Do the GI bill. It'll eat a lot of your pay that first year but it's totally worth it. It basically pays you about 1200 a month to go to college full time. It paid for my college, rent and bought me a motorcycle when I got out. DO NOT get a PX card. I've seen a lot of people screw up their finances and get in trouble at work with that crap. DO NOT buy a new car when you get to your base. Local car dealers prey on young troops with bad deals and high payments. DO get some college classes done while in. DO get laid. It's the freest time of your life. Enjoy it, but...... DO NOT hook up with local single moms. They're looking for those easy benefits off you and will probably cheat on you while you're deployed. But.... If you're married DO have your kids while in. Average hospital bill for a civilian- $3-5K. Average for military $3-5 hundred. DO NOT fall in with guys who just want to get drunk on the weekends. I knew guys while stationed in Europe who did nothing but that. Didn't see anything in Europe, no travel, no local flavor, no nothing. DO NOT do drugs of any sort. You will get busted and kicked out. Then you gotta go home and explain that shit to your friends and that's embarrassing. Knew a girl who got kicked out for doing coke after her first year. She couldn't tell her parents the truth so she stayed in Valdosta and told them she was still in. She started stripping to afford some crappy apartment and survive for 3 years while dancing for guys she used to serve with. Humiliating. At least she was hot though. Prey you get an over seas base. Stateside bases are the worst. People get bored with no real mission stateside and just start infighting. My first base was in Valdosta ga, nothing but back stabbing and gossip. Then got stationed in England, best workplace ever.