Thirteen years, you’ve spent the last thirteen years in schools, now what? Well I’m sure can guess what you have been advised to do: More schooling and that’s not necessarily a bad choice, but there are different options, one of which being service in the United States military, specifically the Navy. With my personal knowledge of the process, as I’m going through it right now, I’ll give my insight.

The reasons to join are quite vast. The Navy, or the military in general, takes care of all the needs of the people serving in them. Every little thing that you wouldn’t normally think of is provided or taken care of. The phrase  “three hots and a cot” is thrown around a lot, but it describes how well the military will take care of its own: housing, meals, transportation, medical, utilities. All taken care of. All of this means that your paycheck goes straight into your pocket and can be spent as you see fit.

Thats a big load off monetarily, but there are some other pretty big highlights as well. The Post 9/11 G.I. bill allows for massive amounts of financial assistance with various types of schooling. The Bill allows for up to $21,000 towards tuition per year, up to $1,300 per month for books, and $1,000 per month for housing. Not every benefit given by the military is based around monetary gains. The military also provides experience in fields that directly translate into civilian jobs.

Every branch has different names for the different jobs people work. Under the Army and Marine Corps, they are referred to as MOS (or a military occupational specialty). Under the Airforce, they are called AFSC (Air Force Specialty Codes). For the Navy and Coast Guard, they are referred to as rates. The Navy itself has a little bit less than 60 rates, and a little bit less than 40 service ratings. Service ratings are specialized jobs that are subcategories of rates. For example, you could be an FC (Fire Controlman) and then specialize in tomahawk missiles, or a HM (Hospital Corpsman) and specialise in Dentistry, or be a greenside corpsman embedded with the marines. Rates in the Navy cover a wide range of interests people may have. If there’s a job in the civilian world, It most likely exists in some capacity within the navy.

These jobs don’t just fall into your lap, so how do you get them? The whole process starts with a phone call to the nearest recruiter. From there, you’ll figure out what’s best for you. If you do decide its right for you, the process is pretty straightforward. First off, and this should probably be done before even talking to a recruiter, it’s necessary to talk to the people in your life about it, parents and/or your significant other. It’s important to note that if you are under 18 and do want to join, you can with the permission from both parents. With everything squared away with family, you get a date to go to MEPS.

MEPS is the Military Entrance Point and it is where people of every branch go to so that they can be screened and okayed to go to bootcamp. MEPS is a very long process. It starts with being driven from the recruiting station that your recruiter is based out of. From there, youll go to a hotel near the MEPS in your area and spend the night in a room with a roommate that is also going to MEPS. The morning you go to MEPS starts off nice and early at 5 in the morning. The hotel supplies breakfast, which at my hotel was pretty high quality: bacon, eggs, pancakes. Once breakfast is finished, the day really starts. Everyone, no matter what branch they were going to MEPS to join, gets in a long, doublefile line. Up until this point, the only military personnel that you will have seen will be your recruiter, as they dropped you off.

When you get off the bus though, it’s pretty intense, for me it went like this: When the bus came to a stop, a marine walked on to the bus and shouted out what we were to do. He told us to stand in 3 areas depending on if it was our first time there, If we were back to finish things up, and last but not least, if you were there to ship out to bootcamp. So we shuffled out of the bus and to the wall where we were supposed to assemble. The Marine gave a brief talk about what was to happen and how we were to behave. Once you enter the doors to MEPS it’s a long day.

The MEPS I went to was in Sacramento, the building was centered around a main desk with a bunch of different colored lines leading to the different sections of MEPS. Medical on one of the lines, the offices for each branch on another and lastly the one that lead to the room chock full of computers for testing. My day consisted of scurrying back and forth between rooms. During the day, you’ll get a physical, which consists of getting blood drawn, several physical exercises, and sight and hearing tests. The last bit that is done that day is the test that gives you your rate. The ASVAB is the test used across all branches to determine what jobs you qualify for. It’s a ten part test that tests you on General Science, Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Mathematics Knowledge, Electronics Information,

Auto Information , Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Assembling Objects. Scores are based on percentages of correctly answered questions. You’ll have a general score on the test; mine was a 74, which is high, qualifying me for every branch but not every rate. Each rate has required scores in certain categories of the ASVAB. For example, let’s say you want to be a Boatswain’s Mate, you’d need a combined score of 175 in the verbal expression, arithmetic reasoning, mathematics knowledge, and automotive and shop.

The Navy sticks out in the way you acquire your rate. Unlike the other branches, you have full control over what rate you get. Now that doesn’t mean you can get whatever job you want if you qualify; there still has to be a need for that rate somewhere in the fleet. To get your rate, you go and sit down with someone in the portion of MEPS dedicated to the Navy. There, they read out every job you qualify for and a little bit about each job. Then everything comes together. You get a ship date to boot camp, sign a whole lot of things, and from then until you leave, you are referred to as “Future Sailor.” The time spent in between when you ship out to bootcamp and when you leave MEPS is known as “DEP” or the delayed entry program. While in DEP, you are expected to memorise some basic things: 11 generals orders, the sailor’s creed, and rank recognition. It’s also expected that you attend bi-monthly meetings, but those can be waived if you have school when they take place.                           

The Navy isn’t for everyone, and nor is military life, but if you want it, there is definitely something you could gain from joining the most powerful Navy in the world.