I [18/M] am playing hockey in a different state but I want to quit to go to join the military but if I stop playing hockey, my mother [49/F] will disown me.

Hey skippy, I hope I got here in time. I don't know whether you've seen the recruiter yet, but I have some advice that you may find useful.

DO NOT SELL THE EQUIPMENT UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. ANY MOS/RATE/THING-YOU-DO-FOR-A-LIVING THAT IS IMPORTANT WILL REQUIRE A SECURITY CLEARANCE AND HAVING YOUR MOTHER ATTEMPT TO PRESS CHARGES, SUE, OR OTHERWISE GO FULL RETARD ON YOU MAY DELAY OR EVEN DENY YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE.

Alright, now to get on with the fun stuff: military recruitment.

First, get a friend who's served. If possible, try to have them come to the recruiter's office with you and just help you all around.

Second: you're late. You should've already taken your ASVAB and talked, not done paperwork just talked, with recruiters already. You can take the ASVAB before you graduate and some schools even have a recruiter come over and offer it on campus once a year. Don't tell your recruiter that you're talking with others, but make sure to get in contact with a recruiter from each branch you can stomach and talk to them.

Why, you ask? You just wanted to be in the Air Force, you say? Well, the Air Force recruiters are some of the most sluggish behind the Coast Guard and you may not get shipped off by summer. Last I checked, the Air Force doesn't let enlistees choose their MOS unless they are a very specific few. The Navy also has a very good EOD program (spec ops!). Finally, you may have to settle with the Army because the security clearance check will probably be a lot faster and they can get you shipped off in 3 months. (That is if you can stomach being in the Army, I can't). Even with perfect health and an in demand MOS/rate, it may take ~9 months to ship to boot camp. The war's over, recruitment is slow. EOD is considered very elite in the Navy and additional physical tests are required. I don't know about the AF, but they may slow down an already slow application process.

Alright, now we got that trash out of the way, we can get to the fun part. You can most definitely ship out faster if you're not an EOD. However, letting the recruiter talk you into a MOS is a horrible idea. Have 3-4 choices going in. For example, my buddy was into spec ops and swimming and went into the Navy Recruiter's office wanting EOD, rescue swimmer, or diver. Get what you want, and get it in writing.

Visit /r/military or /r/Airforce if you feel lost. They were a great help to me.

Good luck man. I wouldn't recommend the military willy nilly. Going to trade school for the most in demand job in your area sounds a lot better to me, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

/r/relationships Thread