I was wondering where I could find more information on the Signal Corps officer branch or the Finance Officer? I've seen it on the army website but it is not enough information. I am an AROTC cadet, and I have chosen these two MOS as my top picks for the reason that I am not so much combat oriented as my other fellow cadets. I am unsure if I want to go AD or Reserves/National Guard. I do want to stay put in the domestic US and not move around, but I hear that in recent years, the Reserves have deployed more than AD? I have spoken to my Cadre and they gave me their input, but I just wanted more information.
Signal Corps and Finance information and questions
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Dexter Nunnally: Signal Officer – Today’s Military
In a selfless act, Dexter Nunnally, began his career in the U.S. Army to help his family, and now, as an officer, he oversees 290 soldiers.
www.todaysmilitary.com
My son is a USMC Communications Officer (primary MOS). Their job is very similar to an Army Signals Officer, so I included these links below as they may give you additional insight.
Communications Officer 0602
www.usmcofficer.com
I know there are folks on these boards who have sons and daughters serving as Army Signals Officers. Hopefully they will chime in.
Do you have any concept of what you would want to be doing to earn a living while in the reserves?
What is your major?
Based on this and your previous posts, I sense zero motivation on your part for anything other than being close to Houston and your significant other.
That’s okay, but it would be nice to know something else, before suggesting something to you.
While in the reserves, I want to work at a bank as a financial analyst or at an insurance company doing the same thing. Granted you do need experience, but I'm just spitballing those jobs. I am an economics major. I understand the zero motivation part as to how I present myself, but I just wanted to know how my options are. I understand that my reasons for joining AROTC might not be so "hooah" but I would like to look at it as a way to make my way of life a little bit easier in the future if that makes sense.
For 3 years in high school, I did JRTOC, as well as doing the Young Marines program (youth program with a little bit of Marine Corps culture) for about 8-9 years. When I had graduated high school, I thought that I wanted to join the Big Army and see life as is, but I had a poor perception of what it really entailed. It's not a bad reason, but I was just really uninformed and did not understand what the Army was, as an adult. Hence the reason for these selfish questions.
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I thought I'd share some stories from DS's history. They might change your perspective.
DS went with the same gal through most of college. He went AD in Aug of one year. They were able to get together at Thanksgiving, but not Christmas. By January she broke up with him. I guess she couldn't handle the distance.
That autumn DS was finishing up Comm School when he met a gal (a teacher BTW). They dated for 2-3 months. They were each sure the other was "the one". DS deployed to Okinawa for 3 years. His girlfriend flew out to meet him somewhere in the western Pacific every 6 months. Japan, Okinawa, Australia, Indonesia, etc. They made it work and they are married today, 2.5 years after he returned from Oki.
If something is meant to be, it will. YMMV.
EDIT: It might be wise to see if the relationship can handle the distance issue now, instead of later while you've been called up.
DS went with the same gal through most of college. He went AD in Aug of one year. They were able to get together at Thanksgiving, but not Christmas. By January she broke up with him. I guess she couldn't handle the distance.
That autumn DS was finishing up Comm School when he met a gal (a teacher BTW). They dated for 2-3 months. They were each sure the other was "the one". DS deployed to Okinawa for 3 years. His girlfriend flew out to meet him somewhere in the western Pacific every 6 months. Japan, Okinawa, Australia, Indonesia, etc. They made it work and they are married today, 2.5 years after he returned from Oki.
If something is meant to be, it will. YMMV.
EDIT: It might be wise to see if the relationship can handle the distance issue now, instead of later while you've been called up.
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On the other side of the coin.....my DS and his GF did not survive the long distance aspects of ABOLC, a combat deployment and being seven thousand miles away. It initially hurt my DS so bad that he almost wanted to quit the military. (Thank goodness for Military Chaplains)
It is not easy, but as @kinnem 's DS shows, it CAN work. But it is very challenging.
It is not easy, but as @kinnem 's DS shows, it CAN work. But it is very challenging.
