military experience?

[longevity]

Hi, I don't post very often here but I really like your site. Anyway my question was whether those of you who may have experience being in the army or military would reccomend it for somebody who is seriously considering it. I am seriously considering joining the army and wanted to ask for any opinions , ideas or advice that some of you may have about it. I'm not looking to go in doing any combat, I was considering more of a computer job or something technology related. I also saw there were some police positions as well there, and the description of it seemed like something that I would enjoy also, so I was wondering if any of you may have any opinions on that as well.

Thank you for your time

[Terminator]

Thanks for posting! As you will notice, we have a lot of LEO's on this site with military experience. One thing I noticed in your post is you stated "I'm not looking to go into combat." To me, that's a bit concerning for a law enforcement hopeful.

No matter the M.O.S., you have the potential to be in the military danger zone when you sign on the dotted line with Uncle Sam. So if you decide to do this, please understand what it means, and what could happen. Also, in law enforcement you will be working in a domestic war zone, where officers are a lot more likely to suffer from PTSD than war vets, and are killed at 150+ per year.

The Army definitely helped prepare me for my law enforcement career, and usually military experience means a lot in the hiring process.

[MacLean]

Military Polcing, in addition to the "normal" law enforcement function, also involves force protection.

If you get into military policing, you are going to go in harms way.

As Terminator mentioned, every soldier, sailor, airman, or marine is deployable.

If you wish to combine the military with policing - join the Coast Guard. They are all basically law enforcement now under Homeland Security.

Even there, you are still going to go in harms way. If you wish to "avoid" combat, consider a different line of work.

[Retdetsgt]

To get into a technology field, go either Air Force or Navy. Talk to the recruiters and see what they can offer. I don't think they lie to you like they did back in the 60's......

[Xiphos]

You don't want to go into combat but you want to be a cop?

I'll remember that the next time I go to a shooting. We may not get shot at as much as the guys in Falluja but ask the 50 cops murdered this year if they were in combat.

[longevity]

well im leaning more towards the technology field. I will contact an airforce recruiter and learn more about the positioins available with them. The army seems good but if the airforce has a wider variety of technology, then I would rather go with the air force. I appreciate the help from everybody here

[armsmaster270]

If you want in Law enforcement and don't want in actual combat, as Maclean said go Coast Guard. they are actually smaller than the N.Y. Police Department. They are in combat but in much smaller numbers. However you have to score higher than average on the AFQT, they are selective on who they take.

[ex401mp]

Man up, go Army.


j/k- Dont go into any of them if you dont want to see any action. It will save the goverment time and money to chapter you out later...

[Morris]

I think I understand your question but let me clarify it to see if we are tracking correctly. You have no issues with going in but you'd rather not do a combat oriented field like, say, infantry, MPs, EOD, etc. Correct? With the idea that you are not opposed to getting messy when need be but you are looking to go a technological route? If that is the point, I can understand that.

Every branch has elements that are technology oriented. But by far, the Air Force is the one for advanced technologies like computers, satellite communications and aerospace with minimal diving into the combat arena. Despite deployability, the USAF is predominately CONUS/stateside based. The key to remember is not to go open in anything. Pin your recruiter down on a specific AFSC or MOS. If your ASVAB (you took it, right?) scores are there, you should not have a problem doing it if you are competent in minor mechanical and have a strong math background.

Will having a military stint help you when you decide to become a cop? Not really, maybe some veterans preference points. It will help you on a personal level be more detail oriented and better able to respond to a chain of command structure.

[Xiphos]

Will having a military stint help you when you decide to become a cop? Not really, maybe some veterans preference points. It will help you on a personal level be more detail oriented and better able to respond to a chain of command structure.

We hire quite a few combat vets. The ones we have found have a high level of maturity. That's not going to help the OP though.

[Morris]

I suppose. I'd like to hear the OP clarify what he/she meant. If they are looking to avoid conflict or fighting, then cop work is DEFINITELY not for them.

[ex401mp]

If you want to avoid conflict, stay out of the military. Working the road does not seem like such a good idea for you either, based on what you have put here earlier. If you go military police, do not expect to get to do much law enforcement duty, you will more than likely get deployed and deployed often. Before 911 happened, military police from all the branches deployed more than most of the conventional units, and they are still doing so. Even the Air Force Security Forces are doing convoy escort missions in Iraq and even sweeps of houses along with the Army and Marine grunts, so they are not a safe bet either. If you dont feel that you want to see any "action", dont enlist and you probably should re-consider a career in law enforcement. Maybe you should consider some training in IT forensics or other forensic investigations. They are usually pretty safe and good forensic specialists are hard to come by. OR-

You could always find a technology based job in the civilian sector. Just saying...

[MacLean]

Three air force cops "avoiding combat...."

[Morris]

Big deal. War gets over and they'll be counting rivets on BUFFs at WhynotMinot.

[MacLean]

Big deal. War gets over and they'll be counting rivets on BUFFs at WhynotMinot.

Counting rivets is a noble endeavor critical to the security of our strategic infrastructure.

[Captain America]

Counting rivets is a noble endeavor critical to the security of our strategic infrastructure.

Attention to detail is an important component to our national security.

[ex401mp]

Until they accidentally transport live nukes to places that they are not supposed to go...

[Captain America]

Until they accidentally transport live nukes to places that they are not supposed to go...

[MacLean]

Until they accidentally transport live nukes to places that they are not supposed to go...

If you think that was an accident, you got lots to learn grasshopper

The SF troops knew that plane was hot.

[ex401mp]

That was still funny though