My Wife Wants to Join the Military

[JoBri 552]

Since my wife arrived here from the Philippines in 2009 we have talked off and on about her desire to join the military. Now after watching something on the news the topic came up again and we actively have begun to pursue it. She is 38 right now, so the only option available to her is the Air National Guard which has an age cut-off of 40. The Army lowered theirs from 41 back down to 35 again in 2009. She would go full time active duty if she could, but the Air Force has an age cut-off of 25 for enlisted. So the Air National Guard is the one option. We have a large training base here in Knoxville, Tennessee. She still would have to go through the regular Basic Training at San Antonio, Texas, along with the active duty Air Force. It is 8.5 weeks long. Since she is not a US Citizen yet, they told her she would only have the option of a couple of jobs in the Air National Guard, since to get a secret clearance would require her to be a US Citizen. She seems ok with that. She just doesn't have much time left to get in. I told her she can get training in another specialty once she is in, and have a little bigger window now of when she would actually go to Basic Training, so she has more flexibility with as to when..... If she got her citizenship first, the window would drastically narrow, and she would have less flexibility of when she actually could go to Basic. We hope she would also be able to go to Officer Candidate School eventually too, after she becomes a citizen, since she has a masters degree. But not sure yet when the age cut-off is even in the Guard for OCS. We will learn the answers to a lot of questions soon though...maybe this week.

I am prior service. I enlisted in the Army and was overseas several years. Then I went in the Army Reserve and through the ROTC program and became an officer and was in the Army as an officer in war. Then back to the Army Reserve again. So I will be able to help her through a lot of things maybe. This is all so new for us both still, this whole concept, and nothing is absolute yet. But as long as there is no road block to her going in then it is going to happen, and it seems that there is none...no road block.

I am extremely proud of her. She is strong mentally, emotionally and physically and she has a solid work ethic. I think she would excel. She seems ready for this. And it is her choice. We will let you know what happens as things develop.

[TiklingGuy 211]

I think that is Great that she wants to serve!! Being an Officer in the Military was a dream of mine that i wasnt able to get done, unfortunatly. I definitely wish her the best of luck and tell her to get plenty of sleep before she ships out to boot camp.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

That would be awesome. What does she want to do?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Does she have a professional degree? Some degrees qualify for direct commission in the Army and other services. It might be nice to start off your military career with the rank of O-3.

http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/become-an-officer/direct-commission.html

Edited June 18, 2012 by ☼

[JoBri 552]

Yeah, but it is in education. She was a teacher and then a principal. But still she can go to OCS, maybe/hopefully later.

Does she have a professional degree? Some degrees qualify for direct commission in the Army and other services. It might be nice to start off your military career with the rank of O-3.

http://www.goarmy.co...commission.html

[NigeriaorBust 4,088]

Is she in good enough shape to make it through. When my son was at San Antonio a few years ago almost everyone over 33 or so washed out of the physical part. ( so did alot of the less than 30's )

Edited June 18, 2012 by NigeriaorBust

[-=Mai and Timmy=- 12]

cool, thats awesome!!!

[JoBri 552]

Is she in good enough shape to make it through. When my son was at San Antonio a few years ago almost everyone over 33 or so washed out of the physical part. ( so did alot of the less than 30's )

A lot better shape than I was in when I went through Basic Training at age 18. By the way, I never heard of "washing out" of Basic Training. When I joined the military in 1978 there was no such thing that I was aware of. At that time your life belonged to Uncle Sam, not to some fitness club, unless things have changed that much from then... I certainly hope not.

Anyway, she is tough. And, she is a fighter... She will do great

[NigeriaorBust 4,088]

Ok technically they fail the PT part and leave rather than stay in the loop forever;

[JoBri 552]

I guess we will just see what happens and what doors open or close. She does a lot of heavy lifting in her job. She works out at home - push-ups, sit-ups, agility stuff, lifts weights some. She is going to start running. Two days ago we measured a route for her to go 2 miles (even though the Air Force test is 1.5 miles... Army was 2 miles and Infantry Officer Basic Course required 5). I am going to encourage her to do that route under 19 minutes. If she can do that with the hills here, then she wont have a problem with the Air Force test. I will also be grading her on her push-ups and sit-ups. She has her very own live-in drill sergeant... hehe. Just joking... I will give her all the help she wants though. I wish I was still in good shape. Now I have joint damage in the upper and lower extremities and spine damage that prevent me from doing much. But I do know what is expected and what military standards are. I used to love running, and I did fairly well in all the events of the PT test. I will help her. But she has a lot of physical ability... as much or more than any average person has I am sure. And she loves conditioning. She gained a few pounds after the birth of our son, and that troubles her, so she wants to take those pounds off, so she is eager to exercise. But still she is under the max weight standard for a 17 year old, so I am sure she will do fine.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

A lot better shape than I was in when I went through Basic Training at age 18. By the way, I never heard of "washing out" of Basic Training. When I joined the military in 1978 there was no such thing that I was aware of. At that time your life belonged to Uncle Sam, not to some fitness club, unless things have changed that much from then... I certainly hope not.

