As a former enlisted, what made you decide to change to Officer/Warrant Officer?

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 16:39:04 -0500

Mine was when I was a SFC PSG in lovely Ft Stewart. Missed appointments were a big then so our CSM made some mandatory formations. 1st formation was at 0545 with the soldier, first line, PSG and 1SG of the soldier who had an appointment that day. He did a roll call of appointments during that time. Second formation was at 1100 with the same personnel to go over appointments for the following day. Last formation was at 1645 with the same personnel to confirm if you made your appointment. I started a packet so fast. Was one of the best decisions I made even though I loved the NCO Corps.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2020 6:04 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 18:04:07 -0500

The quick version:

I was at a crossroads in my career. I had a year left on my contract and after 5 years I still hadn’t made SGT. Worse yet, in my 5 years as a 68E I saw no more than 5 soldiers make SSG. RCP was looking like a real possibility. Initially I thought about reclassifying to 68C and trying to bridge to get my RN. However, after doing my research, I noticed that I’d only have to do 2 additional years of college to get it done. So I reached out to the ROO at GSU and now I have my commission and nursing license.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2020 6:53 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 18:53:30 -0500

I joined the Army with the sole intention of going Warrant and becoming a Pilot. I felt I had a better chance of proving myself Enlisting rather than going street-to-seat. There were a lot of obstacles to overcome as a then 30 year old raising my right hand, knowing full well all the sacrifices I was about to make could be for naught if even one thing didn't work out in my favor. However, I'm fortunate to be where I am 3.5 years later and waiting for a date to start Common Core.

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made Feb 13 at 2020 7:21 PM

MAJ Byron Oyler — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 19:21:53 -0500

Commissioning was always the end goal for me. I was born to a poor family that up to my birth, 10th grade was the highest level of education and from as far back as I can remember, my Mother told me that I must go to college and to never do drugs. By the age of ten I wanted to be a pilot however I soon found out your vision had to be 20/20 so that killed that. My Father had been a medic in Vietnam, Great Grandfather one in WWI France, and growing up my Father was an RN. RNs are only officers in the Army. I enlisted three months after my 17th, had a great time enlisted , and I still use one of my old NCOs for prehospital questions. I would love to be an enlisted medic again but that is not where my future is.

Response by CW4 Anthoney Lowry made Feb 14 at 2020 10:09 AM

CW4 Anthoney Lowry — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 10:09:31 -0500

There i was, ft. Polk, La, January, wet, covered in mud, freezing my ass off, thinking to my self, there has got to be something better than this. When an OH-58 flew over us at about 50 feet. i thought, that looks like something better. the rest is history.
I was a 19D for 8 years and got tired of the walking. Flying ended up being a whole lot better.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Feb 15 at 2020 1:41 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 01:41:06 -0500

Started out at West Point but they didn't like my eyes. Choice was E-4 and 'Nam or honorable. I chose the later because I wanted my engineering degree. Pulled a draft number of 2. Choice was E-1 and 'Nam or I could take control. Took my middle finger and went Navy Enlisted. Went reserve, went to war for summer vacations, worked nights and finally completed my BS. I wanted to go Civil Engineer Corps but they wanted me to do OCS. As they noted my middle finger was getting itchy again, they decided I could be a "test" and go to OIS. OK, sign me up. The rest turned out to be the rest. I'm long retired but still have that middle finger to gauge things with. Funny thing, I was offered promotion to E-5 and O-1 the same day. Pick a paper and sign it. O-1E was $230 more a month. Yup, time to move that direction.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Feb 15 at 2020 5:08 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 17:08:20 -0500

I wanted a varied career and I got it. I was in aviation, armor, finance, dfas, budget, home land security, and working with the Alabama NG, and attended Combined General Staff College. Oh officers are tagged with specific tasks. I was OIC of railroading a heavy BCT as a 2LT. I was OIC in several funeral details. I was the movement officer. I was also OIC for setting up veterans' day for Indianapolis. I also was OIC of Ft Hood's Singe Soldiers' Day 2000 which had 30,000 participants. I wrote a DFAS SOP on disaster relief operations and the first edition of the DTS Smart Book. You can see my name on page 13 to show that I am not bullshitting. I also wrote a lengthy paper on how to heal with PTSD with my experiences as my guidance.

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I won't trade my experiences for the world. But with 3 deployments and 9 PCS moves have taken a toll. I am happy to be retired. Now I am a military history enthusiast. I am unabashed in stating I am infatuated with military history. Our revolution that became the shot heard around the world was replicated by Mao Tse Tung when his revolution took form and was concluded with a victory in China. There exist common steps to revolutions.

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Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 16 at 2020 4:52 AM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 04:52:47 -0500

I set it as a goal before going to Boot. It was reinforced later by seeing people on the ROAD Program not taking care of their Marines.