Deploying Soldier ready to begin rental investing upon return

[Bill Connolly]

Whats up!

I am Bill from Long Island, NY. I'm an apprentice electrician in NY, NY. I am getting ready to deploy in a short while and plan on diving into the world of owning rental properties. I will for the first time have enough money to put a down payment on a house that I plan to utilize as a house hack. From there I guess the plan is to save until I can purchase more properties. 

During this deployment, I plan on spending a lot of time educating myself on real estate investing and I am posting this to request any tips/guidance on getting started with my circumstances When I get back, I'll likely utilize the VA loan, if anyone knows much about that. Any tips/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.