Anyway, she is tough. And, she is a fighter... She will do great

I went thru Basic Infantry Training at Ft. Benning in 1981. We a lot of soldiers, due to not being able to keep up mentally and physically.. If I remember right it was about 25-30% for one reason or another. it was an intense not for the weak minded experience..

[B_J 2,752]

I guess we will just see what happens and what doors open or close. She does a lot of heavy lifting in her job. She works out at home - push-ups, sit-ups, agility stuff, lifts weights some. She is going to start running. Two days ago we measured a route for her to go 2 miles (even though the Air Force test is 1.5 miles... Army was 2 miles and Infantry Officer Basic Course required 5). I am going to encourage her to do that route under 19 minutes. If she can do that with the hills here, then she wont have a problem with the Air Force test. I will also be grading her on her push-ups and sit-ups. She has her very own live-in drill sergeant... hehe. Just joking... I will give her all the help she wants though. I wish I was still in good shape. Now I have joint damage in the upper and lower extremities and spine damage that prevent me from doing much. But I do know what is expected and what military standards are. I used to love running, and I did fairly well in all the events of the PT test. I will help her. But she has a lot of physical ability... as much or more than any average person has I am sure. And she loves conditioning. She gained a few pounds after the birth of our son, and that troubles her, so she wants to take those pounds off, so she is eager to exercise. But still she is under the max weight standard for a 17 year old, so I am sure she will do fine.

The only other worry will be the heat here in San Antonio. I know she's from a hot climate, but it can be crazy hot here in the summer time. If you can plan it so she's doing her basic during the spring or fall then it won't be too bad.

Good luck

[Reyan 56]

I had a friend go through OCS to become an officer. He went though basic training (boot camp) first, and said it was not tough compared to OCS training at Ft. Benning.

I suggest having her practice on her marksmenship as well, since it is a requirement to pass boot camp.

[JoBri 552]

I put together a folder for her today... showing the requirements at graduation, what they want her abilities to be when she arrives at the beginning, and a 14 week training program for her to follow to get in shape before she would go. Tonight she watched videos on doing proper military push-ups and sit-ups. She has no problem with the sit-ups, but is going to really struggle bad with the push-ups. Right now I tried getting her to do one good push-up. She wasnt successful. She came close though. She did a handful of "unacceptable" push-ups. It was a start. I dont know how it will end, but I will help her as much as she wants. This was the first day...we will see what she does tomorrow. In a couple weeks we will see if she is making any progress. I know it is hard to develop upper body strength, and it takes time. If she stays with it over the course of a few months she can do it. I know that all of a sudden it seems the push-ups just start improving. If she wants to do it bad enough, she will do it. I need to just stay out of it unless she asks for help I think, because it is a personal commitment that she needs to make herself, and she needs to decide whether she wants to give it her all and do it or not. I cant and wont drag her through it.

I was just thinking how I have been through it all 4 times in my life. First with Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, when I went on active duty right after high school. The 2nd time was going through Airborne School. Then 3rd time was Advance Camp at Fort Lewis, Washington with the Army ROTC program when I was in college a year prior to getting my commission, and 4th when I went through the 3-1/2 months Infantry Officer Basic Course at Ft Benning, Georgia. I know I wasn't in Special Ops or anything, but those 4 times was plenty enough for me.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Brijo

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I put together a folder for her today... showing the requirements at graduation, what they want her abilities to be when she arrives at the beginning, and a 14 week training program for her to follow to get in shape before she would go. Tonight she watched videos on doing proper military push-ups and sit-ups. She has no problem with the sit-ups, but is going to really struggle bad with the push-ups. Right now I tried getting her to do one good push-up. She wasnt successful. She came close though. She did a handful of "unacceptable" push-ups. It was a start. I dont know how it will end, but I will help her as much as she wants. This was the first day...we will see what she does tomorrow. In a couple weeks we will see if she is making any progress. I know it is hard to develop upper body strength, and it takes time. If she stays with it over the course of a few months she can do it. I know that all of a sudden it seems the push-ups just start improving. If she wants to do it bad enough, she will do it. I need to just stay out of it unless she asks for help I think, because it is a personal commitment that she needs to make herself, and she needs to decide whether she wants to give it her all and do it or not. I cant and wont drag her through it.

I was just thinking how I have been through it all 4 times in my life. First with Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, when I went on active duty right after high school. The 2nd time was going through Airborne School. Then 3rd time was Advance Camp at Fort Lewis, Washington with the Army ROTC program when I was in college a year prior to getting my commission, and 4th when I went through the 3-1/2 months Infantry Officer Basic Course at Ft Benning, Georgia. I know I wasn't in Special Ops or anything, but those 4 times was plenty enough for me.

I went through Basic/AIT/OSUT at Fort Wood, Misery in late fall, early winter when I was 26. Us 'older guys" did better that most of the "kids" because we had the mental edge, although they were generally in better physical shape initially. I remember the first time we did PT and went on a five mile run. I had never run more than a mile, and that was in high school. I had to make the mental choice whether to continue, or drop out. As I looked at the drill instructors, they looked my age and not as physically capable as I was, so I decided if they can do it, I could do it, and just began copying their running, or rather, flat foot jogging style. Once I learned that "airborne shuffle", I could run all day.