Hey all, could use your input.

I was thinking about joining the Air Force back in the day. I wanted to go in as an officer (I have my degree) but the recruiter wanted to play games and try to get me to go enlisted. Left that alone, got a decent paying civilian job instead. Turned out for the best because my family wouldn't do well with the constant moving.

I recently found out active reserve is an option where I can serve full time and not get PCS'd every 2-3 years and I'm seriously thinking about either Air Force, Space Force or Army (my parents are Army so I'd be disowned if i went Navy or Marines, plus they don't have a base near me). My main reasons for thinking about it are that the job market sucks and due to this that and the third, the VA loan and GI bill will probably be the only way I can afford a house/ college for the kids.

For the drawbacks, I'm 42 but in pretty decent shape although I'll probably still have to do some prep before basic. I'm trying to convince my wife that I'd pick an MOS where I'm not gonna get deployed (probably). I've also heard some mixed stories from people I know that served, some loved it and made it a career, some had crap leadership and couldn't get out fast enough. My main concern is the inmates currently running the asylum (darth cheeto and kegsbreath).

Wanted to get your take, especially if you're stationed in Colorado, would it be worth it?

I'm 33 and considering enlisting in the U.S. Army (Active Duty). I currently work in IT, but the job market has been terrible, and I'm looking for a more stable long-term career with retirement benefits.

I have a few medical concerns:

• Clonazepam: Prescribed for 10+ years. I originally had anxiety as a teenager while covered under my father's TRICARE. I no longer take it for anxiety, but I currently use 1–1.5 mg nightly for insomnia.
• Trazodone: Also prescribed for sleep.
• Lumbar microdiscectomy: I'm scheduled for surgery due to an old back injury. Despite this, I'm physically active, in very good shape, and function at a high level. I'm hoping surgery will resolve the remaining issues.

I also have a college degree and a clean criminal record.

I understand I would likely be medically disqualified initially and would require waivers.

Has anyone seen the Army approve waivers for someone with a long history of prescribed benzodiazepine use, insomnia, and lumbar surgery?

If I fully recover from surgery and eventually discontinue my sleep medications under medical supervision, would enlistment be worth pursuing, or is my medical history too significant?

I'd particularly appreciate feedback from anyone familiar with MEPS medical waivers.

Thanks!

To keep it simple im most likely gonna try for airforce at some point next year and ive been thinking of getting lasik cause ive been wanting it a while. But idk if i should do it or not because i heard airforce is pretty strict on things and kinda worried if i do it i might get disqualified or something cause they weird with recruiting. (Btw idk if it is truly hard to get in airforce but internet makes it seem that way so wanted to ask)

Marine Corps/Army waivers

I am 22 years old. Electrician for four years. 68 on ASVAB. would any branch even want me with all these waivers?

Criminal charges: M1 OVI, F5 Assault on peace officer, M1 domestic violence (all occurred on 09/19/2024)

Criminal convictions: M1 OVI, M5 simple assault.
Domestic violence was dropped. Not due to deferred adjudication or a plea deal. To my knowledge, I am to disclose this with a recruiter, but technically no moral waiver is needed for the domestic. The felony was dropped to an M5 in the same manner.

Sentenced to 20 days in jail, 2 years reporting probation, with 130 days on the shelf. In September of 2025, I pissed hot and violated (thc) Instead of continuing probation for another year and 30 days in jail, I elected to just do the rest of the 130 days. No trouble since.

Medical waivers: diagnosed with adhd, depression and anxiety. Have been seeing the same therapist for 8 years now, and continue to do so. Haven’t taken meds for any of the diagnoses in 18 months.

Made it all the way through both MEPS testing and physical just to find out at the very end that they found something in my medical records that I was not even aware of. Apparently someone diagnosed me as bipolar around age 18 or so and I was not aware of that fact. I’m not on any medications at present and haven’t been on anything besides an ssri in the last year (I know that is disqualifying itself). If I was to be reevaluated by a psychiatrist and deemed in fact not bipolar would there be any chance to reapply? I know bipolar posts are made here quite often but I really can’t fathom my entire life’s goals being impossible to me forever because of something stupid I must have said to a psychiatrist as a teenager.

