Military Future Questions and Civilian Jobs PART2 (THANKYOU!!)

Hey guys, just got back from MEPS and received a 60 Composite ASVAB Score which my recruiter said was good!

I'm deciding which college to go to that I can afford and that will benefit me the most and not be to cost intuitive (If I choose private).

Question 1:
Is DEVRY University a good choice? The National Guard has a partnership with them which would reduce the tuition cost tremendously.

Motivator #1
It's 9 Miles from my house and provides flexibility with my Military involvement.

Motivator #2
I've heard that its a great school but it comes with an expensive bill (You get what you pay for?)

Motivator#3
They offer and have online classes if I was to be deployed I could continue my education with them.

Question 2:
Would a public college (Technical School be better for me)?

Thanks, Thanks, and Thanks! This forum has been very helpful in my insight for my future career!

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Comments

wastedtime

Hehe, even through junior high I was one of those people that had to be held down in order to get a shot. Was still scared sick though high school of them. Any more it is more it is a sigh and asking how many. Most of them are to easy. In fact I hate the annual flu nasal spray thing more then most of the shots. The worse ones are the anthrax and small pox vaccines. The small pox vaccine isn't a shot though.

GamingCrazy

Question: https://www.cool.army.mil/enlisted/25n.htm Army pays for certifications?

So, is it that the army provides certification reimbursement when you pass your exam? How exactly might that work? How is E-Learning website where they distribute learning material for most of the mos's.

Also, through DANTES is that used for people deployed or for bases in the U.S?
Thanks!

brad-

GamingCrazy wrote: »

Question: If I do 8 years in the national guard as a nodal systems network maintainer, does that transfer to 8 years of IT experience?

I would say no. You should list it on your resume, just do it in an honest manner.

On my resume, I listed my military branch (active/NG), and the jobs I held. I think it would be misleading to say you have X years experience in the IT feild with that MOS unless it was all active duty.

wastedtime

Most of these are going to be answered for you after you go through IET and get to your local education center. If you pay for the exam yourself you can get reimbursement via your G.I. Bill. I don't know the exact process as I have always paid out of pocket without reimbursement. The E-Learning they are talking about is the partnership they have with Skillsoft. It is free! Every 5 hours of courses you complete count as 1 promotion point for when you are looking at SGT or SSG. DANTES is kind of like a military version of CLEP. A lot of colleges will take them and count them the same way (just depends on the college). Both DANTES and CLEP are free at the education center. I don't believe anything I have listed is active duty only.

The army will also pay for certifications if you fall into a IA(Information Assurance) position. You will be required to maintain a certification for your area and level outlined in 8570.01-M. The most current update to it came out about a month ago. You will be required to complete some Skillsoft training, a 1 week classroom train, and a practice test. Once that is done your local IAM will request a voucher through NETCOM.

While I didn't see any promotion icons next to your particular MOS on the COOL site. A lot of those certifications will count for 10 promotion points each under civilian education up to a maximum of 50 points.

Opinions:
-While I am not a big fan of the Skillsoft course(although I have done a ton of them). It will train you over the stuff you need to know for the course. I am more of a book guy.
-I'm not sure why the COOL site sees all certifications as equal points. Net+ is worth the same amount as CCIE R&S. I guess they just don't have time to give them a unique worth.

In conclusion the Army will give you plenty of resources to get a education, and they add to it all the time. There are also SOCAD degrees which are built around different MOSes which a lot of AIT training will count towards.

GamingCrazy

wastedtime wrote: »

Most of these are going to be answered for you after you go through IET and get to your local education center. If you pay for the exam yourself you can get reimbursement via your G.I. Bill. I don't know the exact process as I have always paid out of pocket without reimbursement. The E-Learning they are talking about is the partnership they have with Skillsoft. It is free! Every 5 hours of courses you complete count as 1 promotion point for when you are looking at SGT or SSG. DANTES is kind of like a military version of CLEP. A lot of colleges will take them and count them the same way (just depends on the college). Both DANTES and CLEP are free at the education center. I don't believe anything I have listed is active duty only.

The army will also pay for certifications if you fall into a IA(Information Assurance) position. You will be required to maintain a certification for your area and level outlined in 8570.01-M. The most current update to it came out about a month ago. You will be required to complete some Skillsoft training, a 1 week classroom train, and a practice test. Once that is done your local IAM will request a voucher through NETCOM.

While I didn't see any promotion icons next to your particular MOS on the COOL site. A lot of those certifications will count for 10 promotion points each under civilian education up to a maximum of 50 points.

Opinions:
-While I am not a big fan of the Skillsoft course(although I have done a ton of them). It will train you over the stuff you need to know for the course. I am more of a book guy.
-I'm not sure why the COOL site sees all certifications as equal points. Net+ is worth the same amount as CCIE R&S. I guess they just don't have time to give them a unique worth.

