I'm planning on applying to Army OCS if the Navy won't take me into their OCS. In the Army, do you get as much a chance to see the world?

A few thoughts on Army and Navy chances to see the world...
- CONUS Basing. The Navy has to be on a coast while the Army is still on bases that were in the middle of BFE in the 1830s and still are. Advantage: Navy.
- Travel. Other than a coast line, water looks pretty much the same everywhere. For the Army, you actually get a chance to see some terrain. Advantage: Army.
- Deployments. The Navy does ports of calls on a routine basis while on a voyage/deployment. The Army deploys as well but usually to the arm pits and asshole places of the world. Advantage: Navy.
- Overseas Stationing: Navy has places like Japan and Okinawa. Army has places like Germany and Korea. Advantage: Neither.
- Bottom Line: Either service has its benefits. It all depends upon what you want out of life. Key I think, however, is job satisfaction. What service provides the best opportunity for you to be satisfied with your job and life? Seeing the world just happens to be a fringe benefit of either.

The biggest recruiting lie in the Navy is that you "join the Navy and see the world". The Navy simply doesn't have overseas bases like the Army has. You have Rota, Spain and a few other minor bases that you have about a 1% chance of seeing. And during my brother's 17 year career (early retirement in the 90s), he saw exactly one foreign country and that was for a one day port stay. The Army has bases all over the world and you have a much greater chance to be stationed overseas with the Army than any other branch.

As a retired Marine Corps Mustang, I believe I understand what you are asking. Should you be offered the privilege to serve our Country as a commissioned officer, "seeing the world" should not even be a consideration.

Zachary, I spent 30 years in Army, having been raised in the Air Force, and my brother was Navy...so our family was air, sea, and land. Regardless of what you chose personally, never forget those four little words at the bottom of every set of orders, "Needs of the Service." You'll be sent where the "service" decides you are most needed. Yes, you'll be asked to complete the required, "dream sheet" and sometimes, unbelievably, it comes true! That said, all of the services have out-of-conus experiences mostly related to their particular role in military life. Have fun, no matter where you wind up !!!!

In the interest of full disclosure, I was an AF officer for 22 years and an Army Civilian for 6; my daughter is in the Navy Reserve. Here's my take on your question: see the Air Force recruiter before you make your decision.

The Army and Air force have bases in CONUS. The Air Force Bases generally have nicer facilities and newer quarters for officers and enlisted. (Just ask the Army about this. If they are honest they will tell you they tease AF members about their good facilities and "golf courses.") In the Army and Navy (except for aviation in each Service) the front line fighters are enlisted. In the Air Force the front line troops are officers. The AF enlisted folks do all sorts of jobs to launch "aerospace vehicles," most of which officers operate to deliver fire and steel on target.

Army and Air Force deploy overseas. Most, but not all, AF deployments are to more pleasant, less hostile areas. The Air Force needs a fairly safe "rear" area to maintain and launch aircraft. Consequently most Air Force deployment locations are not quite so far up the a$$ hole of whatever place we are protecting US interests.

The Navy has CONUS bases mostly along the coasts. Same for their overseas locations, which are fewer than the Army or Air Force. The Navy Stations often have nice facilities and good quarters; some, however, look like they were left over from WWII. Naval operations are conducted on boats and ships. If you are interested in going into NOS (Navy Occupational Specialty) that orient on operations, then you'll spend several months every year at sea. This means you'll be looking at lots of water for a pretty long time. (If you're a submariner, you'll be looking at the other guys and girls on you boar for a pretty long time.) Port calls are often to nice places and there's no requirement to port call into some sht-hole location to do the mission, but sometimes the mission is to "show the flag" in places that suck. The Navy has its own Air Force, Army (the Marines), civil engineers (SeaBees), and other interesting communities. Depending on your NOS you can end up deployed to great or sucky places. For example, the Navy has a resupply station in Bahrain and runs a hospital in Kuwait. They also deploy medical personnel to Germany. I'll let you figure out which locations suck.

Back to my main point: talk to all the recruiters before you make up your mind.

I think these days, you can almost count on some kind of deployment. We have units rotating to Korea and Europe constantly and there are plenty of mil to mil partnership missions taking place in Africa and other continents. So you will most likely see another part of the world.

Sure.....just not by boat

Some branches within the Army travel to more places than others. For instance, an Infantry officer will travel to locations where Infantry units are. Loggie officers however go to more locations because everybody needs loggies. And that is coming from an old cranky Military Policemen!

Wow. Army second fiddle. Colonel Smallfield makes an interesting case for each, but I went to Army Armor OCS, which of itself no longer exists, and saw pretty much all of Western Europe from my base in Germany. Had my own car and drove everywhere. Can get to most places even on just a weekend by car. But, it's where my ancestors are from, so immersing in that culture was of great personal interest. I'm also an artist and music lover, so the various places, like Amsterdam, were truly awe inspiring. Walking through the actual homes of those artists, like Van Gogh, amazing. I've got to go back, and soon. Last time was in 2002. I lived there in the 60s and traveled back and forth through the mid-70s. Maybe I'll "retire" in Europe, who knows ?

I was AF enlisted and Navy officer. I saw a lot of the world in both services, but always TDY. Never had an accompanied tour so my family could enjoy it.

Good luck!