Air Force and Navy OTS/OCS/ODS Simultaneous Applications?

[milmomsomeday]

I'm a long-time lurker and know that some very experienced people will give us great advice.

My son has decided he is interested in possibly pursuing a military career. He is a business management major with a few more years to go. Our question is, it seems like the officer route outside the Academies and ROTC is very competitive, and wondered if any of those can be pursued at the same time. Specifically, can he put his application in for the Air Force to go to OTS at the same time as the Navy's OCS/ODS?

Also, would the Navy route be the OCS or ODS route?

And finally, if the boards do not select him, would a good backup plan be to enlist and try to pursue an officer career once he gets started as an enlisted personnel?

Thanks in advance for any guidance. Appreciate all that you guys do for those of us who just have no clue.

 

[Ihavenoidea]

There is nothing wrong with looking into OTS/OCS/ODS at same time, but at some point, he will have to make a choice. Until you sign a contract you have options. Though he should understand that some options may come faster than others, so he may have to give up one to wait for another. As he has time, I would recommend he look into each branch and really see which one is the one for him. My might not of picked what he wants to do in said branch, but with a few more years, he can really see which branch and mission he is interested in.

Barring some medical, education, or TBA issue, any of the branches will likely want your son to serve. Now what he would be doing in that branch is where the rubber meets the road. The more competitive the specific community is (Naval Aviation versus SWO, Infantry versus Army Corp of Engineers) makes a difference.

 

[SVfather]

Your son is a good candidate for Marine PLC if he wants to be a Marine.

 

[milmomsomeday]

There is nothing wrong with looking into OTS/OCS/ODS at same time, but at some point, he will have to make a choice. Until you sign a contract you have options. Though he should understand that some options may come faster than others, so he may have to give up one to wait for another. As he has time, I would recommend he look into each branch and really see which one is the one for him. My might not of picked what he wants to do in said branch, but with a few more years, he can really see which branch and mission he is interested in.

Barring some medical, education, or TBA issue, any of the branches will likely want your son to serve. Now what he would be doing in that branch is where the rubber meets the road. The more competitive the specific community is (Naval Aviation versus SWO, Infantry versus Army Corp of Engineers) makes a difference.

Thank you for the advice. I think I might be overthinking the data as a mom whose life experience often makes me second guess whether my kid can do it. I am sending him off to research, research, research everything and to contact the officer recruiters as he gets within a year to year and a half of graduation. I think by then he will have a much better idea of what he wants, which should help him narrow it down.

Thanks!

 

[milmomsomeday]

Your son is a good candidate for Marine PLC if he wants to be a Marine.

He thinks he isn't tough enough for the Marines, but we have a ton of respect for those who are.

 

[USNA_STEM_Prof]

I'm a long-time lurker and know that some very experienced people will give us great advice.

My son has decided he is interested in possibly pursuing a military career. He is a business management major with a few more years to go. Our question is, it seems like the officer route outside the Academies and ROTC is very competitive, and wondered if any of those can be pursued at the same time. Specifically, can he put his application in for the Air Force to go to OTS at the same time as the Navy's OCS/ODS?

Also, would the Navy route be the OCS or ODS route?

And finally, if the boards do not select him, would a good backup plan be to enlist and try to pursue an officer career once he gets started as an enlisted personnel?

Thanks in advance for any guidance. Appreciate all that you guys do for those of us who just have no clue.

When I was an OCS recruiter I know I had a couple of applicants simultaneously pursuing both. It's a little frustrating as a recruiter because it makes the applicant even less of a sure thing, but I couldn't blame the applicant. So can it be done? My experience says 'yes' but your son may run into extra resistance.

For Navy, OCS = active duty commission into the line (warfare) communities. ODS is for staff officers, think medical, dental, chaplain, etc. ODS is also for reserve commissions now as well.

I know a lot of prior enlisted officers and am one myself. My only advice if he does enlist is two fold:

1) He must be prepared to serve his entire enlistment. There's no guarantee he'll get a commissioning selection while enlisted.
2) He must be prepared to be a great enlisted sailor first and then pursue a commissioning. There's always that knucklehead hounding his or her leadership about commissioning but being being a middle of the road (or lower) in terms of their work. IMO this is the exception to the rule, but still sound advice.

All that said, there are some phenomenal commissioning programs for enlisted sailors.

 

[milmomsomeday]

When I was an OCS recruiter I know I had a couple of applicants simultaneously pursuing both. It's a little frustrating as a recruiter because it makes the applicant even less of a sure thing, but I couldn't blame the applicant. So can it be done? My experience says 'yes' but your son may run into extra resistance.

For Navy, OCS = active duty commission into the line (warfare) communities. ODS is for staff officers, think medical, dental, chaplain, etc. ODS is also for reserve commissions now as well.

I know a lot of prior enlisted officers and am one myself. My only advice if he does enlist is two fold:

1) He must be prepared to serve his entire enlistment. There's no guarantee he'll get a commissioning selection while enlisted.
2) He must be prepared to be a great enlisted sailor first and then pursue a commissioning. There's always that knucklehead hounding his or her leadership about commissioning but being being a middle of the road (or lower) in terms of their work. IMO this is the exception to the rule, but still sound advice.

All that said, there are some phenomenal commissioning programs for enlisted sailors.

Thanks so much! I think the biggest thought to looking at both is just that his desire to serve is so much more about service to his country than his loyalty to a branch of service, if that makes sense. He is a business major, so would like to do something in an office in the military. His concern in looking at the very low acceptance rate for OTS in the Air Force is that he might not even have a chance to be selected, so that's why he started thinking maybe the Navy.

I am hoping that as he researches more, his plan will become more solid and he will have a better understanding of what he wants to do. Thank you for your advice. That also makes a lot of sense about being the best enlisted sailor first. He has always been a good follower and a leader as he came through Boy Scouts, so I would hope that tradition would continue in his service to his country.

 

[Devil Doc]

He thinks he isn't tough enough for the Marines, but we have a ton of respect for those who are.

I second the Marine PLC recommendation. Your son may surprise himself and not only find he is tough enough but may just enjoy the culture. If he goes to the first six week session and doesn't like it he doesn't have to show up for the second one the following summer and owes the government nothing. The link has info on all the Marines' officer accession paths including PLC.

Become a Marine Corps Officer | Marines

Becoming a Marines Corps Officer is about proving your footsteps are worth following. Learn about eligibility requirements & the path to become a USMC Officer.

www.marines.com

 

[USNA_STEM_Prof]

so would like to do something in an office in the military.

Any officer is going to spend time doing office work. I mean, it's in the title: OFFICE-R. While Navy SEAL officers certainly do office work from time to time, it's not as frequent as a Human Resources officer of course. As a business major, going the supply corps route may be of interest to him.

While I can't speak to OTS acceptance rates, I know that there hasn't been a better time to apply for Navy OCS in the past fifteen years or so.