Enlisting Before USNA

[Anonymous121]

My DS enlisted as a plan B. He has a Jul ship date, but also has an LOA from USNA. I would echo the others that say, as a Freshman work to make yourself to get a USNA appt. But also be realistic and have other plans. For my son, Plan B was a USMC enlistment.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there are various options for enlistment to officer ("Mustangs" they are called). One is to get an undergrad degree while enlisted, then OCS to commission. For some people this may make you a better officer. Is it worth 4 years as enlisted, then OCS, etc.? Depends on you really.

I hope he didn't enlist for active duty.

 

[Sevastopol79]

Speaking from Army enlisted to USMA (CO 2026) here, so of course your mileage may vary. I enlisted in March of my junior year of high school in the National Guard. I had already started my application by the time I enlisted, so don't worry about your application being closed while you are away for basic training. After basic, I got an LOA but still needed a commander's assessment. Don't forget that even if you are highly qualified in other areas, you still need your commander to sign off on it. I was able to get my LTC to fill out the assessment, so it doesn't have to be just the company commander. I don't know if the Navy Reserve has an option for going to basic in between your junior and senior years of high school though.
Just my two cents!

 

[Barracuda17]

All the above is good advise. You do have a few years to sort it out.
There is a tendency to push teens to college right away. I’ve seen many who could use a few years off before jumping in to “bake” a little more. Sometimes enlisting is a good way to take some years off. My DW went that route.
Another possibility is to go split training in the Army Guard or Reserves. Go to basic training between your junior and senior year of high school. You then drill with your unit your senior year one weekend a month. Most units will let you do drill on different days if you have sports commitments the day of drill to make it up.
If your unit is called up you can NOT be mobilized until you complete high school and advanced training.
You then attend advanced training between your senior year of high school and college.
If you are selected to a service academy or get an ROTC scholarship that trumps your enlistment contract.
Even if you do not get a service related nomination being enlisted generally helps your application and you count for the SAs “prior service” numbers.
Being enlisted Army does not mean you have to go to USMA. I’ve known prior enlisted in the Coast Guard who went to USMA, Army and Air Force who have gone to USNA.

I'm currently thinking of doing the Split Training Option during junior-senior summer to help me apply to the service academies and possibly get a nomination through them. But am concerned that if I do get an ROTC scholarship or accepted into an academy my NCO and Company Commander have no obligation to release me. Do you know if this is true and there is some risk in getting stuck as a national guard?

 

[Barracuda17]

Speaking from Army enlisted to USMA (CO 2026) here, so of course your mileage may vary. I enlisted in March of my junior year of high school in the National Guard. I had already started my application by the time I enlisted, so don't worry about your application being closed while you are away for basic training. After basic, I got an LOA but still needed a commander's assessment. Don't forget that even if you are highly qualified in other areas, you still need your commander to sign off on it. I was able to get my LTC to fill out the assessment, so it doesn't have to be just the company commander. I don't know if the Navy Reserve has an option for going to basic in between your junior and senior years of high school though.
Just my two cents!

Is there a risk of not being released from the national guard even if you do get accepted to a service academy or receive an ROTC scholarship?

 

[UHBlackhawk]

There are probably exceptions, but in general, no. I know of at least two cases where service members had appointments to SAs and someone attempted to “hold” that service member. Not for any reason of misconduct, they just didn’t want to release that body. Details to be done, too important to the mission…. In both cases the service member got to the SA and the people who tried to hold them up had some of their rear end missing.
If a unit or ship can’t perform their mission without an E-3/E-4 there is a problem with that unit or ship.

 

[THParent]

Is there a risk of not being released from the national guard even if you do get accepted to a service academy or receive an ROTC scholarship?

No. If you are accepted to an academy, you typically get separated from your enlisted service the same day you are appointed. As for ROTC, I don't know but this instruction should make it more clear:

DoDI 1332.14 : https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/133214p.pdf?ver=ZXvYTwcxAHtZNAB7hXBZZQ==

Reads: "Motivated enlisted Service members may be discharged or released from active service before expiration of their obligated service to further their education at a college, university, or vocational or technical school when it is determined that discharge or release is appropriate."

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Is there a risk of not being released from the national guard even if you do get accepted to a service academy or receive an ROTC scholarship?

Enlistment in any Service is a contract- and you should always read and understand a contract; you should not rely on the what a Recruiter says or worse, anonymous advice on the Internet.

Of course, the enlistment contract likely incorporates regulations by reference, so you also have to know what the regulations say :

This instruction (DoDI 1332.14) : https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/...dodi/133214p.pdf?ver=ZXvYTwcxAHtZNAB7hXBZZQ== Reads: "Motivated enlisted Service members may be discharged or released from active service before expiration of their obligated service to further their education at a college, university, or vocational or technical school when it is determined that discharge or release is appropriate."

