For the military people here

I'm thinking there is like a 90% chance of joining the military after the semester.

Do any of you know if it's possible to enlist, do my 8 years, then go to school and do ROTC?

I figure if I could experience both grunt and officer it'd be kinda cool...

 

People do it all the time. Some of the best cadets I know are prior enlisted guys. They bring to the table a list of experience to officership that very few have.

 

x2, sounds like a good idea. prior enlisted officers get more respect than regular officers in my experience. people respect someone whos been through what they have too.

 

How far along are you with school?

 

If you want to be an Officer, get your degree and do so. 8 yrs is a long sacrifice.

This is coming from an NCO w/8yrs this past Feb.

But if you are doing it to get college tuition, ie.. tuition assistance and GI Bill, then I would say the sacrifice makes sense.

Never know where a Military career will take you.

Good Luck.

 

I agree with the above.

Keep in mind that if you intend to be Enlisted prior it will take you about 8 years to even qualify for MECEP not ROTC at that point. It is essential that you do not get any bad paper work and that you preform at the top 10% if you wish to become an Officer in the USMC. I am a Sgt that currently works for a Maj that was prior Enlisted and because of that I respect him 1000 times more than his peers. Keep your goals close because it is easy to lose sight of them 8 years from now!

 

Exactly what I did - it has some very distinct advantages when you are an officer. One key benefit is that you will never be asking the enlisted troops to do anything that you have not done yourself. Looking back, I would not have changed taking this path. This is simply my opinion, you have to make your own choices. Best wishes and thanks for considering service.

 

Very good advice. Pick what you honestly believe you'll be doing until you retire. The military can give you some excellent training and employers look for that.

I had a friend who went in the Air Force as a "BB Stacker", loaded bombs on planes. He thought it would be cool. It was. It did not translate well into the civilian world. He feels he wasted 4 years he could have been getting training and experience for something he could do in civilian life.

Then there's my brother. He went in the Air Force "open electronics". He ended up a pole jockey. He'd climb high voltage electrical towers in thunderstorms to fix lines. He said he would get back to the dorm shaking so bad he had to drink until he passed out to get sleep. Got out 2 years into his 4 year enlistment, medical reasons.

 

I'm in my 4th semester and hating it more and more every day.

Ever see Office Space? Remember the scene with Peter and the consoler? That's me haha

 

No. 3 isn't always an option--depends what service you enlist in.

 

don't look to the military as a way out. I think you need to rethink whether you wanna be an engineer or not. I hated schooling, pretty much decided the engineer in me was just wanting to take things apart and what not. I got a co-op job and i got to work on some super cool shit. Now school is more of a challenge to me and it entertains me more.

 

I would just like to point out that if you would look at the original post everyone that is not in the U.S.M.C. should not be offering advise here if this young lad would like to be a GRUNT! Okay I am just giving you all a hard time, we can all play war together. Now having said that all in good fun I must also warn you that if you join the U.S.M.C. as a grunt you will have a hard time getting your body to last long enough to make it the long haul. Overall its a pride thing.

 

You should look into the Army Corps of Engineers!

 

I'm not using it as a way out. Before I applied to schools I was debating enlisting. The reason I'm here now is because my parents are paying 100% for my college.

The reason that I'm in the engineering program is the same reason why you are. I enjoyed tinkering around with stuff, still do. I could care less about finding forces on specific parts of a body though. It's just boring.

Oh, and knowing that you can enlist then be an officer, I'd definitely want to do that, so I'd be back in school.

 

I always thought Collage ROTC was the simplest way to enter the military as an O, but I could be wrong.

I have seen a fair amount of prior enlisted (PE) O's overcompensate for having a enlisted background, but they were probably jerks even as enlisted.

On the other hand, I had a PE butter bar cut me huge amounts of slack when a hurricane evac trip got out of hand. Good times.

How far do you want to go as an O. An 8 year enlisted delay could limit your rank possibilities.

Get your collage and start making rank as an O. Either way have fun with it.

 

That is the best advice ever. Wish I would have listened to it when I was 17. The job I had eventually worked it's way into helping me get a civilian job, but by the time I got done doing it in the Army it was the last thing I wanted to do as a civilian. My brother on the other hand joined the Marines as an Air Traffic Controller. Growing up I never even heard the words I want to be an air traffic controller when I grow up come out of his mouth. Now he's out of the Marines but working in the same tower he did as a Marine making waaaaaaayyy more money that he did as a Marine doing the exact same job.

On the other hand if you are 4 semesters into college totally on your parents Dime, I'd join up in ROTC right now and ride it out. As a single lower enlisted person you get crapped on from day one, at least as an officer you get a little more freedom from the get-go and better pay to boot.

 

Just to temper the "Prior Enlisted Officers are better" discussion- Don't think that if you do 8 years enlisted it will automatically make you a great officer.
The guys who worked for me when I was straight out of the Academy didn't mind showing how to do what they did and they didn't mind me being their to do the paperwork and political BS they didn't want to do, but I had been trained for.
I've also met some true first class d-bags who came from the enlisted ranks and maybe felt a sense of entitlement or expected that extra bit of respect. At some point they were great at their jobs because they got picked up for OCS/OTS/ECP-but again- It's not a guarantee that enlisted experience will or will not make you a good officer.

It is fairly guaranteed that if you work hard at whatever path you chose you can do very well for yourself- See some great places, do some neat stuff and get a paycheck for it!! I kind of agree with Buk- If you are doing college already- Why not just try to pick up a ROTC contact now-You lose the experience, but you start at a bigger paycheck. Only you can answer what is really important.

Good luck making your choice!!

 

If you can, just go to college while you're in. They'll pay for a good portion of it and there are programs in the services for becoming an officer once you've graduated (OCS). There may be age limitations so you'd want to check into that before deciding on waiting to get your degree. In the Navy there was another program called the Limited Duty Officer program. A degree wasn't required (though it helps) but they usually have a minimum rank requirement before you can transfer over. It was an E-6 or above for LDO. Another Navy program is the Warrant Officer program (E-7 or above). No degree required for that one either. I think the likelihood of getting accepted to LDO or Warrant depended on the rating you were working in (e.g. cryptography). Many of the employees where I work did those programs.

As others have said, they're usually well respected in the service.

 

I'd probably enlist with the Army, and go figure they have a page on just what this topic is about haha.

I'd probably do this option: http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/green_to_gold_active_duty.jsp

I'm not sure when I could do it though...is it after I did my 4 years of Active Duty, or after my 8 years...

If it's after my 4 years of Active Duty, I could also do this program as I would be ablet to meet age requirements for it.
http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/green_to_gold_scholarship.jsp

 

hopefully I will be putting on PO2 (E5) soon and I might cross over to the army in their warrant officer program and fly helicopters. I have an aviation education that I need to finish. Maybe stay navy and fly helicopters here since thats what I fix all day. There is a great advantage of being an officer with prior enlisted experience. I like the military. Just do not get involved with people who do not like it. Its kinda funny how they can influence the ammount of wonderful experiences you can have.

I am the only enlisted sailor in my family. All the rest of the enlisted personel are NCO'S in U.S.M.C.. Two uncles that are commisioned officers are also sailors. I have more respect for my uncle who is master sergent in the corps vs. my other uncle who is a Cmdr in the navy. I didnt finish school so thats why I joined enlisted. Need tuition assistance to help finish school. I can put an application in for a commisioning in the navy soon but dont want to be a butter bar. I just figured that warrant officer would be cool.

From my own experience, I am an aviation electricians mate in the navy. I wanted to be an Air traffic controller but they told me no so this was the next best thing. Civilian world it pays good. There are a lot more interesting jobs I think in the navy for enlisted vs. officer though. I have worked mostly "O Level" maitnance in the navy. Basically I follow electricity through helicopters and their avionics epuipment. I enjoy it a lot. Its a cool feeling when you can bust a pilots balls cause he does not even know how to use his own equipment. And when there is something wrong and maitnace control needs something fixed quick and you are their go to guy,,,, its a good feeling.

Either way no job anywhere is a sure thing. Security clearance and all other types of stuff can come into play. Just make sure you know what your doing and you enjoy it. There will be lots of fun. Ask the sailors and marines around here,,,,, if you are under 21 you can only play water pong. Do not go to captains mast. That will ruin any chance of being an officer. keep your nose clean. Try out enlisted,,, you will have a good look at both sides.