- Joined
- Sep 23, 2010
- Messages
- 79
I've heard that the Army will often allow officers to head back to school to obtain a graduates degree, typically after promotion to Captain. Is this true?
If you want to be promoted to the O4/O5 rank you will need a Masters. I say O4/O5 because the military has the ability to determine when it will unmask Grad school for promotion boards. I have seen it unmasked at O4 and at O5.
Promotion boards are like ROTC boards, they look at the whole AD member. By not having your Masters and/or PME you will get less points. They draw a line and anyone above that line gets promoted, below and you are passed over.
I think you may be under the assumption that if you make Captain, they will send you to a grad school in residence. That is not traditionally true for the majority of officers. Most take TA and go at night. Every Base/Post has an education office, and this is where satellite colleges like Webster, Troy, AERU, and UMD are located.
They will try to do it at the Capt time frame, because by then they have already gotten their career footing down, and this is the time where they know if they un mask it for O4, they will be safe for promotion. Additionally, as you get older it becomes more difficult since you will have more responsibilities in your career, but most likely also in your private life too...wife and kids.
I always suggest to get your Masters done ASAP because you would be amazed how fast time flies and all of the sudden you will be sitting up against the wall trying to get it done prior to the board meeting.
Maybe. By the time you get there. The Navy has commenced a four year pilot programm, CIPP, Career Intermission Pilot Program, where officers and enlisted can take a one to three year leave of absence in the IRR on 1/15 pay and retain Tricare. At present, it is limited to 20 officers per year. If it is successful and retained, it would not surprise me if the other services followed suit. Not sure I would recomment it though.I think you already addressed this point, but I'd like a bit of clarification. Does the Army ever allow active-duty officers an unpaid leave in order to pursue a Master's degree, or are officers expected to earn their Master's before/during their active duty career?
For example, I believe only last yr a WP cadet was selected for Rhodes. He is an AD member, who is getting paid to go to grad school as an O1.
Same for the Navy but it is good to have it for O-5.You do not need a master's to make Major (O-4)
Scout,
I agree with you the military today is not the military of 5,10 or 15 yrs ago. There are alot more deployments. HOWEVER, that being said, the AF never left the sandbox since 1990. It was in the 90's very common to do a 4 month rotation every 16 months.
The Army may feel this way about Masters and PME, but even in today's AF, that degree means something. 2 yrs ago 2 of our friends were passed over for O5 and forced to retire at 20 on the dot. Why? Because they never got their Masters, instead all they had on their OPR was flying, with leadership positions. That was only 2 yrs ago. We had a 3rd friend who was an AFA grad also forced to retire because he did not do PME even in correspondence.
How many O4's that got CGSC do you know (% wise) without having at least started their Masters?
Yes, the Army's a bunch of inbred morons who care not about something so silly as advanced education, and thus any of the great unwashed can make rank in the Army, right? You know that's what you want to say so just say it.
Maybe AF officers have more time to get their degree as captains or majors, since the majority still haven't deviated from the 4-month deployments (every now and then they'll pull a "long tour" for 6). And no, tours at al-Udeid don't count.
Balkans? Who got the Army's but over there?
Haiti? Who was the 82nd hitching a ride with? The AF. Pope had the runways filled for the troops, as they were in lock down somewhere in the 82nd (Bullet could tell me, but than have to kill me) he as an AF officer was in lock down with AF personnel to jump with the 82nd.
Why do most AF bases have rent a cops for guard duty? Because the SPs are deployed and they need rent a cops.
I also agree every base has long term TDY, did you not read Bullet going to Ft Polk 4 times a yr for a month? That is on top of them doing their monthly exercises of night drops into the field.
I am in no way what so ever saying the AF is better, I have been one person who has always said that the Army is the one that takes it in the teeth. I have always said that the AF is known as the Chair Force or the Corporate Branch. I have had the luxury of living on 2 Army posts during Bullets AF career. Trust me, I saw it up front and personal the amount of sacrifices families made.
Yet, how about giving the AF some credit too, instead of seeing them as the military member who never earned a spot at the table?
I think you took a comment that I made way over the top.
Pima said:The Army may feel this way about Masters and PME, but even in today's AF, that degree means something.
It was meant to say, the military on the best day will be 30 yrs of your life, you will still want a 2nd career.
You are correct, this is not 10/15 yrs ago. Yet, you can't predict 10/15 yrs from now where we will stand in the 2 war fronts. I am hoping that it will go back to fun tdy's and that the way the decision is made is not because the member has a Bronze star, or air combat medal, but they have a Masters.
I'm a devoted fan of USNA1985, but want to add a small subset to Option 1 (since this site includes a lot of service academy folks): VGEP. It allows about 20 Mids/class to pursue a master's @ a DC-area college/university, starting in the 2nd semester of their 1/C year, and postponing true active duty. Navy helps pay (around $7500) and some schools offer USNA scholarships that further reduce cost.
Despite what others have said on this site, my Mid was told this year, in 2010, that VGEP would NOT add years to his service obligation. He starts @ Johns Hopkins in January.