CS, you are really young, im a few years older than you(22). I think the rotc route or maybe even the ECP route(its what holymac did) would be a really good path for you. You seem pretty concerned about your future, so while you are in college you can really explore and build your knowledge at an auto-regulated/individualistic pace. Ive recently applied to the NEW Mexico Institute junior military college(part of the ECP route) or Im going to do the rotc program for my estimated 2 years left of college(I have 60 credit hours). Dont know if you live in Chicago like me, Im applying to NIU and UIC. Check out more info on the Early Commission Program(ECP), if you haven’t already done so.
[quote]VlocoG wrote:
CS, you are really young, im a few years older than you(22). I think the rotc route or maybe even the ECP route(its what holymac did) would be a really good path for you. You seem pretty concerned about your future, so while you are in college you can really explore and build your knowledge at an auto-regulated/individualistic pace. Ive recently applied to the NEW Mexico Institute junior military college(part of the ECP route) or Im going to do the rotc program for my estimated 2 years left of college(I have 60 credit hours). Dont know if you live in Chicago like me, Im applying to NIU and UIC. Check out more info on the Early Commission Program(ECP), if you haven’t already done so. [/quote]
Thanks for the reply. As of right now, I think a traditional 4 year college or West Point is in my best interest.
CS
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Believe me, I’d love to be a Marine, probably more so than being in the Army. To me, being a Marine is being something that not everybody can say that they did. To me, Marines are far and few between and you don’t really come across them that often, let alone officers.[/quote]
Then why not pursue it?
james
West point has a pretty damn good powerlifting team.
[quote]atypical1 wrote:
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Believe me, I’d love to be a Marine, probably more so than being in the Army. To me, being a Marine is being something that not everybody can say that they did. To me, Marines are far and few between and you don’t really come across them that often, let alone officers.[/quote]
Then why not pursue it?
james
[/quote]
I really wish I could answer that. It’s just that I haven’t done enough research yet. I’ve had the Army pitch shoved up my ass the last month and a half and haven’t really had time to sit down with anyone and really delve into it. But now that you bring it up, I think I might weigh both of my options now.
CS
The ROTC route is much better at creating well rounded officers, and you can pursue more undergrad options because the academies are very limited in what they offer (mostly all science and math based degrees) BUT the average salary of an academy grad after leaving military service was 120,000 a year before the economy went to shit. PLUS graduating from an academy is equivalent to graduating from an ivy league school in terms of head hunters trying to recruit you after service. That said, if you are career oriented (20-30 years) you will be more likely to get promoted to Lt.Colonel, Colonel and General than a non academy officer, although many non academy officers climb the ranks just as well as academy guys. STAY AWAY FROM RECRUITERS! They get paid to get you to enlist, not to get you to join ROTC. They will try to sell you on OTC or academy prep school after a few years service or on the GI Bill, but it is unnecessary. Go straight to college if you want to have a career as an officer
To clear up above post, well rounded officers is subjective and is just my opinion. Academy guys are legit bad asses, but in my opinion, have less interpersonal skills dealing with enlisted guys.
[quote]atypical1 wrote:
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
I don’t know why you keep getting the idea that I want to go into the military for shits and giggles. That pisses me off to no end. I don’t care about the money or whatever fucking experience it would give me for a career outside of the military. I want to do this because I love my country and would do anything to protect it. I’m sure that’s you decided to join as well, correct?
CS[/quote]
I think where you went astray in our eyes when you commented on not wanting to be a Marine because you would have less control over your career. All of us prior or current Marine officers took offense to that I suppose because none of us went in thinking that we would have any modicum of control over where we went or the roles we held.
[/quote]
Hell, I was enlisted and took offense to it. My one thing I can add to this discussion is, at least on the Marine side, your specialty as a Marine Officer is secondary to being a Marine. Getting a job you love is just gravy. Even then you will have to deal with a lot of BS.
[quote]SKWATKING wrote:
To clear up above post, well rounded officers is subjective and is just my opinion. Academy guys are legit bad asses, but in my opinion, have less interpersonal skills dealing with enlisted guys. [/quote]
JW, what kind of experience do you have with the military?
FWIW, I agree with most of what you said about ROTC vs. academy officers, etc.
[quote]Fandango wrote:
[quote]SKWATKING wrote:
To clear up above post, well rounded officers is subjective and is just my opinion. Academy guys are legit bad asses, but in my opinion, have less interpersonal skills dealing with enlisted guys. [/quote]
JW, what kind of experience do you have with the military?
FWIW, I agree with most of what you said about ROTC vs. academy officers, etc.[/quote]
I grew up an army brat, Dad is an officer, and my older, and 2 younger brothers are army and airforce, 2 officers and 1 enlisted. I originally started out at the USAFA out of high school, but transferred out after my first semester trying to find a better fit for me playing football. I was told while getting recruited that they would waive your military commitment if you got drafted to the NFL, but the summer before I got there they changed the rules (war in Iraq/Afghanistan) to no waiver. To be honest, to this day there is still part of me that wishes I would have stayed at the academy (NFL didn’t happen) but if I was in the Air Force now I would probably be kicking myself for never chasing the dream. Oh well, everything happens for a reason.
[quote]Fandango wrote:
What department are you going to be teaching in?
@ OP, I just graduated West Point in May. PM me with any questions.[/quote]
Fandango… headed to Columbia for grad school than to be a TAC.
JM
[quote]jmarshburn wrote:
[quote]Fandango wrote:
What department are you going to be teaching in?
@ OP, I just graduated West Point in May. PM me with any questions.[/quote]
Fandango… headed to Columbia for grad school than to be a TAC.
JM
[/quote]
That’s awesome. Good luck with the grad school. Once you start teaching, I’m sure you’ll get used to all the differences between West Point and the real Army haha.