Hi, I'm interested in USMMA and would like to know more about it as a commissioning source to the army. I've read a lot of information about commissioning into the marine corps and the navy but there seems to be a general lack of information regarding the army. Would one have to attend OCS?
No. I have classmates that have already graduated IBLOC and are waiting for ranger school.
Are there opportunities to attend different schools over the summer, such as airborne or air assault? Are there any army personnel that would assist in training at the academy?
Depends, budget cuts kept people from going for a year or two, but I have plenty of classmates that went to airborne or (and) air assault. Sea year comes first though, so you might not get anything. See my comments at the end of this post.
And I also heard rumor that if commissioned into the army the army will make KP grads branch transpo, is there any sort of validity in that rumor? If I wanted to branch Infantry or Armor what would the chances of that slot be offered to me? Thank you very much, I really appreciate this.
See my answer above, the classmates I know that went army went Infantry, Quartermaster or Military Police. I don't know of anyone who went transportation corps, but I wasn't that in touch with the people who went Army.
Now, time for one of Beyonds rants on active duty commissioning. It's called the MERCHANT MARINE academy for a reason. It isn't a Military school, it's a Maritime school. The focus for four years will be getting you ready for that first night you walk to the bridge or control room (....too bad steam isn't really a thing anymore) and say to the off going engineer or mate "I got it."
The process for an AD slot is competitive and nothing is guaranteed. There are folks who wanted to go active duty and weren't offered a slot. Admissions pitches it like everyone will get an active duty billet, it just isn't true, you very well could be stuck on a grain ship to Cameroon. I'm feeling really mellow now as I'm vacation, so I won't fly off the handle about all of this, but if you get nothing else:
KP isn't the place for aspiring Army officers. You're in luck though, there is a Federal Academy for Army officers, it is called The United States Military Academy at WEST POINT.
WEST POINT WEST POINT WEST POINT, if you want to go active duty army go to WEST POINT.