theinhtun,
rather than argue about what I've heard from others, I'll forward you official links to assist you in deciphering it for yourself. Additionally, I will provide a minor amount of my personal, first-hand experience, which may or may not assist in your decision-making process.
First, the links:
http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-j....html?ref=http://www.sgtstar.com%2***ent.aspx
http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-j....html?ref=http://www.sgtstar.com%2***ent.aspx
Listed on here are two MOSes which fall under the informal title " Vet tech." The first is 68T, Animal Care Specialist and the second is 68R, Veterinary Food Inspection Specialist.
By "knowing" vet. techs, what I specifically mean is that I have been in direct contact with both types of soldiers for weeks at a time while they were on-duty and performing their specified jobs. The duties they conducted completely fit the descriptions provided on the link I provided. The only exception I've seen is while deployed, the 68R folks and the 68T folks sometimes conducted cross-training. In other words, in a deployed environment, there weren't always enough vet tech soldiers at a specific location, so they learned each others' jobs to fill in when one of the others had to go on R&R leave or had a family emergency back home, etc.. This worked out well, since they were in the same unit and worked side by side frequently anyways.
One other voucher for the descriptions provided are those jobs that I've held. My job descriptions are also accurate and my duties fully fall within the descriptions.
As far as becoming what you wish to be, I've yet to encounter an enlisted soldier who did not at least get a genuine opportunity to become what was in their contract.
Officers are different, since they do not enlist and are not under an enlistment contract. The Army considers officers to be "generalists," and that their primary job is to manage personnel and equipment (leading) instead of performing a specific task. There are obviously exceptions to this (such as JAG officers, medical professionals and pilots). The philosophy around the "generalist" is that managing soldiers and equipment from one branch to the next is similar enough in many instances that regardless of training, the Army can and will move you to a different branch if the need presents itself.
However, the vet tech positions listed above are enlisted positions, so this does not apply to your situation.
Blackdog does have a good point about the Tuition Assistance, though. There's certainly no guarantee that next year it will be automatically reinstated. But, even if it's inactivated when you enlist and it was reactivated later on, you would still qualify for it as long as you are in the service. You probably wouldn't be using it for most of the first year anyways, since you'd be going through training and learning how to do your job once you arrive at your unit. That first year's a busy time for all new soldiers.
Since I know a few vet techs, I would be more than happy to put you in direct contact with a current vet tech so you can ask some more specific questions. Just PM me.
