Enlisted vs ROTC

[UHBlackhawk]

The advice received here is all anonymous and based on opinion, personal experiences and most of all rules of thumb. Anyone asking for guidance should consider what they are paying for the advice.

UHB, you are correct. There will always be an outlier who breaks the rules and makes it in spite of the odds, like Nadja West. On the other hand, I agree that some members here (including me) might not really look hard enough between the lines before spouting off rules of thumb. Nonetheless, I think you are coming across pretty arrogantly to imply that everyone here is wrong except you. Like Kinnem said, I absolutely encourage you to share your opinion but and to disagree with the other posters. On the other hand, please stop acting like yours is the only stuff that doesn't stink. The bottom line is not what you are saying but how you are saying it.

The OP can pick and choose from the advice posted, including yours. We all come from varying degrees of experience and background. No one here is getting paid, and no one is paying for the advice. This Forum has helped me and my DS a tremendous amount, and if I'm acting defensive, its because I am very protective and loyal to this forum.

Thank you for your service and the future service of your DD/DS.

I'm sorry I came across as arrogant. Again, I do have a major issue with someone giving life advice based on how much money they will make in seven years. Also, I tried to edit my post to tone it down but it kept being blocked by the forum as spam.

As for outliers, I would say that West Point has a large minority of them. Even my DD's class president is a prior service Ranger. It almost seems that every other Cadet I meet is an "outlier" of some sort with an odd story. Like I wrote, one left ROTC/college with a year left to commision to attend West Point. Ironically if he asked my advice I would have told him he would be an idiot to turn down the commision, but he is one of the happiest Cadets I've met. He actually knows what he gave up to be at West Point and has no regrets, unlike many others who wonder what "real college" would be like.

The same is true in the military. While we like to think of the military as a conformist organization I can think of many successful people who were "oddities". My nephew who turned down 3 service academies to go to MIT and is a successful Marine officer. MIT and Marines... they just don't seem to belong together. Another nephew walked away from ROTC to enlist in the Marines as a rifleman. After several combat tours and making E-5 left the Marines and was hiking in the Andes when he found out he was accepted to Columbia. He never would have gotten in out of high school and he graduates this month. Another nephew turned down Navy OCS and enlisted as a diver. JAG officers and Army doctors who were very successful combat arms officers first but then changed paths. One GO I've known since we were LT's has talked his entire career about how this is his "last assignment". The Army, however, kept giving him numerous "dead end" but fun/cool jobs that he was advised to turn down for his career. One day I opened the paper to see he'd made general. But I also know many officers who went the "cookie cutter" route and were very successful as well. Some stayed in, some left after their initial assignment and are well known in their fields outside the military.

The thing is, when we give this "advice" it should probably be more of explaining the different routes and some of the advantages/disadvantages of each versus telling people which route to take. Many of these "young kids" may surprise us by forging a route we would not have taken but be successful beyond our imagination.

 

[AROTC-dad]

The thing is, when we give this "advice" it should probably be more of explaining the different routes and some of the advantages/disadvantages of each versus telling people which route to take. Many of these "young kids" may surprise us by forging a route we would not have taken but be successful beyond our imagina

100% agree with this!

In fact everyone of these remarkable young people are taking the "the road less traveled" by pursuing a career in the military. UHB, your passion for what you believe in is self-evident and your enlisted DD is indeed an inspiration.

 

[Devil Doc]

I'm for sure not in that camp. I teach high school career and technical education and many of my students should not now and maybe never go to college. The OP though has college lined up and it would be foolish to pass that up to enlist and then try for a commission. The pay and lifestyle alone is worth getting commissioned sooner rather than later. My USMC captain son with seven years not only makes more money than a seven year sergeant, but he gets BAH and the sergeant must live in the barracks.

And that right there is the problem. You base your advice on what your son who is a captain currently makes compared to an NCO making that the sole basis for your advice. No mention of a person’s goals, no mention of where they are in life. Heck, no mention of perhaps going enlisted then applying. Maybe a person will find their place in life as an NCO.
That is what I find most appalling of advice given on this website even by moderators. They try to pigeon everyone, there is a cookie cutter way of going through life and the advice is to always stay within the lines. If you don’t get into a service academy but get an ROTC scholarship take it and run. Don’t even think about a service academy if you want to be a doctor.

My son isn't the sole basis for my advice. I'm a retired Navy Senior Chief with 26 years and 20 days of enlisted service. My son struggled for five years to get through college. He wanted to enlist more than once but was convinced to finish school and then raise the right hand. I found my place as an NCO and as a high school teacher feel qualified to advise young people to not pass on an opportunity to have college paid for with a good paying job waiting at graduation.

You're appalled? Really?

 

[USMCGrunt]

I have been watching this exchange with interest. All-in-all, this is a great example of public debate and discourse. Differing opinions have been presented with little personal attack and indignation. Often, it seems that we, as a nation, have lost the ability to have public discourse and civil debate. This forum is proof that good, well-intentioned people can share differing viewpoints and positions and accept that others may hold differing views in a respectful manner.

That said, I DO take exception to the following:

My nephew who turned down 3 service academies to go to MIT and is a successful Marine officer. MIT and Marines... they just don't seem to belong together.