Re: ALL ADA PROFESSIONALS ****READ****

[mfb@mbunix.mitre.org (Michael F Brenner)]

The military has a lot of need for programmers because most
weapon systems now have computers in them. The marine corps
is a fine place to learn and practice Ada programming. However,
you will not just do Ada programming. You will work on all
the computers, all the languages, and all the weapons. Ada is
just a way of training you how to think with good design,
good code, good metrics, and good configuration management.

The Marine Corps weapons do not all explode. Many are boats,
planes, computers, antennas, radars, radios, satellites, 
three-dimensional maps and sandtables for planning attacks
and defenses, laser holograms, trucks, heliocopters, 
devices to connect Marine weapons to Navy weapons,
devices to connect Marine weapons to Aegis weapons, 
devices to tell the Air Force that I am a US Marine do not bomb me,
devices to point out targets, evacuation and rescue apparatus, 
and methods of stopping enemies from using electronic
countermeasures against your signals. 

Programmers are cooler than operators, so sign up as a programmer.

One word of advice. If your recruiter does not give a slip for a 
guaranteed job, you do not have a guaranteed job, so you might
be swabbing the deck or guarding an embassy instead of programming
at all. 

And dont flunk out of basic or advanced training, because that, too,
will void your guaranteed job as a programmer.  Practice your
algebra and trigonometry now to get a head start on the training.

Finally, when choosing assignments, do not limit yourself to 
Marine Bases like MCTSSA at Oceanside Ca or Quantico VA.

Consider the joint assignments at Navy, Army, Air Force, CIA,
DIA, NCA, NSA, national laboratory, and other locations of 
unnamable government organizations that work with the USMC to
carry out the defense of the country. You can be a Marine and
do Joint work, that is, work with weenies from other services.

And most of all, enjoy basic training.

Mike Brenner