I am interested in becoming an Officer in the US Navy?

C

Cobra198

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Aug 16, 2017
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A year back i considered the Marine corps and even took my asvab (52) so overall im looking into the navy since i would love to become an officer. I am only 17 (am enlisting in january when i turn 18) so please correct me if i have something inaccurate. Anyways,

I was thinking of Enlisting into the Navy in active duty (Intelligence,Seabee, or Gunners Mate) and then go to college to get my degree in Business/Criminal Law to become a Police investigator or do something related to real estate. Honestly idk how hard it is to just stay in the enlisted side until you become a Chief petty officer.

My second option is a bit more complex, there is barely any info on anyone doing it like this so please hear me out.

First enlist into the Navy Active or reserves in the rates I specified. While in the reserves most preferably i can go to college and work on my degree, all while trying to apply for USNA (my highschool gpa is Terribly low which is a 2.1 unweighted/weighted and would be considered a terrible candidate). Assuming i get a good college gpa,SAT scores, and overall a solid reputation in the Navy reserves, i could be accepted as an enlisted folk. As stated, I am terrible academically in high school with a 2.1 GPA (no excuses) so I won't be receiving any kind of money to go to college with NROTC.

Are these options realistic or at least worth a shot? Are there options I haven't mentioned that I have that can go from Enlisted to Officer that is a solid opportunity? I dont mind being enlisted either, but I do want to become an officer in the long run. Anyone with experience on going from Enlisted to Officer would be best appreciated.
 
I'm not too much older than you but I know the academy's application process well having gone through it more than once, so maybe I can answer part of your question:

As far as the academy goes, I would think it's possible if you took technical courses and earned very high grades in them. But college is a lot harder than high school so you have to pinpoint why you didn't do well before. Were you capable but unwilling or perhaps unable to put forth the necessary effort? If academics aren't your thing then the academy might not be a great fit. On the other hand if you do believe you have what it takes then you now have a chance to prove it by acing calculus, chemistry, and English. This is much easier said than done so you need to consider your strengths. They also want people who are interested in STEM fields. There is no business or criminal justice program at the academy. So also consider what your long term goals are and what the best way to reach them is.


These are the questions you need to ask yourself, as only you can answer them.
 
Also if you enlist I don't think any service lets you pick your specialization / branch but could be wrong. Look into that before you enlist . . .
 
With the high school record you describe, direct Admission to USNA is a long shot, at best. That being said, there are opportunities to get commissioned available. One path is enlistment in active duty, demonstrate outstanding performance and aptitude in your first assignment, and get into the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS). I don't know the mechanics of fleet accession to NAPS, but start out with excelling in everything you do , then talk to your career counselor. NAPS itself is probably a long shot when coming from the fleet, but plenty do it.

Also, I am far removed from the Navy enlistment process, but used to be that Navy enlisted could get a "contract" for assignment to certain ratings. (As a lawyer, it would be interesting to see how such a "contract" is written, as I am sure its full of pro-Navy caveats and conditions that essentially put you at the mercy of the "needs of the Navy," but would fully expect Navy to use best efforts to meet its committments since recruiting efforts would be seriously curtailed if the word got out on the street that Navy was reneging.).
 
Old Navy BGO said:
With the high school record you describe, direct Admission to USNA is a long shot, at best. That being said, there are opportunities to get commissioned available. One path is enlistment in active duty, demonstrate outstanding performance and aptitude in your first assignment, and get into the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS). I don't know the mechanics of fleet accession to NAPS, but start out with excelling in everything you do , then talk to your career counselor. NAPS itself is probably a long shot when coming from the fleet, but plenty do it.

Also, I am far removed from the Navy enlistment process, but used to be that Navy enlisted could get a "contract" for assignment to certain ratings. (As a lawyer, it would be interesting to see how such a "contract" is written, as I am sure its full of pro-Navy caveats and conditions that essentially put you at the mercy of the "needs of the Navy," but would fully expect Navy to use best efforts to meet its committments since recruiting efforts would be seriously curtailed if the word got out on the street that Navy was reneging.).
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So personally with the conditions I describe, it's possible to apply while enlisted in AD or should I go to the reserves to be able to attend college and show my college GPA so I can get at least into NAPS as an enlisted?
 
Kierkegaard said:
I'm not too much older than you but I know the academy's application process well having gone through it more than once, so maybe I can answer part of your question:

As far as the academy goes, I would think it's possible if you took technical courses and earned very high grades in them. But college is a lot harder than high school so you have to pinpoint why you didn't do well before. Were you capable but unwilling or perhaps unable to put forth the necessary effort? If academics aren't your thing then the academy might not be a great fit. On the other hand if you do believe you have what it takes then you now have a chance to prove it by acing calculus, chemistry, and English. This is much easier said than done so you need to consider your strengths. They also want people who are interested in STEM fields. There is no business or criminal justice program at the academy. So also consider what your long term goals are and what the best way to reach them is.


These are the questions you need to ask yourself, as only you can answer them.
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I think the only reason I had such a low gpa was due to me not caring as much. I was what you considered "Lazy, but intelligent". Of course that is not the right mindset, and me being a senior at high school there's no way of getting that GPA up.

Assuming I worked hard by enlisting in the Marine/Navy reserves and took classes that are STEM related (I was considering a tech degree also) and have a high college GPA, would that hypothetically help me get me into NAPS before I turn 23 (I think that's the age limit to apply).
 
There is a senior enlisted in USNA Admissions who focuses on fleet sailors/Marines interested in USNA -- Chief Bland. I suggest you contact him to discuss your situation and options.
 
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