Greetings

Ramsosig

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2020
Messages
2
Hello everyone. I am a senior in high school seriously considering joining the military one way or another. I just made this account tonight in hopes to gain more information about the military and to see what options could be available to me. I have stumbled across this site a few different times when searching for information about the military and possible paths to a career. I have always had a yearning in my heart to serve my country and lately I have become serious in my research. The more I dig into research however, the more I discover how much there really is to uncover. I’ve spoken to recruiters, friends, and relatives in the military who have recommended various processes to serve, but being me I always seek to know as much as I can before I commit to something. I’m hoping that joining this forum could help me in the right direction. Thanks for reading and have a great day.
 
Well, if you hope to attend a service academy you might be late to the game for this year, as nomination application deadlines are coming up soon or probably already passed in some cases. Don't rule it out without investigation though. Certainly ROTC programs can be a viable path if you want ot have a "normal" college experience. That's the path DS pursued. Finally there are also other paths to a commission which are different in each service, most notably Officer Candidate Course/School post college graduation, and even others in some services, particularly PLC in the Marine Corps. Good luck!
 
Thank you. I’m not really planning on attending an academy, but I thought I would see a different perspective anyway. I’m considering doing ROTC in college, but I’m uncertain what path is the best for someone who is an aviation geek like myself. The length of the process doesn’t really intimidate me, but what does is not knowing which path to take, or where I’ll end up. Sometimes, things are just out of your control and you really never know until you’re there. I’ve been given suggestions to do ROTC, OTS, or enlist and go through warrant officer school. I’m not really sure of the details but I have been researching. I’ve heard things like you have better chances in certain paths because “less people do it.” I’m also hoping to get ideas on how to make myself very competitive, but besides getting good grades and obtaining flight hours in a college specific program, I don’t know what else I can do.
 
As you learn more — about yourself, the military, officer commissions, the different paths — know that not all officers took a linear route. As SAF shows each year, some start at ROTC and shift to an SA. Some start at an SA and shift to ROTC. Some start at one of those and end up at OCS. Find the path that makes the most sense for you. And do it by going into SA, ROTC and OCS websites and reading every link, dropdown, tab and page.

By the way, don’t do something primarily because “fewer people do it.” That’s often a recipe for “now I see why fewer people do it.” Do something because you genuinely want to do so, not because it’s the easier path.
 
MidCake is wise.

Regarding aviation... every service has aviators.
Army - mostly rotary but some fixed wing too. Most flying is done by warrant officers but some officers get to fly, for a while at least.
Air Force - of course. Only officers fly. You have a nice big runway to take off of and to land on.
Navy - fixed wing and rotary craft. Only officers fly. Mostly landing on pitching and yawing postage stamps for that extra challenge.
Marines - fixed wing and rotary. Only officers fly. Otherwise similar to Navy, but the missions are almost all tactical, supporting Marines on the ground vs. strategic.

You can learn more about aviation in each service on that service's web pages. Of course you'll also need to think about where you want to be when you do that flying. On a ship or near a beach? Marines and Navy. Dry land? Army or Air Force. Guess I state the obvious though. Good luck! Enjoy your research.
 
Don't forget Coast Guard: they fly a lot of rotary and some fixed wing, and they have exactly no bases in Nebraska, North Dakota, West Texas or Nevada. ;)
 
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