Trying to choose between NROTC and AFROTC

There are plenty of MOSes in the Marine Corps that give you skills to get a job besides the leadership experience you bring. Comm Officer would be one such thing (far more than the name implies). Ait Traffic Control officer would be another. You should explore the MOS available here: http://www.marines.com/becoming-a-marine/career-tool/officer-career-opportunities

+1 kinnem

Logistics, Intelligence, etc.

I also would encourage you (the OP) to not go in with the mindset of only making it to your initial obligation. The further you go into the officer ranks, the more transferable experience you'll get due to dealing with both people (leadership) as well as assets (management).
 
Examples from our USNA sponsor family who went Marine...all had a B.S. of course, with solid STEM load. Since I am Navy vet, I may not have name of Marine officer specialty exactly right

Major: Honors English
Marines: Logistics
Time served: 8 years
Now: Quality Control executive for Michelin

Major: Political Science
Marines: Financial
Time served: 7 years
Now: Region Director, nationally known financial services firm

Major: Physics
Marines: Communications
Years served: 6
Now: doing Interesting Things with a Federal agency

Major: Systems Engineering, minor Chinese
Marines: aviation, helos
Years served: 10
Now: Foreign Service Officer, DOS

Major: English
Marines: Intel
Years served: 6
Now: senior analyst with DOD prime subcontractor
 
I do have one point I would like to make regarding choosing Air Force vs Navy to be a pilot. I could be completely wrong, but it would seem to me that flying for the Navy has one con that the Air Force doesnt have. If you fly for the Navy, you have to land on an aircraft carrier. So no matter how good of a pilot you are, you could be thrown out of the program if you cant figure out how to land on a carrier safely. If I am wrong or I am making to much out of this, please let me know.
 
Young men and women take up the challenge to become Marines because they want to be Marines. End of story.

If you want to fly and be a Marine, go Navy or Air Force.

If you want to be a Marine and fly, take up the challenge and dedicate yourself to earning the title.

Every Marine a rifleman isn't just a saying. It's how we're trained, how we think, how we fight. It's what we are. If your job is not "grunt on the ground" then your job is to support the "grunt on the ground."

I have plenty of buddies who showed up at TBS with a flight contract...and left without one...or never made it through flight school for any number of reasons.

And, regardless of the Service you pursue, if you understand that you join to serve and not to be served, you will be much happier when you get assigned the MOS/job you never wanted in the place you never wanted to be.

As we say, "bloom where you are planted."

Good luck.

Semper Fi,
DTrain
USMC, Retired
 
DTrain1986: I have got to admit that this was an excellent first post. Welcome!
 
DTrain1986: I have got to admit that this was an excellent first post. Welcome!

Thanks. It may be my last...

I have visited periodically over the last 3+ years while my daughter went through the USAFA appointment and nomination process, and my son through the NROTC (Marine Option) scholarship process.

I found some very useful info here provided by a wide variety of folks. I am thankful to them.

But now that my daughter is starting her 2/C year at USAFA and my son reports for NROTC Orientation in less that 2 weeks, I'll be moving on.

Then again, maybe I'll stumble back in and find something I might can help with.

Semper Fi,
DTrain
 
Well, everyone looks at participation differently and I respect your position but I would ask that you please reconsider. My DS is finishing up Artillery school after going through NROTC (MO) so his experiences (and mine from 30+ years ago) are dated but there are so few former Marines on here that I hang on to help as best I can. I am sure you have a lot to offer and your children's experiences are more current.

Either way, I wish you the best.

Semper Fi.
 
+1 to USMCGrunt, especially as evidenced by your post. Stick around and help us old timers out. My Marine son is in the came class year as his and I'm still here as well. Besides, it gives me a way to feel connected with my kid.
 
I'm just going to come right out and say it, I'm pretty laid back personality-wise, and I'm not very good at running or pull-ups, I honestly doubt that I'd be able to last very long in the Marine Corps, I'd love to call myself a Marine, but I want to stay in for the longest possible time I can in any branch and my mom warned me that getting in shape for the Marines is one thing, but staying in shape is another, especially once I get older and naturally get worse and worse at PT, so any advice on that would be extremely helpful. Also if anyone knows anything about SpaceOps Officers in the Air Force, specifically how easy/hard it would be to get that with a CompSci degree, and/or after attriting from flight school, whether that'd be for medical reasons or just washing out(which I won't let happen btw, washing out, I mean), again, thank you all for your wonderful comments, you've all been so helpful.
 
Pima:
a: Brevity.
b: While life in a military family certainly is a challenge and brings an interesting perspective, being a wife and mother of fliers does not make you a flier.
 
+1 to USMCGrunt, especially as evidenced by your post. Stick around and help us old timers out. My Marine son is in the came class year as his and I'm still here as well. Besides, it gives me a way to feel connected with my kid.

Well, you and USMCGrunt have drafted me into your "old-timers" group.

I'll stick around.

Can I drink beer in this forum?
 
The mods are gonna tell you to clink glasses at the Off Topic Bar!
 
I'm just going to come right out and say it, I'm pretty laid back personality-wise, and I'm not very good at running or pull-ups, I honestly doubt that I'd be able to last very long in the Marine Corps, I'd love to call myself a Marine, but I want to stay in for the longest possible time I can in any branch and my mom warned me that getting in shape for the Marines is one thing, but staying in shape is another, especially once I get older and naturally get worse and worse at PT, so any advice on that would be extremely helpful. Also if anyone knows anything about SpaceOps Officers in the Air Force, specifically how easy/hard it would be to get that with a CompSci degree, and/or after attriting from flight school, whether that'd be for medical reasons or just washing out(which I won't let happen btw, washing out, I mean), again, thank you all for your wonderful comments, you've all been so helpful.

So for the space operations career field, right now it is the space AND missile career field (AFSC 13SX). I have heard rumors of separating the two but I wouldn't count on it. What I can tell you is the assignments in this career field vary GREATLY. What specifically interests you? I work regularly with some space ops folks here in Dayton and I know one who worked in Colorado and one at LA AFB.
 
USMC Grunt, I was wondering what PT was like for you at first, because as I've said before, I'm not very good at it right now, and if I were going into the Corps, I'd want to know if I could become good at PT during NROTC
 
I'm totally fine with being either SpaceOps or Missles

Well I can't really comment on numbers/likelihood of becoming a pilot for the two services, but as for your chances of getting the space and missile career field with a comp sci major, id say they are pretty high right now as that has been an undermanned career field for a while.

As for getting stationed somewhere dull...I believe missile bases are in ND, WY and MT which are awesome if you love the outdoors and probably "dull" if you don't. The main AFSPC bases are in CO, CA and FL but there are other bases with openings for space officers.

Hope that helps
 
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