What Branch should I go in

[Chris89]

Would the National Guard be the easyist or would it be the hardest?

I just want to drive a truck around.

[Chris89]

Its the hardest to

[Chris89]

Eyes get big O.O. Maybe I stick with Army national guards. Then once I get in shape and once it become easy ill transfer to marines how does that sound!

[Chris89]

National Guards I believe it the easiest


I would say the air force is the easiest with only 6 weeks along witha zero week wich just breaks you in to te military life. I have a uncle who drives a big rig all over the U.S. And he started out in the air force as a follow me jeep driver, then a jet fuel hualler.

[ping9798]

I'm not trying to be rude to you at all. But I'm wondering....why exactly are you wanting to join? It seems like all of your postings are about which job has the least running, which branch is the easiest, what type of incentives you can count on, the easiest way to get around things, etc. Then when someone answers you, you either ignore it and repeat the same questions, or you answer them yourself when responding to others.

If you were serious about serving your country, none of that would really matter and you'd be dedicated enough to work hard.

Sure, a sign on bonus would be nice, but it's not the only reason to join. And yes, running is boring and annoying, but every single job in every single branch will require it. And yes, there are other perks to joining such as education, but it's not THE reason to join. Pride in serving your country should be number 1. To me, someone who wants to join just for the benefits is the same as saying they want to join because they look hot in a uniform and want postive attention from people.

If you are going to pick a branch depending on how easy BCT is, it's not the best decision. Every BCT is going to be hard in its own way. There are far better things to consider when looking into which branch.

[maybe]

Just so you know, if you join the marines after you've been in another branch, you still have to go through their boot camp but not vice versa.

[LRSU_Dog]

There is no "easy" when it comes to the military, and especially training. As each branch of the Armed Forces has a particular specialty, the focus on training changes. Basic training for example is not easier in any branch as opposed to the other, although actual duration may differ, the object of basic remains the same - indoctrination into that service. Focus may be more on physical, or mental, or both (which is usually the case). This is coupled with the ability to learn under pressure and retain that knowledge.

Physical training may differ, but not lose any of the intensity. One aspect to remeber about Basic Training, regardless of what component of the Army you are in, the training is at the same location and to the same standard.

In the Army National Guard, although the training days are a weekend a month, the same standard as the regular Army must be met. This puts a lot of responsibity on each individual soldier to achieve, maintain, and exceed the standards - on thier own time. In a sense the National Guard is not the easiest by any means.

Soldiers in the Army National Guard must be the type of motivated and enthused person who can go from a drill weekend one minute to standing next to an Active Duty soldier the next without missing a beat - equalling (and historically exceeeding) thier active duty counterparts. National Guard soldiers traditionally bring another thing to the table that thier active duty counterparts cannot - and that is civilian experience in a wide variety of jobs and skills that an active duty soldier misses out on. This makes the National Guard Soldier, in a sense, twice as valuable as regular soldiers in some respects.

Another thing to keep in mind, in a comparison (I saw somewhere in the past, that I cannot quote now) National Guard soldiers were typically the highest educated, with a high number of enlisted and NCO's having an Associates or Bachelor's degree - which is typically not common on active duty.

So when you take all this in perspective, the National Guard Soldier is higher educated, performs to military standard or better, and has a wider variety of skills to bring to the table. In the long run this is the harder route when you look at a career. basic training is just a stop on that path, and rating a service branch on a small aspect of an overall career does not give you an adequate picture of what ends up being difficult or rewarding.