this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Turned 41 this year. I was a moderately successful website developer and high school computer science teacher. Next month I’m joining the navy. Should be fun.

[–] ssalad 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why join the navy at this point in your life?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Various reasons. Mainly the benefits. Tricare health insurance for the family. Post-9/11 GI Bill for the kid. Having a security clearance will also open up some IT job opportunities for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How are you getting in at 41? I thought the age cap for any service was early 30s.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Navy recently raised their enlistment age cap to 42. They're currently the only service to do so, that I know of.

Edit: As far as I know, the enlistment age cap for most other services is 39, and the officer candidacy age cap is 35. There's variations and waivers though, depending on your situation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You've only got one life to live my friend. I spent a few years in the military and it was a great learning experience. It definitely changed my mindset.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wouldn't you be away from your family? I'm of a similar age and curious about what exactly you'll be doing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, but I’m hoping to limit the time away from my family to 30 weeks.

I’m joining the Navy Reserves, which is a bit more flexible than joining the Navy. My wife and I currently work on a Navy base as civilians, so I hope to do most of my drills and duties there, and still be home for dinner every night. We know of a couple people in similar situations that do this already.

Boot camp is 10 weeks long. Tech school, which needs to be done immediately after boot camp, is something like 15 - 20 weeks, depending on your job. With any luck, this 30-week period is the longest that I will be away from my family. It will suck, but everyone has been very supportive.

Once I get back, the goal is to find a full-time duty close to home so that I can start maxing out the GI Bill. I’m told I need 3 years equivalent of active duty to Max it out. After that, I may drop back down to one weekend a month, two weeks a year.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing.