USAFA Cadet considering Cross-Commissioning

Dark Phoenix

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Jan 13, 2009
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Howdy all,

I'm a USAFA cadet Class of 2011 and what I want out of my military career is to be involved in the fight as much as possible. I do not want to be a pilot however, and any Spec. Ops. career fields are out of the question as I am not a strong swimmer.

I was looking into the Security Forces career field and while that looks good for me, I want to have backup plans in case there are not enough SF slots available when I graduate.

That being said, I was wondering if anybody out there knows what I would have to do if I were to cross-commission into the Army or Marine Corps (i.e. extra training like a Basic Training, OCS, etc.) and how I would go about this process, including what to expect as an officer in either of these branches of service and if you happen to have cross-commissioned from USAFA what your experiences were like during the cross-commissioning process and after graduation.

Thanks a bunch!
 
Hey man! Welcome, you have found a wonderful site, filled with wonderful people. I just wanted to say this becuase I noticed it was your first post. I dont have any experience with this, as I am a candidate, just wanted to say hello. I am sure others will help cya around
 
Thanks for the welcome man. I actually found this post looking online for info. on cross-commissioning after talking with one of the Academy Military Trainers in my squad. It seemed like the best place to get advice as a cadet was from other cadets. Best of luck getting in!
 
DP,

Give me a little bit more information about what you mean by "in the fight", and perhaps I can give you a general idea of career fields that might interest you, regardless of what branch of the service they belong to.

My first impression is you want a job as a ground commander of some type, perhaps platoon / squad leader?

And don't exactly put the AF out of the picture just yet. There are quite a few fields out there, in "the fight" everyday, who are wearing the Blue. And not just pilots and SF. AC-130 battle managers come to mind....
 
DP,

Give me a little bit more information about what you mean by "in the fight", and perhaps I can give you a general idea of career fields that might interest you, regardless of what branch of the service they belong to.

My first impression is you want a job as a ground commander of some type, perhaps platoon / squad leader?

And don't exactly put the AF out of the picture just yet. There are quite a few fields out there, in "the fight" everyday, who are wearing the Blue. And not just pilots and SF. AC-130 battle managers come to mind....

I think he meant he would rather have a m-4 carbine in his hands, than sidewinders on his wings :D
 
Air Battle Managers manage the battle from the air (no sidewinders. ;) ) And the AF spec ops guys do use M-4s. ;)
 
I know what battle managers do, saying large artillery fund sticking out of the side of the plan just didn't seem to fit LOL. He said special forces doesn't fit him
 
So now that I actually read the post (oops). Last year, they clamped down on cross-commissioning so that pretty much only people with family legacies can cross. I would not really consider cross-commissioning as a very viable option. Go for it, but make sure you have an AF career to go to that you would be comfortable in.

Not too far from me at home. I'm from the Katy part of Houston.
 
maybe security forces, like security police (SPs)
guarding a base, using SWAT-style weapons, almost like MPs (army type)
 
well security forces was the af career field i was looking at with the SWAT option and i was also looking into Tac. P. (kind of like a ground FAC). i wouldn't make a good air battle manager because the reason i'm not looking into flying is because i get airsick (otherwise i'd go for a pilot slot). but yeah i would like to be on the ground with an m-4 in a kind of squad team position. the only reason i'm considering cross-commissioning is if i can't get a SF or Tac. P. slot because i did not join the military to sit behind a desk. i was to avoid flying the pine pony as long as possible.
 
I dont think any of us want to be a desk jockey, especially after 13 years of school and 4 years of college behind one

I was thinking about Security, especially if I would end up enlisting. I am good at flying, and shooting, and I enjoy both.
 
DP,

Have you brought your concern up to your Company Officer (or whatever you Zoomies call those)?

Seriously. There is a definite "official" channel through which cross-commissionings occur, and I would urge you to follow those first as you'll most likely get better info than you could get here.

That said, I would suggest that if weak swimming skills are keeping options away from you, then hit the damned pool. Also, if you read "First SEAL" by the recently-deceased founder of the SEAL Teams, Ray Bhoem, you will read that one guy who went through BUDS could barely swim a stroke; when the acceptance criteria said "Transit the length of the pool underwater", he WALKED across the bottom of the pool. :eek::yllol:

Do YOU have that kind of drive and commitment? :thumb:
 
I've also heard the SF is one of the more demanding jobs in the Air Force, and they've had to extend deployment for SF beyond that of regular Air Force personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. So it seems like if they had to extend deployment time that this job is in high demand. But then, that may be the case only for enlisted and not officers.
 
A lot of SF go 6 and 6 for deployments, 6 months deployed, 6 months home/training. It's not an easy schedule, that's for sure.
 
SF is definitely the way i want to go my primary concern is if the Academy doesn't offer enough officer slots but i always have Tac. P. as a backup or i could go intell and work up tactics and stuff i'm pretty good in that dept.
 
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