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The military is not always conducive to successful relationships for those who require constant and interconnected presence, physical or digital, in each other’s lives, and have a hard time functioning in solo mode, both planned and unplanned. It’s a matter of what two people need and want in their relationship, what can flex, what cannot. The Reserves can also be quite demanding - though this 20-year war is over, there will be other conflicts and situations where the Reserves may be called up, when 6 months can get extended to 12. Or more. Or not so much at all. Unpredictable at times. You might not be home for your child’s birth, assuming you are not the carrier.
People in the military trade time for benefits and the opportunity to serve and grow. It takes a very strong and independent partner to cope with this and continue to grow in the relationship. Commitment, communication, clarity (many relationships founder on the rocks and shoals of misaligned expectations and assumptions), maturity, trust, resiliency, understanding, patience, compromise, and yes, romantic love, are all critical to the relationship’s survival over time and countless bumps in the road.
There is a saying that relates to friendships, “There are friends of an age, there are friends of a stage, there are friends for the rest of your life.” I think the same holds true for romantic partners. My college BF was a smart, funny, wonderful guy who treated me very well. He was a business major who planned to go into retail management in the same area as the university, and the assumptions started to become apparent that I was expected to be part of that (assumptions and expectations right there). When I returned from a semester abroad, I knew in my heart I had places to go, things to see, people to meet, and though I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that, I realized staying in the local area, finding some kind of employment, and putting down roots there was not my path, despite what a fine person he was and my sincere and deep care for him. I had some friends in the AROTC unit there, and I found myself admiring their focus on service, professional aspirations, and wide variety of places they could go, things they could do, people they could meet. Then the Navy OCS recruiters found me my senior year, and I saw my path take shape. A profession, service, people/places/things, water-based service (critical for someone who grew up on a coastal barrier island around small boats and water sports, decent benefits, graduate education programs - it all propelled me toward a decision that would have primary, secondary and tertiary consequences. That was a difficult breakup, but we worked through it, and he said he knew I was being called to service and couldn’t ask me to not do what I so clearly wanted to. He was a “friend of a stage,” important and meaningful at the time, but someone I knew was not the “long-haul guy.”
If you are interested in service to the country, but not the military deployments and lifestyle, active or Reserve, research the many Federal civil service programs for college students, with internships, scholarships, etc. There are the civil service Pathways programs, which focus on recent college graduates. You can stay in one place and have a lot more control over your life, yet still serve. The Fed also understands Reserve and Guard activations, so you might still do the other.
For example, Google “college programs Department of Treasury” (or any department or agency):
home.treasury.gov
People in the military trade time for benefits and the opportunity to serve and grow. It takes a very strong and independent partner to cope with this and continue to grow in the relationship. Commitment, communication, clarity (many relationships founder on the rocks and shoals of misaligned expectations and assumptions), maturity, trust, resiliency, understanding, patience, compromise, and yes, romantic love, are all critical to the relationship’s survival over time and countless bumps in the road.
There is a saying that relates to friendships, “There are friends of an age, there are friends of a stage, there are friends for the rest of your life.” I think the same holds true for romantic partners. My college BF was a smart, funny, wonderful guy who treated me very well. He was a business major who planned to go into retail management in the same area as the university, and the assumptions started to become apparent that I was expected to be part of that (assumptions and expectations right there). When I returned from a semester abroad, I knew in my heart I had places to go, things to see, people to meet, and though I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that, I realized staying in the local area, finding some kind of employment, and putting down roots there was not my path, despite what a fine person he was and my sincere and deep care for him. I had some friends in the AROTC unit there, and I found myself admiring their focus on service, professional aspirations, and wide variety of places they could go, things they could do, people they could meet. Then the Navy OCS recruiters found me my senior year, and I saw my path take shape. A profession, service, people/places/things, water-based service (critical for someone who grew up on a coastal barrier island around small boats and water sports, decent benefits, graduate education programs - it all propelled me toward a decision that would have primary, secondary and tertiary consequences. That was a difficult breakup, but we worked through it, and he said he knew I was being called to service and couldn’t ask me to not do what I so clearly wanted to. He was a “friend of a stage,” important and meaningful at the time, but someone I knew was not the “long-haul guy.”
