Originally Posted by
hypnotika
Mate, worst time to join any branch of the military due to Sequestration or mandatory cuts in defense budget. I sure hope you have zero medical issues, flawless background, perfect vision, and score high on entrance exams - in other words superstar on paper. Because in case you haven't heard the military trying to get rid of people and are being very VERY selective. Go back to college, pursue another degree maybe a Masters that makes you actually marketable. Use student loans to pay for flight training; seriously the government is subsidizing student loans and providing loans at a rate slightly above inflation - not for much longer once the Fed raises interest rates next year. Government is practically throwing free money at you and paying the interest WHILE in school. Go to a university that has a airport and some sort of affordable training/rental nearby to build time.... such as University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, or UC Davis. Go to accelerated training once you meet aeronautical experience for a rating/cert.
There's a grain of truth here, but the big cuts are coming from the Army, and to a lesser degree the USMC. The Navy and USAF are not being dismantled because of the strategic policy to focus on the Pacific Rim region (ie China), and that problem's not going away any time soon. The USAF may have to shrink eventually to pay for the F-35 (don't join an A-10 unit unless you enjoy flying RC airplanes).
Also the military does not do layoffs like civilian employers, it's not based on seniority or who the boss likes...they require a certain number of officers in each "year group", which is the group of folks you joined the military with. They can't just fire all the first and second LTs because then that year group would have nobody to serve as Colonels twenty years later. Force reductions are done somewhat evenly across all year groups. If it's a planned reduction, they generally will not get rid of brand-new people (why hire them in the first place?).
So the bad news is that it might be more competitive to get into a particular service right now (or maybe not if the economy is good), but the good news is that once you're in the layoffs should be over with before your year group gets too far into the career. There may be future downsizings, or there could even be growth...that's the nature of the beat.