This is a repost from another thread. I felt it appropriate to break it out into a category of its own because I see a lot of people struggling to find jobs, in and out of finance, without considering all options on the table including Military.
If you are a certified die-hard American and a true Patriot then you should have no problems with the Idea of serving your country.
Enjoy fellow Americans!
The Military (FREE and Serve Your Country) Option:
Service Academy or Scholarship Route Get a free degree from US Federal Service Academies (Army, Navy, Airforce, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines) OR the ROTC route (possibly NUPOC or BDCP [Navy programs, go see www.Airwarriors.com ]).
- Do your time and bank six figures for five (5) years guaranteed
- Do three more to get 100% of your Post-911 GI Bill. Puts you at Eight (8) total post college
- Get out earlier with a smaller portion of GI Bill and use Yellow Ribbon for M7 MBA
Officer Candidate School Route
- Get degree from a very cheap University next to free (State school scholarship loopholes or scholarships)
- Join any branch as an Officer
- Take the GMAT before getting out, it is free (one time)
- Get out after minimum four (4) year commitment with 100% Post-911 GI Bill
- Get into M7 and use GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon for minimum debt load
Compensation
Active Duty DoD: Total Comp for Junior Officers (O-3 with four years or less) is $90-110K stationed in CONUS and $110-130K stationed Overseas (+$10-30K more at least if you are deployed in a War Zone. Whole paycheck is Tax-free and you get additional things like Hazard Duty Pay, Jump Pay, etc). This includes a TON of tax-free benefits and free perks such as:
- Food Allowance (BAS)
- Housing Allowance (BAH or OHA)
- Oversea Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
- Free Dental
- Free Medical
- Free Prescriptions and anything else Health related
- Access to the Commissary (Grocery store) and the Exchange (Wal-mart) which are all Tax-Free
- A bunch of other subsidized entertainment, education, and resources
- Secret or Top Secret Security Clearance (worth a lot to employers if they are looking for those with this gem)
All those are taken into consideration when calculating the approximate total compensation. I was clearing about $3400 net every other paycheck living in Japan as a junior O-2. Not a bad life! Every year for the past decades the Military has gotten across the board pay increases of 1-3% (inflation adjustment) in addition to the regular rank and time-in-service pay bumps.
Reserves: You can choose to join the reserves to keep some of the aforementioned Active Duty perks with weekend drills during your MBA program and get paid for drilling. Continuity can lead to a pension program that you can draw on starting at age 60.
Merchant Marines: Starting Salary for US Merchant Marines (Captain Phillips and Crew) is around $12-14k/month as an Engineer or Mate. More on this later if anyone is interested in this career (badass experience and all the perks of the US Navy with none of the bullshit. Personally shook hands with a 32 year old Captain [think Managing Director] of a mega military container ship. Works only half the year [2-3month on, 2-3month off, rinse and repeat] and takes off the rest clearing $250-300K a year. Never seen a happier sailor in my life.). Harbor Pilots, the folks who taxi cargo ships from the Ocean into the Harbor, consider minimum wage to be $250K a year and they average around $450-500K with the more senior Pilots clearing well above $600K at the busier Ports. Drive ships or manage Analysts/Associates/VPs? Desk job vs Adrenaline Job. Up to you. :) Merchants are also eligible for the Reserves in addition to having their own pension from their respective Unions.
Post-Service MBA rebrand Option
M7 MBA is Veteran friendly typically having an existing Veterans Network. Chat up current students and Vet Network for assistance and apply with a GMAT 700+. They value the leadership and perspective from a military Veteran in that classroom setting when everyone else has been doing battle with Excel, Ballpoint Bic Pens, and Clickers for "Next Slide" during PowerPoint presentations. Tales of leadership under duress is a case study in and of itself.
Bottomline: Join the Military, See the World. You'll come out the other side as a Leader with a degree, experience, and money in the bank. This enables you to apply to M7 MBA program and be a favored candidate to get another prestigious degree for nearly FREE. Afterwards, you can go hear others whine about the fact that you now have Veterans preferences, an M7 MBA, and a host of other excuses that makes you more employable vs the Average Joe.
Lastly, we have the Public Health Services; not as sexy but also uniform option: https://www.usphs.gov/
Footnote: Pricetag on freedom can be steep. You are risking your life for a greater good and getting a degree as a secondary effect. By being in this elite club, you have exclusive access to one of the finest networks in America as a Veteran.
Does this count as propaganda
Price tag on freedom. Elite club. Answer the calling.
Lmao.
What exactly does a disbursing supply officer do again? Hand out cash cards, "oversee" the people who stock vending machines and work the laundromat. Please, devote 8 years of your life to menial bullshit and tell me it was worth it. It's only worth it if you're doing 4yrs and walking with the school benefits.
The latter. Anything longer than the mandatory four (4) or five (5) if you went Service Academy is not the best use of time. O-4 Boards are real slim these days in all branches due to the glut of higher ranks that won't get fired, quit, or retire. Where's another Fat Leonard (Glen Defense) event when you need one?
