32 years old, Married, 2 kids, considering career in the Navy-need advice.?

Question

Please do not respond if neither you nor your spouse has been in the military. 2 kids, a wife -just turned 32. Job market is terrible in Cleveland Ohio area where I reside. I work 72 Hrs. a week for no future. I want my kids and wife to have a better life. This is why the Navy has caught my attention. I know the basics--8 weeks boot camp-on to "A" school. But what happens after that (My wife's question)? Am I deployed? Where do we live? What impact would the decision of joining have on my kids and wife? Are they well taken care of while I'm away? Recruiter told us I'd do 6 month deployments once every 1 1/2 years. What are the best career fields to seek if wanting a port job? I'm ready for this move-my wife and our children are my concerns. If sincgle-I'd be gone today. I have to be exact on their feelings and what they can expect....advice, examples and help please????????? This is the biggest decision of my life.

Oh yeah. I can't afford college or balance it in my present career when I work 72 hours a week to make ends meet.

I'm getting some really great feedback and I appreciate it. For those who siad to join the Coast Guard or Air Force--I'm tool old. They have cut off ages of 27 years old.

Answer 1

31 year Navy veteran here. What are you best at and most interested in? Depending on what rate you serve in will determine what happens after "A" school. With some rates you could have a follow on "C" school and in others you might go straight to the fleet or shore duty. Needs of the Navy are always the guideline for detailers when making assignments. Your recruiter may or may not be right about how often you deploy. You could just as easily end up on a ship sitting in drydock in a shipyard for a year. So many variables are involved. The only group that normally don't deploy aboard ship are Seabees. But they do deploy around the world for construction projects ashore. So its a safe bet to say that you are going to deploy at some time. Just like every Marine is a Rifleman - every Sailor is a Sailor. As far as the wife and kids go you will need to play that one by ear in the start. After you finish school and get your first assignment then you should report in to your first duty station and get the lay of the land. Meaning you need to find out what your deployment schedule for the immediate future is going to be. Then you can decide if it is best for them to stay where they are at for the time being or when they should move to your homeport. Your wife and children will be issued ID cards and will be able to shop in any military commissary and exchange. They will be able to use medical facilities. Your command will have a spouse support group which can advise and assist you family. A lot of the spouses are "old hands" who have seen it all. I never met one that wouldn't sit down with a newcomer and give her good advice. I was able to spend most of my career in one area. I had to take some "hard to fill" billets (those are the tough jobs that no one else wants to take) but by taking those jobs I was ahead of peers for promotions. That was a decision my late wife and I made together so that our kids could grow up in the same schools with the same friends throughout. The best advice I can offer you is that you are now 32 years old - what will you be doing at age 35 if you don't join now?

Answer 2

I was a Marine, not Navy, and my wife is Army, but I will do the best I can. After boot camp and your A school, how much you are deployed depends on your job. If you are signing up to be a sonarman, or a nuclear tech, you will deploy alot. Those are shipboard duties, and you will be at sea because that is where the Navy needs you. If however, you become a storekeeper, or a clerk, you might go out on ship, but you might also spend your time working at a Navy supply yard, and never leave the States. It all depends. Ship duty, you will go to sea. If you are planning to be a corpsman or a chaplains assistant, you might be assigned to a Fleet Marine Force unit.

As to where you live, that depends on where you are stationed and what the housing situation is like there. As a married man with dependants, you will either live in base housing, or, if that is not availible, you will be given a BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing), who's size is based on where you are stationed and your rank. For example, right now, my wife is stationed at Fort Drum, NY. As a 1st Lt. (O-2) with dependants (me, I'm out now), she gets a housing allowance of $1169.00 per month along with her base pay (tax free too). However, an E-3 stationed here with dependants gets $867.00 a month. Those numbers are specific for the Fort Drum area, depending on where you are stationed, it may be more or less.

Your wife and kids will have some adjusting to do. If you make the Navy, or any military branch a career, you will be moving every few years. If your wife wants a professional career, it will be hard on her. The military doesn't really care about her career, they care about yours. If she finds a job she loves, she has to be resigned to the fact that she will have to give it up to follow you when you get reassigned, or plan on multi-year seperations. Your kids will have to adjust to a new school every few years. I ahve found that employers are a bit leary of me, because they figure I won't be around for more than a few years, and why hire me when they can hire someone else.

However, your job will be pretty secure, you will get paid on the 1st and the 15th of every month (unless they are on a weekend or holiday, then you get paid the business day before), you will never have to worry about going into work one day and being told that "sorry, we have to let you go". And, while it can be frustrating to work with, and slow, you and your family will have healthcare and other benifits without paying a dime for it.

