This way I'll be able to confidently analyze properties. 

Thanks @Adam Tafel You've given me some confidence in reaching out to agents.

If you have the basics down, and you are pretty confident that owning rental property is for you then the most powerful, initial move you can make as an active duty member is looking for a 4-unit building at your duty station you can live in and purchase with a VA loan. 

I WAS pretty confident that this was the “right price.”

Interest only loans are horrible UNLESS you are absolutely confident you have a big value add upside in the future.Often I see investors massage debt with properties to make numbers work when instead they should not buy the property at all or negotiate a way different pricing when purchasing and underwriting.Interest only loans, short term fixed debt then goes to market are time bombs with tenants with long term fixed leases.Now if I am doing value add with big upside then of course interest only can work in a lot of cases because I do not care much about cash flow going in but the equity multiple later on.

Im a jeans and tshirt kind of guy Im a successful agent.in part it depends on your client base....but honestly if you are supremely confident and successful, you can dress however you want, like I do. 

It got me up-to-speed on all of the basics to take you from "newbie" to "confident beginner" in a few weeks.Parallel-pathing with the above, I'd start thinking about where you'd like to invest.

I have solid money management skills, and have a six-figure career so I'm highly confident in my ability to repay the credit card debt (if incurred).

I have heard of cost segregation and bonus depreciation and I have a base level understanding of what they are and how they work but I don't feel real confident on how to properly utilize them efficiently.For example, I'm under contract on a 42 unit deal and a 40 unit deal both set to close about 2 months apart, these will be long term buy and hold properties for me. 

This gave me a lot of confidence and momentum to keep building my rental portfolio in pursuit of freedom from my corporate job.