Entering the military WITH a cdl

Your CDL means nothing. Once you join, you are stripped and rebuilt from the ground up. A lean mean fighting machine. You'll receive a military license and certifications.

They're pulling troops from Afghanistan starting the first of the year. It won't be long, we'll be back in peacetime. But don't be a coward. Go in for the right reasons. Serve your country proud! It'll make a good man out of you.

 

I had my CDL when I went into the Marine Corp. I was a machine gunner though. I did drive all sorts of trucks but having a CDL did not matter at all. I still had to take the classes for all the vehicles we drove and then I had to take the tests and get my license for them to. As for driving in the military being dangerous sure it is, read Miz's post. There is a reason to why a convoy only came to my company's forward operating base once every 6-8 weeks. They would loose at least 3 trucks every time they came up due to IEDs and close ambushes. That is if your in a transport group or a truck company as we called them. Just imagine going out on foot and not having a vehicle to protect you, its not fun.....

 

Not offending me in any way. If you have a bachelors degree then you could go to OCS and be an officer. If that is the case, you will have it made in the military compaired to an enlisted guy but you wont be doing the driving and that end of stuff. If I could go back I would choose the Marine corp just like I did and do everything the same except I honestly think I would of stayed in. I miss the heck out of it and how close you are with the guys your serving with. Obviously the military is not for everybody and it has a ton of negatives to it but at the same time the life experience that you get from it is awesome. I cant speak for the other branches but we re learned things like proper presentation of yourself, severe discipline, and just having a mindset that you can succeed in anything.

 

Just be aware that you might basically start over when you get out. My friend couldn't get hired on after being in the army three years because they all wanted at least 6 months current experience if you already had experience. He ended up having to go back to a former employer that had run itself into the ground to get his 6 months in. I will say that he did get paid for his 12 years experience once he got the 6 months in though.

 

There is a ton out there you just have to find them. I have a buddy who works for Pepsi who I served with, another who works for Norfolk Southern on the trains, I work for TMC, I have a buddy who works for a company driving up in North Dakota in the oil fields. There is tons of jobs out there especially for us vets. The employers can put us at the top of the list in front of people who were never in the military also. I know UPS and Fed ex have jobs for vets and also Waste management around where I am from does to. Coca cola and pepsi are a couple more that I can think of.

 

I enlisted for truck driving in 1964 after finishing third in class at a civilian school. During basic training, I drove guards to their posts. After the guaranteed driver training, I was assigned to an administrative unit that had only sedans and a pickup truck. I took correspondence courses and became a pay clerk.

 

That happened to me. I had 1 year prior to going into the military. I had to take a refresher course in order to get hired on anywhere when I got out. So I went to the Troops to Truckers class and did my refresher.

 

Maybe I was an exception to the rule ..... ? I was in the Army. I was trained to drive all sorts of military equipment. On release I wrote my CDL and passed no problem. THEN I went to truck driving school anyway BECAUSE I wanted to learn more about the civie side of the street. My first application was accpeted by a large carrier, I was told, BECAUSE of my military experience. I was also told by the civie recruiter that my short haircut and ability to put on a company uniform, without being told helps. Again, maybe I'm an exception to the rule.

SL