Officer or Enlisted

[enis083]

Does your college offer a ROTC program? That might be an option.

 

[FoBoT]

first off, Go Navy! (see sig)

2nd, if you think you might stay in for 20 years, definetly follow your uncle's advice and go ROTC/Officer

if you don't really think you will stay career, but want some time to grow/figure out what you want to be when you grow up, then just enlist (see step 1, Go Navy! )

good luck!

 

[rawoutput]

I'm an AFROTC cadet at the University of Virginia. It's a great program to be in if you are considering a leadership or pilot career. There is definitely a lot of work involved but overall the benefits outweigh any hardships, imo..

Link for my Detachment's site

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Originally posted by: Mookow
Thanks for the response. Its not a question about intelligence, I've always had the brians to do anything I wanted to do. That's the thing though... I dont know if I want to be a programmer or network admin, and anyways, right now the CS field is down pretty bad. I'm being pushed (lightly, the its definitely there) towards the USMC by my uncle and grandfather who were both in it. I'm somewhat leaning that way, too, but I am also concerned about what I am going to be able to do with my experience after I get out, thus I plan to look at all branches, more or less. The same uncle also suggested I see what the navy is offering.

The thing against the reserves is the chance that I would get called up before I complete a degree. One of the big plusses for that route is that you get your college paid for (in part), but I already have that if I go to CSU. Is the waiver to get out of your enlistment and become an officer a sure thing, or just something that you have a chance at? Speaking of the flight program, what are the uncorrected requirements for your eyes? I dont think that I would qualify. It would be cool, but I got my dad's side when it came to eyes, and thus was screwed (on my mothers side everyone tends to be 20/10 to 20/20). Last I heard if you get LASIK you cant fly, either, but I have heard (from one person) that they have now reversed that.

Yes, there's a chance that you would get called up before you complete the degree. One other option if you would definitely be going into the officer program is called the MESEP program (Might also be MESEC, not sure of the exact acronym). Basically, you're active duty, they pay you as active duty, but you go to college and get your degree instead of going on deployments, then right into OCS after you graduate. The benefits: full tuition paid for, and I believe housing paid for too, plus you get military salary instead of just reserve pay. The downside: If you go reserves and go 4 years in college you've only got 2 years reservist left... if you go with the other program you have another 4 years active duty no matter what, whether or not you even graduate college (you can fail out of the MESEP program if your grades aren't kept up to a respectable level).

The waiver to get out of enlistment and become an officer is not 100% guaranteed, but as long as you've got your degree and apply for the officer program, getting out of the reserves is prettymuch going to happen. Through the MESEP program, nothing is certain until you actually finish boot camp and your training as an active duty Marine and apply for the program. Getting into MESEP isn't guaranteed, but the fact that you have some college experience already is a HUGE boost. The best thing to do would be to call up an officers recruiter, not an enlisted recruiter (they're totally different people, so make sure you're talking to an officers recruiter) and see what they can do.

As for the flight program, last I heard it was 20/20 and they were thinking about allowing lasik, but I've got 20/20 and didn't really look much into it. That's something that the officer's recruiter can answer.

Feel free to PM any other questions, or my AIM is GrandCow.

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
Take the officer route. If you start enlisted and then go officer you will be discriminated against for the remainder of your carreer by the high and mighty snooty officer corps who look upon you as a black sheep because you were once enlisted. I have known several officers who started as enlisted and all give the same story.

Really? Which branch of the armed forces is this? I heard that if you wern't an enlisted Marine before becoming an officer you got little to no respect from the enlisted side. I actually saw this happening in Camp Lejune. The officers that got the most done for themselves and by other people were definitely the ones who were familiar with both sides, enlisted and officer. Granted, this is in the Marines, ymmv with other branches.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
only way i'd go in is if i was a a full bird colonel or general.

a lt general at the minimum, none of this major general crap.

 

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
I say go in as an officer.

 

[DrumminBoy]

unless I have a heart murmur or something along those lines that would DQ me

Would that really be grounds for DQ? I've been thinking about joining the air force and I have 2 heart murmors...

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: DrumminBoy

unless I have a heart murmur or something along those lines that would DQ me

Would that really be grounds for DQ? I've been thinking about joining the air force and I have 2 heart murmors...

I've heard of people getting DQed for that. I dont know, maybe you can still make it depending on the severity of your condition, only way to find out for sure is to talk to a recruiter

 

[Chaotic42]

I'm (hopefully) going to be joining the Air Force soon. I'm going in as Enlisted. I'm smart enough to be an officer for sure, but I'm going in to get a skill and serve my country. I doubt I'd want to be career, but you never know.

I want to be hands-on. I don't like the idea of being in managment, and I don't like the idea of being an officer. I'd rather have an interesting job with low pay than a boring job with high pay.

 

[jteef]

I hope I don't step on anybody's toes here, but what is knowing how to fix a tank or a B52, or how to shoot bad guys gonna get you in real life? The difference between officers & enlisted is the proverbial white collar vs blue collar thing. A blue collar living isn't a bad one as long as you don't include the idea of wealth in your future. To me it seems kind of foolish to limit yourself like that. It breaks down like this...say you like working on cars and want to be a mechanic. do you want to learn how to fix humvees, or do you want to learn how to fix a wide array of vehicles and run your own shop or even chain of shops.

