Can someone tell me what it is like to be in the Navy, or military in general?

When you are at sea (and why else would you join the Navy? If you don't want to go to sea it's the wrong service for you) you will work a regular eight hour day every day except Wednesday (you get the afternoon off) and Sunday.

You will get up every morning when you hear over the PA system (called a 1MC) "Reveille, Reveille, All hands heave out and trice up. The smoking lamp is lighted in all authorized spaces." You will shower by turning the water on just long enough to get wet, then turning it off with a valve on the shower head, soaping down, and turning it back on just long enough to rinse the soap off. After dressing you will hear on the 1MC "Sweepers, sweepers man your brooms. Make a clean sweep down fore and aft. Sweep down all lower decks, ladder wells and passageways! Throw all sinkable trash clear of the fantail; now sweepers" and you will grab a broom or mop and pitch in to clean your assigned part of the ship. Then breakfast on the mess deck; you grab a tray and go though a cafeteria-style line for plenty of usually decent food. Once breakfast is over you'll hear "All hands to quarters for muster, inspection and instruction." and you'll go line up with your division (the guys and gals you work with) and hear the word for the day from your Chief (the senior enlisted supervisor for your division) and your Division Officer. Then to work! Break for lunch--same mess deck, same trays, different food and too many brussels sprouts, then back to work until you hear "Knock off ship’s work" and it's time for dinner.

Sometime during the day you may have "watch" which means you will be assigned to duties to keep the ship running safely and well; your watch depends on your "rate" (job specialty). If you are a quartermaster, you may actually be on the bridge steering the ship; if you are part of the deck force you may be standing way up at the bow or the stern of the ship as the fore or aft lookout; if you are an operations specialist you may be in the Combat Information Center manning a radar scope. But--during the time between dinner and breakfast you will definitely stand one four-hour watch, and possibly two.

After dinner your time will be your own--except for your time on watch--to read, play cribbage, spades or acey-deucy, or watch a movie until you hear "Taps! Taps! Lights out! All hands return to their racks and maintain silence about the decks. Taps." usually at 11pm.

Anytime, day or night, you may hear "General Quarters, General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations. Go up and forward on your starboard side, down and aft on your port side. General Quarters, General Quarters!" and your heart will pound and your pulse will race as you run to your battle station, which like your watch is generally determined by your rate. Then it's wait suspensefully to see what will happen next.

When you are in port, you can normally leave the ship after knock off ships work and return the next morning by Quarters formation. Your cue is the announcement "Liberty Call! Liberty Call! Liberty commences for duty sections 2 and 3, to expire onboard at 0800 tomorrow". Unless you happen to be in duty section 1--in which case you have to spend the night on the ship; one in three nights onboard is normal on deployment and often one in four when in your home port. It sounds awful but honest-to-God, there are thousands of men and women in our Navy who love it.

Full disclosure: I've just described the life of a junior enlisted person and I was an officer (always a better life and basically all it takes is a college degree) and also an aviator which meant I never stood watches at sea and never returned to the ship in port unless I had a watch--and sometimes in port we flew off the ship and moved into the Bachelor Officer's Quarters or a hotel for the entire inport period.

I come from a long line of navy seamen so i got your back. I would suggest becoming either an engineer or a navy seal. Navy seals get respect because they are the most elite fighting force in the U.S. military. Their training is brutal and extensive. Once you complete seal training you are assigned to a team and you will all come to know each other better than you know yourselves. You will work as one person, one mind. Not everyone in a team gets along but its alright. Navy seals have a small percent chance that they will die because of their skill and training. You, as a seal, will not die without permission from your superior. If you're shot then you are not allowed to die, dying isn't your mission. Seals are hardcore and have every right to be proud. Engineers are the backbone of the Navy. They work on everything from powerlines, to ships, to planes and everything in between. Its a well paying job and people don't treat engineers bad because a lot of them can't do anything near what engineers can do. They are grease monkeys but they are certainly talented and quick in their repairs. Engineers also work in a sort of team. You are assigned to an engineer group. Engineers have a lot more fun than seals because they aren't always at the risk of dying but they can always lose a finger or two from even the smallest mistakes. If you survive the first year unscathed then you'll probably be good enough by then so fixing and producing machines is like breathing and you won't make a mistake.

if anything i would consider the Air Force. Beware of the navy u will be teased for being a "seamen"! The Air Force is the safe road to take. If u are enlisting as an officer(bachelors degree) it will be great, but if u join as enlisted(no degree) it will be alot harder. Just think of it as being a server at a restaurant that would be enlisted member and then the owner of the restaurant would be an officer. The owner obviously has the advantage. People in the military power trip alot thinkin they are the best and know it all. Just make sure if u do AF u get to make a dream sheet( sheet of where u would like to be stationed) think hard and put ur first choice down. I have been to Yokota(near tokyo japan) and spanghalem(germany). They are extrodinary! The recruiter will bullsh*t u so make sure to get personal experiences!

A better branch for you would be the Air Force. Unless you liked a lota men, for long periods of time on the water? But you may be able to pull off a land job, depending on your MOS. There are lots of women in the navy, don't get me wrong. And some men that think they are women. LOl, but the Air Force has better paying high quality jobs. And you can see just as much of the world as you can from the navy. Its a full time job no matter the branch you choose, and like the others stated someones always there that rides your a** daily. Get up do your PT, go to work, come home. Daily. Wait to get deployed depending on your job? Chances of dying in the Navy, slim to none unless accidental or the ship your on is sunk or destroyed. Not likely. Chances of dying in the air force slim to none as with the navy. Unless a pilot, still slim to none.

Well, for one, its an experience. No other job really out there is really like it.

But, it's usually pretty hard. A lot of people make it hard as they generally lack any real experience and are put in charge. So, that can be tough. Also, since its an isolated community and most people come in out of high school they still act like it into their 30's. Which can get kinda old especially when you factor in that they have this crazy idea that you have to please every civilian around you.

You will gain technical experience though and a clearance. Which is real good when it comes to getting a job afterwards. Plus, the MGIBILL is pretty sweet now. So, you can get a job for four years and then get free school. Or, go to school and get loans.

Also, if I were to do it again I would seriously go officer. It gets tiring being a glorified janitor.

Miliary life is basically the same in all branches.

Wake up early, do tedious tasks, get scolded for doing it wrong.

But with the navy you'll be on a ship dealing with that crap.

But there is a lot more good than bad so i would suggest doing more research on all the branches and decide if it's something you want to do.

You do a normal workday most of the time, but sometimes you're deployed out to sea and the workday doesn't end for 6 months or more.

You follow orders and do what you're told, but if you study hard, have high standards, and have fun then you start getting promoted. With that comes the responsibility of being one of the people that gives out orders.

The thing that always stuck with me "We work hard, but we play harder."

Im army but I love the life. Couldn't imagine doing anything else

You are returning to port after weeks at sea and have to stand in line to get onto a liberty barge to get to the pier then ya have to stand in line at the brothel to get a-------you know----------have a great day.

Its a lot of work, following rules, getting up early and being tired or pushed to your limit. do it anyway, its a good idea if youre interested.