As far as carrying a handgun, for the most part the only personnel that carry a handgun exclusively are officers. Also, every enlisted person regardless of what their job is, goes through boot camp, no exceptions.

she might have to carry more than a handgun being enlisted if she's on guard duty which as you know enlisted has to do.

You're right, my point was that officers normally do not carry more than a M9, at least in the case of medical officers.

I wasn't diagnosed with it but I was in the psych ward for a little while. I was 13 years old though, I don't think they'd hold it against me for something that happened when I was that little.

Thanks y'all, shit be helpful.

Tumor do you really wanna be a medic? Is this just a way to get money for college? There are tons of ways to get money for college if that's the reason you are thinking about joining as a medic. Hell, 2 of my friends GET PAID to go to school. Granted, one has a wife and kid but he makes like $4,000 a year by going to school and that's not including his work salary. There are seriously like a million different ways you can get grants and loans and stuff so don't do something like this just for the money because no, I don't think you can handle it. You seem as mentally solid as pudding and this would probably be one of the last things to do. Take out loans, don't stress over them, go to decent college, have a great time and get a degree doing what you want.

I think dirtys right when he puts it in that perspective. By the bolder in that post it seems like you don't really want it and it's a massive thing to commit to. If your heart isn't really in it then don't, it's real people you'd be dealing with and not something I'd want my medic to take a gamble on. You could go into loads of other jobs! That you'd probably still not be sure about, but isn't as consequential. At the end of the day, you know what's best for yourself lass :) don't worry about it.

This is a great piece of advice right here.

Terrible idea, for more than one reason.

I personally don't think you're serious about it, considering you don't even know which branch you want to go into. That tells me you haven't done very much research on the topic, and probably aren't seriously considering it.

I don't think you have the patience, self control, or mental fortitude to make it through boot camp, let alone Fleet Marine Force (FMF) school, which is the closest thing to an actual field medic you will actually see in todays military. And honestly, even if you did have what it takes, you would probably end up pregnant within the first year, which would disqualify you from school and you would spend your days sweeping floors and picking up trash around the base.

Even if you did become a Hospital Corpsman, or Medical assistant in non-Navy branches, you would probably spend most of your time giving penicillin shots in peoples asses and making appointments for old retired veterans.

I personally joined for the same reason, to get training and free school. But after going through almost everything and seeing what the military has to offer, my advice is this. Don't believe what you see in movies, the military is nothing like you think it is. It's boring, tedious, political, hypocritical, and back-stabbing. It will eat your soul.

Just take out a few hundred thousand in student loans and go to community college.

Why would she end up up the stick?

Was it necessary to say this? Sounds to me like an insult towards Tumor.

Wow, that's a lot of money for student loans, especially for community college or something. Is tuition really that high in the US? I know I won't have to pay much more than $50 or $60 K including interest when I finish university.