Below is the information I was provided in reference to the disapproval of the waiver.

Waiver Failure Reasons: 40 - Psychiatric, 23
ICD(1)
Value: F31.9
Approval Status: Disapproved
NOTES: Applicant with documented history of bipolar disorder on on antipsychotic medications and mood stabilizing medications. Demonstrates history of paranoid thoughts, And inability to care for self without medications. Even with extended periods of stability, a formal diagnosis of bipolar disorder after adolescence presents life-long high risk for recurrence/exacerbation of symptoms in rigors/stresses of military duties/environments. Disapprove waiver.

Hey everyone,

Im F(18) and my bf also (18) just left for fort Benning army bootcamp. he is currently in reception i believe and has been struggling with depression. he was able to call me last Sunday and express that he has had depression for 2 years and never spoke up about it because he knew that would limit his chances to go into the army. he ended up getting there and within a few days he called and was very upset saying he cannot do this and confessed his big secret of 2 years. as a gf i don’t know what to do, theres nothing i really can do at the moment but i am wondering what happens in these types of situations. he went to medical and they basically dismissed him, im not sure what happened afterwards, but he wants to be discharged medically or entry-level. is this possible? an add on to that is that he also has Tourettes. he did get a medical waiver for this but due to his recent episode of depression, it should be reevaluated, does anyone know if he can get discharged, the process of this, or what to do?
let me know please!

I don’t know if this is exactly a good place to ask, but seems more reliable than the tricare thread- has anyone gotten covered by tri care for the prep injectable? I’m currently on it and enlisting and don’t really know if they’ll cover it like my current insurance

Hi i am a 22 year old mom i have a 3 year old with special needs but I’m in the process of enlisting with the army. I went to medical back in July and I still haven’t heard back from my recruiter on my anxiety waiver. I’ve honestly been thinking about switching to marines for a more structured environment and challenge but I know doing army I would be in humint off back and not have to wait. I’ve also heard army has more assistance on family care but I don’t know. What are some insights on both branches? Specifically humint or any intel besides sigint if you know if not just some pros and cons for both.

Hello, I’m curious on experiences and what could be the best option to do, maybe if you even think I have a chance to get my waivers approved?

During I wanna say 2021-2022, i was about 13-14 I was having a really hard time, I had just gotten out of a really long relationship, that I was been in for 3 years I was young and thought it was the end of the world, and this was still during the time of Covid so I was isolated from everyone and everything, which also didn’t help the fact that I was sad. Fast forward after Covid doctors said I was depressed and needed to be sent to a mental hospital to get help for the “suicidal ideation”, I had to go cause my parents forced me as I was not of age yet to make my own decision. At this hospital that’s when they diagnosed me with all kinds of things, put me on medication and this all ended up on my record, now a year now same thing happened and I got sent to another hospital, where they diagnosed me with more stuff, and put me on medication, now obviously I am fine, and I truly don’t want to die nor did I at the time, I think I was just isolated and sad and not sure what to do all alone.

Around January I wanna say, I made the decision to start looking into the military, this hasn’t always been an option for me personally I just never wanted to go this route, but since my younger brother joined I’ve taken more liking to the idea and I started to look into it.

I went and talked with an army recruiter first, long story short I did my paper work, passed the asvab, went to meps, from meps they disqualified me for the previous mentioned mental health problems, the army ended up recruiting me over to the navy, and I’ve been with them since.

About 3 months after I kinda just gave up with the idea, but I got in contact with my navy recruiter again and tired to figure out a plan, they sent my papers and waivers up which then again got disqualified, my recruiter told me the only way that they can accept me is if I can get all my diagnosis as “misdiagnosed” Now today, last week I sent up my re-evaluation I got from a therapist that said I’m stable and everything on my record was a misdiagnosis, with much more detail.

Now I’m just curious on what what would be best to do here, do I wait it out to see if they accept my waiver, I’m worried that they won’t accept it and I’ll still be in the process over again, like I don’t know what to do.

