What all is judged on your EPR? Stuff like uniform wear, job competency, stay-out-of-trouble-ness, physical fitness?
ARMY, 1961 to 1964. Over there. Did stuff.
Navy - 1973 - 1984, plus 2 or 3 more years in the reserves. I started out enlisted and got out as an officer - LT (CAPT in the other services). It was a good life and I enjoyed it, but I never should have gone to OCS - I was not a good officer, and I think that’s what led me to get out.
I learned electronics, I fixed airplanes, I got to travel, I learned to fly (as a hobby), I lived overseas a while, I met my husband, and I have continued my association with the Navy as a civilian employee since 1985. Can’t imagine doing anything else.
Lots of stuff – everything you’ve mentioned and some more. Make sure to have things like extra-curricular activities, too. Play on the unit’s softball team, do holiday fundraisers, go for quaterly awards (Airman of the Quarter, Year, etc.). The uniform thing varies from base to base, unit to unit, AFSC to AFSC (what is yours, BTW?): I was at one base that actually had open ranks inspections (stateside) then I went to another (overseas) where the mere thought of such a thing was laughable.
Make sure to avoid personality conflicts like the plague. Get your 5-level as quick as you can; score high on your CDC exams. Try to get into Airman Leadership School as soon as you make SrA.
Is this helping or have you heard this all before?
US Army 1974 to 1977. My MOS was 98G2LKP, Korean linguist. I should have stayed in longer. Main regret is that I spent most of 1976, the Bicentennial Year, in Korea, and missed all the hoopla back home.
Have heard some of it, some of it is new, so overall, yeah, helpful 
Until recently was training to be a Chinese Crypto-Linguist, but I flunked out. A year of my career spent in training on that. Right now I’m awaiting reclass, hopefully to a job with a sexy job title, or failing that, one that’s interesting. 
Wow…
Wait, you are counting the Coast Guard as military, right? 'Cause it’s lonely and cold on this board. Don’t Coasties have the desire to fight ignorance?
Where my dogs at?
Yes and all non-American military/coast guard as well.
Hmm…
Welp, it may very well be that I am the nerdiest person in the Coast Guard…that would explain the, you know, underrepresentation.
At the very least, Scruloose is also a coastie. And think about it, you guys are the smallest armed force in the US.
(BTW not all Coast Guards of the world are military, as the USCG or the Argentine Prefectura Marítima; many are strictly civil-service SAR/NavAid/MLE outfits)
How are the rest of them organized then? Are they considered part of the police force, or just their own thing, or what?
From what I understand, the Coast Guard in the US is kind of an interesting both-sides of the line armed service. Usually you’d be more inclined to slot them in with Police and Emergency Response than with the Military. In wartime, the Coast Guard can be mobilized to work with the Military proper. During WWII, the Civil Air Patrol was mobilized along similar lines with the Air Force to deal with things like U-Boats near the coasts. Imagine a Piper Cub with a bomb strapped to it. :eek:
Actually, now I’m just curious. Any CAP Dopers around? What do you guys do?
1969 - 1972 as an Army Medic. Two years of that were in Viet Nam.
Then I took a break.
Then 1984 - 2002 back in the Army in electronics and codes.
I think we’ve done this before.
Active duty, 1967 - 1972. Captain, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, US Army.
Disabled vet 73 - 87; Army SFC - DIA; Microwave systems/Commo Plt Sgt; Pershing Missles
Wife - 73 - 76; + ROTC, Reserve time, Drill Sergeant, MP
Hey I was stationed at BK also, 8th Infantry Division (Pathfinder).
US Army Infantryman, I retired as a major.
USAF 1993-1997, SrA
Programmer (3C0X2), Offutt
US Army Tow/Dragon/Javelin Repairer. March 01-Jan 05, including one tour in Iraq 03-04. Stationed in Ft. Riley, KS. Got out as a Specialist.
Then, in 2007, the bastards called me back from the IRR and sent me to Iraq again, this time with a California National Guard unit. They supposedly ‘needed’ my MOS, but instead of fixing missile systems, I fixed computers. I made Sergeant while I was over there, but the company was NCO heavy and I never actually had any soldiers to lead. Came back in May of this year. In about 2 months, my 8 years is up and I’ll be 100% out of the Army.
look at the bright side, you got a promotion out of it!
U.S. Coast Guard, Active Duty (18 years this Feb). Chief Boatswain’s Mate (E7), Station Wilmette Harbor, IL
We’ve got seasoned Coasties who are still trying to figure out just who we are and what we do. And we don’t all agree on the answer, to give you an idea of how spread out we are in terms of mission areas. but officially, we do:
* Maritime safety
* Maritime mobility
* Maritime security
* National defense
* Protection of natural resources
The most visible work we do is Search and Rescue and Law Enforcement, so most people equate us with the emergency response/police types, as you said. That’s fair enough, IMO; that’s really our bread and butter as far as I’m concerned. Those are also our original missions going back to 1790. We were the original revenue/customs officers for the young nation.
We work with DOD military at all times, not just in time of war. Right now we have cutters in Iraq and a few people in Afghanistan. You’ll find us in the strangest places. In fact, we’re now eligible to become SEALS, and we just selected our first five candidates (make us proud, guys!!). In times of major war, or as POTUS directs, we can transfer to the Dept. of Navy and work directly for them. We last did this in WWII.
We’ve become much more ‘military’ in the years since 9/11, and this will likely continue for the foreseeable future given the world climate. But in the end, we do whatever the hell people need us to do, with or without the money, equipment, or manpower.