<p>EOD is explosive ordinance disposal and I’m pretty sure it is unrestricted line. Totally different than EDO.</p>
<p>^^^
I realize that EOD and EDO are totally different. My post was said tongue-in-cheek for PackMom’s benefit.</p>
<p>Mimiloo, as mentioned before, my daughter has career plans for Army Veterinary Service. However, she has recently been mentioning that she might want to do something else in the Army before doing vet school. Her main new of interest is Military Inteligence. I saw on the school ROTC web site she will be attending that 2 ROTC graduates last year went into military intel. If the Navy and Marines restrict intelligence assignments for 5-years, your son might want to think about the Army because intel appears to be an option on commission.</p>
<p>Like Mariner116, my daughter was a late in the Junior year, out of the blue decision. No military history here either. Mine likes the active lifestyle (a job the requires you to be fit) and the sense of purpose and service to country. Looks at the Army as a good employer with stability and opportunity. Hard to argue with her.</p>
<p>Like other parents, nobody is comfortable with their kid in the line of fire. And don’t think that women are immune. Actually they are bigger targets, as they often are the support people (the soft targets) sought after by our adversaries. It does give me concern, but in the bigger picture, many of our young people are actually safer over there than they are at home.</p>
<p>As to the OP’s narrow interest in the military (as a path to the CIA), he’s got some growing up to do and may very well find that there are lots of other interesting jobs out there. If he’s intellegence or bust, his odds are not good for a desired outcome, as it is a very competitive branch. I suspect the disappointment is very much like the kids who join the AF to fly fast jets, which is actally a very small percentage. </p>
<p>However, don’t let that make you despair. Honestly, most people come out of the military better people than they went in as, even if they don’t make their career aspirations there. Can’t say that for a lot of first jobs.</p>
<p>To be clear - if the OP’s son desires to eventually end up in the CIA, he doesn’t have to be in “intelligence” in the military to get there. Actually he can be an infantry officer or an aviation officer. Any job/branch in the military can be a path to many, many careers both in and out of government service. While his military service can be a stepping stone, it might be helpful for him to think of it as sequential careers, the first being his military career (as opposed to “job”).
The OP’s son also may want to look into direct recruiting by the CIA. They do directly recruit college graduates.</p>
<p>Absolutely correct JAM. I picked on Intellegence as a branch that many see as a way into the alphabet soup agencies. Those agencies need people of many skill sets which can be obtained in the armed forces. And the agencies do have a bit of a bent towards ex-military of any type, as they are a known product.</p>
<p>And yes, there are many ways into these agencies including direct hire out of college.</p>
<p>My point is that the kid being discussed is young and has a fairly narrowly focused current interest. He will need to broaden his idea as to the possible paths to get there in order to be both happy and successful on his path to that objective.</p>
<p>Best to him in his effort.</p>
<p>Mimiloo - thank you for posting your question. I’ve been wondering the same thing for months, but could never muster the courage to ask. </p>
<p>We also have enough college money in the bank. Then Son sprang ROTC on us. I feel proud, but guilty at the same time. Kinda like, “Wow, all this money is coming his way? Really? Are you sure? Doesn’t somebody else need it more?” Then I remind myself that the money isn’t free. It comes with the biggest price anyone can pay. Our kids deserve it.</p>
<p>^ No the money is not free! S got a two year ROTC (army)scholarship and owes a lot more than that.</p>
<p>Money was not the reason in our house either…He wanted to serve his country and help preserve freedom for the rest of us.</p>
<p>I would gladly have paid for his last two years of college without him risking his life for 4+ years. He has been in Iraq for over 5 months, and every day I get more concerned. With the pending elections, there is still a lot of turmoil in Iraq. The war there is not over, not by any stretch ! :mad:</p>
<p>He is an intelligence officer, but assigned to a combat group. Missions are taking him to many hostile areas…we are counting the days until he comes home.</p>
<p>Thanks so much to all of you who took the time and trouble to respond to my post. I’m truly touched by the efforts of complete strangers to understand this situation and provide really helpful information and feedback. I feel like I am beginning to understand the differences and nuances of the different branches of military service as they pertain to ROTC. I also appreciate the comments about the narrowness of his focus (also a concern of ours). He has a lot of growing up to do, and a lot of soul searching as well, fortunately he has some time to do it. And thanks in part to this forum discussion, I’m at least somewhat more able to have an informed conversation with him about it.</p>
<p>From time to time I see a news item that talks about how 1% of the country (military members and their families) bear an inordinate amount of burden and pain for the benefit of the remaining 99% of the citizens of the US. I was always in the 99%, now I face the possibility of being in the 1%, but if people like you all on this forum are what you find in that 1%, then I think it will be good company, if that’s where this road takes us. Thank you everyone.</p>
<p>and 1sokkermom, I can’t imagine your strength, I don’t know if I could be that strong. Godspeed to your son.</p>
<p>cap, S commissioned from NROTC directly to Spec.Ops EOD.</p>
<p>1sokkermom when does your S’s deployment end?</p>
<p>DougBetsy, you’re right, the money is not free. A neighbor whose S attended same state u. with my NROTC S has more than once made snarky comments about “taxpayer’s money” paying for S’s various expenditures during college. While it made my blood boil, I had to just let it roll off.</p>
<p>Hi PackMom,</p>
<p>We are not sure …they were originally told they were there for 12 months. That would make him scheduled to come back to USA at the end of August. There were talks of shortening the time, but with all the turbulence there now because of the upcoming Iraqi elections (currently set for March) it is not clear. 
