I am just wondering what are the rules regarding people enlisting after they've had a college degree (Bachelors, masters, doctorate)? i am under the impression that if you want to be an officer you need a college degree, but if you enlist with a college degree that doesn't automatically make you an officer.
Going the enlisted route you can get an immediate promotion to PFC, at least. I did after just one yr in college, then went back to college after my tour of duty. However, note that that won't help you get to your next promotion any faster, because of "Time in Service" requirements for each pay grade. To become an officer, you will need to apply to Officer Candidate School. You can't get a direct commission except in a few professional branches, like Law, Medical, Chaplan, etc. Upon completion of OCS, you'll be a 2nd lieutenant. I might not be 100% on these facts, but this is the way it used to be. I recommend calling an Officer recruiter. Do not call a recruiter for enlisted. They will lie to you about the officer tract. I've heard them say that you come in as a PFC, then apply to be an officer. You don't need to do that.
If you have a college degree don't go in as enlisted, it is a waste. Apply for OCS. Either way, do NOT believe everything a recruiter tells you. I spent over 6 months of my life trying to join the military and eventually backed out after DEP'ing in three separate times because they continually lied to me. I wanted to go in to Military Intelligence, but they could fill classes so they kept trying to change my MOS to rush me through. I quit my job, sold everything I owned, and got my life down to two boxes when I DEP'd in for 8 years... and all the army did was stiff me. If I had to do it all over again I would have just done the "Green to Gold" program at U oh H and called it a day. Why would you want to be an officer? Much better pay, more freedom, and you're higher rank than more than 75% of the military.
It should read that they COULDN'T fill the classes (sorry, no edit). I originally enlisted for cryptology, which is what I wanted... and which requires 36 months of training at Fort Huachuca, by the time I would have been finished my four year degree and re-upped for OCS.
This is more or less how it is now. If you already have a bachelor's degree and you enlist: You'll enlist as an E-4 Specialist (the rank of Corporal is also at E-4, but Corporal denotes a leadership position and is thus higher in rank than a Specialist, even though it is the same pay grade). There are benefits to being enlisted that are not offered to officers: You get to choose your MOS (which is your job, be it cook, truck driver, infantry, or intelligence) You get to choose your duty station, usually being guaranteed one of two placements internationally or stateside. Getting DEPLOYED is another thing altogether: your duty station is your home base. Ft Hood, for example. You get deployed to wherever they need you. You get an enlistment bonus. They were between $5K and $20K when I did it. The more dangerous or needed your selection is, the higher the bonus is. For example, you'll likely get nothing if you choose to be a cook, but you'll get the maximum if you choose the infantry. They'll pay off your student loans in their entirety, up to $100K, I believe. They used to not offer this AT ALL to officers. I know they changed this for medical officers (doctors and nurses); I do not know if it applies across the board. Read this part carefully: everything that you agree to (duty station, incoming rank, bonuses, loan payoffs) IS IN A LEGAL CONTRACT THAT BOTH YOU AND THE MILITARY AGREE TO AND SIGN. If they cannot meet a given stipulation...maybe the recruiter tells you "Sure, we'll get you into Intel stationed in Germany and give you a $10K bonus" and then you get to MEPS to find that the Army's Intelligence quotas are all full and there aren't any slots available at that base in Germany you want to go to and Intel doesn't even offer a $10K bonus. So, know what to ask and know what you're signing. I don't know how old you are, but don't be afraid to bring someone who knows more than you do along with you. Some recruiters are shady. It's sad, but true. The bottom line is that after you and the Army have signed that contract, they aren't going to magically change it on you. If you already have a bachelor's degree and you go for Officer Candidate School (OCS): You are paid as an E-5 (Sergeant) while in OCS. You ARE NOT an officer, but an officer candidate. There is a difference. Upon completion of OCS, you will be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army (or Marine Corp or Air Force. Ensign is the equivalent Navy rank) Officers do not get to choose their MOS. Admittedly, I'm a little muddy on this one, but all officers start somewhere in combat arms (infantry, artillery, etc) unless you are a specialty like medical (doctor or RN), dental, legal, clergy, etc. You do not get to choose your duty station. Officers go where they are needed and what your superiors believe you are most qualified to do. Some of this may have changed...it's been a few years since I went through all of this...but I believe that for the most part what I wrote is accurate. When I did all of this, I had my first degree and I enlisted. I did this for personal reasons and also because I wanted my loans paid off, and they did not offer student loan repayment to officers at that time. This was in 2001. As far as recruiters go: the only specific "officer recruiters" I've ever known or dealt with were specifically for MEDDAC (medical). As far as I know, regular recruiters handle officer candidates as well as regular enlisted people. My experience in military school and ROTC meant that I had a far greater familiarity with the military than the average citizen so I knew what to expect and what questions to ask, but my recruiter was excellent and I thought very highly of him. BUT, Supernavt is right: if your BS Detector goes off, it's going off for a reason, so read as much as you can and ask as many questions as you can, and don't be afraid to go find another recruiter. Sorry for the length...I hope this helps. TD;DR: Yes, you need a bachelor's degree to become an officer. :grin:
Well, I think some do get to chose what your career is as an officer. I'm not in the military, but my best bud is a Captain Comm O in the USMC not because he had to be a Comm O. He chose that. He also listed his top 2 places where he wanted to go out of Comm school (after OCS) and he got #1. USMC tries to accommodate top 2 choices...I'm sure not all of them get it. When I was in high school, I knew of the specific officer recruiters. They were officers themselves. It think it's the regional office.
I think some of it has changed. I know that in the Navy, with enough college credits you went in as an E-3 and were automatically promoted to E-4 upon completion of "A" school. They've done away with that so you just go in as an E-3 and stay that way. It could have been different in the Army though.
When I looked into it six years ago, the Navy offered a lot more chances to choose your job as an officer than the other branches. I'm an engineer, and I considered going into the Naval Reactor program, doing design on propulsion systems for submarines and carriers.
Officers can request, yes, but it isn't guaranteed (unless that's been changed). I should have made that distinction. My recent experience was specifically medical, with my more general experience being in 2001, so I'm sure things have changed in that time. Had they offered student loan repayment back then I would have gone OCS.
When I DEP'd in to the Army (2003) I did so as an E-4 with the following. Recruit a friend +1 rank. Completed 24 hours of college +1 rank. Completed all required physical fitness and bookwork requirements (2 miles in 16 minutes, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, phonetic alphabet, map reading, memorize stuff like the Army principals, etc) +1 rank. E1 +1+1+1 = E4. So with all of those things I would have gone in as the same rank of someone with a four year degree becoming enlisted. It's silly to enlist with a 4 year degree unless you want to be a grunt and "get some."
It depends on the job. I might join the Navy next year as a musician. I have a degree in music and almost all the people I know in the Air Force and Navy music programs have Bachelor's degrees if not Master's. There's more of a mix in the Army and a lot of Marine musicians are straight out of high school. The military is a good deal for musicians. You get paid to play music and you can still freelance on the side which is pretty much all I do now.
How many musicians do we still have in the military, and what do they do? It's not like we need them to keep our infantry in line anymore. It seems like we'd only need a few buglers to play taps at military funerals, and such.
A few buglers? There is a severe shortage of them in the military, so much so that they use "auto playing" trumpets, which means a soldier holds up a trumpet while a device in the bell that belts out a perfect version of Taps. Not only do we need Taps players for soldiers lost in Afghanistan and Iraq, but more and more WWII, Korean and Vietnam vets are dying. A agree that musicians aren't needed by the tens of thousands in the military, but they are needed for parades, parties, ceremonies, funerals, etc...
Enlisting? I've always heard it's a good deal. The Army and Navy require more manpower and thus have more money to lure you with i.e. bonuses and guaranteed duty stations, but I've never heard anyone complain about the Air Force. I've always heard of the Air Force as the Hilton to the Army's Motel 6, but of course it's always Air Force people who say that. I've also never known many Air Force guys getting into bar fights, acting stupid, and spending the night in the brig. That's what soldiers and Marines do. For some, though, that over-fueled testosterone is part of the lure. Military musicians are in high demand. As was mentioned before, the military is sorely lacking in buglers. Musicians period are needed for funeral processions, parades, parties, official state functions, etc.