It gets more administrative, you get less "supervision" of the vending machine crew and more "supervision" walking around town in the middle of the night making sure junior Sailors aren't busting into people's houses butt naked piss drunk passed out on their couch or writing and revising message traffic a hundred times in the middle of the night making sure the spacing was done correctly to properly send out this type of story and others (more interesting ones) via SIPR SITREP.
Playing Gran Turismo 6 while underway is an added benefit. Perks of having a combo key office! That's why Office Hours were so tight and no real work got done. "60% of the time we are closed everytime in foreign ports!" Landing helicopters is fun though and watching people drop stuff during unrep and the occasional big slash when they screwed up. Bonus if you got an MSC tour out of the deal, extra points if you scored either flagships of the regular Navy or Sub tenders. Elite club when you swing on by the Go-kart track on the way back from getting mail from USPS and can't make it back to the ship on the next launch boat. Real good deal if you scored those goof off tours in your four years obligation at least once.
Big Navy & Big Army sound great
So it's great if you don't want to do shit with your day or be productive or do anything that isn't mundane and the only highlight about work is finding ways to skip work?
That's my point. It's a soul sucking experience. I had great times too, times I wouldn't trade for anything so don't get me wrong but let's not mislead anyone considering that path.
Hahaha, you and I will get along very well buddy. Best part is talking like this with fellow Veterans and laughing at those otherwise useless memories during our service.
That's why opinions like yours are so valuable. Someone's got to call bullshit on my Sales pitch because it spins it way too positive.
Spoiler Alert: Depressing Parts of Military Service [Start]
I know friends who've died, been blown up, or have been severely injured in all branches of Service. Almost all veterans have a varied degree of hearing loss or some form of physical service connected ailment. Mooring lines a little too tight or arresting cables snapping slices people's legs off or simply cuts them in two. Not really a fun sight. Heard stories of submarines crashing into underway mountains and people getting mangled. On those cushy Submarine tenders I mentioned earlier, as they run on steam, the story goes that the power plant exploded and people left their skins on handrails as they exited the ship and most boiled alive. My ship was steam as well and that's something you just have to wonder sometimes when you hear those pipes expanding and cooling when they sit right inside your personal stateroom.
During my tenure, I heard stories of terrible COs who threw coffee mugs at people or refused their shipmates on the brink of death medical service. Let's not forget the bosses in the military and how much power they presume to have over not only your work life but personal one as well. Hazing? Nah, it's indoc! Due to the immunity of rank, some of these asshole bosses are kept around because their Fitness Reports (FITREPS - Annual rank and tank) are good enough to deem their continuity... etc, etc
[End]
Pretty sure you have some interesting tales yourself.
Woah Big Navy & Big Army might not sound so great
Oh and another very real and practical concern you should have is the work experience. What exactly is an anti-submarine warfare officer going to do post navy? Because aside from the fact they don't do shit, lets just assume they do, you're not an entry level hire anymore and you don't have any experience to manage anywhere that requires skills like engineering, sales, technical roles or finance. Your only play is to play up the leadership and hope to land somewhere in corporate general management. Nothing to sneeze at but is that really what you want to do with your life? Or worse, defense contracting??
Oh ok, you're going to rebrand with an mba, so you need 8yrs of service to do it for free as an officer. Nearly a decade of your prime stuck in mind numbing mediocrity and your only out is getting an M7 MBA (if you even get in) and hopefully land one of the most sought after roles in one of the most exclusive industries around?? That's your brilliant plan? I'm all for anyone doing their 4 to get the school benefits... but a decade of your life devoted to a narrow range of what ifs isn't a good trade.
Also, the network? Let's just define success as an officer going to an M7 or doing something equally "successful".... you're talking about 1 in 2500 servicemembers. On that note, if you see yourself as that person, do you really think you're going to fit into an abrasive, bureaucratic and mediocre environment for nearly 10yrs? And only have the ability to start a family with someone willing to move and uproot everything including their career every two years while you're gone for extended periods... up to and including your b-school. Usually they are dedicated housewives, which isn't a bad thing but is that what you want?
Now we're talking! :) You are in the know.
Dude, def contracting? That's about the only thing that's open if you go beyond the point of no return and that's a pretty solid at year eight (8). There's always GS, right? Knock, knock, it's Booz Allen!
If you don't want full eight (8) you can game the cheaper/free College/University route and go OCS. Saves you four years of time.
The significant others aspect is a topic of discussion for another time and thread. It's tough and this is where some choose career over relationships. Solution: Stay single. Be glad you didn't sign to fly "jets for the Navy!" Kiss 13 years of your life from OCS graduation goodbye and that's mandatory unless you goof up your flight status.
Let's focus on the constructive non-service Academy route which I think we both agree is the best touch and go for those who are currently stuck in the mud, need the runway, and found a place to bump for fuel and take off to their next destination which is presumably WallSt. What would be your ideal cost-effective go-to-OCS plan?
Navy Low-Cost High Yield Plan: