Time in Service After Academy

Would anyone be willing to share about their time in the service after their respective academy? What did you enjoy most about your job, what was something you wish you could have done differently, what will you miss most, do you have any regrets, why Navy over Air Force, why Army over Navy, et cetera et cetera.

I didn’t graduate from the academy but I’m an AFROTC graduate.

The one thing I enjoy most about my job? How simple it is. I could almost teach a monkey to do my job. The one thing I regret? Ironically, I regret the job too. It’s simplicity makes it rather boring - I know exactly what to expect everyday. Not to mention the fact there are practically no travel opportunities w/in my career field (the picks for a base assignment suck, especially if you are young and single) and the schedule blows. If I had to do it all over again, I would have joined another branch, probably the Navy or CG, would have made for a more interesting assignment.

Letting the OP know what career field you are in might help them with their research.

I'm an Army pilot at almost four years from graduation. I chose Army Aviation over Air Force, because I wanted to fly helicopters and on the off chance I didn't fly, there were a lot more things in the Army that I was interested in doing than in the Air Force. I never considered the Navy, because honestly, I'm not a fan of water and the idea of being trapped on a boat for extended periods of time sounded unappealing.

I absolutely love the impact my job has had so far on individual Soldiers. I honestly can think of very few jobs that I could ever enjoy more than being a Platoon Leader. I've been lucky that I'm getting a ridiculous amount of time at the company level having been entrusted with multiple platoons. I have yet to serve on staff which any Academy or commissioning . I regret the fact that the Army is based more on time based marks for career advancement than performance. At a certain point (aka in a few months), I'm going to "outgrow" my job when I promote to O3. The next time that I'll have a chance to be at the company, I'll be a Company Commander which will be an awesome opportunity to lead, train, and continue to develop as a leader and person, but everything before and after that will be staff time. Staff is important work, but its not the same. I wish commissioning sources prepared you more for staff than build up everyone's impression all you will do is be a platoon leader every day, because as a career officer, the majority of your time is actually going to be spent on staff. On staff, your daily work is more responsible for taking care of the greater organization than individual people, so again, super important, but just different. And because the system is set up this way, there will also be folks who promote and continue to take commands that should never, ever take command and be in charge of people's lives but they will because they didn't kill someone, have a DUI, or mess up "too badly."

Which leads into what I've learned to appreciate the most working in the Army: all you can do is take care of your piece and try to make a difference in your corner. I've learned a lot about how to influence others around me who outrank me because I've had the (un)fortunate pleasure of working for some very, let's say interesting bosses in some very stressful and unique environments. The people who matter will notice. Don't work for your boss and don't work for your evaluation. Its about the team and getting mission accomplished while taking care of people.


Oh, also the flying is absolutely fantastic. I love flying. Nothing better than flying 10 feet above the tree tops, doors open