Joining the Army at 32 good or bad idea

Neu

New member
I have been thinking of joining the Army for sometime now the only thing that is holding
me back is that Im 32 I know 32 is not that old and I`m in really good shape I know there
are alot of military (ex and current) on this board so any advice would help and if anyone can tell me what
the PT in basic is like
 
Neu said:
I have been thinking of joining the Army for sometime now the only thing that is holding
me back is that Im 32 I know 32 is not that old and I`m in really good shape I know there
are alot of military (ex and current) on this board so any advice would help and if anyone can tell me what
the PT in basic is like
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My advice to you is don't join the Army. What is it you want to do?
 
I know a guy who joined the army in his mid 20's, and he hated the constant immaturity whenever they had any downtime. Keep in mind you'll be hangin' with guys 10-14 years younger than you. I don't doubt you can do it physically, but socially it will probably be pretty annoying.
 
We had a guy that was 33 in my basic company and he didn't have a problem... as for the others, I joined when I was 21 and there were times that it got annoying but also there are older guys that are in also.. What exactly do you want to do in the Army?
 
Well I scored a 96 on the ASVAB and they told me I can do what ever the hell I want to do but no guaranties
and to be honest I would want to become a Ranger I have to brothers that were both in the Army One was with Delta the other was a Ranger


Matthew D said:
We had a guy that was 33 in my basic company and he didn't have a problem... as for the others, I joined when I was 21 and there were times that it got annoying but also there are older guys that are in also.. What exactly do you want to do in the Army?
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No guarantee.. then I would be NOT going... sorry but I like knowing what I was getting into especially since I did the infantry
 
Personally, I love the Army, but I fucking hate the reserves. Do whatever YOU think YOU need to do. Pick the job that YOU want, get a nice bonus (nothing under 10k) and all the school benefits you can get. As far as age, I had a guy in his early thirties in my basic and he did just fine. I was 22 when I joined and was one of the oldest ones in basic. My reenlistment window opens soon and I want combat engineer on my new contract. I'll have to go to school again with a bunch of 18 year olds (I'm 27 now), but I'm not to worried about it. As far as PT, the requirements adjust with age, but the special schools that you mentioned ie. Ranger, which requires Airborne first, may hold you to higher standards. If you can do two miles in the 14's, 60 PU's and 60 SU's you should be golden, and if you're even close to those numbers now, just think how much better they will be after basic training. Oh yeah, and I think they changed the combat schools up so that you pretty much do basic and your MOS school concurrently. You will be at Ft. Benning, if you go that route, for a very very long time between basic, infantry, airborne, and most of ranger. I say go for the 14x if you really want to, you'll be glad you did in the long run.
 
Talk to my recruiter last night looks like I am going 10th Mt. Division (Ft. Drum) and then lateral over to an SF
unit he said with my score and physical abilaty I would make it but then again he could be BSing me
 
Neu said:
Talk to my recruiter last night looks like I am going 10th Mt. Division (Ft. Drum) and then lateral over to an SF
unit he said with my score and physical abilaty I would make it but then again he could be BSing me
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They have SF recruiters nowadays. I'll find a number if you need one.
 
We had a guy in his 30's. He died during an obstacle course, had a heart attack. He was Puerto Rican trying to gain citizenship by joining the military.
 
Matthew D said:
No guarantee.. then I would be NOT going... sorry but I like knowing what I was getting into especially since I did the infantry
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agreed. with a 96 ASVAB, you should have a pretty basic contract stating exactly what you'll be doing for the next 4 years (or whatever the enlistment is for army). with that score, i'd go with intel.
 
Beelzebub said:
agreed. with a 96 ASVAB, you should have a pretty basic contract stating exactly what you'll be doing for the next 4 years (or whatever the enlistment is for army). with that score, i'd go with intel.
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With that score I would go Air Force. Unless of course you want to deploy to the Middle East (almost a gaurantee if you enlist into a combat MOS).
 
Matthew D said:
No guarantee.. then I would be NOT going... sorry but I like knowing what I was getting into especially since I did the infantry
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Really Matt. Good for you. When?
 
If you want to join- do it. I'm about to get a 3 year scholarship from ROTC if they will look past a few blemishes on my record and I'm 26. I scored a 99 on the ASVAB for the Air Force a few years back, then my brother was killed in a car accident AUG. 4 2002; I delayed my entry till January, and got a DUI a month later, long story but my life was wrecked for a while. If you're looking for a possible career, retiring at 52 wouldn't be so bad. You still got time to do whatever with a nice resume. The Army isn't as strict on acceptance as long as you're honest up front and your record isn't too bad with time to show you've corrected your problems- mine is not good though. We will see after the waiver process.
 
I say don't go for it, ESPECIALLY, if it is the Army. During my shorter tenure in the AF Special Ops community, I had to go to different schools from each of the services and the Army is not where you want to be. At 32 you will have to deal with the constant immaturity and unless your going to be an officer it just isn't worth it, you don't want some 23 year old NCO telling you what to do.
 
