Questions about joining the service

Nope you have to give up temporary custody to someone else while you're in boot camp and while you're in school. By the way good luck getting in any branch of service everyone is at capacity and someone with dependents already isn't the ideal candidate.

Ok the first poster is full of it. My family is all in the military. With the air force the only way that you would be able to stay where you are now is if you went into the reserves. Or had it put in your contract that you will be stationed where you are for your first term of service. And that is a hard thing to get in your contract. You will need to have someone to take care of your kids when you are going through basic training and your schooling. After you finish your school you you will be able to have the kids all the time. If you are active duty there will be times that you will need to work a 24 hour shift. Although that does not happen often. Also depending on what job you get will determine how late you will have to work and what time you will have to work. If you want to know any more you can send me a message. I will be more then happy to tell you more about it.

How is that any different then what i said, she said she wanted to join the air force, not the reserves. Oh and by the way my husband is an air force recruiter at the moment so I'm pretty sure I know what they're looking for.

I asked for advice because I am not sure of my options. So if joining the reserves is a good option, I will look into it. Also, I want something I can do and still be a mom with the understanding I may have to give them to my mom while I go through basic training.

You do have to give up custody of your child. You need to talk to a recruiter.

The first poster is actually pretty right on. All branches of the military are pretty picky right now about who they are accepting. They are all full because of the recession. Single parents are not ideal candidates unfortunately. You would have to go to boot camp and to school for training and during this time you would have to give someone power of attorney over your children. Once you get through all that then things get better, but your schedule may be unpredictable. There are tons of different jobs in the military and I know single parents in the military, so it can be done. Some jobs cater far better to a school schedule. Most single parents in the military that I know have office jobs and it works out fine, but I know others that have had issues with having to work nights, etc. I know one mom who recently had to give up custoy because her command wasn't flexible enough to allow her to work days! It broke my heart.

The reserves is always an option, but it's not a full time gig or full time pay and the benefits are a little different.