Lots of folks who are not infantry talking about the pitfalls of the infantry. I am not a chef, so I try not to talk about cooking.
Soldiergriz- I see very few people talking about Infantry on here - I see lots of folks talking about a freshman in college who is considering dropping a scholarship because they think that their record won’t get them branched Infantry. So to be clear - my points are:
a. 20 + years as an Infantry officer here and father of a current Infantry NCO in the 82d. A life as an 11B is not the same as it may seem to an 18 year old who has never seen the peacetime Army. It’s not all Hooah hardcore stuff all the time.
b. A degree is a pretty important and expensive qualification for those in or out of the Army. Giving up a 4 year scholarship is a potentially life changing decision.
c. One semester into one’s college career is insufficient to judge either your overall college performance or your likelihood of being commissioned into the branch of your choice.
d. Making that decision because you are certain (at age 18) that you will be the hardest nail in the toolbox is also preliminary. I don’t believe I can count the number of cadets who I have seen change over the years from being the most “hooah“ cadets out there to suddenly being concerned about their post Army careers and going into CS/CSS branches ( or whatever they call them now). - (BY THE WAY, that post-Army career concern that I have heard from so many Cadets is equally horse droppings. Infantry Officers are in as high employment demand as any other branch for civilian employment. Army logistics is not civilian logistics, Army Finance is not business finance etc etc... Your service in the Army will be as marketable as you make it. An Infantry Officer is an operations manager and the elements of success are the same in the civilian world and the Army! Just a personal pet peace of mine[emoji33]!)
e. Dropping all of the above because some senior cadet gave erroneous commissioning “advice” is a serious, serious mistake. If the cadet in question has determined that they are just unsuited for college then that is a different conversation. But as relayed the cadet has received neither good advice on how branching occurs, nor are they far enough along in their Army experience to really know what they will want at age 22.
f. Bottom line the cadet needs to stick it out and work harder academically, physically and in their ROTC Military Science classes and don’t leap to conclusions about a future that is 3 years down the road still!