Unemployed College Grads Are Turning to the military as its newest officers

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
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http://www.good.is/post/unemployed-college-grads-are-turning-to-the-army/

instead of settling for a job at a "chicken-finger place" and shacking up with his parents, unemployed grads are joining the military.

Over the past two years, the Army's seen the biggest spike in diploma-holding enlistees. In 2010, almost 6,000 college graduates signed up for duty, 2,000 more than in 2008 when the economy still seemed healthy.

The only branch to not see a significant enrollment bump is the Marines. According to Maj. John Caldwell, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, "Young men and women join our ranks to become a United States Marine. They do not see the Marine Corps as a path to something else but rather as a destination unto itself." :eek:


wait.. only 6000 new officers per year? sounds kinda low for how big the Army is.

i wonder what rank you get if you join with a Masters? Ph.D?
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
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This is what happens when everyone gets a college degree. You don't see too many non degree holders anymore. A bachelors is the new high school diploma.
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
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An enlistee and an officer are two different things. This article is about college grads enlisting (i.e. signing up and going to boot camp to become a private), not about officers.
 

xanis

Lifer
Sep 11, 2005
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Not a bad deal IMO. The military not be exactly what you want, but with no other prospects and the economy in the shape that it's in, joining up looks pretty good.
 
Apr 12, 2010
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I tried to join the military but was rejected because of too many surgeries. I can't even do civilian military work without serving time first. Fucking shit. And I'm still unemployed...
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,737
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An enlistee and an officer are two different things. This article is about college grads enlisting (i.e. signing up and going to boot camp to become a private), not about officers.

so the article is wrong?

"when you enlist with a bachelor's degree, you enter as an officer, which means you receive higher pay."
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
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Probably the same as everyone else who graduates from OCS (at least to start).

I know there's ways to come in with better rank, but I don't know the specifics for officers; it might only be very specific programs for commissioning that allow that. If you enlist with a certain number of credits (something like 50) you can get up to E3 (for the air force at least).
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
3
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so the article is wrong?

"when you enlist with a bachelor's degree, you enter as an officer, which means you receive higher pay."

Yes, when you enlist you're becoming and enlisted member not an officer. Officers receive a commission when they join.
 

bas1c

Senior member
Nov 3, 2009
325
1
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so the article is wrong?

"when you enlist with a bachelor's degree, you enter as an officer, which means you receive higher pay."

Only after going through OCS. Everyone comes out with the same rank, regardless of degree. The only ones that get higher starting rank because of an advanced degree are doctors.
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
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so the article is wrong?

"when you enlist with a bachelor's degree, you enter as an officer, which means you receive higher pay."

They're misusing the term "enlist". In the US army (not sure about other countries) someone that is called enlisted holds a rank below that of a commissioned officer.
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,913
3
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so the article is wrong?

"when you enlist with a bachelor's degree, you enter as an officer, which means you receive higher pay."

Yes. Even if you set aside their misuse of terms, it isn't as simple as signing up and becoming an officer. There is a whole application process for OCS and a lot of people get rejected. If you enlist with a college degree, don't quote me on this but you basically get the same rank as someone who enlisted with 40 credits or so. There is a limit to how much a degree helps when you enlist.

What the article seems to be about, even if it doesn't realize it, is college grads are so desperate they are increasingly enlisting in the military. That's something most people do when they're 18-20, or older if they're desperate or looking for direction. Not typically a route for college grads.
 

jteef

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,355
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I joined the military as an unemployed college graduate, before it went mainstream.
1shifty.gif
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
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What the article seems to be about, even if it doesn't realize it, is college grads are so desperate they are increasingly enlisting in the military. That's something most people do when they're 18-20, or older if they're desperate or looking for direction. Not typically a route for college grads.

It may not be typical, but it's not necessarily a bad idea. You've got a guaranteed job, health care, and a place to live. If you can't find a job it's not really a bad deal, especially if you can get into a position that lets you get some useful skills. The VA benefits and the student loan repayment is also a huge plus.
 