I would look for an ROTC program at a good school, get a good useable degree, and serve your country as an officer if you can. The criticism of 2nd LT's is valid, but its a lot easier for a 2nd LT to earn the respect of his superiors and subordinates than it is for say an E3. You have to look long term here. A Captain or Major is gonna have a lot more to offer to most companies than a Staff SGT or GySgt.

The major enlisted benefits over officers that I have seen are student loan repayment and enlistment bonuses. However, us being at war, money being tight, and a lot of people wanting to enlist shrinks the bonuses down during times like this. When I was first looking into the air force, the recruiter told me they had a $15,000 bonus ready to be approved for those going into research & development, but the war seems to have dried that up. That was the first I've ever heard of a bonus available for officer accessions. There are retention bonuses, and a lot of times they are quite substantial.

 

[FelixDeCat]

When I was in it seemed like the officers really appreciated the respect their rank gave them. But remember, with rank comes responsibility.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: woowoo
An enlisted man will come out of the service with a trade
An officer will be perfect for middle managenent. (no skills)
and remember........
Sailors have more fun

While the parenthetical statement above is absolutely ludicrous, there is a certain ring of truth in the post. Enlisted jobs tend to be the exciting ones while officer jobs can start exciting but eventually turn into leadership and managerial positions. What does that mean? You can work in some exciting, ground-pounder kind of jobs, but you won't make a great deal of money -- that job might also not be marketable when you leave the service because outside of the Foreign Legion and some DoD contractors, infantry troops don't find much work in the private sector doing the exact same job.

Officer experience can be immediately marketable because guess what? There are managers everywhere in pretty much every organization out there. Leadership is far from a common quality, and it is in demand. If you can say you commanded 300 people and managed several million dollars worth of assets, do you think an employer will hire you or the guy who was working on the plane? If it's a mechanic's job, obviously the other guy gets the nod so if you want to be a mechanic, go for it. If it's a white collar position with the money that comes with that, guess who gets the job?

Of course, making a decision based on what you will do later isn't necessarily what you want to do because you're always living in the future. The trick is to find a job that you love to do and which also has a future after the military. I love my job, and I know that there are plenty of opportunities out there once I retire, which is nice but not why I am doing what I am.

Here's some options:
1) Enlist for four years, work toward your degree while in the service, then decide what you want to do. If you stay enlisted, you earn your degree and work through the ranks. If you later decide to go to OTS/OCS, you wind up with higher pay than your average O-1/2nd Lt-Ensign. It's called O-1E (through O-3E, stops at Major/Lt Commander), and it basically bumps you up one pay grade. Have to serve four years for that. Decide if you want that commitment in case you really don't like being enlisted.

2) Go to college and go to ROTC. Commission as an O-1 and serve four years, deciding what you want after that. You can always switch ROTC services, which is what I did (Army climate didn't agree with me, Navy wasn't hiring my final year -- long story, blame Clinton). You get a taste of the military while going to school. Try for a scholarship, and you get paid as well.

3) Enlist in the Reserves or National Guard and go to school, being mindful that you could wind up on active duty anyway these days! You get a better idea of what the military is like than ROTC, but you aren't there full time and are earning a degree full time. OTS/OCS is always an option at the end.

Remember that OTS/OCS isn't a guarantee. The services draw down that commissioning choice first if there is a reduction in the number of officer commissions, then ROTC, then the service academies. That will likely not be an issue anytime soon, but I thought I'd mention it.

There are lots of gaps in what I wrote, so if you have any questions, PM me or post them here. Oh, and consider the Air Force since most people in the services know that the USAF treats its people the best. Granted, it's not "hard core", but a gung ho attitude only goes so far if you're trying to stay married and raise a family. What am I saying fundamentally? Figure out your priorities. Those will go a long way to making this decision for you.

 

[AndrewR]

One thing I failed to mention which was brought up above. The rumor is that you will never make O-6 in the Air Force if you were former enlisted, or at least it's exceptionally difficult. I do not know if that is true, but I suspect that it has more to do with the fact that people retire before trying for O-6 (Colonel) than being overlooked by prejudice against prior service officers. I went to tech school with several former enlisted guys. One had 14 years in and was going to make Captain and then retire with a little over 20 years.

BTW, he was former Army enlisted and specifically chose the Air Force because of the quality of life. There were two other guys in my class that also made the service switch for the same reason. From the people that went to OTS, there were plenty of others there as well.

I'd rather have an interesting job with low pay than a boring job with high pay.

Do what you want, but enlisted jobs can be just as boring as officer ones and vice versa. In fact, junior enlisted jobs can be downright mindnumbingly boring because you're the low man in the chain (how does guarding an open door for an entire day sound, or escorting a third country national who is cleaning toilets?). Same goes for junior officers as well, though. It's very difficult to make blithe statements like that (even though I made some in my earlier post!).

 

[Fencer128]

Why not get a degree then decide? That way when you come out of the services if nothing else you'll have something to fall back. Its only 2 years and you are young (I guess).

Andy

 

[UltraQuiet]

Mookow - I would give you the same advice whether you were thinking about joning the service or not. Go get your degree. The doors it opens, the options that getting it present you are far too great to pass up the opportunity you have to get it. Get your degree, the military will still be there when you are done and will still need sharp, young people to fill both the officer and enlisted ranks.

FWIW.

Dave