Ok, after reading all of the other posts, this sounds like something I am well qualitifed to answer. In high school I was die hard Marine Corps, nothing else would do. After going to MEPS for my physical they discovered I was "color blind" (actually have a color deficiency as I mainly have a problem with shades, etc more than anything. I can pass a red, green, white test, but still can't pass the colored dot book ergo to the military I am COLOR BLIND. That said my intent was go to in as a mechanic but given the color blindness pretty much all the Marines would offer me was Infantry. Neither the Air Force nor the Army courted me but the Navy did want me for the nuke program.
Unfortunately I was still color blind so the nuke program was out. Instead I wanted to be a diesel mechanic (Engineman I discovered later). So, I talked to the Navy recruiter and he suggested Machinist Mate, to work on diesels, and that's what I went in as. Got to boot camp and discovered that diesels were Engineman, but that as a Machinist Mate I would be working on pretty much all of the main propulsion , pumps, heat exchangers, air compressors, distilling plants, pneumatic controls, piping systems, gearboxes, etc, etc, etc, etc. Basically if it caused the ship to "run" a MM was responsible for it.
Because of my recruiters lies I got alot better education, across alot broader range of equipment, than I'd ever have gotten as just an Engineman. Unfortunately a conventional MM (boiler fired plant vs nuke plant)was a dying rate, even in '86 when I went in, and I'd imagine an almost non existant rate right now as the majority of ships have gone to nuke powered, or gas turbine, propulsion plants.
That said the military can do one of two things. Either it will make you grow up in a hurry, and can be a really good experience for someone wanting and needing that experience, or it will be one of the most miserable experiences of his life. Unfortunately all of these guys that had military experience in Vietnam, etc are way off base when they talk about what the military does for you. Granted the Marine Corps might be a bit different, but from the standpoint of a Navy veteran, the military represented in the commercials, etc is nothing like the military in real life. I say that because nowdays there is so much that happens based not on military protocol, tradition, etc, but based soley on the basis of s3xual and racial equality. I can't remember how many times, even in '92 when guys were afraid serve with women aboard ships because they had been falsy accused of harrasment, those afraid to speak their mind about the idiots we had in charge, ....and I could go on and on.
In the end, unfortunately, I'd have to recommend against the military for anyone with a real desire to expand their knowledge base whe it comes to anything mechanical. First for all of the reasons listed above, and second because most military 'mechanics' are going to have a very limited opportunity to actually work on the majority of the things they study in school. For us MM's we studied and 'knew' how to work on any and everything in out plant because we did it in school, but in reality that knowledge was about 90% of all we had. I say that because we didn't have the tools to work on most of the equipment, we didn't have the authority to work on much of the equipment (had to be handled as the ship yard level), didn't have parts onboard to repair even if required, etc, etc. In the end it all came down to maintining the equipment, taking readings, oil samples, and an occasional major repair to an actual operating piece of equipment. In the end I went to many schools, and gained alot of knowledge, but very little practical, hands on experience. That I didn't get until I got out into the real world.
Like I said for all of the BS you haved to put up with nowdays in the 'modern' military, I really wouldn't recommend it for anyone who really wants to make something of themselves. Your better off to go to a comminuty college and get any courses you might need for whatever yoyu want to get into since the majority of courses taken in the military don't translate into anything in the real world, and in the real world that 'paper on the wall' means more than anything, including hands on experience, to many employeers.
My recommendation for your son would be decide exactly what kind of diesel mechanic he wants to be (ie trucks, equipment, stationary/generators, marine, etc. Once he decides that, find a good tech school and attend it. Do well, learn all he can, and then find a dealership, or better yet, a reputible, independent mechanic, that would take him under his wing and teach him the business from the ground up. This will give him a much better grasp of what it's like to be a real mechanic, who has to rely on his gut, common sense, and field experience vs just a 'parts changer' who's main tasks have been written down in a manual that is supposed to be followed step by step by step.....
That's my take on taking the military path nowdays, and while I apologize to the guys who remember it alot different when they were in, that's simply what I observed during the 6 years I spent in nearly 20 years ago............and extrapolting how much worse it could have gotten based on how much it changed and how bad it got just during the 6 years I spent in from '86 to '92.
As far as needing math, yes, it's a much needed skill for any real mechanic, especially if you branch out and do any type of fabrication, machine work, etc, etc. That aside, no one skill is any more important than any other. In the end you need to know all you possibly can if you want to get ahead and make a profit, especially in the current economy.
Kind of long I know, but your son sounds alot like I was when I was dead set on military service, and having
"been there and done that", and seen how much it has changed since hearing about 'how it was' from others in my family who served in the WW2, Korean, and Vietnam, eras I just know it's nothing like it used to be..........
