Hi Clark,

I would be where I am today without the training, experience and life lessons provided by the U.S. Navy.

Never join the Military for pay !      There are many excellent reasons to join, stability is one, but I would not equate that with pay :)

"If i go in certified already would that matter at all?"
It might.   Here you need to really take your time with your detailer/recruiter (bring your dad or a Vet friend for this).  Some civilian experience can be leveraged into specialized schools after basic... But you want to see those schools IN YOUR CONTRACT, if you want assurance of schooling.  Even then the needs of the military may take precedence at any time in your enlisted career.

All the branches have special MOS's (military occupational specialties) for welding.  Construction, aerospace, etc.  Having experience going in may be a very big help (if that branch has a need for that specialty)... You may need to shop each branch to find out what those needs are now and will be projected into the future.

Work up a long list of questions for the recruiters and write them down... compare the answers to each.

Hi Clark,

As a Vet, I will echo the suggestion that you bring your Dad AND a Vet and get everything in writing.  After basic you go for AIT (Advanced Individual Training) or whatever they call it now.  Make sure the schools you want to go to are in the contract.  What classes and type work may dictate the length of service contract you will be required to sign.

The Army had all sorts of welding MOS's, from Armor and Vehicle welding to structural.  I do have to admit the idea of Navy underwater welding is sort of cool and has a higher paying civilian option after your tour of service.

Of course all of this hinges on your passing Basic Training...so start running 3-5 miles a day and doing push-ups NOW.

And if you go Army, go First Cavalry!

This could turn into a fascinating discussion. I am not a vet myself but I would conjecture that the differing military branches would deal with a specific variety of alloys. If I were to guess, and the vets in here are certainly free to correct me, I would say that army welding is predominantly high strength low alloys, navy welding will see a greater variety of alloys including a greater variety of austenitics and corrosive media alloys (not to mention ship hulls), and the air force would see more of the aerospace high strength super alloys.

NDT is another thing to consider. I know a guy, was in the Air Force, NDT specialty, retired at 39, and now drags down 150K a year consulting, in addition to his pension.

Why Army-
I was a tanker in the Marines for a few grueling years changed my MOS to a 1316. (tough to do I must say) Became a welder (1316)received some really good training and weld certifications. Stated as a pipefitter after military. circa 1983
Oh yeah the pay from military to pipefitter was black and white. with all do respect.

I would recommend if you want to be a welder stay a civilian - there are no guarantees in the military..
Good luck -

I'd say it's entirely up to you. Whether Army, Air Force, Navy or Marines. Check to see what each offers as far as the G.I. Bill, what each has to offer for welding, structural, equipment repair, planes, ships and so on.

When it comes to signing up have your parents there to help guide you, make sure you have a contract in writing for "welder" or specific MOS. If the recruiter seems pushy, wanting to get you to go in as something you don't want then walk away. If you don't then you'll probably end up as a bullet sponge, infantry in civilian lingo. When I went in we had to take a test, it basically showed what you were strong in, for example I had very high mechanical scores and ended up as a knuckle buster turning wrenches on all of the Marine Corps hand me down junk from the other branches.

If you are interested in seeing the world and not having to pay for it then that is another bonus. I was in Japan for two years, was in Okinawa, Philippines, Guam and would do it all over again and never missed home while I was gone. All that depends on the person though, some enjoy it, others just survive until they rotate back stateside.

The pay, well, when I was in it wasn't anything to write home about. When I got out I think I was pulling down around $800-850 per month. All of my meals, medical, dental, housing, travel was paid for. Discounts on military flights if you want to use some of your leave time to go to another country or back home. I knew guys that would take leave and go to Thailand or Korea. They would stay on base in the base hotel.

After you get out, you'll have experience, your training and Veteran status which, if you decided to pursue a Union career would give you a edge up on your average Joe applying at the same Union hall.

Downside, plain and simple, you get stuck in some sandy dessert type of location and you get killed. No subtle way to put it. In the Marines we were riflemen first....excuse me, politically correct, you were a rifleperson first. Staying "in the rear with the gear" would only happen if you weren't needed to defend a position from some crazed lunatic wanting to kill you. After that you could go back to your engine repair or welding job. I know two Vietnam vets, one was a Marine radar technician and would get shot at trying to take trash out. Another was in the Air Force and would climb the comm towers to do repairs. He told me one day he was up their fixing something and heard a loud "PING" on the steel structure. After the second "PING" he said he came down like greased lightning after he figured out a not so good sniper was taking shots at him.

Military life is alright. There are worse things but the experience is great. It all depends on you though. As all current and prior service Vets have done signing the dotted line is probably the hardest part. I don't know of many that didn't have this thought run thru their mind, "I might die in the next four years when I sign this line". If you can come to terms with that little negative it won't hurt to check it out.

I'm not sure about the contracts. Mine was a 4 year active/ 4 year inactive, Air Force I thought was 2, Army 4 but with you wanting to do welding maybe the contract is longer because of the training to get you up to speed is longer. My welder friend in the Marines only did 4 years, plus 4 years inactive reserve. Which means, if some wild little Korean leader gets a wild hair up his butt and you have served you 4 years active and are working on your 4 years inactive and they need you to come back then they can call you back. The six you are referring to might be 3 active, 3 inactive but I'm just speculating. The recruiters would be the ones to talk to about the specifics.

Hopefully my novel will help you out. If I had it to do all over again I would sign up in a heartbeat. Sometimes it really sucked but I've worked in all sorts of industries and jobs and they all have there pro's and con's. The military is no different. I was going to say the dying part is the only difference but I know two guys that died working a cell tower a few years ago, personally knew them and worked with them and another welder recently was electrocuted a few months ago. Even in the civilian world doing what we do in construction and you might bite the big one.

Good luck, just do your research, talk to recruiters and figure out what you want to do.

Shawn

If you join the military understand you will be required to take an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.  When you take your oath, it is likely there won't be a single person in the room who has actually read and/or understands what the document says.  Our federal government is a long, long way from operating legally as the Constitutional Republic it is contracted to be.  Much of the governmental structure and activities that you, your family, friends, and school teachers likely take for granted are illegal under the Constitution.  If you take your oaths seriously and take the time to understand what you are swearing to do, and combine this with the inevitable discovery of the low information level and apathy of many of your fellow Americans, you may find yourself in internal conflict and resentful for the rest of your life.  Just an example... there are real reasons servicemen and vets have a high suicide rate.  Don't mean to be a downer, but something to think about.

Go in the Navy and get into the welding program. It will suck for a long time as I understand. But being willing to put in 8-10 years as a Navy welder taking what ever they throw at you. If you do the 20 you will be 38 with the ability to do inspection, QC and management. It is like the welder apprentice program at SRP Navajo Generating. It took 12 years to do the full thing. But they are some of the best welders one will ever see. And I have never seen a Navy welder who had concentrated on welding who is not a top hand,
But forget the $$ and instead look at the career development,