Stay Enlisted or go Officer?

[notaseal]

I've never been in the military nor am I an expert on this subject. I would've thought becoming an officer would be a no brainer, but hearing views from the inside is insightful. I had never heard about the lack of respect thing within the military of officers going through OCS, this is a first for me. However, I believe in the world outside of the military an officer in the armed forces is looked upon with a lot of respect. I personally respect the enlistees too but I know a lot of people who don't feel the same way. My HS friend is a Major or Colonel (I forget) in the Marines and my other HS friend's brother is a Colonel in the Air Force. When they walk into a social event with their uniforms on, they do get a lot of "oohs" and "aahs". Good luck with your decision.

Right about the ooohs and aahs. But as an O-1 you will get.. Pfft "salute" walk 10 ft "f%*#&* Butter Bar"

I am even biased towards 0-3s =X

[CLEP101]

Knowing what I know now, I would have done better in HS and tried to get accepted into West Point. Failing that, I would have gone to a good school and done ROTC. That way, I'd have come out with no student loans, a degree, and a job for the next 4 years. After several years in the service, I'd apply to a top 20 business school and earn an MBA. After the MBA, I'd follow it up with a 20-30 year career, then use my B-School connections to land a sweet job on the outside to supplement my already sweet pension.

Good job security, check. They can't fire you haha.
Respect, check. Military officers were among the most respected professions in a recent survey.
Nice pension, check. Retire with 20 years in as a MAJ and take home 48k/yr. Put in 30 years retiring as a LTC gets you 121k/yr. After taxes.

Edit: Degrees are important because they get you to where you want to go. You can't be a military officer without a bachelors degree. Most senior officers have masters degrees too. I would recommend a B&M school over online to any young person simply because of the people you meet and the friends you make. A college roommate can becomes a lifelong friend. Online classmates, probably not so much.

I agree HawkGuy.
However this is something that I was not thinking about when I was 18 years old, as I'm sure many aren't either. I really didn't want to go to college. But now 13 years later, I'm about to finish my degree finally, and more doors are opening up.

Don't get me wrong, I love being enlisted because we are the ones training the Soldiers. We are directly responsible for their lives when we deploy. While the Officers are making the command decisions in battle, we have to accomplish the mission, and keep all our people safe so we can all go home alive. We are basically the Personnel Managers, we'll say where people will go and what they'll do based on the mission we are given. Brand new lieutenants and Captains get trained by their enlisted counterparts. You will be a great officer if you are trained and mentored by your Sergeant First Class (E7) or First Sergeant (E8). Simply because of the experience. As you make Lieutenant Colonel and above, then you'll rely on the Sergeant Major (E9).
Now that I know the enlisted side of the house, I think that will make me a better officer when I choose to go that route. Nowadays, instead of seeing brand new 23 year old lieutenants with a Bachelors degree straight out of college, we are getting brand new lieutenants with a bachelors degree, at least 2 or 3 years of combat experience, paratroopers, ex-infantry, drill sergeants, etc.. Which will add to better command decision making. That's what I think anyways.

[CLEP101]

Right about the ooohs and aahs. But as an O-1 you will get.. Pfft "salute" walk 10 ft "f%*#&* Butter Bar"

I am even biased towards 0-3s =X

hilarious hilarious hilarious
So true!! My Thanksgiving story I posted earlier proved this.

[taylor]

"Butterbar", love the military lingo. I had to google it to figure out what it meant.

I know the "ooh's" and "aah's" were definitely stroking their egos because my friends were nerds in high school.

[JanusthePhoenix]

The officer uniforms are certainly impressive to civvies. "Ooh, look! Just like Officer and a Gentleman or Top Gun!" The navy dress blues or whites are ladykillers for sure, as well as the Marine dress A's.

[jaer57]

I agree HawkGuy.
However this is something that I was not thinking about when I was 18 years old, as I'm sure many aren't either. I really didn't want to go to college. But now 13 years later, I'm about to finish my degree finally, and more doors are opening up.

I agree as well! My 30-something mind thinks completely differently from how my 17 year-old mind did. Although everything has worked out well for me in the long run, I think if I could do it again I would at least try to get into Annapolis or West Point...

[SinsEnemy]

First off, thank you for your service good sir and congratulations on your significant accomplishment of reaching Master Sergeant in the Army. I just came off of enlisted Active Duty with the Air force and am getting ready to join the reserves after my terminal leave runs out in January. If you haven't already, you should create a pros and cons list. On the left side of a piece of paper write down why you would want to go officer (i.e. money, rank, better retirement etc.) On the right side write the cons (i.e. Loss of position that you currently enjoy, friends, PCS move, more responsibility.) This can be used as a personal guide for what you think you should do. I personally plan on going officer, but to each man his own.

Most importantly you should ask for God's direction in your life. It is all to easy for us to steer ourselves in the wrong direction based on instinct and feelings. Count on someone who is above you and all others to give you the advice you need.

Whatever decision you make, I hope it works out well for you. (If you deserve it of course) :O

[notaseal]

To save bandwidth and since were on the topic.. If I decide to stay in I do not want to stay enlisted. I would like to become an supply officer. I am currently an E-3, and all my superiors tell me how good I am etc stroke the ego. What are my chances of getting into an officer program? For example Sta-21

[JanusthePhoenix]

Here's the thing about STA-21: if the Navy accepts an E-3 with like 30 college credits into the program, they have to pay for 3 years of schooling. If the Navy instead accepts the EM1 nuclear tech with only 6 credits left to go, Uncle Sam doesn't have to pony up nearly as much money. I think every single person who I saw get picked up for STA-21 was a nuke, at least E-5. Although I think the guy on our boat who selected the candidates was the Reactor Dept head. So there you go.

If you wanna go officer, it would be much easier to just CLEP your way to a BSLA at Excelsior or something, then apply direct for OCS. If I had found this forum 3 or 4 years ago, I probably would be an O-2 right now.

[creationstory]

Here's the thing about STA-21: if the Navy accepts an E-3 with like 30 college credits into the program, they have to pay for 3 years of schooling. If the Navy instead accepts the EM1 nuclear tech with only 6 credits left to go, Uncle Sam doesn't have to pony up nearly as much money. I think every single person who I saw get picked up for STA-21 was a nuke, at least E-5. Although I think the guy on our boat who selected the candidates was the Reactor Dept head. So there you go.

If you wanna go officer, it would be much easier to just CLEP your way to a BSLA at Excelsior or something, then apply direct for OCS. If I had found this forum 3 or 4 years ago, I probably would be an O-2 right now.

seems good, too bad i'm not in the navy. i'm AF, so i'm wondering what is sta-21?