Wow, inspired me to make my first post instead of just perusing the forum per usual. This was/is the worst mistake I've ever made. Most individuals I'm around are counting down there days to freedom.. There is constant immaturity from everyone age doesn't even to seem to play a role in this alternate reality. I'm in my mid twenties and honestly its the worst mistake you could ever make if you have a mind of your own.. If you do make SF then maybe you get to to use your own mind. Rangers are just 'elite' infantry and you have less control over what you do there then probably anyone plus you are going to be spending months out of your year in the field.. I am stationed near the Air Force and other organizations in the military and if you feel compelled to serve that would be the way to go or the Coast Guard.
 
Yeah Rangers aren't all they are cracked up to be in the SF community, I don't mean to dishonor any rangers on here or anything but SF is TOTALLY different then Rangers. Air Force is definitely nicer and if you are thinking of joining the special ops community, the AF is one of the most elite, only 500 combat controllers and about 500 pararescuemen in the entire air force, pretty elite if you ask me, it is the same thing I did. You just get treated better. There is 2 years of training though, so if you can make it then more power to ya, but your gauranteed HALO, scuba, survival, airborne, etc.
 
LakeMountD said:
Yeah Rangers aren't all they are cracked up to be in the SF community, I don't mean to dishonor any rangers on here or anything but SF is TOTALLY different then Rangers. Air Force is definitely nicer and if you are thinking of joining the special ops community, the AF is one of the most elite, only 500 combat controllers and about 500 pararescuemen in the entire air force, pretty elite if you ask me, it is the same thing I did. You just get treated better. There is 2 years of training though, so if you can make it then more power to ya, but your gauranteed HALO, scuba, survival, airborne, etc.
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Lakemount not to disagree with you but each have there OWN missions and comparing any of the special operations group members are like comparing watermelons to lemons.. WAY WAY different.. I have the up most respect for the PJ's and forward air controllers but at the same time I don't think they would be very well equiped or trained to do the job of the SEAL's or the Rangers... SF's main job is to win the hearts and minds of the natives through covert operations...
 
LakeMountD said:
I say don't go for it, ESPECIALLY, if it is the Army. During my shorter tenure in the AF Special Ops community, I had to go to different schools from each of the services and the Army is not where you want to be. At 32 you will have to deal with the constant immaturity and unless your going to be an officer it just isn't worth it, you don't want some 23 year old NCO telling you what to do.
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Lakemount that has got to be the biggest bunch of BS... you will deal with immaturity in any organization not just the Army and unless you have served in the Army you can't make relative comments about it.. like I would not like to even speculate on the Air Force EVEN though I have participated in join ops with them... same goes for the Navy and the Marines..
 
there's so many screw ups that i've dealt with in the marine corps that i've lost count. maturity doesn't come with the organization, comes with age.
 
Neu said:
Talk to my recruiter last night looks like I am going 10th Mt. Division (Ft. Drum) and then lateral over to an SF
unit he said with my score and physical abilaty I would make it but then again he could be BSing me
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you NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE WHAT YOU WANT BRO!! or youll be HATING life after you go and realize that you picked the shitty end of the stick. MAKE SURE ITS IN WRITING OR IT DIDDNT HAPPEN!!! i have roughly 10 months left and probally will not reenlist.
 
Matthew D said:
Lakemount not to disagree with you but each have there OWN missions and comparing any of the special operations group members are like comparing watermelons to lemons.. WAY WAY different.. I have the up most respect for the PJ's and forward air controllers but at the same time I don't think they would be very well equiped or trained to do the job of the SEAL's or the Rangers... SF's main job is to win the hearts and minds of the natives through covert operations...
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Forward air controllers? no no no haha. MUCH MUCH different. To tell you the truth not all seals are guaranteed HALO, all af special ops are. To say that af special ops arent equipped to hang with the seals is a slap in the face to all AFSOC personnel. In fact who do you think rescues these members when they get captured or whatever? pj's. Who is the FIRST into a hostile environment so that the SEAL's can come in? Combat Controllers, hence their motto "First there, Last out". They set up landing zones for the seals to come in. Plus CCT and PJ's are mostly attached to SEAL and DELTA teams. I think you have the total wrong impression of AFSOC my friend.




Lakemount that has got to be the biggest bunch of BS... you will deal with immaturity in any organization not just the Army and unless you have served in the Army you can't make relative comments about it.. like I would not like to even speculate on the Air Force EVEN though I have participated in join ops with them... same goes for the Navy and the Marines..
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about this. i meant immaturity in the "armed forces", i DEFINITELY didn't mean just army, that was bad communication, my bad. when i was referring to just the army i was talking about the way they treat their people as opposed to AF. facilities etc.
 
LakeMountD said:
when i was referring to just the army i was talking about the way they treat their people as opposed to AF. facilities etc.
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Conditions depend on where you go. I've seen nice posts and shitty bases. Is it true that when AF guys go to train on Army posts they get paid extra for living in substandard conditions? The two organizations are night and day so there is no need to compare which is better. It's all about personal preference.

