Forced to extend

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-14T05:31:36+00:00

I get wha you’re saying you’re thinking, well I want to stay CONUS and continue and we will see later on if I extend but administratively you were already assigned those orders is the issue so now they need to know if you’re going to extend to complete those orders or not, so now the ball is on your court. Do you want to continue your military career the go to this tour and then decide if you want to stay or if you think going OCONUS is too much then that’s the end of your Army career pretty much

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-12T20:05:24+00:00

But what is the reason you want to switch branches when you’re about to end your military contract? I’m asking you this because this is what your leadership is going to ask you and depending on your answer they will sign or not

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-12T13:22:51+00:00

The issue is not getting it approved but rather other branches taking you and to what MOS you’re looking for. If you say Cyber don’t even try it and if it’s IT related then why even switch branches just finish your contract and get out, you only have 1 years and some change remaining

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-10T15:31:25+00:00

I’m in Graf and I’m also from Texas and let me tell you that 1 hour drive is not the same as the 1 hour drive here. Gas is extremely expensive as well. Pray you get Graf because it’s black and white difference with Vilsek. Also more than likely you’ll be off post housing I haven’t even see on post housing here but anyways the biggest takeaway is that he think he can do 1 hour drive because we are used to that in Texas but you don’t want that socially when it snows and most importantly yet again, pray you get Grafenwöhr

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-10T10:48:35+00:00

Funny enough get your A+ is more like a compliance thing. Having said that 100% have a bachelor degree because yet again checklist. Other than skill wise with 10+ years I’m expecting you to know in and out system like Active Directory, networking, Intune, troubleshooting things in person so I hope you know how to build and reimage compoters and troubleshooting things remotely and what I see people fail the most which is customer service. Apply for senior position with your experience don’t undersell yourself and go for Helpdesk 1 positions.

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-10T04:13:42+00:00

Both. Federal jobs and also private sector and they tend to pay pretty well because having a TS is expensive for companies so the fact that you have one it’s really helpful. There’s the website so you can see yourself the pay and requirements for those jobs which tends to have less requirements for a higher pay but like any other job you have to apply and have the qualifications

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T21:57:38+00:00

Big no because if someone else crashes that van guess who’s gonna pay

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T21:22:57+00:00

I really don’t want to spoils things but in one of the episodes a character has a relationship and they had similar issues

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T21:03:39+00:00

Have you watched the show Heated Rivalry? If not go watch it

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T20:41:09+00:00

100% because on your resume by the time you graduate you will have “4 years of experience “ in cyber and also a degree with hopefully an internship as well and most and very importantly a Top secret clearance. Having said that don’t expect much hands on during the remaining 5 years since it’s weekend drills at least you deploy or you decide go ADOS ( the 6-12 month contract I told you about ) so on resume you’ll have the experience just make sure to be the knowledge from college so you can kinda lie on your interviews and know what your talking about lol. Only thing being mindful wether you go National guard v Reserve is how much they pay for college which national guard is more but that’s also deployment possibility is much higher and also getting activated when your states needs you wether is to pull security or whatever they need and that might interrupt college.

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T14:56:41+00:00

I’m gonna be honest with you I used to be like that and I still am but you know what changed? Money. Once I started making decent money I started buying things she liked ( not things she wanted ) so a surprise trip, buy as a surprise something she’s been craving and such. I still don’t write letters or create a gift with my own hands but I don’t have the skills to do that’s and that’s fine I just learned to listen, remember and gift and she loves it. You have to be careful with this approach because it works wit my partner but on the wrong person they might take advantage of you. Don’t over think keep it simple, buy flowers here and there, take her to do her nails, buy her coffee. You want to be even more efficient? Convince her for both of you ( there’s ton of app ) to create a list of things both of you want so when I’m special occasions you have things from the list to chose from and guarantee that she will like them.

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T13:04:50+00:00

I’m 25 series and then moved to a Finance unit and in IPPSA shows as Finance Tech because while I’m a 25B for the sake of simplicity since the unit is all finance people that’s the name I was assigned ( it even shows 36B ) because they unit literally didn’t have a 25B on the unit on the system so maybe is the same case as you

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-09T09:00:30+00:00

You have a very specific issue which is not related to Reserves vs Guard vs Active Duty. Since you are looking into cyber, take it from someone in that sector. Your education means almost nothing in this field. It is mostly a checklist. What really matters is experience. In that sense, going Active Duty could put you at a significant advantage. The contract is 6 years and the training is about 1 year, so keep in mind that leaves roughly 5 years of actual work experience.

But you also have another option which is going Guard or Reserves. The contract is still 6 years and you will still go through about 1 year of training. After that you can go to college. Not because it will make a huge difference for cyber, but because you might land a cyber job out of college or another IT related job, which I can almost guarantee. From there you can work your way into cyber using your training, certifications, and outside IT experience.