In conclusion the Army will give you plenty of resources to get a education, and they add to it all the time. There are also SOCAD degrees which are built around different MOSes which a lot of AIT training will count towards.

Very good information, Thanks!

I'm gonna join when I get back from vacation, I'm hoping to land 25N but I might have to settle for 25S (Which I heard is great too).

wastedtime

25S (comes to my mind as being a high demand high paying on the outside compared to other MOSes) is a good MOS although if you are wanting to stay toward networking (switches, routers, firewalls, etc..) I would say more 25B over 25S. 25N deals mainly with JNN Operations (Joint Network Node). Where as 25S is satellite specific and 25 is your general computer/network person with a focus on security. Hope that helps some.

You seem like you knew what you want coming into the military a lot better then I did. I came in pretty much saying I'd like to do something with computers but I'll do what ever. They first offered me a field artillery MOS then offered me a 31S spot(which is now a 25S) then offered me a quartermaster spot. I ended up doing that for the first 3 years and have been doing 25B stuff since. If nothing else the army has taught me to find goals and work toward them.

GamingCrazy

wastedtime wrote: »

25S (comes to my mind as being a high demand high paying on the outside compared to other MOSes) is a good MOS although if you are wanting to stay toward networking (switches, routers, firewalls, etc..) I would say more 25B over 25S. 25N deals mainly with JNN Operations (Joint Network Node). Where as 25S is satellite specific and 25 is your general computer/network person with a focus on security. Hope that helps some.

You seem like you knew what you want coming into the military a lot better then I did. I came in pretty much saying I'd like to do something with computers but I'll do what ever. They first offered me a field artillery MOS then offered me a 31S spot(which is now a 25S) then offered me a quartermaster spot. I ended up doing that for the first 3 years and have been doing 25B stuff since. If nothing else the army has taught me to find goals and work toward them.

Just curious, what kind of jobs can you come out with the 25S MOS? I was curious as if I'm stuck down to 2 or three choices I want to have a proper backup option.

Thanks!

wastedtime

As far as 25S expect about anything dealing with satellite communication systems. There is a lot that goes into satellite communication. I know the identifier they all want is the 7E, and 1C which is strategic, but that will depend more on the NG unit that you will be at. With the new JNN systems the army has gone very satellite specific for tactical communications. It also has a fairly long AIT of 26 weeks and use to be longer. The majority of the information on the goarmy.com web site is correct about those MOSes.

brad-

wastedtime wrote: »

It also has a fairly long AIT of 26 weeks and use to be longer.

Dont let the long AIT scare you. Its a great way to stay in shape and save money...and if you take that MOS you should do exactly that.

Good luck.

thomAZ

GamingCrazy wrote: »

Question: https://www.cool.army.mil/enlisted/25n.htm Army pays for certifications?

So, is it that the army provides certification reimbursement when you pass your exam? How exactly might that work? How is E-Learning website where they distribute learning material for most of the mos's.

Also, through DANTES is that used for people deployed or for bases in the U.S?
Thanks!

Hey GamingCrazy, looks like your still pursuing the military. As far as certs go the VA will reimburse you pass or fail when your enrolled in the GI Bill. But, I'm not sure if you recieve those benefits if your in the Guard or Reserve.

GamingCrazy

brad- wrote: »

Dont let the long AIT scare you. Its a great way to stay in shape and save money...and if you take that MOS you should do exactly that.

Good luck.

I'm interested in 25S because I here it is GREAT when you come out, and provides several aspects of communications where 25N is more narrow focused to cisco and voip devices. My dad does VOIP holds a MCSE and 10 years of experience and form what I saw and have learned from him over the past couple years of High School is that he really likes his career choice.
Question: What kind of jobs does 25S prepare you for? Thanks

GamingCrazy

brad- wrote: »

I would say no. You should list it on your resume, just do it in an honest manner.

On my resume, I listed my military branch (active/NG), and the jobs I held. I think it would be misleading to say you have X years experience in the IT feild with that MOS unless it was all active duty.

Question: How would the 8 years transfer to Civilian experience as far as a resume listing? How would one include 8 years service and possibly a tour of 15 months inside their resume?

Thanks!

GamingCrazy

thomAZ wrote: »

Hey GamingCrazy, looks like your still pursuing the military. As far as certs go the VA will reimburse you pass or fail when your enrolled in the GI Bill. But, I'm not sure if you recieve those benefits if your in the Guard or Reserve.

It applies to the guard I'm pretty sure.

How much does the GI Bill and Kicke give if anyone knows I was told 529$ combined by my recruiter but I hear it's more now.

brad-

GamingCrazy wrote: »

Question: How would the 8 years transfer to Civilian experience as far as a resume listing? How would one include 8 years service and possibly a tour of 15 months inside their resume?

Thanks!

I listed my employer as the National Guard (seperately from my active duty job), dates served, and job performed. An employer will know that by being in the guard/reserves, the dates served are intermittent.

That way, you dont just say "I have 8 years xp doing X".