I hope this answered some of your questions, and if you have anymore, e-mail me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

Have you talked to the Army? The reason I say that is because with the Army you can come in as an E-2, when you complete the Basic Training Task List. Also depending on your qualifications and the job you select you can get a nice enlistment bonus. The Army is the largest branch so you will be promoted faster. The Army will help your wife get a job at whatever installation you get assigned to. The Army again is the biggest of the branches thus your family will be well taken care of when you deploy. Good Luck

Answer 4

I would say, do what you feel like you should do. It WILL be hard though because when you go in you will have a lot of young guys that will be able to tell you what to do and that may get frustrating. My advice if you join, dont go in there trying to prove anything just because you are older. Just be cool with the young guys and you should do okay. It will be hard on the family but they will receive great benefits from the Military. You will have to be content with leaving them behind for small periods of time...and even a long period of time (Iraq). I hope that gives you a small idea but it really is never too late. I hope you make the right decision. If your looking to come in making a little more money try getting college in and becoming an officer!!

Answer 5

Been there did that, exactly, except I jined the Army so my family could go with me. I was 32 my wife was 30, had 2 girls. Got laid off from a good job at Caterpillar, 12.50 an hour in 83, had to pay the bills, so.....
Went to Basic at ft Sill Oklahoma and AIT at Ft Sam Houston( medical brach). Then Ft Ord Ca. We got housing when I made E-2 which was 90 days after AIT for me.

Its a good life, kind of hard at times but the promotions come if your worth anything and you do qualify for food stamps believe it or not. In govt housing, no power bill, no water bill, no rent,

If you want to keep your family close, go Army. they're not at sea. The kids nor my wife regretted the decision.

Pick something that's hardly deployable, like respiratory therapy, information technology( yeah they got that) something that will keep you sfae.

Answer 6

It's going to be extremely difficult to handle the financial situation of being in the ranks of Seaman Apprentice to Petty Officer Third Class with a spouse and two children. Your eligibility for base housing is minimal at the lower grades, so you'll live "on the economy" as we used to say. That means off-base. And the Navy is changing to a 50-50 system of sea and shore duty for most rates. That means fifty percent of your hitch at sea and fifty percent on shore duty.
In my case I was a Petty Officer Second Class when I got married. Even then my wife continued on her job outside the home to make ends meet. And we didn't have a child until I made Petty Officer First Class.
I don't know what sort of work you do. But you might want to consider looking in other job markets outside of northern Ohio. Even if you have to go to the job and leave the family behind for a while, you might make some great progress in the process.
Good luck to you.

Answer 7

I was going to say go Air Force. They do have waivers based on your physical and mental abilities. You might want to check and recheck with different recruiters. I personally was in the Army, and my husband is Air Force. We have a close family friend who is Navy, and we both have worked with Navy. Honestly, I wouldnt recommend Navy, their deployments are too long. One thing I do suggest tho- do not go into submarines- you will go out to sea for long stretches and it really takes a toll on your family. You go out every 3-6 mths for 6 mths. Do not let a recruiter tell you that it isnt so, or sugar-coat things. They will say or do anything to make a quota. Even if they say "Hey Ill be honest with ya..." use your gut to decide if it is really an honest reply or thats their ploy.

But is definately stability for the family, esp medically. Military is really a good thing.

Answer 8

To be honest with you it'll be very hard initially because the pay for enlisted personnel is really bad, at least if you're trying to make ends meet with a family in tow. It doesn't really get decent until you hit about E5, and even then it'll still be hard.
In regards to what jobs are the best to pick, you will have to see how you score on the asvab and from there see what you qualify for. Keep in mind that you most definitely want to pick a job that will allow for an easy transition back into civilian life with that job set. Trust me, when I did artillery it rocked, but there is no civilian counterpart for that skill.
As for where you're family will be housed, they aren't going to be alllowed any housing privileges until you are done with all your schooling and are at your permanent duty station, so depending om your MOS that can be as long as a year or as little as 4-6 months.
Before I forget you will be getting paid slightly more than someone of the same paygrade because of your dependants, but I'm almost certain that they do not provide BAH (basic allowance for housing) while you are in student status. Also check with recruiter as to whether you can send in a copy of your orders to creditors to allow you a grace period to defer your bills while you are in boot.
I'm not sure what your final decision will be, but I know how it is to want to put family before self. You sound like a genuinely good man trying his best to provide so if it don't bother you none I'll pray that you can get through these hard times.