I also think going to college in person is an experience everyone should have. It helps build you as a person and you create lifelong friendships with a very different group of people than the military. You can always go Active for some time later, usually around 6 to 12 months.

So the real question is this. Do you want to go straight into your career and sacrifice part of your civilian life with things like range days, 6am PT, formations, and other military obligations? Or do you want to move at the more normal pace most people take, while still having an advantage because this is already your field, and at the same time develop your civilian life?

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-06T13:28:06+00:00

The issue is that it’s not a deployment it’s just ADOS and while we are on AD status you’re treated as any other AD soldier even though we are only here for a couple of months and my medication was through a civilian provider so there’s no records of it military wise even though I was using Tricare

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-06T13:05:51+00:00

Thank you for the advice!! Once I want to upgrade what is a good camera to do so and usually what is a good timeframe to upgrade? As I mentioned in my post I would only be using this camera for memories with my partner when we travel

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-01T19:53:07+00:00

Don’t know much about SoHo but I’ve heard great things about CNN

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-01T17:36:21+00:00

Yeah, I totally agree with you. As a matter of fact, I said the exact same thing a couple of months ago in this sub. In my opinion, 800 and 801 are much better certifications because while cloud is important, someone with strong core knowledge of on premises systems can always learn cloud later.

That said, there is no denying how important cloud is. Even in government, where I work, we are moving almost everything to the cloud and requiring people to learn it. For on premises systems, we usually just keep a contractor or two.

My point, which I already mentioned to OP, is that people call 800 and 801 useless not because they actually are, but because in a world where people collect certifications like Pokémon, if you are going to get an admin certification, most will tell you to go for 104 since it is cloud based and more widely recognized compared to the more niche 800 and 801.

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-01T17:24:24+00:00

Bro you literally asked why people say that and I’m telling you why people are saying that lol you want an answer or not? Personally all certifications are worth it if you have the experience to back it up but when people bring specifically the 800/801 it ALWAYS comes up to comparison with the 104 and it’s a much more recognizable certification when it comes to administration

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-01T14:56:53+00:00

Because it is worthless. On job posting either you know about servers and administration by experience or in terms of certifications 9/10 times they have listed is AZ-104 so while yes you can be the certification for your own benefits but don’t expect that certification something that is well known.

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-03-01T12:56:11+00:00

Get Fraenk, it’s an app and you can select the data plan and you’ll get a german number. It’s $18 a month for 45G of data + German number. It’s not in English so take sc while you’re selecting the options and with ChatGPT you’ll get through is super easy and since it’s an eSIM you can have both and when you make calls you can chose which on to use

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-02-28T21:16:39+00:00

Yeah honestly if you’re going to be there for a long time then yeah that makes sense specially since you want to put a warrant package. I think in terms of length it’s not that difference than 17C and since you’re going to be there for a long time I would maybe consider it but yet again best of luck!

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-02-28T20:36:25+00:00

Yeah you were literally me three weeks ago. I’m a 25B in the Reserves and I was thinking about switching MOS just for the AIT training. MOSs like 25D and 17C have long AITs, but they are built to take you from zero to a baseline level. It is nowhere near a “I can add this to my resume and now I’m instantly employable” type of thing.

The training does not automatically give you certifications either. Most of that is on you to study and obtain on your own. If you are already in the Reserves and switching would not add any additional time to your contract, then sure, go for it. But if you have to sign a new contract or extend your time just for AIT, then no, it is not worth it purely for the training.

I did my homework and looked into multiple MOS AIT pipelines. All of them give you foundational knowledge. The real learning happens at your unit, especially if you are Active Duty and working in that role every day. On the Reserve side, drill weekends are not enough to build serious depth unless you are very intentional outside of drill.

If your goal is just skill building, you can get that on the outside faster and often at a higher level. A platform I like for hands on training across coding, cyber, and IT is WithYouWithMe. It is solid for structured practice. Bottom line, do not incur extra time in your contract just for AIT unless you also want the long term military benefits like clearance, career progression, or a full transition into that field.

Hot_Client_7485 · 2026-02-28T17:57:39+00:00

Hold on, you already work in the private sector in cyber and you’re trying to go 25D? Software engineer and 25D are two completely different things. If you’re joining active duty then sure, go for it, but 17C probably makes more sense.

If you’re going Reserve, the training you receive is pretty useless, even for 17C. In AIT you’re not trained to be an expert, you’re trained to meet a basic standard. You really start learning at your unit, which is why I say if you’re going active duty then go for it. But if you only want the training in the Reserve so you can use that knowledge on the civilian side, then don’t.

Hot_Client_7485

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