Is it possible to serve in multiple branches of the military ?

I served in the Marines, Navy, Army and now I'm back in the Navy! I've loved the journey. No regrets.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joined Army Reserves right out of high school, 1976. Was a corpman.Went active duty Navy 1988 and was a Deisel mechanic. Loved both.

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.

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.

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

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

It is very much possible,
I was regular Army,Navy,Army National Guard,I deployed in three times to Iraq with the ARNG,

Army 4yrs,Navy 6yrs,ARNG 14yrs

I suspect you could, if you timed it just right.

My daughter served 12 years in the Air National Guard as a Supply Technician. She got out as a SSgt (E-5) after she finished her BSN. A decade later, she joined the Navy Reserve Nurse Corps and was recently promoted to Lieutenant Commander (O-4) and is serving as a Medical Detachment OIC. BTW she's also a nurse practitioner with the VA.

Many specialties are common across the Services especially in the combat support and combat service support. Supply, maintenance, finance, contracting, transportation, IT, and to some extent personnel specialties have many common skills and knowledge in all the services. Daughter found her way into the Navy by comparing the offers of all the Services for her skills, knowledge, and capabilities as a Nurse Practitioner. The Navy Reserve gave her the best deal in terms of rank and date of accession. Recommend you do the same if you want to change Services. Visit with a recruiter from the Service you are interested in going into after you current obligation is completed. Don't overlook the Coast Guard.

Best of luck!

I spent 5 1/2 years in the Army flying helicopters and as a Warrant Officer I felt my options were limited. I resigned from the Army and joined the Air Force. I then flew for another 21 years and then retired. I found serving in the Air Force to offer a lot more opportunities. Going from one enlisted rank to another in another service doesn't really offer much more than a new mission in a new uniform. You can do unlimited jobs in the Army at all levels. Tired of being leg in the infantry, go Rangers. Tired of Rangers, go Special Forces, tire of that go to Delta. If you don't want to work in supply, finish your college degree and go to law school and join the JAG corps. Changing branches of service is difficult to say the least.

I've served with and worked with those that have changed branches.

Cinnamon, if you are really looking to be a JoaT, then join the Coast Guard. We have 22 career fields (the army has well over 100 MOSs), so right off the bat, we're more generalized than the other services. My rating (MOS) required more than 22 Air Force AFSCs to get the job done - and there were still things I did on a nearly daily basis that weren't covered. In the other four branches, you will do a job and VERY rarely do other stuff that isn't job related. You may end up with an instructor slot or recruiting billet, but that's about it. With the Coast Guard, we do it all the time!

I served 6-years in the Army (Infantry), then came to the Coast Guard, where I finished out another 20 years and retired.

I felt I made the best choice the first time and spent all My time in the Air Force and if i had it to do over again I'd make the same choice. I do respect what the members of other branches of the armed Force do but each of us has to find our place in that service to our country. My introduction to the Army was infantry training as a Cadet at a Military Academy which did help when i entered the Air Force. We had active duty Army Officers and NCOs there to train us and woke to reveille at 0600 and taps was at 2200, in between We were very busy.

Good luck pursuing your dream! I served 8 years active in the USMC. I had 2 months of leave which I took as terminal, missed the military so I enlisted with the Army National Guard. I believe that the National Guard is phenomenal for you get intense training, especially as you give it your all, and you get to go back home on Sunday night. The call ups to active duty definitely give a change of pace but you can make the most of it and hone your MOS skillset. I joined the Air National Guard after 2 1/2 years of being a grunt and I was blessed to be able to retire from it. My back went out, as in disk degeneration disease, and my 19+ years of service was counted as the necessary 20 years. My last 4 years were the most brutal because I suffered with my condition, needed 2 surgeries, and could barely walk by the end of it. I was afraid pretty much the entire time after my diagnosis which came from civilian doctors on my dime but I had to document on my required annual health assessment that the powers that "B" would give me the boot. I hated to lack the ability to carry my own weight but I kept on going until ordered to stop. My opinion, for whatever it is worth, would be to find the MOS or AFSC or rating that you love doing in one of the services and stick with it. Become the best possible by getting all the training, schools, and degree programs that you are allowed to get. Remember that every military base has an education center with probably many college programs that you can enter. The job then that you performed will have a civilian counter part and so you can keep going in your chosen vocation. God speed to you & yours.

PFC Cinnamon Hack I father has served multiple branches MSgt (Join to see) and I have known a couple of guys who were Marines first then went Army. I have inquired myself about Active Army to Active Air Force and it was a no go. I have been told you can go Active Army to Air National Guard but I would have to go down to an E-3 to do it.

A medic I served with in the Guards, joined the Naval reserves in the mid 2000's, just recently retired from the service.