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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.
Why join the navy at this point in your life?
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.
How are you getting in at 41? I thought the age cap for any service was early 30s.
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.
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.
Wouldn't you be away from your family? I'm of a similar age and curious about what exactly you'll be doing.
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.
Thanks for sharing.