College Major vs military career

[Ryder70]

How much does your choice of College Major influence the track of your military career? Does certain Majors produce longer military careers than others? Thank you for all the great info we have received from the site.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

It depends. If you want Cyber, they are looking for very specific skill sets.
Want medical school? Again, if not certain majors you need certain courses. It’s possible to do those courses later then go to medical school.
There might be a few others, but I can’t think of them. I was a German Lit/European History major but went Aviation out of ROTC.

 

[Devil Doc]

My son’s major is Conflict Analysis and Resolution. His Marine Corps specialty is the Resolution part.

 

[OldRetSWO]

I majored in International Security Affairs at USNA and was a Surface Warfare Officer with several front edge of technology billets and then worked in industry in a variety of Engineering positions.

My son majored in Aeronautical Engineering at USNA and is now a Submariner and Nuclear Engineer.

 

[USMCGrunt]

In general, the Marines don't care what your degree was in (I am sure that there might be exceptions although I don't know of any). Your MOS (military occupational specialty) could dictate a longer career obligation (pilots, for instance). In the end, a longer USMC career is a function of personal performance, world events, job assignments, Commanding Officers (reporting seniors and the fitness reports they write), physical endurance (holding up to the wear and tear of the job), career choices along the way, personal choice and a whole lot of LUCK.

I was a business major and was an Infantry Officer. I don't recall too many examples but within my Company I remember one guy had a degree in meteorology and another studied geology and a third had a chemical engineering degree. I don't believe any of us served more than 6 years and all left by personal choice.

 

[shiner]

There are a handful of career fields that require a specific major - like chemist. However, the vast majority of career fields do not require a particular major but simply have the requirement of a bachelor's degree. An individual's inclination to remain in the military or separate after their service commitment is complete will greatly depend on individual factors which would be difficult to correlate and most certainly would not simply rely on their college major. Factors like operations tempo, family needs/construct, alignment of career field and personality, etc.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

I would add that if you have thoughts about a post military career take courses that may help. As an example, my nephew was a Marine pilot who majored in engineering in college. He is now getting his PhD in engineering. If he were a history major in college this would be doeable, but much, much more difficult.
Even in the military certain degrees may be helpful. Flight school was not an issue for me as a history major. Test pilot or astronaut? Sorry. You need a technical degree for entry.