If you are interested in service to the country, but not the military deployments and lifestyle, active or Reserve, research the many Federal civil service programs for college students, with internships, scholarships, etc. There are the civil service Pathways programs, which focus on recent college graduates. You can stay in one place and have a lot more control over your life, yet still serve. The Fed also understands Reserve and Guard activations, so you might still do the other.
For example, Google “college programs Department of Treasury” (or any department or agency):
Student/Internship Programs
Student Internships (Headquarters)Law Student Internships (Headquarters)Pathways ProgramsINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS FELLOWSHIP
home.treasury.gov
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The military is not always conducive to successful relationships for those who require constant and interconnected presence, physical or digital, in each other’s lives, and have a hard time functioning in solo mode, both planned and unplanned. It’s a matter of what two people need and want in their relationship, what can flex, what cannot. The Reserves can also be quite demanding - though this 20-year war is over, there will be other conflicts and situations where the Reserves may be called up, when 6 months can get extended to 12. Or more. Or not so much at all. Unpredictable at times. You might not be home for your child’s birth, assuming you are not the carrier.
People in the military trade time for benefits and the opportunity to serve and grow. It takes a very strong and independent partner to cope with this and continue to grow in the relationship. Commitment, communication, clarity (many relationships founder on the rocks and shoals of misaligned expectations and assumptions), maturity, trust, resiliency, understanding, patience, compromise, and yes, romantic love, are all critical to the relationship’s survival over time and countless bumps in the road.
There is a saying that relates to friendships, “There are friends of an age, there are friends of a stage, there are friends for the rest of your life.” I think the same holds true for romantic partners. My college BF was a smart, funny, wonderful guy who treated me very well. He was a business major who planned to go into retail management in the same area as the university, and the assumptions started to become apparent that I was expected to be part of that (assumptions and expectations right there). When I returned from a semester abroad, I knew in my heart I had places to go, things to see, people to meet, and though I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that, I realized staying in the local area, finding some kind of employment, and putting down roots there was not my path, despite what a fine person he was and my sincere and deep care for him. I had some friends in the AROTC unit there, and I found myself admiring their focus on service, professional aspirations, and wide variety of places they could go, things they could do, people they could meet. Then the Navy OCS recruiters found me my senior year, and I saw my path take shape. A profession, service, people/places/things, water-based service (critical for someone who grew up on a coastal barrier island around small boats and water sports, decent benefits, graduate education programs - it all propelled me toward a decision that would have primary, secondary and tertiary consequences. That was a difficult breakup, but we worked through it, and he said he knew I was being called to service and couldn’t ask me to not do what I so clearly wanted to. He was a “friend of a stage,” important and meaningful at the time, but someone I knew was not the “long-haul guy.”
If you are interested in service to the country, but not the military deployments and lifestyle, active or Reserve, research the many Federal civil service programs for college students, with internships, scholarships, etc. There are the civil service Pathways programs, which focus on recent college graduates. You can stay in one place and have a lot more control over your life, yet still serve. The Fed also understands Reserve and Guard activations, so you might still do the other.
For example, Google “college programs Department of Treasury” (or any department or agency):
Student/Internship Programs
Student Internships (Headquarters)Law Student Internships (Headquarters)Pathways ProgramsINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS FELLOWSHIP
Thank you for the outlook, and thank you again for the source/link. These are great options, but I kind of dug myself into a hole of accepting a 3 year scholarship, and school has already started. I looked at the options I had and dropping out and paying all the money back is not a choice. I just wanted to see what possible outcomes I had in the future, not that everyone knows the future by hand, but to see others perspectives and experience as well.The military is not always conducive to successful relationships for those who require constant and interconnected presence, physical or digital, in each other’s lives, and have a hard time functioning in solo mode, both planned and unplanned. It’s a matter of what two people need and want in their relationship, what can flex, what cannot. The Reserves can also be quite demanding - though this 20-year war is over, there will be other conflicts and situations where the Reserves may be called up, when 6 months can get extended to 12. Or more. Or not so much at all. Unpredictable at times. You might not be home for your child’s birth, assuming you are not the carrier.
