Ok, so as I mentioned previously I was in the Air Force. I served from 1981 to 1992, and took a voluntary early out in the military cuts after Desert Storm. I was an Aerospace Ground Equipment Technician, which means I worked on generators, air conditioners, heaters, air supply, air compressors, lighting units, hydraulic units and more, all which were used to perform maintenance on Aircraft. This typically was a male dominated field.

Basic training (Air Force) is heavy physical fitness, a LOT of mind games, m-16 training, drill, classroom education on ucmj, military history etc and mind games (yes I know I repeated that) and more. If you are in good physical shape, had fairly good grades in school and can handle being called every name in the book at any given time for no reason, you can handle it.

I do know there have been some issues the last few years about tuition reimbursement due to funding issues. So you would want to look very closely at the current policies in place before you make a decision (this applies to all services).

But in general, yes you can take college classes while active duty. For the Air Force, you take them under the umbrella of, "The Community College of the Air Force" for general education classes. I'm sure you can also attend Universities in the area you are stationed too. All permanent bases (possibly not remote assignments) have a program in place. I'm sure there are online opportunities now that widen the options. Basically you sign up for a class, do some paperwork (might be online now), it's approved, you take your class. As long as you pass the class, the tuition is paid for, can't remember if the books are too. If you fail a class, you have to pay back the tuition assistance you received.

Can you get a Bachelors degree during a 4 year stint in the Air Force? Not likely. The mission comes first and deployments happen. If you can get in two classes per year, I would say you are doing good. If you aren't likely to get deployed, you could probably do more. You can however, get a good start on your degree. I didn't have a lot of luck with college classes when I was in. I did take some, but I also was subject to deployment on a moments notice (I got a two hour notification to report for deployment one time). On the other hand, my brother, who attended college for his Bachelors degree under the ROTC program (full tuition, fees, housing), and had to serve 8 years when done, did finish his Masters degree while active duty. I used my benefits after I got out to get my Bachelors Degree and also a 10 month vocational school training program for Computers. All tuition paid, no debt.

I know you mentioned Army. A friend of my daughter joined the Army National Guard during her senior year. She attended drill one weekend a month during the last part of her senior year, up until she went to basic training in July, followed by additional training. She finished that in February. She gets her college tuition paid for and starts this fall. Has to do one weekend a month and I'm certain a couple weeks each year for her guard duty, but I'm not sure for how many years. She could be subject to being called up for deployment. Considering your goals, the guard might be something you should look into as it would allow you to go to school more full time. I don't know what the limits are (Associates only? Bachelors? Beyond?) I'm sure the other services have similar programs.

Military life in general -- yes the pay sucks, but if you are single, you get a free room (Air Force dorms are generally pretty nice), free food at the chow hall, free medical, free dental. That is worth a lot. If you are married, you can get free base housing, or an allowance added to your pay for off base housing, and you get an allowance for food also. Bases are generally have quite a bit to do leisure-wise. Overseas bases are better (except remote or deployment bases) equipped that stateside bases.

A very real concern for women in the military is sexual assault. Not only does it happen, the rates are higher than in the general population and women are less likely to report it than in the civilian population. It is important to know self-defense, watch your back and hang in groups of people you trust. This is true for all branches of service.

Most of what I've written here is based on my experience a long time ago, things change. Bottom line is do your research, don't count on recruiters to give you the information, or make any promises. Recruiters has quotas, they are sales people. They want people to sign up and while some are very good, some just want to make their quotas. Count on being deployed for weeks to months. You may end up in a job that doesn't require that, but you can't count on that. If you don't think you could handle being deployed and living in make-shift bases for months at a time, don't sign up.

Good luck with your decision and do what is best for you.