Just_A_Mom
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2006
- Messages
- 4,774
Thanks for posting! Kind of motivated me to do that if I dont get accepted directly in High School. Would you suggest I do this if I dont get in the first time? I mean, it is like a win-win situation. If I get accepted in High School, I go to USMA. But if I become enlisted, I will have more experience and more chance of gettin in.
A good friend who was First Captain told me several years ago that one of the best routes to gain admission is enlisting, which is what he did. For those who really want to gain admission and are sitting in the NWL, you might consider this route. Not only do you get a very good feel for the Army, but you will have experience that will serve to help you. Read the article, look at the numbers that remain vacant, it's been that way for years.
Food for thought.
Thanks for posting! Kind of motivated me to do that if I dont get accepted directly in High School. Would you suggest I do this if I dont get in the first time? I mean, it is like a win-win situation. If I get accepted in High School, I go to USMA. But if I become enlisted, I will have more experience and more chance of gettin in.
Very, very, very poor advice.
LOL. And there is nothing so rewarding as attempting to lead a bunch of unhappy disgruntled soldiers who are not where they want to be. Who probably think they got 'screwed' or someone (even if it was an anonymous forum somewhere) told them it was a great idea.? I think the Army would love to have as many folks join up thinking they are definitely going to West Point, because the odds work in their favor. Most will not succeed because they are not up to the challenge and so they will remain and serve their time. Doesn't matter to the Army, one way or the other.
Well as you can see folks, there are different opinions and that is just what they are, opinions. One person who was First Captain of the brigade has one opinion, another who is a graduate currently serving has another. In the end, it is up to you and it is your choice.
LOL. And there is nothing so rewarding as attempting to lead a bunch of unhappy disgruntled soldiers who are not where they want to be. Who probably think they got 'screwed' or someone (even if it was an anonymous forum somewhere) told them it was a great idea.
A bassic tenet of good leadership is to put people in positions where they are able to succeed.
Telling young folks to enlist because someone told you it is an alternative method to gain admission completely disregards the facts of the process of going from an enlisted soldier to being a cadet. The process involves more variables and is, in several ways, harder than gaining admission from high school.
It's no wonder this supposed first captain recommended it. He enlisted to be a soldier and then, thanks to much good fortune, made it to West Point. He thinks it's a good method. It is one way in which, should all the variables align, a good soldier can advance professionally. But to call it "one of the best ways" to gain admission is a mischaracterization that borders on criminal.
You are telling folks to enlist with the GOAL of going to West Point. That is entirely different reasoning and is disingenuous at best. Enlisting in the US Army solely because one thinks it makes him more competitive for West Point is a great way to end up deployed, disappointed, and serving out an enlistment that wasn't undertaken for the right reasons.
If it was so very easy to go to USMA from the Army, the slots would not go unfilled. They go unfilled because the process is long, tedious, and requires the buy-in of many third parties plus a healthy dose of luck and timing.
Enlisting in the Army means that you are, by and large, not in charge of your short-term destiny. If you enlist, you're looking at months or years of IET and then assignment at a unit. One does not enlist, go to basic training, announce his intentions to go to USMA, and then suddenly get whisked off to the Academy.
Telling kids that they should enlist because it's one of the "best" ways to get into West Point is completely wrong. Citing the fact that it has worked for some people as evidence is akin to saying "I know a nurse who got a scholarship to medical school. The best way to become a doctor is therefore to become a nurse."
Careful there big fellow. No "supposed" about it. Of course he would say that, it's his opinion, just like you have yours.
Many join the military for a wide variety of reasons and it is not out of the realm of possibility that one of them would be to ultimately be accepted to USMA and become an officer.
I never said it was THE best way, but rather "one of the best routes" and that is his opinion backed up by his years of service and his rank.
I can tell you that the 5th Special Forces Group commander thinks anything I want.
Is it safe to assume, since you are counseling these candidates on the virtues of enlistment and applying to the academy, that you yourself have experience with this route?
No. Are you in Special Forces?
I guess that depends upon why you want to know. Hardly germane to the issue, really.
Let's try to keep the thread on the topic of enlistment and acceptance to the academy thereafter. If you want to know about my career, there's a PM button for that.
No need to PM, you answered my question.
... Or an action figure?
We dealt with this question long ago...Major Matt Mason had a space station and some really cool gadgets...and a sidekick named Geoff.