All in all, joining the army was one of the best decisions I ever made. I don't yet feel like I have gotten what I want out of it so , like I said, I still plan on reelisting active duty with a different MOS.
 
BingeAndPurge said:
Conditions depend on where you go. I've seen nice posts and shitty bases. Is it true that when AF guys go to train on Army posts they get paid extra for living in substandard conditions? The two organizations are night and day so there is no need to compare which is better. It's all about personal preference.

All in all, joining the army was one of the best decisions I ever made. I don't yet feel like I have gotten what I want out of it so , like I said, I still plan on reelisting active duty with a different MOS.
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Yeah we did get paid extra for going to most Army bases, especially Airborne. I dont mean to sound like an Army hater here, that really isn't my intent, I have the utmost respect for ANYONE who serves in ANY branch of the service, but its obvious that you get treated better in the Air Force, the reason people go to the Army is for a particular MOS etc.

MathewD all of our instructors (we were around A LOT of them) were attached to teams like that. I knew a couple that were attached to Delta teams personally, they are the squadron out of Fort Bragg, well the AFB right next to it anyways. A lot of people don't really know about AFSOC but I can ASSURE YOU they are just as elite as any seal or beret.
 
I didnt read the replies. I just got out of the Army. Terrible decision. Definetely not what I expected and a disappointment. It changed my opinion of the Army.
 
LakeMountD said:
Yeah we did get paid extra for going to most Army bases, especially Airborne. I dont mean to sound like an Army hater here, that really isn't my intent, I have the utmost respect for ANYONE who serves in ANY branch of the service, but its obvious that you get treated better in the Air Force, the reason people go to the Army is for a particular MOS etc.

MathewD all of our instructors (we were around A LOT of them) were attached to teams like that. I knew a couple that were attached to Delta teams personally, they are the squadron out of Fort Bragg, well the AFB right next to it anyways. A lot of people don't really know about AFSOC but I can ASSURE YOU they are just as elite as any seal or beret.
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You might have not wanted to sound like an Army hater but you did come off that way.. and from what I remember you didn't stay that long... LIKE I SAID I am not knocking any of the special ops people because THEY all have important jobs and FOR the most part, neither can do the other jobs.. I think you didn't read my post because the FIRST thing I said was I didn't know that much about them.. but at the same token, you can't say how bad ass any unit is until you have either one been in the unit or trained with/against the unit..
 
salb3039 said:
I didnt read the replies. I just got out of the Army. Terrible decision. Definetely not what I expected and a disappointment. It changed my opinion of the Army.
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Not everyone finds the Army a great place to be... I had a roommate in Germany that hated the Army and spent his entire weekday evenings writing his Congressman about his situation but from the moment I laid eyes on the guy I knew that he was not Army material.. If I hadn't gotten married, I would would be finishing up 21 years but I don't regret going in or getting out. It was what I needed at the time
 
Well thats what I am saying, I did train with them, I also trained next to Recon, SEALs, and Rangers, in fact we had two rangers that transferred over to us. All of them had their strengths. The ranger was horrible on runs and swims, but could navigate and ruck like a monster, the SEALs were mostly outstanding swimmers, and the Recon guys were very gung ho which I love. I'll end all this right here cause I LOVE YOU MAN ;) and I don't want any bad blood but I just wanted to put all this out there.
 
Well I grew up around Army guys and have been around them most of my life
2 of my brothers were in the Army and loved it So thats the way I`m gonna go
It was the age thing that I was worried about
 
LakeMountD said:
, the reason people go to the Army is for a particular MOS etc.
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VERY TRUE!!!! this is why i joined the ARMY. as far as the facilities go at the base im at all the accomidations are great!! the Gym is the nicest i have seen (was stationed in Hawaii befiore i came here) and got a chance to see all the other services accomidations. they were pretty much all up to par with each other. now as far a Govt ARMY Qtrs yeah it used to SUCK!! now its getting better. i live in a REALLY NICE House in housing.
 
Neu said:
Well I grew up around Army guys and have been around them most of my life
2 of my brothers were in the Army and loved it So thats the way I`m gonna go
It was the age thing that I was worried about
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if you feel that way go for it by all means it is Great!! JUST MAKE SURE YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT IN WRITING!!!
 
Former RANGER here, GO FOR IT !!! It's not gonna ge a cakewalk though. Well, it wasn't in the early 80's when this old fart was in.
ROB
 
Get it in writing BEFORE signing...

Neu said:
Talk to my recruiter last night looks like I am going 10th Mt. Division (Ft. Drum) and then lateral over to an SF
unit he said with my score and physical abilaty I would make it but then again he could be BSing me
Click to expand...
Do not sign a contract unless EVERYTHING your recruiter "promised" is in the contract... Recruiters tend to shall we say.. "stretch the truth".

I was 29 when I joined (last Summer), I went in the best condition in my life and came out with a screwed up lower back, neck and knees.. I am still working back up to my strength I had prior to any military.

If you have a good career now or a family life, you might want to reconsider signing that dotted line... Just my opinion.
 
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