Since no one's answering, you find a local amateur radio club, many will administer the certification test to get your amateur radio license and will say on their website. You can also search ARRL for information and locations. Typically you send them an email letting them know when you'll attend. You basically show up and pay about $15 to take the test. There's three levels technician, general, and extra, the higher the license the more it opens up for you. The way it typically works is that you take the technician exam and if you pass they'll offer to give you the next level same day and so on. There's guides you can buy and sample tests online. If you already know the theory from the military then it should be a cake walk and mostly just learning the fcc restrictions. Based on what your class they'll assign you a call sign.
Getting started in equipment is easy, you can get something like the BaoFeng bf- f8hp that's a entirely functional handheld for less than $100. From there you make some friends in the hobby and play the game spending more and more for equipment so you can reach just a little bit further.
Edit: btw you don't need a license to buy the equipment, but it's illegal for you to transmit on frequencies you don't have a license to use. They do sometimes track down people causing problems.
Since no one's answering, you find a local amateur radio club, many will administer the certification test to get your amateur radio license and will say on their website. You can also search ARRL for information and locations. Typically you send them an email letting them know when you'll attend. You basically show up and pay about $15 to take the test. There's three levels technician, general, and extra, the higher the license the more it opens up for you. The way it typically works is that you take the technician exam and if you pass they'll offer to give you the next level same day and so on. There's guides you can buy and sample tests online. If you already know the theory from the military then it should be a cake walk and mostly just learning the fcc restrictions. Based on what your class they'll assign you a call sign.
Getting started in equipment is easy, you can get something like the BaoFeng bf- f8hp that's a entirely functional handheld for less than $100. From there you make some friends in the hobby and play the game spending more and more for equipment so you can reach just a little bit further.
Edit: btw you don't need a license to buy the equipment, but it's illegal for you to transmit on frequencies you don't have a license to use. They do sometimes track down people causing problems.