Military/Naval Academy Differences

stlcards2012

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Although I have completed both applications, I am far more informed (from books, and my visit) about West Point. On the 29th I go for my CVW, so that will help, but I was hoping that some of you good forum members could help educate me on the big and small differences.

Recently, I have began to consider both academies and I think that the Naval Academy might be the better fit. Still, I have a lot of time and will carefully weigh both choices. Any help is appreciated:).
 
I think you'll get more replies when you've actually got Appointments to both, have collected lots of comparative information on your own (with your "lots of time"), have shared specifically why you have begun to think that the USNA might be a better fit for you, and have specific questions and a practical reason for comparing the two.

Many comparisons ultimately come down to very specific, personal issues of fit. A leather jacket might be perfect for one person, while a wool blazer equally perfect for another.
 
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A better quesiton is differences between Army / Navy career.

You will only spend 4 years at a SA, but spend at least 5 years as an Army/Navy officer. Also being an officer is a lot more challening and serious than being a cadet/midshipman.

Have to study vs going out on a patrol vs
 
The folks on here nailed it. Do you want to be an Army Officer or Naval Officer? There are a ton of old threads on here addressing these issues as they are asked every year. The Naval Academy definitely allows more flexibility between selecting USN or USMC. It is more than just selecting a school, it is about selecting your future career choice of a minimum of 5 years, if not, many more. The schools have different majors also, does one have a major you really want versus the other. Visit both if you can, that will give you a feel for things.
 
I totally understand, and that makes the choice harder. Navy definately has the better array of options, so my preference is starting to change from the USMA to the USNA. However, still a very hard decision and just want all the info I can get. Right now I am leaning towards an infantry/USMC or special operations career, if I could choose.
 
And FYI, the lack of career options is what made me drop the USAFA as a choice, since I do not think I want a career in aviation.
 
Choice of Major and those available at each SA might be a consideration. Marine Option at USNA is tough.
 
Why, competition?

Not sure what he meant. About 20-25% USNA grads go USMC. I think it hit the peak of 25% around 2010 and is heading back down recently, especially with manpower cuts in the USMC.

He could have meant this from a physical fitness perspective. Search for the standards on Navy PRT vs USMC PFT and you'll see the differences. Marines run twice as far at about the same pace as Navy to max the score (actually just a skoosh faster).
 
Why, competition?
that is how I interpreted it. Marines are the hardest to get at the Academy, I was told, by a guy who got Pilot, which was his first choice. Yes, the competition to get Marines is intense. Lots of mids who wanted Marines didn't get it.
 
that is how I interpreted it. Marines are the hardest to get at the Academy, I was told, by a guy who got Pilot, which was his first choice. Yes, the competition to get Marines is intense. Lots of mids who wanted Marines didn't get it.

There must be a boatload :wink: of folks wanting Marines.
 
There are a lot wanting Marine Option but Leatherneck evaluations and permanent party Marine on capus review counts a lot. There are only so many slots each year.
 
I totally understand, and that makes the choice harder. Navy definately has the better array of options, so my preference is starting to change from the USMA to the USNA. However, still a very hard decision and just want all the info I can get. Right now I am leaning towards an infantry/USMC or special operations career, if I could choose.

I believe USMA branch 200 +/- Infantry officers each year.

That's close to the total number of Marines from USNA each year. I don't know the precentage of Infantry. So, its not just about being commissioned in the Marines, the second part is becoming a Marine Infantry (whatever the correct terminology is). So are you okay if you become a Marine that is not Infantry?

As for being Special Operations, if you are talking about Army Special Forces/Ranger vs SEALs (have to excuse my igorance of Special Op branch in the Marines), I believe there are more officer positions in the Army side.

My recommendation is to take the names out of the equation, and focus more on the functions and opprotunties.
 
The stiffest competition is probably for SEAL/EOD.

That said, not everyone wants to be (or is physically qualified to be) a SEAL, Marine, pilot, etc. For example, many mids want to be SWOs. Thus, while SWO as a community is not considered as "competitive" as, say, SEALs, some of the top mids in every class choose to become SWOs.
 
I believe USMA branch 200 +/- Infantry officers each year.
For 2011, Marine Ground got 190 out of 1035 commissioned Officers out of USNA. For 2011, Army Infantry got 235 out of 1070 out of USMA. The % are very close. Difference is that Army also sent another about 400 into what used to be called "Combat Arms" Branches: Armor, Field Artillery, Engineeering, Air Defense Artillery, etc. So if a person wants "Combat Arms" in general, not counting Aviation, then the proportion whe get that out of USMA are about 60%, vs. Marine Ground of about 18% out of USNA.
 
Competition for going USMC will likely increase over the next few years. To my (limited, so take with a grain of salt) knowledge, the numbers that HQMC wants from each commissioning source are set out fairly far in advance.
What I mean by that is my class was getting accurate indicators of what our USMC numbers were going to look like from Plebe Summer on. What this means for you is that the Marine Corps is in a drawdown right now and other commissioning sources (post-college OCC and PLC in particular) are already feeling the hurt. This may carry over to Marine selection out of USNA.

Don't let that dissuade you. If you want it, you can make it happen.

From the prospective of wanting infantry...keep in mind that getting USMC is no guarantee for getting infantry. You will have to compete for an MOS at TBS with all of your peers from USNA as well as your compatriots from PLC/OCC (if there even is going to be OCC active...)/NROTC-MO.
For my current TBS class and at least the past few TBS classes ahead of us the numbers for infantry and other combat arms have been high. But, it is very possible to not get it if your performance isn't up to par, the staff doesn't think you should go infantry, or, more rarely, the numbers are just not in your favor due to the thirds system of MOS selection. Supposedly, and I have nothing that's not anecdotal data to back this up, USNA grads go into the combat arms MOSs in disproportionately large numbers.

USNA does offer two ways into special operations much faster than USMA: SEALs and EOD are both available at service selection and USNA grads traditionally do disproportionately well training for those fields. Also, the first tour for Marine ground intelligence officers is also often as a Scout/Sniper platoon commander and Recon/MARSOC is usually available after your first platoon commander tour.
 
Alright, well I will take all these options and make an informed a decision when I (hopefully) get my acceptance letter. Still torn. Excited though!
 
Alright, new question guys.


Does anyone have any experience with the Operations Research major? I know it is very new and would like to hear more about it. Also, are they any Arabic/Chinese Majors here? What are your thoughts on those programs?
 
i've tried looking at the marines website, but im still confused by the branching for women into the marines. i know women can be anything but SEALS in the navy, but does anybody know what jobs are restricted from women in USMC?
 
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