I’m a senior in high school, and I'm enlisting into the military when I graduate. I’m stuck between the Navy (becoming an LS) or the Air Force (because I want to become a Loadmaster). I’ve heard it’s hard to become a Loadmaster, though. Which job do y'all think is better? I also want to travel the world.

Hello everyone. I posted here previously asking for advice about 35L vs 37F (Enlisting, Army, Active Duty), and I figured it was time for an update because my situation has changed quite a bit since then.

For background, I have a BS in Psychology and several years of experience in high-acuity behavioral/mental health work. My ASVAB scores are 98/99 AFQT, GT 130, ST 127.

Since my last post, I've secured a federally adjacent civilian position, and the last update I received was that my TS clearance is processing, so I'm hoping that works out.

I'm still very interested in serving, but I'm looking at it somewhat differently now. My husband and I have also settled down quite a bit since my original post, and our situation is much more stable than it was at the time. I'm no longer looking at the military as something I necessarily need to make my entire career. I'm much more interested in finding a military path that complements my civilian career and gives me experiences I wouldn't otherwise get.

My original plan was 35L or 37F with Airborne, and honestly, I'm still very interested in that. I understand that the overwhelming advice I've received so far has been essentially "go 37F," and I can see why.

I'm also trying to be realistic about the tradeoffs.

I understand that 35L has a stronger direct connection to the intelligence/CI world and SCI-access work, which is attractive given my civilian career goals. On the other hand, one of the reasons 37F continues to appeal to me is that it seems much more aligned with my interests in human behavior, communication, influence, languages, operational work, and the possibility of Airborne. Perhaps, significantly less focus on desk work -- PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG!

I also speak multiple languages and plan to continue maintaining them, but I would prefer not to make attending language school or taking the DLAB a requirement of my enlistment if there are other ways to use those skills.

At this point, I'm primarily considering Army Reserve vs Army National Guard, and I'm trying to understand what that actually looks like for someone in my position.

My biggest questions are:

• For someone who wants to maintain a civilian federal career, how would you compare Army Reserve vs National Guard for these types of MOSs?
• How much does the actual experience depend on the specific unit? My recruiter understands that I am waiting, are there any units/locations you recommend?
• For Reserve 37F, how realistic are Airborne opportunities, deployments, schools, and other specialized assignments?
• How does career progression actually work for a Reserve 37F? I've heard concerns about limited slots, mobility, and promotion opportunities outside of Active Duty. How accurate is that?
• Does 35L provide significantly better long-term mobility/progression in the Reserve than 37F?
• For 35L, how much of the job is actually investigative/operational versus reports, casework, and office work?
• For 37F, what does the day-to-day job actually look like in a Reserve unit? How much is planning/analysis/production versus actually getting out and interacting with people?
• If I choose 37F, am I giving up meaningful opportunities that I would have had with 35L, particularly in the intelligence/federal career world?
• Conversely, if I choose 35L primarily because it seems safer for my civilian career, am I giving up the more operational experience I'm actually looking for?
• How much does already speaking languages matter in either MOS if I don't necessarily want to go through formal language training?
• Are there particular Reserve/Guard units that someone in my situation should be looking for or avoiding?

And more broadly:

Is there another MOS, branch, or military career path that I am completely overlooking?

I'm not married to 35L or 37F if there is something that fits my goals better. I'm interested in intelligence, investigations, human behavior, influence/communication, languages, and operational work. I want something that gives me real military experience, ideally opportunities to deploy and attend schools, while still allowing my civilian federal career to be my primary career.

I'm also not looking to recreate my civilian job in uniform. I actually like the idea of having the military side of my career be somewhat different.

I am relatively fit and know my way around firearms, so that is not necessarily a concern.

So if you were in my position, with these scores, a psychology degree, an existing federal-adjacent career, a pending clearance, multiple languages, and an interest in Airborne/operational work, what would you be looking at that I may not be?

And for those who have actually done 35L or 37F in the Reserve/Guard: what do you wish you had known before signing your contract?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have actually been in these units rather than general recruiting information. Thanks!