</p>
<p>He has been working very long hours with very little sleep…</p>
<p>P.S. In the last month, he was promoted to 1st LT, and celebrated his birthday. Interestingly enough, he got to meet Joe Biden last Saturday and actually talk to him. Mr. Biden was at his base visiting his brigade and meeting with the Iraqi officials.</p>
<p>Congrats to your S on his promotion and how cool to meet the VP in Iraq.</p>
<p>I so appreciate this conversation. Our son, now a HS senior, decided sometime in the past two years that the Army is his destiny. This is so foreign to me and my husband, yet we cherish those who have made the decision to protect and defend our country. My husband’s father served in the Pacific in WW II, and my mother, who was a Holocaust survivor in Poland, joined a Polish detachment of the Russian army in 1944, marching with Marshall Zhukov to Berlin. So we are no strangers to valor, but growing up in peacetime in the U.S., did not follow that calling. We know that if our son is truly committed to a career in the military, we can only support his decision.</p>
<p>To all of you serving, and to parents of those serving, please know how grateful we are!</p>
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<p>We did not encourage it. But we support it, initially very reluctantly, but now enthusiastically. For us, money is a non issue - we let S1 turn down a full ride scholarship to go to a private school as a full pay. But for D2, since is going to do it anyway, I think he may as well get the scholarship. We plan to give to him the money we would have spent for him had he followed his brother’s foot step (private U), so instead of a student loan, he will start his adult life with a tidy sum of money.</p>
<p>My S2 (h.s. junior) has set his heart on the military career for over ten years. Until a couple of years ago, I thought it would just pass. But we were dead wrong. But now, I see a lot of benefits of his “career determination” even apart from the ROTC scholarship potential. </p>
<p>(1) it’s keeping him “straight and narrow”. For instance, the other day, we were talking about young people doing drugs and such. His reaction was “no way I will ever touch the stuff. If I ever get caught, it will end my military career before it even starts”. I don’t know if this is true or not, but as long as he believes it, it’s good 
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<p>(2) based on everything I read about ROTC life style in college, it appears that he will have an automatic support group from the day 1. I will be sending my kid to a college with a ready made support group already in place complete with adult supervision - the ROTC officers are keen on making sure that their charges succeed out of mutual interest, and upper class men cadets seem to provide a good support to newbies. Between frat brothers and fellow ROTC cadets, I prefer the cadets hands down as a social network for my son. </p>
<p>(3) Unlike S1 who is very clear headed about his career choice (investment banking), which is driving all his educational and EC activities choice, S2 is not clear about the “ultimate” career choice (read: career he would like to have at the age of 45). His clear “near term” goal (military) is providing a lot of buffers for him to figure out what he ultimately wants to do. Knowing that he has a job offer (commissioned officer) upon graduation, he can explore a lot of different fields without an immediate pressure to line up internships and courses with a razor focus designed to land him a job upon graduation. Upon graduation, while he is doing what he always dreamed of since he was barely a pre schooler, he can further decide what he ultimately wants to do. He can choose to stay in military beyond the mandatory active service and have a long term military career or get out and start the civilian career in a field that interests him, knowing what he really wants to do. He can get even further education while he is serving. </p>
<p>I did a lot of research on military career issues, and I came to a conclusion that as a career, it gives a lot of options, provides solid middle class life style, and bestows respect and honor. </p>
<p>Would I ever have recommended this career path to him? No: it would never even occur to us: we are an academia, high tech career kind of family (even S1’s choice in the financial field was a great surprise for us!). Besides, it is a dangerous career. However, seeing how determined S2 is, I am glad that at a young age, he already has a very clear goal. Seeing how so many young kids lack focus and goal in life, this is a true blessing. </p>
