ds wants to pursue a military career

[Sophia]

So ds (currently a sophomore) has insisted for several years that he wants a military career.

Problem is...he has no idea what he wants to do once he's actually in the military (he's thinking Army.) :confused:

 

Does ROTC help him figure that out?

 

I'm trying to help him make plans for college and he only wants to look at colleges with an ROTC program, but otherwise is pretty clueless about what he wants to do.

 

Any tips for me?

[AnitaMcC]

So ds (currently a sophomore) has insisted for several years that he wants a military career.

Problem is...he has no idea what he wants to do once he's actually in the military (he's thinking Army.) :confused:

 

Does ROTC help him figure that out?

 

I'm trying to help him make plans for college and he only wants to look at colleges with an ROTC program, but otherwise is pretty clueless about what he wants to do.

 

Any tips for me?

 

 

If he is interested in aviation or aerospace then Civil Air Patrol is an option while in highschool. ROTC is a good way to get a feel for a few the career options in the military. Cadets receive a variety of training.

[In The Great White North]

Yes, ROTC will help him figure that out. They will be introduced to all the branches.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

ROTC will have lots of opportunities to determine which career specialty you are interested in, but he will have already committed to one of the military services, so some options will already be out. For example, a Navy ROTC midshipman would not be able to go into Army tanks or artillery. So it is worth his spending some time to determine what service he is most interested in.

There are a lot of commonalities but also many differences. Each service does have an institutional flavor and then there are subsets within the individual branches. So Army is a little different from Navy and within the Navy pilots are on the whole a little different from submariners.

 

You might see if there are any college nights in your area where service academy recruiters will have tables. Even if he is more interested in civilian colleges, the academy admissions folks will be able to speak to career options for officers. They may even be able to give some good insight into ROTC. Be wary of talking to enlisted recruiters. Their specialty is not officer programs. Ask for referrals to an officer recruiter or an ROTC liaison.

 

You might also contact your congressman's office and see if your area has a service academy day. Some areas do this as a way of getting all of the service academies, congressional staffs and interested students together for a day of presentations.

 

Finally, you should have him contact the service academies for the military services he's interested in. This will hopefully get him on an email notification list for events in your area. In particular this is the time of year when cadets and midshipmen on home leave go and give talks at high schools and other venues. Again, even if he's not interested in an academy, these are high energy presentations about the military career options.

 

If you have colleges in the area with ROTC, you might suggest that he contact the instructors and ask if he could come and ask them questions.

 

I am a USNA grad and a liaison for the admissions office. Most military and former military officers that I know love to talk about their experiences and what made being in the military unique.

[asta]

Also, in Army ROTC, although you submit a list of preferences, you do not get to choose your "branch" (Infantry, Intelligence, Artillery, etc.) - it is chosen for you by the Army.

 

I don't know about the other services, but I do know that West Point works similarly.

 

 

a

[Sophia]

Feeling very ignorant here...what do you mean by "service academy"?

 

Thanks so much for your help!

[Pongo]

So ds (currently a sophomore) has insisted for several years that he wants a military career.

Problem is...he has no idea what he wants to do once he's actually in the military (he's thinking Army.) :confused:

 

Does ROTC help him figure that out?

 

I'm trying to help him make plans for college and he only wants to look at colleges with an ROTC program, but otherwise is pretty clueless about what he wants to do.

 

Any tips for me?

 

My nephew went to college and enrolled in their Army ROTC program. He took a deferred deployment, that allowed him 3 years before he would be deployed. After 3 years of college he was deployed to Iraq, and had an 18 month tour. When he came back he became a commissioned officer and finished his last year in criminal justice to receive a BA degree. He is currently enrolled in his first year as a JAG Corps Attorney program, and loving it.

[Mrs Mungo]

Also, in Army ROTC, although you submit a list of preferences, you do not get to choose your "branch" (Infantry, Intelligence, Artillery, etc.) - it is chosen for you by the Army.

 

I don't know about the other services, but I do know that West Point works similarly.

 

 

a

 

I agree. My husband did not get a branch on his list of preferences. It was a good thing, for him, because he is extremely good at the the branch they chose for him. I will tell you that many, many people do not work in the career field they would have chosen for themselves. If you have specific Army questions (if that's the direction he's thinking) you might ask the Army folks here.

 

Feeling very ignorant here...what do you mean by "service academy"?

