Hey guys, sorry I've been lurking for so long, college has been getting in the way of life a bit. Since I graduate this December, I've been thinking of possibly doing the military, among several other options, for my first forays into the real world. I know some of you have been in the US armed forces and perhaps the armed forces of other countries as well, and figured I would ask around here for any info and advice you guys might have.
At this point I have mostly looked into the Marine Corp, and read just about everything I could find readily available. I am definitely willing to consider the other branches, just haven't had time to look into them as much just yet (will start looking into the army next).
As far as what I would want to do, I am not entirely sure. I know the USMC has a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) for cybersecurity (which is what I'd want to get a job in if I didn't do military), and a few others in related things like network administration and the sort. However I am not entirely sure I want to do a whole lot of that in the military, should I go military. I am also not dead set on either enlisting or going in as an officer (an option for me since I will have a bachelor's degree), and will probably decide that after talking to more people + recruiters.
So that is the introduction, now for some questions!
First off, people in the military - what do you do, what does it entail?
Also, I can imagine getting stuck with the same group of people for anywhere from a month to an entire year at a time, working, eating, sleeping with the same group, can either make for some incredibly close friends or regular hating of everything that moves. How do you deal with the latter, and does it happen that often?
I have tried to find information on changing MOS's, and it seems like within a set of MOS's it is fairly easy. For example, it appears simple to go from one of the network administrator positions in the communications set of MOS's to the cybersecurity one, or from an infantry rifleman to a machine gunner. Any idea on how hard it would be to switch entirely from say, infantry to communications or something of the sort?
Another question is how leave works. When you take leave, how do you get off the base and to wherever? Like could you take whichever military transport flight was going closest to your final destination, or would you just get a shuttle to the local airport and from there you are on your own? Can you break your leave up, as in take 10 days off at one point, and 10 days off at another point within the same year?
Lastly, I have been trying to find information on post-military expected income, or some equivalent of how colleges and universities keep track of what the average student within one major or discipline can expect to make after they graduate. So far, the only information I have found for post-military earnings related to pensions and health care/life insurance. Is there any data on, say, "the average person who did this MOS/track and this many years of service is making $xxx per year, now"?
Thanks in advance for any answers or extra suggestions/advice anyone might give! Hope this doesn't look too long winded/tl;dr, heheh.