As you are seeing there are many ways to go here.  If she is looking at doing something medical in the military I think the Navy is the best way to go.  The Navy Corpsmen have the best training and are allowed to do the most when compared to the Army medic. The Army trains more for a specific area and keeps them in that specialty. Navy have very good luck getting out and getting hired by a hospital as CNA or something like that and have easier time finishing classes to get to RN level. Navy has blue side which serves Navy personnel and are with Navy units or hospitals.  Navy also has green side which serve with Marines.  They can deploy right into the field with Marines.  I never ran across a female on the green side. Going to college while on active duty is possible.  I have many friends that do that. Getting a 4 year degree in a 4 year contract will not happen.  I know of many that have a 2 year degree when they get out after 4 years and then have the GI bill to finish after that so college will cost them almost nothing.


All of the branches have the same benifits to offer for college. They do have limited amounts of money for programs like tuition assistance so a person may not be able to take as many classes in some branches while on active duty would be one example of the differences. The Guard and Reserves do work with a college schedule and provide money for it.  I have neighbors that have a daughter in the Guard that is getting most of her college paid for that way.  She did have to do a 13 month deployment to Iraq a little better than a year ago.  Things are slowing down with less deployments now but it still is a possibility with them.

As for the recruiters, they are people and have their own way of doing business. Right now the Army and Marine Corps are in a draw down phase. They do not need as many people to join. The Marine recruiter will not spend much time talking about things like college programs and things like that you will get if you join.  They will talk about the intangible things you will get like disipline and leadership skills. The Army recruiter will spend more time selling college and other programs like that. The Navy will talk travel and then things like college.

Everything will be in the contract but like any contract you will have to read the fine print. A four year contract will generally not get you a promise like a certain school and then stationed at a specific station. They will have things like a school in them though.

If you have any specific questions let me know and I can get an answer.