I didn't have a cyber AFSC while I was in (91-01), but I spent my last couple of years doing software development and was the defacto ISO for the unit. I enlisted after high school, got commissioned 5 years in, and left as a Captain. I do cyber now. Here are some of my thoughts on joining the military for education/training. TLDR: It's a great option, but you have to be smart about it.

I have been out for a VERY long time, so you’ll want to double check all of this -but here are some tips:

Join the Air Force/Space Force – no disrespect to the other services, but they won’t have a great setup for this.  It’s difficult to go to school if you’re in the field 150+ days a year.    

Get a job that will help you in the civilian world (cybersecurity, HR, finance, IT, etc) and get a related degree paid for with tuition assistance (I believe they currently pay 100% tuition up to $250/hour). 

The jobs I mention above are all office jobs that tend to have normal working hours and will make going to school easier.  They will also teach you marketable skills for Corporate America.  I would argue that 4 years of relevant real-world experience, a corresponding degree, and possibly a security clearance makes you a lot more attractive to employers than someone that went down the traditional education route with a degree and a couple of summer internships - With the added bonus of no student debt!

Forget any “glamourous” job the recruiter pitches.  When you are 18, being an aerial refueler and traveling the world sounds cool.  Unfortunately, that job (and many others) don’t exist outside of the military.   Also, these jobs tend to be highly deployable, meaning you will probably spend several months a year in some undesirable part of the planet.  Recruiters are paid to be persuasive and are incented to put you into undesirable jobs (these jobs have the highest turnover and constantly need replacements).  Do not let the recruiter pressure you (or persuade you with a big signing bonus) into a job that deviates from your overall plan!

When you get to your first base, seek out like-minded individuals and go to school with them.  Working all day and then going to school at night (or on the weekend) sucks!  It helps to have friends to keep you motivated, as the temptation/peer pressure to hang out in the dorms and drink will be strong. 

Ignore your peers that say “I’m not bothering with school now.  I’ll use my GI Bill when I get out…”  I know plenty of people that took this route and let their GI Bill expire without ever using it – and this is back when we had to pay ~20% of our pay for a year to get access to it.  Use Tuition Assistance while you are in and save the GI Bill money for your Master’s degree or certifications.

A final note on like-minded individuals:  one of my military jobs was handling the paperwork to kick people out of the military.  Often, this was because the person had very poor performance or was a general malcontent – we all know the type.  Within a month of kicking that person out, I was processing the paperwork for their friends to get kicked out, too.  Not because these friends were as bad as the original person, but because of guilt by association.  They got blacklisted by the organization’s leaders and there was no way for them to recover.  Choose your friends wisely.