To school or ship?

[Anonymous]

I am a 16 yr.old female who has always wanted to join the military.**I have been in very close contact with my local recruiter and recently I have met a man on the internet who tried to persuade me to delay joining the navy untill I have finished college( I already have one year done and by the time I graduate from high school I will have two done)**I wanted to join the military since I was little and besides my family doesn't have the money for college.**I am going to be an IS and I have already passed the advanced placement test so getting my job of choice is no problem.**What do you think I should do?**The guy on the internet said I shouldn't go because I have won some beauty competitions and that I would get sexually asaulted.**ANY ADVICE PLEASE!



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klabat@hotmail.com

[Anonymous]

Lots of issues in so few lines!**I think he’s right but he’s wrong.**First, college.**When you say your folks can’t afford to send you to college, I assume you mean a University.**Sounds like you’re going to a Community College at night.**I did that too in high school, but I certainly didn’t complete my AA then.**If you can do that before you graduate HS, my hat’s off to you.**Very impressive.**If you’re close, than I agree, you might as well finish your Associate’s before enlisting.**Sometimes it’s difficult to take the classes you need while on active duty.**(Not impossible, but if you’re close, you might as well finish it now.)**Also, with an AA, you should be auto-advanced to E-3 after bootcamp, which means a lot more money.**(Only a little at first, but it puts you well ahead of your peers, making you eligible for E-4 &amp; E-5 etc earlier.)**If you’re going to take a job like Nuclear Power or AEF (Advanced Electronics), though, it won’t make much difference because you’ll be on the “fast track” anyhow.**Not sure about IS, but I could find out.**Another thing to consider is obtaining a commission.**If I hadn’t been so wild, rebellious and tired of school at your age, I might have pursued that route.**If you do well in CC, you may want to look into ROTC or the Naval Academy.**You can get scholarships that even include a small living allowance while you go to school.**You could finish your BA/BS with the Navy’s help, &amp; then owe them time as an Officer.**Not a bad deal!**If you want that, start getting active NOW in the things that will make you competitive.**(grades, student government, community, leadership, etc).**If you really want to join up before going to a University, there’s still programs that lead to an advanced degree and/or commission, but they’re awfully competitive.**If you aren’t sure if you want to be an Officer or Enlisted, the first thing I recommend is to look at the pay scale between the two, the second is to go tour a Navy ship &amp; see the difference in living**standards between the two, &amp; the third is to really look at what they do during the day.**Not to say being enlisted is bad; I’ve loved my time, and if you want to become proficient in a trade or in leadership (as opposed to management) it’s a great way to go.!**I’ll be commissioned in February, but I wouldn’t trade in my enlisted time for anything; my choices have worked out perfectly for me in the various stages of my life.** There’s advantages to both routes, but**know what you’re choosing BEFORE you enlist.**SO! I agree about college- finish your AA if you can.**I disagree about the sexual assault thing- I think his concern is way off-target. I won’t say it can’t happen, but you could be assaulted on your way home from school tonight just as easily as you could in the military.**There’s good &amp; bad guys everywhere.**There’s security in the Navy; I feel safer from assault in my Navy bunk in ship’s berthing than I do at home, &amp; I live in a good neighborhood.**It’s just that there’s no roving watches or guards or anything outside my door.**And in foreign countries, ALL crewmembers are encouraged to use the buddy system.**As far as looks-**I’m going to risk sounding vain, (which I’m not), to honestly answer your concern.**I haven't won any beauty contests, but I do turn heads out in town.** I’m getting old now, but still fairly attractive, &amp; real cute when I was young.**To be very frank with you, I think being an attractive woman in the Navy is a little tougher, for a lot of reasons.**The Navy is comprised of about 13-16% women, &amp; usually a ship’s crew is only about 10%.**With those ratios, all women get hit on.**If you’re a looker, it can really get out of hand if you don’t nip it in the bud early.**You learn how to fend off the wolves pretty quickly &amp; pointedly.**Once they realize you’re a coworker &amp; not interested in becoming a potential conquest, things settle out.**So, yes, being**an attractive woman in the Navy can be rough sometimes, but it’s manageable.**But that has nothing to do with Sexual Assault.**Sexual Assault is about**power, not desire.**An old woman who reminds some psycho of the grandma he hated may be a more likely target than you are.**Use the same caution you always do, &amp; hope for the best.**The Navy’s not filled with criminals.**I really wouldn’t even waste any time worrying about that.**Instead, focus on what you want to do.**Let me know if you’ve got any more questions down the line, &amp; best of luck to you.



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wjungle@pacbell.net