Answer 9

The Navy is a great choice for you. You will have to make adjustments to your life for some time, but in the near future your life will turn way around from where it currently is. You work 72 hours a week, how often are you spending with your family anyway?

Yes you go to boot camp, then on to "A" school for however long. Your family will have to stay at home wherever home is now unless you get AECF school and then you can route a chit and request that your family join in Great Lakes while you finish Tech Core and then "A" school. This school is usually about a year or so long and then you will have "C" school after that. If you get any other rating in the Navy you cannot have your family join you until you have finished "A" school and have trasferred to your first command. Chances are extremely high that you will go to a ship for your first command. This is not a bad thing. YOu will receive sea pay to be on the ship and that will help some since your first year or so in the military the pay isn't so hot. Your family will live like they would just like you would at home. You will receive a housing allowance based on your command zip code and your paygrade to pay rent with so you won't have to worry about taking money out of your base pay to pay rent. Once you are done with work for the day you will go home to your house and live like a regular family. You will deploy like your recruiter said for 6 months once about every 18 months. BUT, you will always be training for your deployment. Your ship will go out and come back in all the time. Two days here, 5 days there.......no big deal especially since when you are working 72 hours a week you aren't home too much anyway. You and your family do not want shore duty and the chances of getting it are very slim for all jobs. The Navy is outsourcing most shore duty jobs to civilians unless you go to recruiter duty, RDC or instructor duty. I am telling you that being on a ship is no big deal even with a family. Even if you get shore duty you will find that you work much longer hours than you would if you were on sea duty. Both my husband and I are active Navy and we have both hated shore duty everytime we have had it because we ended up working all the time and it was super boring. The Navy is super fun for you and your family, but it is the ship that makes life fun for everyone including your family. The job you get all depends on your ASVAB score. Go to the library or Barnes and Noble and get an ASVAB study guide. They are located next to the SAT study guides. STUDY your butt off and get the best score you can get so you can pick any job that you are eligible for. AECF is a great program with great job choices after you get out. AT, AE are also good jobs but on the avaition side. If you want a good desk job with a good future in shore duty choose YN. Other than this stuff your family will have the best medical care available for free. That is a huge security that most civilian jobs don't have or you have to pay a lot of money out of pocket for. Also, you can get your entire college education for free while on active duty. Even if you are deployed you can take classes shipboard or on the internet. There are so many reasons to join. It is a scary thing to just go do at your age, but you, your family and your quality of life will go skyrocket compared to what you are doing now. I enlisted at 29 after graduating with 3 degrees from Notre Dame and I quit my job at IBM to do it. The Navy is so fun and rewarding overall that you have to do it to get out of the crap you are doing now. A little bit of sacrafice upfront will be well worth the rewards after you get out of school and get to the real Navy.

Answer 10

first off forget the navy, consider the coast guard. they need god hard working people. My husband made the best choice of his life. he left the navy and switched to the coast guard. Unless you are on an ice breaker or a high endurance cutter headed for the gulf you are rarely gone for more than 8-12 weeks at a time. the bunks and storage space on a coast guard ship is much much better than the navy. you might be sleeping 6-12 in a room instead of 50.
realisticaly with the navy expect to be in for 6mo and out for 6-12mo, thats pretty common. there is no guarenteed pattern.
In the military(navy, CG etc) you'll receive dependent benefits, your family will have medical/dental care and access to the exchange and commisary, family support services(financial, legal, emergency assistance etc.) along with moral services(picnics, parties, fancy dinner balls) and even discounts at disneyland! Don't expect to be on shore duty your entire career. you have to have sea time. there is no "shore only" rate. with sea time you do get special sea pay. depending on your duty station you might have access to military housing or a military approved lease. its tough being a military family but you can do it. you can expect some marital stress especially surrounding your job. your kids will complain about you being gone but will scream and hug you when you return. Rules regarding normal workplace enviroment don't apply in the military(no extra pay for working more than 40hours). the other problem I have to emphasize is that the navy has a low promotion rate. i doubt your recruiter will tell you the truth about that. Even if you pass the promotion test with flying colors actually getting that promotion is tough, this was a key factor is my husband getting out. You'll have a chance to explore rates based on your interest and skills. look for something you'll hae a future with outside the service like medical. My husband is an operations specialist-radio, radar, search and rescue along with some secret squirrel stuff. He loves his job. tell your family to expect some sacrifices. Moving every 3-4 years is tough because you have to leave friends and family behind and resettle, new schools, new place. A miliatary career is very rewarding and honorable too. I hope that can help