What advice should I give a mother thinking of goining the Army?

It's pretty much in the title. I worked with a girl, and have become friends with her. She has two kids, and was born in Mexico. She's thinking of joining the army because she thinks the pay is better and the army will give her a house. I've been discouraging her from joining because of her kids. I'm going in with her to get information on the Army since she barely speaks English. I barely speak spanish, so with the combination we understand each other. It's kind of cool.





Anyways, any advice?What advice should I give a mother thinking of goining the Army?
Well if she's a single mom she's going to have to give up custody of her kids. You can't be a single parent joining the Army. I've known people to do that. They've given up custody to a family member. Once they finish basic and AIT and go to there duty station. She can start paperwork to get her kids back. Once that's approved, her orders get amended to show she has dependents and she should be able to get housing, id cards for kids, medical, etc. But i'll tell you one thing... Speaking from experience, it's pretty tough being a single mom in the Military.





Mary Jo's ghost doesn't know what there talking about! You can join the Military not knowing that much english! They send you to Lackland AFB to an english course before you go to basic and stuff. And you don't have to be a US citizen to join the Military. You can be a US resident and still join!What advice should I give a mother thinking of goining the Army?
they will give her a house and she will get full medical benefits for her and her children, and yes she will be getting a steady pay check. but she needs to think about deployments...this will happen, there is no getting around it. and the army right now is the branch with the longest. right now they are 12 month deployments, they were 15 and there is rumors it will go back up to that in the near future. also she will be working from 5 am to anywhere from 5-9pm...she needs to think about who will be watching after her children. The army will help with childcare but they do not cover it 100%. I know a lot of single mothers her on Fort Bragg that juggle the Army life and children, but I personally think it is a very unfair choice...especially if she can make money other ways. She will be gone a lot, there is just no getting around that. Family comes first in the Army but she needs to understand what she is signing up for, and everything that comes along with it. She may be moving alot, which means her children will be pulled from school, friends etc. Make sure she realizes the gravity of the situation before she signs ANYTHING...and make sure you speak with someone who IS NOT a recruiter before she makes a final decision.
Well the only thing that you can tell her is that the pay isnt that great until you work your way up the ranks. As far as the house, yes she can live in base housing but all of the extra monty that she would get for the children she wont get. There are some ups but there are also a lot of downs, has she thought about what she will do throughout the deployments, who will car for her children for anywhere from 12 to 18 months. Is she prepared for that.
well she will need a family care plan, and someone to give custody to her children while she is away at training... and the army dosent just give her a house, she will get bah and have a choice on living on or off post. also tell her she needs to learn to speak pretty good english depending on what field she goes into - because she will have to study and take tests during ait, and they will be in english........
Well, I don't think it's right of you to try to stop her if this is truely what she wants to do. The recruiters will inform her of what she needs to do to be a single mom in the military. But it's done on a semi regular basis that there are single parents or both parents in the military. So I don't think you should talk her out of it, let her make decisions for her family, that's her right as the mother.
with the decline in employment and the cost of everything going up I don't blame her for wanting to join up, she'll have benefits for her kids and housing, plenty of single parents enlist and they have rules in place so that the kids are taken care of if mom or dad gets deployed... so if she really wants to go to the Army, let her
there's actually a spanish version of the ASVAB test out now. I think that it's good that she is willing to go to the army to help better her life and her kids! she will definately be able to support them in the military.
It doesn't matter, since she barley speaks English she is ineligible any way, and if she is illegal the attempt is a ticket back to where she came from.
If it's something she is certain she wants to do then as her friend stop discouraging her. Support her. She's trying to better her life and better provide for her children. What's wrong with that?
she's going to have to know english and she will have to sign over her kids to another adult so they will be taken care of when she is away