Basic, ya right no freeqin way. AIT possibly depends on your MOS and duty station, BTW is it to late to go to the AF or Navy? once your done it will all depend on where your deployed and if you can get your HRT The Army is not known for being feminine friendly, my bratty son joined at 19 and a man came back.

Is the Navy and Air Force really that much of a better option?

They are very different cultures, with the AF being a bit more liberal (which is not much, considering we're gauging beginning with the Army.)  The Navy is pretty unique in its own way, I always got the idea that the sailors got away with the most crap, unless they were on a ship, and that kinda sucked.

So it comes down to those two, right? Like, I don't want to be bored. And from what people have said, it's pretty boring on the ship for months at a time. 

Quote from: Mazarine_Sky on December 11, 2008, 02:24:55 PM
Is the Navy and Air Force really that much of a better option?

OMG your joking right, The AF is the cream of the crop, they have the best bases and working conditions the navy has some decent base and working conditions are soso the Army and the Marines get what's left, with a few exceptions, consider this The AF sends it's officers into battle with Million dollar pieces of equipment the enlisted sta behind the lines to fix stuff, the navy well that's self explainitory do ya like to travel join the Navy. Army sends it's enlisted into the thick of things

Oh like almost anything else, I've known people who did it and kinda liked it, it is THE way to go to all the places that sailors go to, Hong Kong, Manila and do the things that sailors do in such places, which I'm assured is a darn good time.  On the other hand, you could get stuck in Norfork.  Though I have a friend who went into the Navy, did air traffic control school in Memphis and then did the rest of his time in Fresno, never saw anything bigger than a rowboat.

The AF seems to be the most corporate, the most 9-5 almost.  But I rarely see any AF guys in SF - though I see lots of Army and Navy (and MPs/SPs).  I think the Army, and the Marines, depend a lot more on unit cohesion then the others, so its a much more enforced culture, and a lot straighter.  Look there is a real that the term "Hey Sailor!" because a common deal.

I just went to the Air Forces website, and they have a career called Space Systems Operations Apprentice, which is completely awesome in every way. If not, there are a few other space related careers that I would love to get into. Thank you, ladies- for helping me reach the conclusion that the Army is the worst possible decision to make...
Air Force it might as well be, then!

Well really check it out, talk to all of them, see who is going to cut you the best deal to do what you want to do.  I always thought the Navy was a lot more computer then the others, real pioneers in the field.  But check out your options and see.  Think of basic too.  Some places, like say, Great Lakes in the winter, suck.  Paris Island in the summer ain't a picnic either.

I was raised by Lake Ontario, so I know how that can get LMAO. I'll check it out, though... if the Navy does better with computers than the Air Force, than I might have to go to the Navy, but Space Systems Operations Apprentice sounds so awesome... 

Well then.
The year prior to joining the army, I spent mostly as a very effeminate goth.
Come enlistment day, I was a scrawny white guy with a mop of black hair.
At the end of basic training, I was a fit, athletic white guy with a shaved head.

Six years later, I left the army with a bunch of money, lots of useful qualifications and I was most certainly a very blokey bloke, though still on the thin side.
Over the next few years, the army influenced sloughed away and the muscle dropped off and eventually I was in a good place to transition.

What am I saying here?
It's possible to put things on hold while you do...more important things. Like set yourself up for a good career and make some money.
If you can do it, put the femme side on the back burner for a few years and let the male side take over for a while. Nothing that happens to you physically in the army will be permanent (unless you get a bunch of macho tattoos like I did).

I will state this now, for the sake of clarity:
If you join the infantry and expect to hold onto your feminine side, you are an utter fool.
An 'accident' will happen to you which will kill you or leave you maimed for life.
Maybe in another trade, like logistics or medics you might get away with being a bit more gender neutral, but in the infantry...no.

This is just persuading me more to not join the Army, lol!

Quote from: Mazarine_Sky on December 11, 2008, 03:40:43 PMThis is just persuading me more to not join the Army, lol!

I think that's the idea.

~Simone.

Quote from: lady amarant
I think that's the idea.
~Simone.

Well seriously, I hope we have helped you think this through before you make a terrible mistake you will be stuck with for years.

Kristi

Quote from: Mazarine_Sky on December 11, 2008, 11:13:49 AM
As an update, my parents really want me to join the Army now, which has created a slight dilemma- as my friends don't want me to join, some of them do, but mostly my parents do, and it's pretty crazy. : /
I am joining, though. But I will heed everyone's advice and not get too manly looking.

Success requires single mindedness of purpose.
Either be feminine, or be a soldier.

If you try and do both though, your entire plattoon will have a nickname for you that will get annoying very quickly.
It's six digits and starts with F.


I went through this myself years back, even just as recently as July.  I want to serve.  Not for college money, not for benefits, but because I seriously want to shoot some insurgents in Iraq.
Fact is though that it'd be a great time, but I'd be missing out on times that I could be using to make myself a brighter future right now, such as getting this gender thing out of the way.
After I have my doctorate and SRS, there's a slim chance they might take me.

Until then, I had to seriously get my priorities straight.

There isn't a place in the armed forces for ->-bleeped-<-gots.  If you're anything but a manly man you'd better make sure noone even close to another soldier, sailor, airman, or god forbid a Marine knows about it.

Either be a 'man' and go in, or keep your individuality and take the tough way to get through college.

Sucks being a civilian I know but...
It's not something to take lightly.

If you are TS and can't wait the minimum of the four years stint in the Armed forces to proceed with transitioning and HRT and if you try to do in while on duty it could prove to be detrimental to your health should any of the troops should discover who you are. I got lucky when I tried to join when I was 17 years old I didn't qualify because I was to small.

Cindy

There's nothing to be ashamed of either way.

Just don't try and do both.

After doing a little research, it does seem that the Air Force is probably the best option for me. The thing is, like you said, I also have two desires, the one part of me wanting to help my country and be useful, and the other part just wanting to better myself and help people in other ways.
Which is why I think that the AF might be the best way to go. I mean, I have a cousin in the AF right now, and he's definitely not very masculine at all. With that said, I don't believe they are as homophobic in the AF, as well (I'm not gay, but with society being the way it is, they'll say I'm gay if I see myself as a woman sometimes, right?). The entire thing seems pretty much more open minded in general. Way more so than all of the other branches of service.
But then again, I hear stereotypes about Navy men during the long months aboard a ship... and I suppose there are more places to travel, as well. So it's really a hard decision, because I love traveling...

Well make it a long slow decision, its a long way back from it.  Its a good goal to serve, though there are lots of ways to do it, look at all the options, look objectively at the good points and bad point of each - then you roll the dice and go for it.

Yeah, good thing I came here first, though! 

The airforce is just as bad of a choice as anything else.

If you're  going to serve, then serve selflessly as the best you can be.  Tools of the US Military aren't supposed to be too free-thinking.
If you're going to be yourself, don't pretend you can do that in there.

The US Military is an enormously large industry holding a large percent of the world's total firepower in nukes, manpower, and training.  If you think they're going to bend over so YOU can be self-expressive, think again.