People in the military trade time for benefits and the opportunity to serve and grow. It takes a very strong and independent partner to cope with this and continue to grow in the relationship. Commitment, communication, clarity (many relationships founder on the rocks and shoals of misaligned expectations and assumptions), maturity, trust, resiliency, understanding, patience, compromise, and yes, romantic love, are all critical to the relationship’s survival over time and countless bumps in the road.
There is a saying that relates to friendships, “There are friends of an age, there are friends of a stage, there are friends for the rest of your life.” I think the same holds true for romantic partners. My college BF was a smart, funny, wonderful guy who treated me very well. He was a business major who planned to go into retail management in the same area as the university, and the assumptions started to become apparent that I was expected to be part of that (assumptions and expectations right there). When I returned from a semester abroad, I knew in my heart I had places to go, things to see, people to meet, and though I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that, I realized staying in the local area, finding some kind of employment, and putting down roots there was not my path, despite what a fine person he was and my sincere and deep care for him. I had some friends in the AROTC unit there, and I found myself admiring their focus on service, professional aspirations, and wide variety of places they could go, things they could do, people they could meet. Then the Navy OCS recruiters found me my senior year, and I saw my path take shape. A profession, service, people/places/things, water-based service (critical for someone who grew up on a coastal barrier island around small boats and water sports, decent benefits, graduate education programs - it all propelled me toward a decision that would have primary, secondary and tertiary consequences. That was a difficult breakup, but we worked through it, and he said he knew I was being called to service and couldn’t ask me to not do what I so clearly wanted to. He was a “friend of a stage,” important and meaningful at the time, but someone I knew was not the “long-haul guy.”
If you are interested in service to the country, but not the military deployments and lifestyle, active or Reserve, research the many Federal civil service programs for college students, with internships, scholarships, etc. There are the civil service Pathways programs, which focus on recent college graduates. You can stay in one place and have a lot more control over your life, yet still serve. The Fed also understands Reserve and Guard activations, so you might still do the other.
For example, Google “college programs Department of Treasury” (or any department or agency):
Student/Internship Programs
Student Internships (Headquarters)Law Student Internships (Headquarters)Pathways ProgramsINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS FELLOWSHIP
I think your bigger concern should be the next 3 years, rather than the 4/5/8 years to follow.
You seem to be honest with yourself and realistic about your situation. Also, a certain amount of selfishness is necessary to navigate the waters of any large bureaucracy, which is what the Big Army is. Just remember, your motivations probably put you in the minority among the other Cadets. You should concentrate on your integration into the unit.
My general advice is to not box yourself into a particular mindset, which right now sounds like. "I made a mistake. I'm stuck here. What is my best exit strategy 5-10 years hence." Don't try to curate an outcome today. Things change. You will change. You have two years before you need to declare your intentions. You might find yourself walking past some amazing opportunities. Use that time to nurture relationships with your mates and seek out the advice and experience of older cadets and junior officers. My DS branched Signal about 7 years ago and even his experience would be a little stale.
His whole mindset was very different from yours. He is as "unhooah" as they come, but he recognized from the start that there was wealth of opportunity waiting for him upon commissioning. What I can tell you about Signal from his experience is if one has either technical bent or desire to learn then he or she can pop onto the job market after 4-5 years with a resume that would be almost impossible to replicate in the private sector. He did not leave after 5 years, but his technical bent and motivation allowed him to differentiate himself and follow, up to this point, a very challenging and satisfying path.