something more mundane than I did.
I would also be inclined to recommend active duty rather than reserves simply because of budgets. The reserves don’t necessarily get the best equipment but do get called on to do some of the same type of missions. Again, this experience is a bit dated now so ignore it if it’s not relevant. I had no intention of going into the reserves out of active duty but was called up for Desert Storm and had to drop out of college after one semester. I looked for a non-deploying unit the day I got back from being deployed just to ensure I wouldn’t be put into that position again. It was OK but it was certainly a let down after being active duty.
The guard has a lot of great opportunities, both air and army. The thing is that the actual benefits vary from state to state because the guard is a State/Federal hybrid entity. For instance in Massachusetts the benefits are amazing, 100% tuition and fee waiver for state schools and if a private school they contribute the highest state rate, which is something like 27k per year.
Different states also have different opportunities for careers depending on the units in that state. There are also many full time positions available both in uniform and as a state employee. The guard path requires a plan and commitment to that plan but I would highly advise it.
[quote]ProRaven wrote:
Thanks, all. We live in Baltimore and are near both Andrews AFB and Dover. Thanks again for your input. [/quote]
I graduated from Towson. 9/11 GI Bill paid for my undergrad degree and a grad course. I was in a good situation so I was able to bank a lot of the BAH.
One other thing to mention is that you get 36 months to get a degree. The more course you take per semester the better. Don’t waste a couple of months taking 1 summer course. Make sure every semester you’re kid takes at least enough credits to be full-time (I believe it’s 12 for spring and fall. summer and winter are different. So is grad school). You don’t get as much $ if you’re part time plus it’s harder to graduate while school is paid for. I would suggest 5 classes every semester if he can handle it.
I’m bumping this one last time.
My son and I talked to an Air National Guard recruiter this week, we live in Towson MD and are just a few minutes from an ANG base.
We’re going to look at Army ROTC at Maryland and Salisbury State next. He’s gotten his GPA above a 3.0 going into his senior year, he’s getting his black belt in December and continues to take boxing lessons, got his first job at our local gym we belong to, and is taking a few AP classes his senior year. He may even join Boy Scouts this year (at 17) because his two younger brothers are in it already, and I told him he’ll learn more in that in one year on 6 camping trips than he realizes.