<p>My attitudes has always been. Regardless of the nature of the goal (provided it’s legal and ethical), being “goal oriented” in and of itself is a success factor. Even if they change their goals and plans later, having a mind set of a goal oriented person does real wonders for young people in terms of the life choices they make - they tend to make sounder and wiser choices! S2’s military interest gave him this mindset, and I am very grateful.</p>
<p>hyeonjlee- Thanks for taking the time to write out such a detailed account of your experiences and thoughts. You’re absolutely right, being goal-oriented is a tremendous character trait, sometimes I forget that that. It sounds like you started your journey with similar feelings to mine, I hope if this continues that I come to the same level of acceptance and embrace his decision as you have your S’s.</p>
<p>Mimiloo,</p>
<p>You are more than welcome. This is what college confidential does best: giving a forum for thoughtful exchange on issues related to our children’s education and beyond.</p>
<p>By the way, his career choice really changed us too. I am on the left of the center politically, and I used to look at the the whole military sector in the context of a mild military industrial complex paranoia. </p>
<p>But, now, I see it entirely differently. Not so much the politicians that make decisions about war and such, but the individual men and women who decided to forgo the easy path and serve the country. It takes a special character to do that. </p>
<p>Now, I hope S2 will get a wife out of a military rank It certainly is guaranteed that any woman who decides to pursue a military career can NOT possibly be the air headed valley girl type. Even in this day and age, I still believe that a woman who chooses this type of career, more so than man, possesses a different outlook and character than that of a passive byproduct of popular culture. Better yet, I hope she outranks him: S2 needs a firm hand of a master: he can be so full of himself at times , and the feminist in me winces at times at that kind of male braggadocio.</p>
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<p>I think the military life is the empty vessel into which we pour the hopes for our emerging adult children. And while I do agree that young women who choose this career are looking for more from life than what is presented in the popular culture, I don’t necessarily want to put goaliegirl on such a high pedastol that any step off is a fatal fall. </p>
<p>Like young men (although I agree not as much), young women entering military life still need structure. I think the main difference between the sexes in this regard is that the young women are better developed at working within a social structure such as the military. However, that doesn’t automatically make them the fix for the later-blooming young men.</p>
<p>And like you, I wouldn’t be disappointed at all if she finds her man in uniform. However, a marraige between military couples is very difficult to manage from a career perspective if both want to advance. It is a true test as to bending their own career goals to fit the spouses.</p>
<p>So right, goaliedad. S1 was just telling me this weekend about a buddy of his in his dive sch. class. The guy is a Seaman (he has a college degree but enlisted rather than pursuing a commission.) whose EX-wife is a Lt. Commander.</p>
<p>
So much for marrying a woman who outranks you. ;)</p>
<p>Well, this seems like a friendly enough place, so I thought I’d join in. FWIW, I was commissioned in the Army 34 years ago (YIKES!) through Army ROTC, then served on active duty after law school in the JAG Corps, followed by many years in the reserves and eventual retirement. Proud to say DS followed my advice that if he wants to serve, he should consider the Air Force. I’m not anti-Army or any other service, I just think the culture of the USAF is the best for its people. He started AFROTC after his first semester, and after a year was selected by the detachment commander for a “Commander’s Leadership” in-school scholarship for the next 2.5 years. Mighty proud of the lad.</p>
<p>Haven’t seen much discussion about the Air Force, but no time to read through this “mega-thread.” Also, remember it is the RESERVE Officer Training Corps, although since 2001/2003, the nature of reserve duty has changed-a lot! If anyone has questions about military life or careers from an old-timer’s point of view, I’d gladly try. Let me add that while I had to make some sacrifices, the benefits of many kinds have far outweighed them.</p>