ARMY RESERVE SALARY INFO?

M

Miss H

New member
I am thinking about enlisting in the Army Reserves. My first option was the Navy Reserves, but a recruiter told me if they repay your student loans, you would not be eligible for the M.G.I Bill. I REALLY wanted to enlist in the Navy because my Father's a Navy Vietnam Veteran. So, I went to the Air Force, and the recruiter told me they do not have signing bonuses, and they do not do student loan repayments. Army recruiter told me they have up to a 20K signing bonus, student loan repayment, M.G.I Bill, M.G.I Bill kicker, and since I have 24 college credits, I would enter in as an E3 and get paid a little more. But, I don't plan on enlisting until December or January, and don't want to be sent to basic training till May, which by that time, I'll have 40 college credits. So will my enter rank be higher?

My situation is this. I need my college loans repaid, and I would appreciate a signing bonus if I'm going to be signing my life away for 3-6 years. Army recruiter told me, that most jobs won't offer incentives unless you are on a 6 year contract. What's an incentive? Another bonus? And he said my signing bonus would be 7k. I read other peoples yahoo answers, who said they received 20k, 18k, 12k, which are ALL wayyy higher than 7k. Is my army recruiter trying to gip me? Because I heard most recruiters lie to you just to meet their quota. Also, I took my ASVAB and scored a 66. My jobs of choice are Military Police/Paralegal/Internment Specialist.

What I am asking:
Any information on reserves
Any information on Army Reserves SALARY
(Like how much you make)
Any information on Army Reserves Signing bonus
(Like how much yours was)
Any information on any of the Military branches & their benefits

Basically, think of yourself as a recruiter, and I am your recruit. Provide me with ANY and ALL information necessary that will assist in making my decision. Thanks guys!
And for the person who just posted "Seriously, go see a recruiter..." I think you should learn how to READ rather than CRITICIZE. I already went to go see a recruiter, and I am posting these questions because I heard recruiters LIE, and I wanted to get opinions by OTHERS! But THANKS anyways!
 
when did you see the recruiter? when was that offer of a signing bonus? in the last week? there have been no signing bonuses for some time. they haven't needed them. btw, incentive = signing bonus. why was your offer so low? MOS. those $20k bonuses were available for a technical MOS (ASVAB in the 80s and 90s).

you are right though. recruiters are like used car salesmen.
 
when did you see the recruiter? when was that offer of a signing bonus? in the last week? there have been no signing bonuses for some time. they haven't needed them. btw, incentive = signing bonus. why was your offer so low? MOS. those $20k bonuses were available for a technical MOS (ASVAB in the 80s and 90s).

you are right though. recruiters are like used car salesmen.
 
Here's what I can tell you. The bonus offered is low because the jobs offered are not difficult to fill and don't talke a lot of training, and don't talke a lot of brainpower. I suspect your recruiter has these slots to fill and doesn't want to offer you anything else. An ASVAB of 66 is good but not great, however I would expect more technical or demanding positions to be available to you.

If you enlist for those specialties Iraq or Afghanistan will be your first stop after training.

I suggest you look much more closely at what the Navy is offering....
 
if you sign up with the army reserves for a bonus you will be deployed.I have one in Iraq and one on the way to Afghanistan.Go navy or airforce.Is the bonus worth losing your life.
 
I am going through the same process as you!

One of the most important things you must consider is that the military works on a different schedule than us-their fiscal year starts in Oct. (somewhere around that time at least..) This means that around that time more jobs open up due to ppl leaving the military (retirement, done serving their contract.,etc.) So with that said, the jobs that you may be looking into may not be available at the time that you're looking at OR they may not have an enlistment bonus (otherwise called an incentive-just to answer your question.) for the job that you want.

And yes, it is true that you will only be awarded all of the college benefits when you sign for a 6 year contract. Think of it this way, it usually takes 4-5 years to get a bachelor's degree. For some ppl it may take up to ten years to pay off college debt, if not more. In the long run 6years of serving your country is a very nice deal. Plus the benefits of being in the military don't hurt either.

Your rank will be increased with the more college credits you have accumulated. And just in case you didn't know..you don't receive any college benefits or your signing bonus until you have completed basic training and your tech school for the job you're going into. Don't forget that you will also be paid for your time away at basic/tech school.

Oh, and the signing bonus ranges from how badly they are in need of certain specialties.

I personally don't know how the army reserves works since I am doing the air national guard. Maybe they do it the same way, as in once a month you go to your unit for drills and get paid for doing that. The pay depends on your rank as well, so ask your recruiter about that if he/she hasn't further discused that with you.

Think really hard about signing up for military life, even if it is the reserves. It seems that your number one priority is paying off your student loans-which isn't a bad thing-but do remember that you're serving your country as well and you must realize the pros/cons with this big decision.

Hope this all helps!
 
BONUS REGULATIONS CHANGES EVERYDAY. ONE DAY YOU GET A BONUS, THE NEXT DAY IS GONE. IF THEY OFFER YOU AN EXCELLENT BONUS TAKE IT. IT MIGHT BE GONE THE NEXT DAY. THINK ABOUT THIS YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE ENLISTING. AT THE SAME TIME THOUSANDS ARE ENLISTING IN THE MILITARY. SO WHAT THEY OFFER YOU TODAY IT MIGHT BE GONE TOMORROW.
 
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