Direct Commissioning

[Murt Gibson]

Don't overlook direct commissioning. While it applies to a small fraction of applicants, it is available and entails no time in ROTC, basic, OTS, OCS, etc. As an engineer with degrees, I was given a commission as 1st Lt in USAF. Went directly to specialty training in Bioenvironmental/Biomedical engineering. Other disciplines include law and medicine. Oh! Forgot to say I went from enlisted to commissioned. Had just finished basic and on a day job waiting for OCS but got the direct commission instead.

 

[AROTC Parent]

Don't overlook direct commissioning. While it applies to a small fraction of applicants, it is available and entails no time in ROTC, basic, OTS, OCS, etc. As an engineer with degrees, I was given a commission as 1st Lt in USAF. Went directly to specialty training in Bioenvironmental/Biomedical engineering. Other disciplines include law and medicine. Oh! Forgot to say I went from enlisted to commissioned. Had just finished basic and on a day job waiting for OCS but got the direct commission instead.

Active Duty or other?

 

[Murt Gibson]

Active Duty or other?

I have been discharged since 1972. I received a draft notice in 1968 while in graduate school and joined the Air Force to avoid the Army (I had been in Civil Air Patrol so I got to enter basic training with one stripe) During basic training, I applied for OCS, got accepted, went into hold status at Lackland SFB, then got picked up for direct commissioning as 1st Lt. before my class date. Attached to Air Evac at School of Aerospace Medicine for remainder of my tour. Left USAF to complete PhD and just never looked back - until 20 yeras later, when I could have had a nice pension for reserve service. :-(

 

[Devil Doc]

oh

 

[Tbpxece]

USAF doesn’t do direct commissions anymore. Closest you’ll get is COT, which still requires OTS. Only branch I’m aware of that does it is Army Guard, and even that is rare.

 

[Tbpxece]

Also, if attending Basic Training or OTS/OCS is a personal deterrent to commissioning, I’d suggest reconsidering military service. Both are relatively simple compared to a 6 month rotation in an FOL in an austere AOR.

 

[AROTC Parent]

USAF doesn’t do direct commissions anymore. Closest you’ll get is COT, which still requires OTS. Only branch I’m aware of that does it is Army Guard, and even that is rare.

All Medical Corps (Army, Navy, AF) Direct Commission Physicians. I suspect other professional careers in all three services Direct Commission when necessary. It may be semantics (Direct Commission) but it is IAW US Code for all services.

 

[Tbpxece]

All Medical Corps (Army, Navy, AF) Direct Commission Physicians. I suspect other professional careers in all three services Direct Commission when necessary. It may be semantics (Direct Commission) but it is IAW US Code for all services.

Probably semantics, yes.

USAF physicians still go to OTS. As do chaplains and legal officers.

I believe OP was speaking to Direct Commission that bypasses officer training altogether.