Enlisting Before Academy

Hello All,

Does anybody have any experience enlisting before going to the Naval Academy. I have been thinking of what I want to do with my life recently and I have come to the conclusion that I want to experience both sides of the military (enlisted/officer). I want to do this because I feel it will not only make me a better officer but I will get to experience something many others have not. If I end up enlisting, I would enlist in the Marines and hopefully become a sniper. Being a sniper is big on my bucket list. I would hopefully deploy somewhere and then apply for the Naval Academy. I believe I have before I turn 23 to do so. That's the plan I have in my head right now. I got turned down from USNA this year as well as NROTC by the way. Please give me your feedback (constructive/critical) about my plan for the future. Thanks.

Bailey

There has been a great deal of discussion of this topic on this forum. If you search under "enlisted," you likely will come upon the threads. While there are varying views regarding your question, the general consensus here is that enlisting in the USN or USMC presents a VERY difficult path to becoming an officer. It definitely can happen but is not something you should count on, expect, etc. when you enlist.

If you want to be an officer and USNA/ROTC aren't working out, consider attending college and then going OCS. One way to do this is to enlist, save your money, use that plus GI benefits to attend college when your enlistment is up, and then apply to OCS.

There are enlisted sailors and marines that do go to the academy and it isnt easy but it is possible. I am an aviation machinist mate 3rd class petty officer and have been accepted to naps this year and will be class of 2020. I have 3 years in and naps will make it 4. I have deployed 3 times and have had a lot of good experiences while enlisted. My recommendation to you if it is something you want to do is enlist as soon as possible 17 is when i enlisted and anywhere after 18 is really pushing it. Schools bootcamp receiving orders etc takes a long time so you will need to be young so that you meet that age requirement for usna. A lot of people underestimate how long that schools and everything takes before you get settled in a command. And you want that time in enlsited really experiencing it will take some time. If you have any questions let me know i will do my best to answer them

The odds of becoming a Marine sniper are incredibly low.

http://www.slightlyqualified.com/how-to-become-a-marine-corps-scout-sniper

http://www.marines.com/being-a-marine/roles-in-the-corps/ground-combat-element/scout-sniper

Thanks for the info all. I know it is very hard to enlist then become an officer through USNA. Using my GI bill then attending OCS seems like a good idea. Could I also do NROTC at a 4 year college after my enlistment is up?

USMCGrunt said:

The odds of becoming a Marine sniper are incredibly low.

http://www.slightlyqualified.com/how-to-become-a-marine-corps-scout-sniper

http://www.marines.com/being-a-marine/roles-in-the-corps/ground-combat-element/scout-sniper

Click to expand...

I am not talking about scout sniper. Aren't there snipers in the regular fire teams in the marines? Like designated marksmen or anything? I'm aware of the rigors of become a scout sniper and have read that slightly qualified article.

No. There are not "designated marksmen" in a Marine fire team - or better yet, they are all designated marksmen. A Marine fire team has a "rifleman" but this is nothing like what you are suggesting.

USMCGrunt said:

No. There are not "designated marksmen" in a Marine fire team - or better yet, they are all designated marksmen. A Marine fire team has a "rifleman" but this is nothing like what you are suggesting.

Click to expand...

I must be mistaken then. My bad.