Posted on Mar 31, 2017
PFC Cinnamon Hack
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I have this weird fascination of being the "jack of all trades" as a civilian i did things from cosmetology, to truck driving and allot in between. I recently just swore into into DEP (army) and already making plans to see if I can cross train into other MOS fields and eventually after my contract to other branches (USMC? Navy? Air Force)

Anyone here serve in 2 or more branches? Any tips?
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PO2 Master-at-Arms
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I served in the Marines, Navy, Army and now I'm back in the Navy! I've loved the journey. No regrets.
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Sgt Robert Rader
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Ran into a guy at a Marine reunion about 20 years ago in Charleston, SC, who enlisted in the Army at 15 and subsequently the other three branches. His first enlistment was during WWII.
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SFC Unit Supply Specialist
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The simple answer is yes. I served 4 years in the Marines, a year National Gaurd, and have been in the regular close to a year.
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SSG Nat Dillenback
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Settle down, Francis. Get into one first. You may like your first job. Now, If by chance you don't: The Army is usually pretty good about letting you reclass once maybe twice, but keep in mind the military rewards and promotes based on experience and expertise. So, if you keep bouncing around laterally you are never going to bounce up and that can cost you years and you have grade requirements to hit if you are planning on hittin' 20. Other branches aren't always as forgiving, I left the USMC for the Army because the USMC wouldn't let me reclass and I hated my job. Some services will take rank, time in grade or make you re-do basic. Get in, sniff around you will make a much better decision once you have a couple of years experience in any mos/branch.
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TSgt Prescott Pranke
TSgt Prescott Pranke
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You got that right - I was an E-5 for 10 years, but I had been selected for E6 USMC in the 80's. I chose to get out, and go to college. So when I enlisted in the Nat'l Guard, I lost my E-6 promotion until 2000 National Guard, then transferred AF and kept my E-6.
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SFC Ron Gitzendanner
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I served in the military for 28 years, retiring eventually from the Army Reserves. My service included time in the Georgia Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Active Army and Army Reserve.
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PO3 Susan Fisher
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Joined Army Reserves right out of high school, 1976. Was a corpman.Went active duty Navy 1988 and was a Deisel mechanic. Loved both.
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SMSgt Ang Senior Paralegal Manager For Af Professional Development/Af Jag School (Afjags)
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2 more things to consider - that the Recruiter might not know or will tell you - Time in Service TIS carries over to all branches - BUT Time in Rank TIR - E3 to E4, etc - starts over in each branch - so if you are an E3 in the army with 4 years TIS and 1 and 1/2 hrs TIR - when you switch over to the other branch - you have 4 yrs TIS and 0 TIR credit on the new enlistment. This was not explained to me twice - I didn't question it when I went from the Navy to the Army Guard (since I had a ten year break in service) - but when I switch from the Army Guard to the Air Guard - I lost almost 2 yrs TIR and had to wait 2 more years to get promoted from E4 to E5.
Depending on the needs of the other branch that you want to go into - you might have to take off a strip - go from E5 to E4.
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SSG Military Police
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I served 6.7 years USN as a nuke submarine electrician. Got out for 8 months. I rejoined the USNR to complete 17.5 years service. At that point I lateral transferred over to US Army reserves. My Navy MOS followed me. They also awarded me a 2nd MOS for my civilian computer career (no school at all). I did about 5 years USAR, along w/a year in Iraq, got out, and joined the MD National Guard for 3 years. When that contract ended, I went back to the USAR for about 7 years. In total, I have 34 years service. I spent 24 years AT THE SAME RANK, which I believe is a world record. Transferring services does not help your career advancement. You do know everything about everything, but my retirement is $1100 bucks/mo and healthcare. Peanuts. On the flipside, I do make $200K/yr as the DoD guru in cyber engineering w/the highest level clearances. In all that time, I always used my military training to enhance my civilian career. It worked. If you can stand being nothing more than an E-6, you can do it. I wouldn't advise it. It's a tough row to hoe.
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SMSgt Ang Senior Paralegal Manager For Af Professional Development/Af Jag School (Afjags)
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If you are really wanting to switch branches after your contract with the Army is up - keep this to yourself until about a year from your ETS - if your supervisors know you are not invested in staying with the Army, you run the risk that they will think twice before giving you a school or other training due to the fact that they will lose you and not get the return on their investment in you. If you still want to try and go directly from the AD Army into another service without a break in service - at about a year out - go to the recruiter for the other branch and see what they have related to your MOS or another field to cross train into. Remember that you might not be what the other branch wants - each branch has different requirements that may be different for a current military member than what is required by a new recruit. I served on AD in the Navy, had a ten year break and then went into the Army National Guard. The unit that I was in wasn't a good fit - I was getting my degree as a paralegal and want to move to a legal slot - there were none available in my state, so I had to look at the Air Nation Guard. So, I have served in 3 branches of the service during my 23 year career. I can tell you that I had the most fun with the Army, grew the most with the Navy (I went in at 18) and had the most opportunities in the Air Force. Good Luck
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SGT Catherine Talento
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It is possible to serve in multiple branches but it seems you are putting the cart before the horse. From the sounds of your posts you are DEP right now which means you haven't even been to basic or AIT. If you are having questions about other branches now maybe you need to determine if the Army is really the branch for you at this time. You can go Blue to Green from the Navy and Air Force but it is harder to go to the Air Force from the Army unless you are in very specific career fields.

From reading your posts and responses I'm getting less a desire to be a jack of all trades and more a lack of understanding with what you want to do. You're young that's natural but you're about to make a very serious life changing decision. Please make sure you are 100% focused on the task ahead, becoming a US Army soldier.

Best of Luck to you
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