<p>So according to their website and everything I've heard you come out of college as a 2LT and must serve 5 years. I just had some questions.</p>
<p>First of all in those 5 years can you actually be promoted or are you a 2LT for those 5 years and then promoted afterwards? If you can be promoted in the first 5 years of service that would be great because of the up and out system (Defense</a> Officer Personnel Management Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) then you would should a captain by then. Also if you don't get promoted then you're discharged so another question is if you don't get promoted and are discharged in your first 5 years then what happens next?</p>
<p>Also another question I have is that if you drop out of West Point before graduating then do you still have to serve or pay for the 'free' tuition that you had already that your service would have paid for?</p>
<p>Yes, of course you get promoted, if it took you that long to promote to 1st LT, they’d probably kick you out. </p>
<p>Not sure USMA’s policy, but if it is like USNA’s, you have two years to decide whether to stay or leave, but I wouldn’t go in there thinking you were going to leave.</p>
<p>Most who are interested in the military academies like USAFA, USNA or WP are 110% convinced this is right for them and even then some do struggle. Going into these programs your main focus should be that you are looking for a career in the military. If you want to attend because it is something you found on a list of prestigious schools (or for the ‘free’ education), you need to make sure you know what you are signing up for. </p>
<p>It would be a bad sign if you are already thinking about what happens if I decide this isn’t for me during the first 2 years or how will this look on my resume after I complete the minimum 5 yr commitment (could be longer based on specific service selection). If you depart before starting your 3rd year of college, there is no financial commitment or service obligation.</p>
<p>I have another question about West Point that does relate to this topic but didn’t want to start a new thread for a simple question. What is the policy on athletic defects? For example if some has poor eyesight what would be the result?</p>
<p>However, even if you are disqualified, you can still receive a waiver for many conditions but that will be up to the specific program (ie West Point/AROTC, etc.). Your competitiveness may play a role in this and some branches waive certain conditions more than others (ie WP is usually fine with color blindness; USNA rarely is). So “poor eyesight” can mean a lot of different things and could be a non-issue (ie just because you wear glasses) or a completely non-waiverable DQ (this year WP declined to waiver any candidates with vision beyond a certain threshold).</p>
<p>Part of the application process to any military academy involves an extensive physical exam (referred to as DODMERB). This is where any physical conditions would be surfaced.</p>
<p>Here’s my short take on this entire 5 year post-graduation commitment. I’m currently a 1LT Infantry Platoon Leader with the ARNG. When I was applying to colleges, I also applied to WP. Long story short, I’m glad I did not go.</p>
<p>The big question I asked myself was if I decided to only serve the initial commitment, what would I do after I left the service? Who would hire me in this economy? What skills do I have that are transferable to the civilian workforce? The days of being an commissioned officer and settling into a middle management position in the private sector are largely over. You need to bring real expertise to the table.</p>
<p>As for me, I graduated with a BS Computer Science. State Tuition Waiver allowed me to go through undergrad with zero educational debt. I currently work as a software engineer for a defense contractor but I’m transitioning to a government technology/management consulting position in the Mid-Atlantic region. </p>
<p>I wondered at that time what would have happened if I went to WP and got out? And over the years, I can tell you that there are many Captains that left Active Duty with no real prospect of finding any employment that matched their earnings on Active Duty because Active Duty simply didn’t provide them with the opportunities and assignments to make them competitive in the private sector. The economy these days demands more than a pretty alma mater on your resume. The days of cushy jobs without real technical expertise and experience are over.</p>
<p>How does someone like that compete in the private sector against the reservist that has the same rank, similar tactical/staff/command assignments, etc. as well as a Master’s Degree in a STEM field and 3-5 years of experience?</p>
<p>Think about the opportunity costs of service academy and a 5 year commitment afterwards.</p>
<p>kkuo12887…glad your plan worked out for you, but you are painting with a fairly wide brush. </p>
<p>JMPO…but almost anyone coming out of the military with a BS in computer science is not going to have too much difficulty finding employment. Keep in mind that in addition to the “pretty alma mater” on their resumes, SA grads also have a tremendous network of other SA grads in hiring positions. Also there is no reason why an SA grad would not, or could not also have completed a Masters Degree in a STEM field and have 3-5 years of experience. Not all SA grads choose infantry.</p>
<p>That is misleading. If they are looking for software development/engineering positions with a BS CS background, I wonder how they are going to fair on a technical skills interview. No one is going to give you a cookie because you spent some time in uniform.</p>
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<p>Actually, there are quite a few reasons why they would not have completed a Master’s in a STEM and have 3-5 years of experience in a similar timeframe compared to a reservist. It takes at least 48 months from date of commission to meet the TIG/TIS requirement for O-3. From what I’ve heard, you may be afforded the opportunity to ADSO around or after company command time for graduate school. But again, this is an ADSO which carries an “additional duty service obligation”.</p>
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<p>IMO, it’s a waste to go to a Service Academy and not opt for a branch that has the furthest promotion opportunities.</p>
My personal opinion is they will fair just fine on a technical skills interview if they have been working in that area during their five years of active service. Just because they have been active duty does not necessarily mean they have learned nothing and have no experience. How much active duty time did you have (not including training/schools)?
Yes - some employers will (combined with your BS CS and some experience) give former active duty members (particularly SA grads) a “cookie” in the form of hiring them over those that come from 2nd rate colleges and don’t have experience working in management positions.
Many officers choose to pursue their Masters PT while continuing FT in the military. Clearly you seem to lack first hand knowledge of this subject.
IMPO - if the only reason you choose a particular military branch, or to attend a Service Academy is to further your “promotion opportunities”; then you should choose a path other than military service to give something back to this great country. There was another reason why you chose the military…wasn’t there? Again, JMPO but I believe those cadets/mids that choose to attend a SA (and grad with a BS CS) are NOT at a disadvantage 5 years later if/when they choose to enter the civilian job market.</p>
Please, do tell in what capacity you would imagine an AD junior officer working in an area that will allow them to be competitive in a technical skills interview. The Army IS different from other branches such as the AF and Navy. We’re more managers of people than we are of “systems” like the other branches.
Total active duty time including training/schools would be ~ 2 years. Total AD time on Title 10 would be exactly 1 year.
Yes, there’s a difference between attending a reputable institution for a MS in a STEM field and doing an MA from DeVry, Ross, York, or whatever BS for profit “institution” via distance learning degree.<br>
The majority of AD personnel are simply not located close enough to decent brick and mortar universities. I’ve been to enough bases out in bumble**** nowhere.
You are asking two different questions:
Why did you join the military?
Why did you pick a particular branch/MOS?</p>
<p>I picked this particular branch/MOS because of the promotion opportunities so I can get ahead/profit/beat my chest/dumb chicks… who really cares? Believe it or not, the Army has more than a fair share of officers with low IQs that will not be competent at anything they do regardless of their motivation.</p>
<p>The biggest lie a cadet/officer candidate will ever be taught in a commissioning source is that the Army is about leadership. Wrong. The Army is about putting bodies in slots. It still is and always will be despite any delusions of grandeur.</p>
<p>You just need to learn to how to play the game.</p>