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

A service academy is an academy run by one of the branches of service. West Point is the Army academy; Annapolis is the Naval Academy, etc.

 

I agree with Sebastian that it's important to talk to a recruiter who deals with officer programs. Enlisted recruiters will not know enough about those programs, they try to get everyone to enlist and then go to OCS, this is not necessarily the best way.

 

There are lot of options out there. For example, my own husband went to a military academy for high school and junior college. He was commissioned with his AA and served as a 2LT in the National Guard while finishing his four year degree. Once he finished his 4 year degree he was re-assessed as an Active Duty officer. He went to OBC as a 1LT. The time he served in the National Guard counts toward pay but *not* toward retirement.

 

There are a lot of reading list for Army officers/cadets that might be good for him to explore:

 

http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/reading_list/list1.html

 

http://www.gipubs.com/CSA-Reading-List-Sublist-1-s/50.htm

 

The Army Officer's Guide is also a good read with basic info on each branch.

 

I gather from your post that you're not really sure what ROTC is? I'll explain a bit, I'm using the "general you" in the following, just to make it easier to type out.

 

If you enlist then you start out in the military as a private. If you are commissioned through ROTC (either a regular 4 year college or West Point) then you start out your military career as a Second Lieutenant. You will owe the military 8 years if you take an ROTC scholarship. You can do 4 active duty and 4 in the reserves or the "Inactive Ready Reserves." However, *everyone* we know who has done IRR as an Army officer has been recalled for 2 years and deployed. At this point in history, you are better off finishing the 8 years on active duty.

 

There is a tremendous difference in terms of what is expected of you as an officer vs. a junior enlisted soldier. You hold more responsibility, it is a zero-defect environment after a certain point but you also get more in terms of pay and benefits. You also get more control at some point in your career.

 

You can see the military pay tables here. There are various types of pay, depending on your job. But as an officer you generally receive the basic pay, Basic Allowance for Subsistance, Basic Allowance for Housing and a one-time clothing allowance when you first come on active duty. A private who hasn't been to basic training is an E-1, a 2LT is an O-1.

 

My hubby just called and I asked if he had any words of advice. He said he would suggest that anyone looking for a military career as an officer should remember that the military isn't just about driving tanks or shooting. There are a lot of job in the military. There are dentists, doctors, contractors, lawyers, logisticians and lots of other jobs that you can easily transfer to the civilian world once you finish a successful 20 year Army career. The Army will often pay for those types of specialized training. Remember, you'll retire young and probably have a second career.

 

I'd also suggest that you always apply for schools or jobs that you want, even if your branch discourages it or says "oh, that's too competitive." They are usually not as competitive as the branches make people think, they just need bodies to fill slots and would rather you not take something that isn't a priority for them. They aren't necessarily on your side. You are in charge of your career.

[Sophia]

Thank you so much!

I'm printing this out to help me and ds with our research and I've already ordered the book recommended in a pp.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

[TravelingChris]

My dh is in the AF but he has one of those jobs that many people don't know exists in the military- he is a physicist. There are not only physicists, but chemists, biologists, mathematicians, statisticians, enginners, material scientists, and behavioral scientists (not clinical psychologists though there are plenty of those in the medical branch).

Just some more ideas about jobs in the military.

[TechWife]

ROTC will have lots of opportunities to determine which career specialty you are interested in, but he will have already committed to one of the military services, so some options will already be out. For example, a Navy ROTC midshipman would not be able to go into Army tanks or artillery. So it is worth his spending some time to determine what service he is most interested in.

 

I just wanted to add in something here - I went to a public Army ROTC college. In each class we had a few cadets who took commissions in other branches. The year I graduated, one of my good friends was commissioned into the Navy as an officer. We also had a few Marines that year. Of course, we had nearly 100 Army.

 

The key may be that at our college, ROTC members are not required to take a commission unless it is stipulated in a scholarship. We had a large ROTC program because at that time, all male residents had to be in ROTC. The school was always co-ed, always ROTC. After women began serving as officers in the military, they gave

women the option to participate in ROTC, but it has never been mandatory for women. Now, due to court rulings re: access to state schools, they have had to admit resident, non-ROTC males. They have just started doing this in the past few years. The ROTC program is still strong and is a cornerstone of the college.

[TechWife]

Be sure to check out North Georgia College and State University - the military college of Georgia. Army ROTC.

