Considering taking a Crypto-Linguist position in the US Army.

[Jessa]

Active Duty, not reserves. I'm a mother of 2, soon to be married, and plan to obtain my GED within the next 2 months. I understand the qualification restrictions with the whole GED thing. And I'm willing to take a shot at enlisting, however I'm hoping this doesn't restrict me from doing the same sort of job as anyone else.

I wanted to originally enlist in the Air Force, but found I was ineligible based off of how many children I care for. Not until then did I realize how severely interested I was in a linguist job, and in a military job all around.

I'm wanting to get some general information from someone other than a recruiter. I feel a bit uncomfortable talking to someone of whom I feel like is trying to sell me something. I'd rather talk to someone with experience in the field, first hand.

My questions are: Being a woman (because I know the Army has some restrictive policies for women) but also a mother to two children, the last thing I want to do is put myself in a predicament where I may be harmed, which would result in my children suffering. I'm opting for a Cryptologic Linguists position, and hoping to learn Russian as a first choice.

What is the process in choosing this job as far as education and basic training is concerned?

Do I get to choose the language I'm interested in learning?

Is this a job that is less likely to see combat or be deployed?

And then there's those basic questions: Who has recently been through BT. What should I expect? How long is BT? etc. General Information regarding Basic Training is much appreciated, as the only source I have for information is my brother who is a Sgt in the US Army and is an E6. He's been Active Duty for a few years now and has had a number of deployments. His attitude on things isn't very informative, moreso disheartening, haha.