> Key word here being MAY, not shall or will ! Of course, it is in the best interest of the service to give quality individuals the opportunity to advance and get the most out of their service, and most GOOD leaders will encourage attendance at a Service Academy. That said, there are BAD leaders who might make bad decisions for a variety of reasons (ie. short term need, fear that this counts against retention, etc).

Bottom line - there is a potential "risk" ..but realistically, I think the risk is relatively low.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Even poor leaders do not work in vacuums. If an enlisted member does not show up to I-Day/R-Day feelers will be put out to them. If the response is “I want to be there but my commander/NCO won’t release me”…. things will probably happen.
In one case I know of the soldier came back early from a deployment to attend a SA, but was not being released from details by the rear detachment COC to out-process. Taskings such as trash collection and KP were more important. A week prior to the report date the service academy NCO leadership got wind of what was happening. That soldier suddenly out processed in one day with an E-8 as an escort.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Even poor leaders do not work in vacuums.

Of course,,but some times there are legitimate reasons...

My brother-in-law enlisted in the Navy Reserve just about the time the the Second Gulf War was building up. He was working on his architecture degree, wanted to get a commission as a Seabee officer, and he was running up against the clock for maxium age for new accessions. I was talking to my sister and she just "assumed" the Navy wouldn't send him to the sandbox as an E-1 so he could finish his degree, and I explained to her the sometimes brutal concept of the "needs of the Navy:, ie. if the Navy decides that they needed BIL to put up tents and build latrines in Saudi Arabia instead of finishing his degree, they would send him. Good news, he didn't deploy then...got his commission, and got to visit the Sandbox later as a LT.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Of course,,but some times there are legitimate reasons...

My brother-in-law enlisted in the Navy Reserve just about the time the the Second Gulf War was building up. He was working on his architecture degree, wanted to get a commission as a Seabee officer, and he was running up against the clock for maxium age for new accessions. I was talking to my sister and she just "assumed" the Navy wouldn't send him to the sandbox as an E-1 so he could finish his degree, and I explained to her the sometimes brutal concept of the "needs of the Navy:, ie. if the Navy decides that they needed BIL to put up tents and build latrines in Saudi Arabia instead of finishing his degree, they would send him. Good news, he didn't deploy then...got his commission, and got to visit the Sandbox later as a LT.

I think this is where the SAs would be different. If someone doesn’t show up to ROTC or other Officer programs no one probably notices.
If a service member accepts an appointment to a SA, then doesn’t show up without communicating that they changed their mind, the SA will normally take interest and reach out to them. If they still want to attend the SA will then probably go through the unit’s higher chain of command. If the answer from the unit is along the lines of “we need the service member to put up tents and dig latrines”, the COC will probably have something akin to the Wrath of God come down and smite them.
But… needs of the service can still prevail. I think it was in the book “Devotion” that a story was related about a Marine appointed to USNA. The Korean War broke out and his appointment was deferred. He ended up being wounded seriously enough in the war that he could not attend.

 

[Barracuda17]

Speaking from Army enlisted to USMA (CO 2026) here, so of course your mileage may vary. I enlisted in March of my junior year of high school in the National Guard. I had already started my application by the time I enlisted, so don't worry about your application being closed while you are away for basic training. After basic, I got an LOA but still needed a commander's assessment. Don't forget that even if you are highly qualified in other areas, you still need your commander to sign off on it. I was able to get my LTC to fill out the assessment, so it doesn't have to be just the company commander. I don't know if the Navy Reserve has an option for going to basic in between your junior and senior years of high school though.
Just my two cents!

I’m considering doing the split training option.
Did you enlist just to improve your application to West Point? Do you think it helped you get in and is it worth doing it if your goal is just to go to a service academy/rotc?

 

[USNA_STEM_Prof]

Hello, I am currently a Freshmen in High School and I am wondering 2 things: is enlisting before USNA a good option(will it look good on the application) and second if I don't get admitted to USNA in that gap year could I enlist and then reapply next year?

A lot of good advice in this thread. I'm a prior-enlisted officer and former CO so I've seen the entire gamut. A few thoughts:

- Don't enlist just to seek commissioning. Enlist because you want to serve regardless, are excited by the enlisted opportunities, and are okay with finishing your enlistment

- If you enlist it is imperative to be the best darn sailor you can be first and then seek commissioning. I've seen a decent number of junior enlisted whom I suspect enlisted to pursue a commission but were so focused on being an officer, they were already looking past their enlisted responsibilities. Why would I as their division officer / department head / CO endorse their commissioning package if they aren't a great enlisted sailor?

- Anecdotal: Of the four of us that lived together as enlisted nukes, three commissioned, one via USNA. Nuke power is very academic and disproportionately produces prior-enlisted officers, particularly because it funnels talented enlisted into commissioning programs for nuke power officers (which are hard to get)

In the end you need to decide what you want. I was a broke kid from a trailer and I didn't even know what an officer was, haha. I just knew enlisting was a way to get money for college -- the end. The point? There's no fixed path, you can only make the best decisions for yourself at any given moment and have a cascading series of plan A/B/C/etc.