[asta]

Another thing to consider is that it isn't all about money. Although officers make considerably more money, they also have considerably more responsibility attached to that paycheck. They are ultimately responsible for every soldier and piece of equipment that falls "beneath" them (that isn't a slight - it is no different than a supervisor-employee relationship in the civilian world). The difference in the military is that, if a soldier dies, it is the officer who answers for it. If a piece of equipment goes missing, it is the officer who answers for it, etc. etc. The commander is ultimately at fault in all things, even if it was physically someone else who did the deed. This is the basis of the officer corps.

 

The other major thing is, once you're not a company grade officer any longer, you simply don't get to have as much fun! A HUGE amount of an officer's career is administrative - even in the combat arms. Leaders, lead. That means planning, administrating, signing things. Except in specialty units (special forces, SEAL teams, etc.), they are rarely out in the dirt. Even now, in the war, the units are out in the sand, and they are often in a headquarters tent (also in the sand, but you understand my point).

 

The enlisted ranks are the worker bees, and the non-commissioned officers are the "backbone" of our military. We are the only military in the world with a functional NCO corps. Officers relay orders to NCOs who make everything happen. A young man or woman can have some serious fun as an enlisted soldier. If you have a kid who wants to run (metaphorically speaking, not literally), the enlisted ranks would probably be a better fit.

 

Additionally, not everyone *wants* to have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Some people just want to do their part in helping people, helping "save the world", and to enjoy the camaraderie of a "band of brothers" the likes of which exists no where else. This exists to some extent in the officer corps, but it really isn't the same. In the enlisted corps, you have the option to re-enlist for your same unit. You can often stay (more or less) with the same people for a good 6-8 years.

 

In the "old days", it used to be that the officers were the guys who had gone to college, and the enlisted were those who hadn't. It isn't like that any longer. You'll find guys in the enlisted ranks with master's degrees. The bottom line is that there are certain jobs you are allowed to do as an enlisted soldier that you are not allowed to do as an officer, and there is a great appeal there. You also get to choose your job when you enlist.

 

Whatever your kid decides, just support him. Like everyone here has said, there are a lot of different recruiters out there who will give him info. None of them are "hard up" right now. Talk to them all, talk to different ones within the same service to get a broad view. If you get some weird advice, report them. There are bad apples in any bunch, just like in a civilian operation; it isn't the military per se, it is that, for some of them, it is an involuntary assignment to recruiting and they don't want to be there, so they are jerks.

 

Good luck,

 

 

a

[Mrs Mungo]

I agree with what asta said about the officer v. nco corps. There are big differences and at some point, the job of officers is mainly administrative. However, I would reiterate the point that although jumping out of planes, driving tanks and shooting at things is exciting when you are young, there will come a point where you have to get another job. I think there are a lot of pros and cons on both sides, really.

 

Whatever your kid decides, just support him. Like everyone here has said, there are a lot of different recruiters out there who will give him info. None of them are "hard up" right now. Talk to them all, talk to different ones within the same service to get a broad view. If you get some weird advice, report them. There are bad apples in any bunch, just like in a civilian operation; it isn't the military per se, it is that, for some of them, it is an involuntary assignment to recruiting and they don't want to be there, so they are jerks.

 

I would temper this just a little. I think part of the problem with many people on recruiting duty is that they've been in the military so long that they don't really think about what civilians don't know. My friends and family call me when they know someone who is thinking of joining the military. Sometimes, they misinterpret what a recruiter says because they don't have enough knowledge about the military. I don't think it's always the case that the recruiter is intentionally trying to mislead people, they just forget that civilians don't know all the vernacular. Many times people have said to me "the recruiter said X" and I said "did they say X or did they say Y" and the person will say "well, they said Y but doesn't that mean X?" But it doesn't mean X, X and Y can be miles apart.

[Mrs.MacGyver]

And just to add another option to your table... don't forget about Warrant Officer career fields. Just one example: we have several friends who did the "High School to Flight School" Warrant Officer Program in the Army. The Army offers this program for Helicopter pilots. Warrants are the "experts" in their fields - meaning if you go to school to be a pilot, you stay a pilot and fly your entire career. Regular Officers, like the pps were saying, may fly for only a year or so, and then they take on admin jobs where they do not get to fly very much at all. We know several Officers who have switched over to Warrant just because of that fact. Anyway, just something else to add to your research list! ;)