Powermoloch

Lifer
Jul 5, 2005
10,084
4
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I was thinking of joining the military after I finish up my BSN RN degree. I could use the experience/opportunity and helping out fellow men/women in the service. I lived half of my life in a military base, so it's kinda second nature to me.
 

LumbergTech

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2005
3,622
1
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Yea, I am quite thankful for the fact that I just finished college Thursday morning and I had a job already from an internship I did. I can imagine how difficult it would be to finish college and have no decent prospects. I didn't think I was going to, but I hit it off pretty well with the company and kinda lucked out.
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,913
3
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It may not be typical, but it's not necessarily a bad idea. You've got a guaranteed job, health care, and a place to live. If you can't find a job it's not really a bad deal, especially if you can get into a position that lets you get some useful skills. The VA benefits and the student loan repayment is also a huge plus.

Not the worst thing you can do, but I'd say it is a bad idea. 4 years of hard work can go a long way for a college grad, for most enlisted in the military it goes nowhere (no transferable skills/experience).
 

Nebor

Lifer
Jun 24, 2003
29,582
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In recent years they've made entrance into the military (as enlisted or officer) much more exclusive. No more criminal wavers, no more age wavers, no more medical wavers... When I joined they were just rubber stamping OCS packets at recruiting battalions without even doing interviews, trying to fuel the fire of the Iraq war's resurgence.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,737
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Only after going through OCS. Everyone comes out with the same rank, regardless of degree. The only ones that get higher starting rank because of an advanced degree are doctors.

what do docs come in as? Capt?
 

Nebor

Lifer
Jun 24, 2003
29,582
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what do docs come in as? Capt?

General physicians are CPTs by the time they make it out to the force. Nurses start as 1LTs. Experience\special knowledge from the civilian realm can be rewarded with rank upon entry in service. I've met several Colonels that had less than a year in service, all specialty surgeons (neurosurgeon, vascular surgeon, some sort of hand micro-surgeon.)

Attorneys are also CPTs by the time they make it out to the force. JAG has become extremely competitive in recent years with the downturn of the economy and the massive glut of unemployed lawyers in the market.

Veterinarians come in as CPTs too. Also fairly competitive due to the salary\security of a military veterinary job compared to a civilian one, plus student loan repayment.

Also worth mentioning that back in the day, yearly bonuses were paid to all of the above to make up their pay differential with the civilian world. That's gone away for JAG and veterinarians, but is still in place for many medical professionals who can receive "retention bonus" checks of up to $90,000 per year.
 

Farmer

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2003
3,334
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OCS is much harder than ROTC.

But in this case, it seems like the college degree is the new high school degree.

Shit.
 

Nebor

Lifer
Jun 24, 2003
29,582
12
76
OCS is much harder than ROTC.

But in this case, it seems like the college degree is the new high school degree.

Shit.

Really? It's only 12 weeks long.... It might be 14 weeks now, but still, I preferred having my college years uninterrupted by 6am PT sessions three times a week. And OCS just wasn't very hard at all.
 

datalink7

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
16,765
6
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so the article is wrong?

"when you enlist with a bachelor's degree, you enter as an officer, which means you receive higher pay."

Yes, it is wrong.

When you enlist with a college degree, you enter as a Specialist (as opposed to a private).

You also have the option of trying to go OCS. If you do so, you submit your packet and go before a board of three officers (Captains typically) to be evaluated. They then send their scores and comments along with your packet. Out of those packets, about 30% get selected to go to OCS (rough guess based on my experience).

I'm currently in recruiting as a Company Commander and have sat on many of those boards and evaluated quite a few people.

We recently had a college graduated with a 3.7 GPA from UPenn (Ivy League School) come through.
 

dr150

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2003
6,570
24
81
I still think most people would rather be unemployed then being shot at by some cave dweller in AfGONEstan.