Thanks NonniG. There is only one thing that I need to make clear. Serbia was NEVER in war with Croatia or Slovenia or Bosnia. Not officially. But Serbs fought that wars. There were volunteers from Serbia though. It was a classic civil war, don't let anybody else fool you, or try to tell false information! The thing is that Serbs were the most numerous nation in Yugoslavia, and were spread across all over country, mostly in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and of course Serbia and Montenegro(another Serbian country, now an independent state, by, again, political reasons; but that' another story). When Croatia and Slovenia declared independence, Serbs in those, then federal countries, opposed to that and began forming parties to stay in Yugoslavia. That led to war in Croatia and later in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was led by Croats and JNA (Yugoslav Peoples Army) in Croatia and Croats, muslims and JNA in Bosnia. JNA later became Serbs army because other nations had deserted it. When JNA pulled out of those countries to Serbia and Montenegro (then SR Jugoslavija, Federal Replublic of Yugoslavia) the war left to be fought between Croats and Serbs in Croatia that objected the independence of Croatia, and in Bosnia between armies of Croatia, muslim army and the army of Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It' a very complicated situation even today. That is the best I can do to describe it in short. You can do your own research if you are interested in it.

I know Serbs that have recently emmigrated from Serbia to the US. I have talked with them significantly about what they went through. Some of their stories were horrific. That being said ... I am not going to be pulled into a debate about Serbia. If you feel differently, then great ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Couldn't agree more. We are not here to talk about that anyway. I'm here to talk and learn about guitars and music, so let's not waste any more time talking about politics. I just didn't want to be misunderstood, so I needed to try and explain in short what it was all about. But now I feel I said everything I wanted to say about it. So, we'll close that book. Thanks for understanding!

One other thing I will add.

Don't let anybody fool you - helicopters don't fly. They are so ugly the earth repels them.

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Ignorance IS bliss - and I am the happiest person here!

Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission.

Jake,

I admire your courage. I admire your dedication. I thank you for your willingness to serve this country. Even signing up makes you a hero in my book. Godspeed my friend.

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2008 MIA Telecaster Crimson Red
2009 Highway 1 Telecaster Sunburst Maple
2010 Martin D-1
Vox Pathfinder 15R
Vox Night Train 15W
WhiteBox Cab w/12in Eminence Man O' War

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...

IMHO If you are going in the service, my advise is to take a good long look at what the different branches offer in terms of career opportunities. Look hard at what the Navy offers before you commit to anything. And what training and/or schooling is offered that will benefit you when you get out.

Even with a 30 year retirement, you will still be young enough to have another career as a civilian.

As some pointed out - recruiters lie - get it in writing - and witnessed - and notarized - and, you might even need it signed in their blood before it's over with.

One last thing - you really need to go in as an officer, not just a warrant officer. Especially if you want to have a career as a pilot. You might want to fly fixed wing later.

And - good luck with whatever your choice is.

I agree with everything Rhollooman said:

1) Recruiters will throw around the "once you are in, you can switch to go do this ..." all the time. But many people -- once in -- come to find that it is very difficult to make some of these careeer transitions. Often, highly desirsable programs are flooded with others in your same boat trying to make the same transition. It's often not the simple slam dunk compared to how the recruiter will color it.

2) You really should go in as what you want, as much as possible. For me, I went in as a Navy Nuke officer wanting submarine service. As 75% of all nuke billets are subs, it was then a pretty safe bet that my request to get a sub would be honored -- and it was.

3) Extrapoloating on #2 a bit ... If you can go ROTC now, you should jump all over that. And I mean all over it. Personally I think everyone should grab their college education as soon as they can in life, as it only gets harder. That way, if flying does not work out, you are still an officer -- and getting paid ALOT more money with that college diploma in your hip pocket. There is a ton of competition to fly, so you will really need to be a stud to do it. But beyond that, I have a bunch of buddies that washed out of pilot programs due all kinds of other reasons. An ex-nuke buddy at my work washed out because of the dimensions of his legs -- overall his height was okay, but his "hip to knee" was too long. He never got one day of flight training ... and they won't tell you all this stuff before you get in.

4) A good way to go ROTC would be to identify all the universities with the ROTC program in your geographic area. Focus on ones with a low cost of living (i.e., low rent). Then in parallel, start your dialogue with the school ROTC program. If you really have your ducks in a row, you can be all set up for ROTC with the long pole in the tent being waiting for a simple acceptance letter from the university.

5) I am ex Navy, but this is not why I say to strongly consider it. The Navy has massive flight opportunities. And beyond that, as a whole, the Navy has much better duty stations (I am referring to actual location, not the base or your job). And I mean wayyyy better.

Good luck. Think about what I said.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...