Thread: What are the benefits of joining the military?

What kind of medical benefits do you get for joining? How long do you need to stay in the military to earn a pension? How large is this pension also? Thanks
i never said anywhere that i was only interested in money.

if that's the only reason your joining then you need to re-think it.
that's just pathetic,trying to join the military for benefits.
how about defending your country?
but I guess freedom isn't enough,them benefits are much more important.

Yeah the people who only join for the benefits will end up hating it.

No one joins the military for money. No one in the military gets paid comparable to the work you do.

Join the Peace Corps or America Corps, instead!

in the US military you can retire when you reach 20 years of service and your pension is half of the pay of the rank you were when you retired. Full medical and fill dental. Army all the way!

There are many benefits for joining the military. There is an entire branch of the US government that has been established solely to attend to the needs of veterans and which has cabinet level status the same as the department of Defense, State, Treasury and the others.

Most cities have an office of Veterans Affairs where you can go to learn about of apply for all of the benefits. There is also a network of Veterans hospitals that are nationwide and in some foreign countries where Veterans receive treatment for little or no cost.

While you are in the military you receive all of your medical treatment free of charge, as do your immediate dependents. Depending on how long you stay in the military, what kind of service you did (combat, active, reserve, national guard), your benefits will vary.

The pension will vary depending upon your time in on active duty, your condition when you were discharged(if you had any disabilities), the type of duty you did, and your rank. If you are an officer and your term of active duty was of a career nature then when you are discharged you will get a promotion of one rank and receive retirement pay at that rank.

For full details; 1) Decide what your involvement with the military will be with respect to branch, type of service, rank you intend to acquire, etc. 2) Go talk to a recruiter, or a Veterans Affairs officer.

One suggestion here, is that the more technical your service the more likely you will be able to get a good job when you leave. If you work in aviation, communications, computers, health care, or general administration, your skills will transfer easily into civilian life. On the other hand if you are a bomb maintenance technician or something like that its hard to find a job when you leave the military.

Also the Air Force and Navy have the best training, facilities, and benefits while you are in the military. The Army and Marines suffer all the casualties and their life is pretty miserable while in service.

Tricare is good health insurance. It covers you and your family. This includes things like having a baby- which did not cost me a dime and most medications. The dental insurance is good too- it covers 2 cleanings a year for your family members if you have them (you will be seen by a military dentist and it is free), it also covers 60% of fillings and up to $1500 in orthodonture per dependent.
In addition to good health coverage, if you are married you are given a basic allowance for housing- it varies depending on where you live, your rank and how many dependents you have. You may give it up and live on post if you are married or chose to live off post. If you are single, you live in the barracks until you reach a certain rank
The pension is available if you stay 20 years and is 60% of your base pay at the time of retirement, this increases by 2.5% per year you serve beyond 20.
There is nothing wrong with joining for the benefits as long as you know you are going to work your butt off! My husband is a Major and he probably makes less than minimum wage if we calculated how many hours he works- but he loves it so it is OK.