Selection Question

J

justaparent

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I tried to search this subject prior to posting to avoid being repetitive, but couldn't find anything.

My son is considering the Naval Academy again. He considered it in high school, but was looking more towards med school. That has changed. Coming out of high school all the basic requirements were there. He graduated 14 out of about 652 students, varsity sports and honor society, Beta, etc.... He is currently in his junior year working on his degree in Psychology. He is very close to a 4.0 and that is playing Division 1 baseball.

I learned the other day that he had written a paper on his desire to continue the tradition of serving his country, by following in mine and my fathers footsteps. He has developed an interest in the intelligence community and that particular field of study.

All that to get here. Is the admissions process open to young men and women who have already graduated with a degree, as long as everything else is on par? Medical, age requirements.......those things. I know the admissions page has info about college stgudents, but is it a realistic goal or a complete long shot?

Thank you in advance for your assitance.
 
I don't know about people who already have a degree, but there are definitely people here who have had 3 years of college.
I will say however, that if he wants Navy Intel that USNA is not the way to go. You have to lat transfer there from SWO after a tour. Marine Intel he can get but he has to do TBS. I believe (although I'm not sure) that he can do intel out of the other SA's, but Navy doesn't allow it.
 
The Academy is interested. His limits at this point would seem to be age and "Service Selection". Not sure if he is too old, but he may be getting there. The Naval Academy is designed to train people to be "the tip of the spear", or Line Officers. You cannot go "Intel" out of the Academy unless you have a limiting physical reason (which makes it very hard to be accepted). There are many ways to Serve. The Academy is one of them. He should certainly consider applying. He should also be able to explain how he will reach his goal of "Intel" during his Academy interviews. It would be a sort of show-stopper if he said in an interview that he planned on going Intelligence out of the Academy when that is not an option (He can get there eventually, as was mentioned by W above). Is he taking ROTC? Has he shown in other ways that his destination is the US Navy? All this will help. Good Luck.
 
Several different questions/issues here. First, it is possible to attend USNA after completing one or more years of college, including having graduated from college, assuming you continue to meet the age limits. However, even if you have a college degree, you start at USNA as a plebe and must complete four full years there. So, for someone who already has a college degree, it means repeating "college," so to speak. I know of folks who have indeed done this, but it's rare. It's not rare to have one or even two years of college prior to attending USNA.

Second issue is going Intel. Neither men nor women can do it directly out of USNA unless they are NPQ (not physically qualified) to be an unrestricted line officer.

Thus, if he wants to be an Intel officer, the best path is probably to complete his college degree and then access the USN through AOCS. I'm pretty sure there are slots to go directly into Intel from AOCS -- you can check with the local USN officer recruiter for details.

Finally, be sure he understands what Navy Intel is like -- I was an Intel officer so I know. It's not about being a secret agent. It basically involves briefing and debriefing aircrews, reading and analyzing intel reports, briefing senior officers on tactical and strategic issues, etc. PM me for more details.
 
Thank You again for the info. Age would not be an issue. He will graduate at 22. He understands that he would have to do the full 4 years. Physically he is in excellent condition. He does have a basic understanding of the intelligence community and the various components, military and civilian. As stated earlier, he wants to follow in our footsteps. I was unaware about not going Intel out of the academy. That is a point to consider. He has mentioned an interest in Special Operations. Thank you all for the info. I will pass this along to him. Please continue to post any other thoughts you may have that you think may be helpful.
 
What would be the advantage to going to college twice? :confused:

When one can commission as an 0-1 via OCS after already completing a 4-year college degree, it seems like a 4 year career delay to me.
 
You are right Luigi and that may be the final decision. I think right now he is just exploring all available options. There is a possibility that he will be drafted next summer to play baseball. Just have to wait and see. Thanks again.
 
Luigi59 said:
What would be the advantage to going to college twice? :confused:

When one can commission as an 0-1 via OCS after already completing a 4-year college degree, it seems like a 4 year career delay to me.
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I agree. I am not sure the value of a USNA degree is worth repeating 4 years of college, especially if one is considering INTEL. Nothing against USNA or INTEL, as I am familiar with both, but there are other commissioning options available which may accomplish the same objectives in a much, much shorter time frame. 1-2 years of college, yes - more than that and I think it is hard to justify the value and time needed to finish versus the alternatives.

Just my thoughts. Obviously, this is a intensely personally decision that depends on many more factors than this. But I would look at alternatives.
 
justaparent said:
Is the admissions process open to young men and women who have already graduated with a degree, as long as everything else is on par? Medical, age requirements.......those things. I know the admissions page has info about college stgudents, but is it a realistic goal or a complete long shot?

Thank you in advance for your assitance.
Click to expand...

Non-line officer assignments are very limited during service selection. Also, there is a developing trend (that did not exist in years past) of midshipmen getting 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th choice for service selection - with seeming disregard to class ranking.

In my day (70's), if somebody so much as got their second choice, the news of such would send ripples throughout the Brigade.

"Did you guys hear about the one firstie in 12th company who asked for Marine Ground and didn't get it?"

I'm my day, I do not recall a single person who was physically qualified as a pilot, not getting to fly. Nowadays, those with 20/20 vision, selecting both Navy and Marine Air as their top choices, are being assigned as an NFO (Naval Flight Officer ... i.e. not a pilot)

Nowadays, stories like these are hardly discussed, they are so commonplace.

The Naval Academy is a 4-yr program no matter how many college credits you have.

Personally, I don't see why anybody with a college degree who satisfied the academy's age limit would want to go there. Why? There are officer training programs for college graduates. Do that!

Fundamentally, the only difference between an officer and enlisted person in the military is a 4-yr college degree.
 
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