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Navyarmy2025

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I have recently been accepted into both the Naval Academy and to West Point. I have always wanted to attend the Naval Academy but acceptance into West Point has changed my perspective and now I am conflicted. I was going to find more about my answer from the summer camps but they were canceled due to COVID. What different factors should I be looking at regarding this decision as I am very conflicted. Any help would be great!
 
You should look at the different assignments for officers in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Your time at Annapolis or West Point will go quickly-hopefully you will pick a service and career that you will like. The USNA website has a career page that briefly shows where the majoring of officers can start their careers. Start there and then research more on what community interests you. Do the same for the Army. Congratulations and thank you for your service to our country.
 
justdoit19 said:
What do you want to do after your time at either place? What “job” do you want to do?
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As of right now I am thinking of going into the medical corps, which both schools offer. However, I understand that spots are very limited so I was also thinking of becoming a pilot, which both school also offer. For careers after the time at the service academy, I am leaning more towards the Naval Academy as they offer a broader range of military careers.
 
That gut feeling you have is almost always correct! Either way though, it's a win! Congrats and good luck!
 
Do the reverse engineering along the path of not getting a medical school slot. It’s a only a handful each year, and the ones who get it are usually eye-wateringly top performers. As recommended by others, be sure of a few paths out of each SA appeal to you at this point, knowing your mind could change along the way. Do the deep research on those officer branches and warfare communities.

Don’t forget the Navy operates below the water, on or about the water and above the water, often for long periods of time far from sight of land. That is not for everyone.
 
Navyarmy2025 said:
I was also thinking of becoming a pilot, which both school also offer.
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I would strongly recommend looking a little bit more into the differences in how aviation works in each branch. The Navy and Marine Corps aircraft are flown by commissioned officers, and that is pretty much their primary duty. As I understand it, in the Army, commissioned officers in aviation learn to fly, but the vast majority of actual flying is done by warrant officers.
 
Jut a comment on avaiation. Navy pilots fly fixed wings although many dont. Army pilots fly helicopters almost exclusively and you will only fly between 2-4 years and then will probably fly a desk afterwords. Warrant Officers fly helicopters most the time.
 
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Either way for aviation it’s 10 years.

Be careful with “flight hours” for each branch. I know officers in each branch that have been on active flight status all 10 years. I also know officers from both Army and Navy with 2 years of flight status followed by desk jobs. Either way it’s 10 years.
 
Remember, you can do something else then become a doctor. Once you are a doctor it's tough to become something else, though I have known a few who gave it up to fly.
DW was a pilot before going to medical school. I know other pilots, Armor officers, Infantry who became doctors. Heck, the Navy has a former SEAL who went to medical school and was recently picked up for the astronaut program.
So going to medical school straight out of a SA is a great goal, but don't sweat it if it doesn't happen.
 
Our son was in your shoes last year. He was surprised to get an appointment from one, yet alone 2. He then had some thinking to do. First, it came down to the careers he could see himself in. He really couldn't see himself leading infantry. That was a pretty solid feeling. He wanted aerospace as a major, USNA leads there, and he was lucky enough to do summer STEM and had spent time in the labs and with professors. It left an impression (this is not to say West Point wouldn't have done the same).
We discussed and played devil's advocate ad nauseam as it related to the 'what if I don't get the service selection I want' for both academies. And if so, which of them at each might be deal-breakers for him. We discussed potential duty stations, length of deployments, which career path might be family-friendly (any active duty poses challenges here).
In the end, he went with his long-time first choice, and he is happy he did so. He did say, while at the Army-Navy Game this year, that he was really happy he chose what he did ----something about everything in West Point being grey......;)

You are in a very enviable position. There is no rush to decide. No need to make a decision immediately.. Take your time, reach out to those who have attended one or the other, and ask questions. Good luck to you and congratulations on your appointments. Also, hug mom and dad and the family, you will be missing them soon.
 
Old joke -- What do Naval Academy graduates and West Point graduates have in common ? Both got accepted to West Point.

OP is not the first to have the opportunity to make the decision, and the answer lies in which service do you want to be in, and what do you want to do when you graduate. Set aside the Medical thing for now .. it's great if you can get it, but the vast majority of USNA grads go to one of the unrestricted line communities, including USMC, Air, Surface, and Subs. This is an amazing range of choices -- I often tell my candidates that you can do anything out of USNA that you can do out of West Point, and then some. (The Navy's army, USMC, has substantially the same MOS requirements that Army has).
 
Let us say you don't get to be a medic. Let us say you don't get to be a pilot.
Which Branch would you rather serve in?
 
Humey said:
Jut a comment on avaiation. Navy pilots fly fixed wings although many dont. Army pilots fly helicopters almost exclusively and you will only fly between 2-4 years and then will probably fly a desk afterwords. Warrant Officers fly helicopters most the time.
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I know an Army Captain who left the service after 10 years of flying the BlackHawk (helo) and his back is ruined.
 
Keep in mind that the Army is primarily a ground-based service. You're going to spend a lot of time at USMA marching, being out in the field, firing weapons, etc. so that you are prepared to go into fields such as artillery, infantry, etc. Of course, the USA does other things, but that's its core mission. The USN is of course primarily sea based. At USNA you spend a lot of time on boats and ships so that when you graduate you are ready to . . . go on ships or subs. Even aviation is primarily (not exclusively) sea-based. Most people have a strong preference for land vs. sea.

The closer call is for those interested in the USA and USMC.

Finally, do NOT go to USNA expecting to be an MD. There are 12 slots each year. You might be able to snag one but it's a long shot and you must be fully prepared to go ships, subs, aviation, or USMC. A decent number of USNA grads attend med school after spending some time in the fleet. [Don't know the story for USMA so won't try to opine]

I advise the following: Imagine you are given a sealed envelope. Inside is the name of the SA that some greater power has decided you will attend. When you open the envelope and read the name of the SA, are you thrilled or a bit disappointed? As someone above said, don't try to rationalize away that gut feeling, because it's probably right.
 
retiredradar said:
I know an Army Captain who left the service after 10 years of flying the BlackHawk (helo) and his back is ruined.
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I am sure there is an except to every rule. Why is his back so screwed up. Are the helicopter chairs harmful to your back?
 
Just a gut feeling, but the fact that you posted this in the USNA forum and not the USMA forum tells me that you might already know what you want. Could be wrong though.
 
Humey said:
I am sure there is an except to every rule. Why is his back so screwed up. Are the helicopter chairs harmful to your back?
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Helicopters are pretty well-known for causing back issues. They vibrate a lot, and night vision goggles are heavy, which puts strain on the neck.
 
Roll-on landings are a lot softer than landings from hover in a Blackhawk. In my very limited experience, hover-to-land is more of a "ker-thunk!!" process than a "ah-that-was-nice" process with a lot of helo pilots. ;)

Violent takeoffs and landings are to be expected in a hot LZ, too.
 
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