Eagle 1
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2009
- Messages
- 236
I had a friend ask me recently why officers are required to have college degrees, and it hit me that I didn't really know why. I always knew that in order to be an officer I have to go to college, but the thought never donned on me as to why.
Sure, advanced education is the most obvious answer, but what's to say that a college educated officer will do a better job than a high school educated enlistee?
Fields in science and technology I understand the education requirements, but lets take being a pilot for a moment. Now, I'm not going to say that flying a Cessna and flying an F-16 are the same, but you only have to be 16 to get a pilot's license. With the training that the military gives all of it's pilots, whose to say the college education is what qualifies them to do that job?
The only reason I can think of is because of ROTC and the service academies. The training that one must go through to be an officer occurs while they are taking college courses, so that makes sense - but what about OCS/OTS? If you're going from enlisted to officer, what makes having college down so crucial to gaining a gold bar?
Sure, advanced education is the most obvious answer, but what's to say that a college educated officer will do a better job than a high school educated enlistee?
Fields in science and technology I understand the education requirements, but lets take being a pilot for a moment. Now, I'm not going to say that flying a Cessna and flying an F-16 are the same, but you only have to be 16 to get a pilot's license. With the training that the military gives all of it's pilots, whose to say the college education is what qualifies them to do that job?
The only reason I can think of is because of ROTC and the service academies. The training that one must go through to be an officer occurs while they are taking college courses, so that makes sense - but what about OCS/OTS? If you're going from enlisted to officer, what makes having college down so crucial to gaining a gold bar?