How do you choose?

Every year there’s always few fortunate candidates and parents with this dilemma. But the choice seems not so much what is better because they are all best choices for their service. The secret sauce is in the service. Everyone has a preference for a service 1, 2, 3. Some like Annapolis better to be schooled but like the Army. Some like to be schooled at West Point but like the Navy and some like West Point but want to be a fixed wing Pilot, but take off and land from a ship in the Navy. Choose the service first then the Academy. Only 3-5 cross commission each year. But I feel that it is best to stay in the same service so you can build fraternity throughout your life time with the Academy and friends and your service.

If you’re an outdoors guy and want to be on land bases and train in the woods and the field then it’s really the Army. If you want more technical service and like to travel on ships and wear beautiful uniforms while on town liberty then it’s the Navy. West Point and Annapolis training will give you similar technical training but for land and Sea missions. Fraternity you can build at all Academies.

However, cultures are pretty different at each Academies. You can only get a taste of it through SLE, NASS, Overnight, and CVW. I feel that the “Band of Brotherhood” is the strongest between USMA and USNA post Academy years. It’s just the way it is. Even stronger than Harvard Yale grads. And depending on locations Army/Navy meet separately and together. There is an incredible rivalry but in brotherhood. In the civilian world, Army and Navy are equally marveled, respected, and very liked! Every employers would like to have an Annapolis and West Point grad in their teams/companies.

Choose based on the service because in your heart you have that preference already! My DS loves Annapolis but he misses the land/infantry training which you will get much less and very little at Annapolis until you choose to go Marines. Follow your heart. Your heart already knows.
 
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I've said it before and I'll say it again to those on the fence. Listen to MacArthur's Duty Honor Country speech. Easily Googleable. See if it resonates with you.
 
parentalunit2 said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again to those on the fence. Listen to MacArthur's Duty Honor Country speech. Easily Googleable. See if it resonates with you.
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The Corps - The Corps - The Corps !!

Bo Schembechler shamelessly plagiarized this for 'his' famous 'The Team' speech.
 
Stork103 said:
Texan in MS said:
Have you had the opportunity to visit both? DS was set on USNA, especially following CVW. Was invited for an overnight at USMA and decided to go just to rule it out. That changed his mind completely and he has not regretted it one bit.
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Interesting. What specifically changed his mind?
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He is a very goal oriented and driven individual. I think a lot of it was influenced by the cadet and midshipman that he was paired with at each. The midshipman overslept both mornings, talked about how to get out of responsibilities, etc. The entire USMA experience was more regimented which fit his personality much better.
 
Hey Keyboard - first congrats! I'd be happy to bat things around with you if you PM me, and would be happy to put you in touch with my DS if that would help. I'm a USMA grad, and my son had the same choice a couple of years ago - he is now a youngster at USNA. I think he was USMA going in to the whole process - if only because with my USMA affiliation, we had always rooted for Army in the Army v Navy game, had been to west point for games, he was familiar with my army service, etc....but he did overnights at both academies, and liked USNA better. He thought the USNA mids were more happy than the USMA cadets....As a parent, I stressed the service commitment after, and choosing the service, etc - but honestly, I'm not sure he really had that clear a vision on the service branch, and he knew he had some other great civilian options (with ROTC), and the 4 years of school did matter to him - he knew it would be a grind, but he did want to be generally happy at the actual Academy...Truth be told, I think he is more an Army sort of kid - getting dirty as someone posted above - he is talking Marines now at USNA - so that option remains. My sense, having spent time as a student at one (even if dated) and visiting as a parent at the other - the academies each have different feel to them. Think he picked up on that, and the USNA atmosphere suited him best. I know others have stressed to pick the service first, but he definitely did not do that - he picked the academy, as he would have any other college, and trusted that he'd work it out from there.
 
As @Texan in MS stated the randomness of who they're paired with does influence their decisions.
When my DS attended CVW his plebe was nice but he really enjoyed sleeping. My DS missed out on workouts and even a breakfast.
 
THParent said:
The Army doesn't have a Marine Corps.
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Yep, the Navy has its own Army, and the Navy has its own Air Force.
Even the Navy's Army has its own Air Force.

Seriously, each of the Services has its own culture. I never spent much time with the Army folks, but part of my Nav training was at an Air Force base. My personal observation is that Navy was more amenable to individual initiative (ie. if not expressly prohibited, it was okay), where Air Force was more regimented (ie. don't do it if not addressed in Air Force regs).
 
I'm not sure what exactly made me choose that I want to be a Marine, but I do know that I've wanted to be one since I was in 4th grade. The motivation for a service academy is that my freshmen year we had an applicant in our school and his BGO came and did a presentation for our JROTC class. I loved the sound of it and have done enough research to know that I want to attend. CVW in October just solidified my choice.
 
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