A tough career decision in the making. Stay enlisted or go to the dark side?

CSM Michael J. Uhlig That is a good one. I love Jack Tilley, but I never heard that one CSM. "They are called Officers because they will primarily work in an office...." Not sure that is the origin, nor true. I also, based on my experience don't believe that. NCOs are Officers are different, and both serve a valuable purpose. Nevertheless... that is a good one... or at least interesting. The funny part of this is that senior NCOs also have offices... at least in the units I was in...

It appears, in my limited research... that his comments are not true:

early 14c., "one who holds an office" (originally a high office), from Old French oficier "officer, official" (early 14c.), from Medieval Latin officarius "an officer," from Latin officium "a service, a duty" (see office). The military sense is first recorded 1560s. Applied to petty officials of justice from 16c.; U.S. use in reference to policemen is from 1880s.

(see office) means the position... like the Officer Oath "to the office of which I am about to enter".... Not just a physical space.

mid-13c., "a post, an employment to which certain duties are attached," from Anglo-French and Old French ofice "place or function; divine service" (12c. in Old French) or directly from Latin officium "service, kindness, favor; official duty, function, business; ceremonial observance," (in Church Latin, "church service"), literally "work-doing," from ops (genitive opis) "power, might, abundance, means" (related to opus "work;" see opus) + stem of facere "do, perform" (see factitious). Meaning "place for conducting business" first recorded 1560s. Office hours attested from 1841.

As an officer you have the possibility of becoming a leader with the wisdom and authority, of making decisions which can benefit soldiers and their families. Don't underestimate a good officer's ability to lead, mentor, and influence the lives and careers of soldiers. Many NCO's and enlisted personnel greatly appreciate having an officer who has the advantage of your perspective having served on both sides of the military realm,so to speak!

Although I was in a different branch of service, I was selected to be a Chief Warrant Officer back in 2002 and I declined my Commission and dropped my retirement papers shortly after that. I loved my Military Service and decided that after 20 years I was done. I couldn't conform to the new Liberal Ideology that the Military was going to so I retired. Good luck with whatever decision you and your family makes.

I met CSM Tilley on several occasions in 1995-1996 during my tour in Bosnia. I was a PFC and M60 gunner back then. I ran into him again when he the ARMY CSM. He is a good man and caring Soldier

Referencing your original question the way you put it ..."or go to the dark side?" often to me, reflects your true feelings as no one has influenced the way your subconscious truly views the Officer ranks in your original question. As some posted here may enjoy the Star Wars Humor, the reason people reference "the Dark Side" is because it reflects that it is the "evil", "bad" or otherwise "the problem" force. So your subconscious reflects the way you truly feel about the officer ranks, otherwise why wouldn't you hesitate if processing this move in your mind as a leader. It's not a secret that it is more pay, higher level of accountability, etc. so if you really feel up to the challenges that it may bring, you shouldn't have hesitated. Especially if you AND your family would benefit. Choose wisely.

SSG (Join to see) - Hooah! I am an Officer, a retired one, who has the utmost respect for NCOs, the backbone of our Army and Regiment. I think you need to go were you heart tells you to go. Both are good and noble options. I probably thought the same when I was an E-5 considering OCS...

SGT William Howell - Hooah!

SGT Swanson, I changed to the Dark Side six years ago after a dozen years and three overseas deployments as a A-10 weapons loader. I've enjoyed both of my stops. Different challenges on the flight line and in public affairs.

For me, it was about a new challenge in my career. I thought early on that I wanted to become an officer, but only after I felt like I had achieved success in my enlisted role. As a senior NCO, I would have been more managerial rather than actually loading bombs. In many ways, what company-grade officers do has a lot of overlap with the SNCO corp(obviously this is going to vary a lot based on your career-field). Ultimately you have to figure out what goal is going to drive you towards personal success. If you're happy, there's a pretty good chance that your family will share in that success, as will your troops--regardless of whether they salute when you walk by or not.

P.S. I use the Star Wars analogy a lot. It's a fun way to talk about shared experienced I had while spending the first two-thirds of my career as enlisted, while being mildly self deprecating. I don't think it reflects my opinion of the officer corps any more than it makes those that hear it think I have Sith powers. And when I was a kid, the Jedi did not hold rank in a large, clone army.