I have been unemployed for 2 months now, and I am enlisting in the Army. I am getting an $8000 signing bonus, salary for 3 years, technical training in the IT field, can finish my accounting degree for free. I hope this goes well! I am excited, but nervous at the same time. My g/f isn't too fond of the idea.
That $8,000 will immediately be taxed and you'll receive about half of it when it all pans out. The remainder will be chopped up into tiny payments that will be dished out with every pay you receive (should be around $42.00 extra in every pay), of course there is a chance you get half up front and then the rest is chopped up in your pay.
The 3 year salary is pretty beat, as an officer you start at $41,000 enlisted it's closer to $18,000 - good luck with that. If you get married it will bump up to about $30,000 when you include Base allowance for housing.
You're GI Bill will be decent, the new one is amazing but you have to deploy to get it. Don't count on being able to finish that accounting degree while your in the Army - I don't care what your recruiter told you. I hope your credits don't go stale in the meantime but I don't see any major accounting leaps and bounds being made anytime soon.
Realize that depending on your MOS (I was marine I have no idea what the Army calls their jobs - ADT?) you could be extremely deployable. I know recruiters that love to talk up communications as a great way to avoid getting shot at and have buddies who ended up finding out they were attached to an infantry unit, expected to perform the duties of a grunt on top of carrying a heavy ass radio.
And your IT field technical training, 95% of the time will not translate into the private sector at all. I have friends in the Marine Air Wing - their training is all but worthless as you can't find many commercial Fighter Jets or Cobra Helicopters. Same applies to other technical fields, especially since most technical work is outsourced anymore.
Case in Point: Just wait til you see the civilians who guard the gate - Fat Bodies who wouldn't make it with the Air Force physical reqs guarding Soldiers and Marines. Doesn't make much sense does it?
But good luck to you, hope you enjoy your time!
EDIT* And let's not forget that if you were to apply just half that effort towards something in the private sector how far it would take you.