Career advice, active duty vs reserves
03-28-2012, 07:32 AM
#21
The Military never gave a rats *** about "GPA" - they only care about your progress towards the piece of paper at the end.
As far as the officer thing goes - your ASVAB GT score is what counts.
If you go ROTC, even GT score doesn't count - they let total dumbasses become officers through ROTC - hell, look at me!
As far as the officer thing goes - your ASVAB GT score is what counts.
If you go ROTC, even GT score doesn't count - they let total dumbasses become officers through ROTC - hell, look at me!
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03-28-2012, 11:44 AM
#22
At every recruiting station, there should be an Officer In Charge, or Department Head, or somebody there who is the boss... that guy/gal is the officer recruiter. In Cincinatti, there is a NOSC (Naval Operations Support Center) that is the home of the local Naval Reserves and also houses the local Navy Recruiting center. I CAN GET YOU THE NAME OF THE OFFICER RECRUITER THERE IF YOU WANT. I can't help you with the other services because I don't know how they work.
Your grades and degree matter if you're going into a technical field... ie, if you want to be a Nuclear Officer, getting a 2.5 in Sociology isn't going to make the cut. But to qualify for any warfare rating... ie, Surface, Aviation, SEAL, etc... any degree will do. I think the SeaBees require an engineering degree, but I've got a 2.9gpa with a Bachelors in SPECIAL EDUCATION and my job is essentially large-scale battle management and kicking ***.
The same should apply in other services. If you want to be an infantry officer, the most critical skill you can have is "people skills". You can be trained to be a warrior, but being a leader is a skill you need to have the basics in before you join... a broad-spectrum arts degree (like Sociology or Philosophy) is probably desireable. Criminal Justice is right up there in the desireable category.
The basics to becoming an officer is pretty easy if you have a degree... there are a couple tests depending on service, an interview, a screening, a physical, a background check, a few other things... it's just like any other "job application". At some point, your recruiter will tell you what you're qualified for and what positions are open, then you sign and raise your right hand.
Without a degree, there are lots of options... ROTC is the biggest freaking scam of all-time... they pay for school, give you a stipend, and give you a commission when you graduate. Then you have to serve your time as an officer. I was an OCS guy, but back when I went through, they were pumping 60-80 guys a month through the pipeline... now there aren't near as many slots and it's more competitive, but still not "hard" to get selected as long as you don't have a hard-on for any particular field.
Once you are enlisted, it's going to be many years before you are eligible for an officer program even if you manage to get a degree. Typically, they won't even be looking at you until at least E-5 and maybe 5-6yrs of service. And then, your Chain Of Command will be the ones to push you in that direction. It's not something you necessarily ASK FOR. You can make it really obvious that you want to be an officer, but your chain of command must support it. You will have to be the legit cream-of-the-crop... an absolutey mother licking bad ****, truly a cut above your peers. And I'm not saying just "good"... I'm saying that the people you work for will have to feel like you have the potential to be their peer... that you're as good or better than them, and that's hard to do. ANY SINGLE F-UP will kill your chances of a officer transition. It's not an easy thing to manage, and it's many years away for you.
I'm telling you man, with 1 year of school left, there is no justifiable reason to enlist in the military, especially when looking a very marketable degree that will appeal to all the services, and your desire for Federal Law Enforcement on the backside where being an officer with a security clearance is practically a golden ticket. Go find an officer recruiter and see what your options are.
Your grades and degree matter if you're going into a technical field... ie, if you want to be a Nuclear Officer, getting a 2.5 in Sociology isn't going to make the cut. But to qualify for any warfare rating... ie, Surface, Aviation, SEAL, etc... any degree will do. I think the SeaBees require an engineering degree, but I've got a 2.9gpa with a Bachelors in SPECIAL EDUCATION and my job is essentially large-scale battle management and kicking ***.
The same should apply in other services. If you want to be an infantry officer, the most critical skill you can have is "people skills". You can be trained to be a warrior, but being a leader is a skill you need to have the basics in before you join... a broad-spectrum arts degree (like Sociology or Philosophy) is probably desireable. Criminal Justice is right up there in the desireable category.
The basics to becoming an officer is pretty easy if you have a degree... there are a couple tests depending on service, an interview, a screening, a physical, a background check, a few other things... it's just like any other "job application". At some point, your recruiter will tell you what you're qualified for and what positions are open, then you sign and raise your right hand.
Without a degree, there are lots of options... ROTC is the biggest freaking scam of all-time... they pay for school, give you a stipend, and give you a commission when you graduate. Then you have to serve your time as an officer. I was an OCS guy, but back when I went through, they were pumping 60-80 guys a month through the pipeline... now there aren't near as many slots and it's more competitive, but still not "hard" to get selected as long as you don't have a hard-on for any particular field.
Once you are enlisted, it's going to be many years before you are eligible for an officer program even if you manage to get a degree. Typically, they won't even be looking at you until at least E-5 and maybe 5-6yrs of service. And then, your Chain Of Command will be the ones to push you in that direction. It's not something you necessarily ASK FOR. You can make it really obvious that you want to be an officer, but your chain of command must support it. You will have to be the legit cream-of-the-crop... an absolutey mother licking bad ****, truly a cut above your peers. And I'm not saying just "good"... I'm saying that the people you work for will have to feel like you have the potential to be their peer... that you're as good or better than them, and that's hard to do. ANY SINGLE F-UP will kill your chances of a officer transition. It's not an easy thing to manage, and it's many years away for you.
I'm telling you man, with 1 year of school left, there is no justifiable reason to enlist in the military, especially when looking a very marketable degree that will appeal to all the services, and your desire for Federal Law Enforcement on the backside where being an officer with a security clearance is practically a golden ticket. Go find an officer recruiter and see what your options are.
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03-28-2012, 01:57 PM
#23
Once again Sam knows his stuff. From my experience in the MP side as enlised. The difference between officer and enlisted boils down to they get payed way more and mostly deligate their job out. More money, less grunt work. I never once saw an officer stand and guard a fence for 18hrs strait. An Lt is only a few people's bitch. An E-1/E-3 is everyone's bitch to a long time. MP in the military is far more security guard than police officer. However, if your lucky and get the police side, depending on who your supiriors are you get a lot of wiggle room.
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03-28-2012, 02:18 PM
#24
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Thanks Sam.
I'm trying to figure out how much school I have left now.
If time in the DEP counts whether your going to bootcamp or OCS then it isn't going to happen, I can not do a 1st class PFT right now and I'd only have a month to get to a 1st class pft. My crunches & pull ups aren't the problem, my run time would be.
I'm going to call my recruiter and get in touch with the people who I need to be in touch with as soon as I know how much school I have left.
If I have a year of school left I'll do it, if its more then that I'll really have to give it some thought. Its worth mentioning that I switched majors fron CJ to psychology and for that reason I may not have as much done as I would have had I stuck with CJ.
I'm trying to figure out how much school I have left now.
If time in the DEP counts whether your going to bootcamp or OCS then it isn't going to happen, I can not do a 1st class PFT right now and I'd only have a month to get to a 1st class pft. My crunches & pull ups aren't the problem, my run time would be.
I'm going to call my recruiter and get in touch with the people who I need to be in touch with as soon as I know how much school I have left.
If I have a year of school left I'll do it, if its more then that I'll really have to give it some thought. Its worth mentioning that I switched majors fron CJ to psychology and for that reason I may not have as much done as I would have had I stuck with CJ.
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