USNA or USMA? Thoughts and opinions please.

Jmel12345

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Hi everyone,

My name is Jacob. I am a sophomore in highschool right now with big plans for my life.

I have dreams of either going to West Point or Annapolis for college someday. My ultimate goal in life is to become a Navy SEAL and i am very dedicated to striving for my goals.

I need help deciding what college would be better to attend?

If I go to West Point I am planning on getting my batchelor's degree and spending my 3 years minimum active duty as a cav. scout. Then after my term i would go into the Navy and go out for the SEALs.
I have pretty much the same plan in mind if I went to Annapolis except I would serve my first 3 year term as a marine.

I have a brother and 2 cousins that are in the Army and have all been in Afganhistan, they all gave me the same advice to do something regular for my first term before i try to go for something as advanced as the SEALs so i could get some experience and get a grasp of what i want to do.

Their advice is very helpful but i am hoping for some outside opinions, what do you think i should do? What college do you think i should attend?

Please feel free to ask me any questions about more of my thoughts about the subject.

Thank you.
 
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If I go to West Point I am planning on getting my batchelor's degree and spending my 3 years minimum active duty as a cav. scout. Then after my term i would go into the Navy and go out for the SEALs.
I have pretty much the same plan in mind if I went to Annapolis except I would serve my first 3 year term as a marine.

FYI - The minimum service commitment from any military academy is 5 years active duty, not 3.
 
That plan is really kind of baffling and nonsensical.

Here's the thing. If you want to go SEALs, go SEALs. The training pipeline is long and intense enough that they'll get you where you need to be. The Navy takes guys off the street (or from the fleet in ratings of all stripes) and makes successful SEALs all the time. I don't know that spending three years (not possible, BTW, as Luigi pointed out) in a conventional Army or Marine unit would really help you that much because the skill sets and missions of the SEALs are so different.

If you're set on SEALs, go to USNA. Getting one of those billets is absurdly competitive and hard, but they set those guys up for success. Consequently USNA grads have an unusually high completion rate through BUD/S and SQT compared to other commissioning sources.
 
Hi everyone,

I have dreams of either going to West Point or Annapolis for college someday. My ultimate goal in life is to become a Navy SEAL and i am very dedicated to striving for my goals.

Why do you want to be a Navy SEAL? The SEAL selection and training process is rigorous, as the links below show. Have you considered what you are willing to do if you do not become a SEAL?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_SEAL_selection_and_training

http://www.sealswcc.com/navy-seals-overview.aspx#

Please note that you are unlikely to become a Navy SEAL if you are in the Army.
 
Jmel, others here have discouraged posters from using their real name. probably a good idea for you, too.
 
Jmel,

The first thing you need to consider is that the USMA and USNA are not a College in the traditional sense, they are both Military Academies. You need to understand what it means to attend either of these institutions.

You also need to understand that what your looking at as your goal is extremely competitive. You need to look at the big picture, if you do attend one of these Academies would you be happy with what ever you end up doing after graduation. Would you be content to be a Communications Officer on a Naval vessel, would being a Transportation Officer in the Army be OK with you. All of these are possibilities and quite frankly, more likely then going to Seal Training.

It's great to have a goal but realize, throughout your time at any academy your goals can change, or they can be changed for you because of your position within the class ranking.

The best advise anyone can give you is to make your first goal to be an officer in the US Military, and be ready to serve in whatever capacity.

Others have mentioned this, if you go to the USMA you would have a 5 year comittment before you could "Try" and cross commission to the Navy. Don't be comfortable thinking this is easy to do.
 
JMel,

It's perfectly fine not to understand all of the intracies of military service as a sophomore in high school. What's important is that you have a desire to serve. Now you have a couple of years to educate yourself on what is available, what's easy (or hard) to do, and what ultimately makes sense for you.

Things you can do -- go to websites that discuss how you become a SEAL (or Ranger) and what the training and work is like. Go to Service Academy events (many schools and Members of Congress hold them) and talk to current students, grads, and members of the military. Get hold of your ALO (for USMA) and BGO (for USNA) and talk to them about the academies and career opportunities.

Read, read, read. There are lots of books out there written by former SEALs, Rangers, Academy grads, etc. that will help you understand more about each SA, service, and the available jobs.

As others have said, focus first on becoming an officer in your service of choice. Then figure out what you need to do to service select your desired area -- which usually means doing really well academically, physically, and in leadership. You have plenty of time . . . use it wisely.:smile:
 
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