<p>I am a mom to a senior who won't be pursuing this avenue, but I have a freshman too who is definitely interested in the armed forces. Aside from air, land, sea, I honestly don't know a lot about the different arms of the services to help guide what his interests may be. Is there a guide for newbies about the services and what opportunities there are and what a person may do while they are serving?</p>
<p>Obviously the academies serve as preparation. Is it possible to transfer from one academy to another? What happens if you transfer out of the academy to a non-service school or just quit altogether?</p>
<p>Is there any general information on the various schools and what their academic strengths/foci are?</p>
<p>And one last question (for now)... is there anywhere that states what the general physical requirements are for admission into the armed services? For example, I read on CC recently that because someone had braces (assume teeth) that they would not be eligible for the armed services. What other "normal" things could exclude a person from serving? I presume that all of these things would be checked as well prior to admission to the academy.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Well, those are very broad questions! </p>
<p>As for what each service does, going to each service’s website would be a good start. [Join</a> the Military - Military.com](<a href=“Join the Military | Military.com”>Join the Military | Military.com) also can give you a general overview.
My advice to him would be to figure out what kinds of things he wants to do, before looking at specific services. Some career fields are specific, while others are common to multiple services. For example, every service has helicopter pilots (but the numbers and missions vary). Only the Navy has attack submarines. Only the Air Force has land based ICBMs. etc.<br>
Aside from what his interests are, he may also want to consider whether he wants to be an officer or go enlisted. You could think of officers as the “corporate leadership” in some ways. As time goes on, officers are less likely to do much “hands on” stuff, and more likely to be leading and managing larger teams. The same is somewhat true of enlisted people, but the chances of them doing field work for a large portion or their career is much higher. Some services also have Warrant Officers, which is in between officer and enlisted. Some services use warrants as technical experts in their field (Army aviators, for example). The pay and benefits are also quite different for each choice.</p>
<p>The federal Service Academies are for their specific branch (with the exception of the US Merchant Marine Academy). Transfers between SAs are only semester long. You cannot simply switch partway through, and pick up partway through another. If you quit within the first 2 years, you do not owe a commitment. If you leave after that, the government can have you pay back your educational costs or have you serve in an enlisted position (at their discretion). There are limited opportunities to commission into a different service upon graduation (usually in the single digits out of ~1,000 graduates).</p>
<p>All of the SAs are focused on providing a good education and leadership training. They all rank fairly highly in several categories. Realize that they all focus quite a bit on technical classes. USAFA used to be called “the little engineering school in the Rockies” for example.</p>
<p>For people going enlisted, they go through MEPS, which includes all the medical screening. Service Academy cadets have to pass the DoDMERB standards (or get waivers) prior to gaining an appointment. DoDMERB has its own site for questions and specifics. Generally, things like braces will not be a problem. Chronic medical issues can be (asthma, diabetes, etc).</p>
<p>Some of this is over my head, but I appreciate the feedback and information and links to places to gather more info. </p>
<p>I would love for more people to chime in :-).</p>
<p>I think S’s interests are to be a hero on the battlefield… I suspect. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I think more people will offer advice/opinions when your son gets closer to actually beginning the application process. At this point the best advice I can offer is to have your son take the most rigorous academic classes that your school offers including at least three years of a foreign language. IOTW - prepare as though he were going to apply to an Ivy League school (after all…he might). Add in some ECs and definitely get involved in some varsity sports(s) for as many years as he can. This should help him become the best applicant that he can should he choose in a couple of years to apply to a service academy.</p>
<p>In the mean time he has plenty of time to explore the different SAs via the internet and their websites.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>In terms of ECs, a few leadership roles are more significant than a lot of memberships. For sports, any of those that involve running will be good preparation. He would also need to develop enough upper body strength to perform up to 18 pullups. When they look at grades, it really comes down to class ranking. So when your child starts to consider AP courses, the extra grade points will help by boosting his class ranking, but only if he does well in them.</p>
<p>There are a lot of “normal” things that can be medically disqualifying (asthma, food allergies, ADHD, etc., etc.) but waivers are possible. If he has any sort of medical history, here is a starting point [United</a> States Merchant Marine Academy](<a href=“http://www.usmma.edu/admissions/facts/medical.shtml]United”>http://www.usmma.edu/admissions/facts/medical.shtml)</p>
<p>Good luck…</p>
<p>I agree with leadership and getting some experience in sports. I would also add that the academies have a summer program that happens after a student’s junior year of high school that should really give a young person an idea of whether an academy is for them. I would also recommend that any student applying to an academy also apply for ROTC scholarships at the same time. If they don 't get into an academy, they can do ROTC, which would also give the student a regular college experience.</p>