Posted on Aug 3, 2019
Cpl D M
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Hello everyone, I am a former enlisted Marine reservist and I am interested in going into the Army as an Active duty Officer, I want to get Infantry as my branch. I haven't spoken to a recruiter yet, but was curious If that is possible to do. I am currently 28 and in my sophomore year of school doing online since I have a full time job, I am wanting to take as many courses as I can each term and planning on taking CLEP exams every month to be able to graduate as soon as possible and get started, I'm thinking ROTC may be out of the question because of my full time job, they already complain about people taking one day off for anything but is there any Officers that have advice on trying to become an Officer in the Army? and how the process works? Thank you.
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LTC Self Employed
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I joined the Army National Guard at age 31 and became a commissioned officer at 33 years 9 months. In case you get the run-around by the active component, consider the Army National Guard because they have the combat arms branches. Once you are commissions, you can transfer to the Army Reserve and find more positions for Captain, major and lieutenant colonel. National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers has mostly been to Iraq and Afghanistan already. In the Army Reserve, we are scraping up people from different units of all ranks to send to Kuwait for Logistics. Something to consider. There are many of us here in the Army National Guard who put in at least eight years or more and then switched over to the Army Reserve. I have been military police, armor and now civil affairs. I'm a lieutenant colonel without having company command. There are a million permutations of what you can do here but don't disregard the reserve component because even the reserve component has full-time active Guard Reserve position Nationwide and even worldwide.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
CPT Lawrence Cable
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LTC (Join to see) - Do most states National Guard actually give you that choice to do Federal OCS? I now the Guard Bureau's page indicates that but it's still state funded. During my ARNG time, I never served in a state that even allowed the accelerated program (drop out rate).
The only big advantage of Commissioning in the guard is you usually have more control over your branch. Not always, but as a general rule.
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LTC Self Employed
LTC (Join to see)
>1 y
CPT Lawrence Cable I honestly don't know since I was commissioned in August of 1996. I do know that when I was mobilized for operation Noble Eagle 3, we had soldiers that were able to go to Fort McClellan Alabama and Georgia for a Consolidated OCS which was guard funded.
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COL Jon Lopey
COL Jon Lopey
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Stephen: Great points. I served in the USMC on active-duty and also served in three branches in the CARNG and USAR (MP, IN, CA) as an Army officer after attending federal OCS at Fort Benning. You gave this young man some great advice. COL L
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COL Jon Lopey
COL Jon Lopey
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All: When I was in the CARNG and USAR, there were state and federal OCS options. As you know, the educational requirements have evolved through the years, however. a good candidate should have both options. I went the federal OCS route because the state OCS program took about 14 or 15-months to compete with drills and AT periods. I personally think an intensive, full-time course of instruction is very beneficial and Fort Benning has great instructors, weapons, and training areas. However, state OCS programs supposedly use the same curriculum and I knew excellent officers that attended state OCS and federal OCS programs. Great input from all! COL L
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LTC Jason Mackay
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Cpl D M possible, yes. What does your degree plan look like from here out? CLEP may not be possible for upper division classes. If you are just getting credit for classes you are forfeiting GPA padding against upper division classes which tend to be more challenging. Has your College capped what they'll accept for transfer and clep credit?

So by commissioning source:
USMA: no, you are already headed away from this. That ship has sailed.

ROTC: sounds like your job is the primary source of income. You would need to do two summers back to back or take less credits to get three years and go to just on summer. Yes you would have to do weekend FTXs, morning PT, and ROTC classes including leadership lab, time varies. I would still make contact with the ROTC Department at your school to see what they can help you with. They can also articulate the current age waiver policy. You will be no worse off for finding out from the source.

Active Duty Federal OCS: finish your degree, build a packet, and work with a recruiter. You have time to do this. Talk to a recruiter now so you'll be on track. Bring your 214. Two options: drop an OCS packet to come in "off the street", you'll need a degree in hand and work with a recruiter. Option 2: enlist, then apply for OCS. You may run out of time doing this, and there is no guarantee you'll be selected.

State OCS: engage a ARNG recruiter in your state. You also have time to do this.

Direct Commissioning: see if your degree aligns with a direct commission branch. It won't be Infantry. You're not guaranteed a branch anyway. Tons of people on RP are talking 70 series direct commissions in the RC.

So getting your preferred branch may not be possible. You get what you get. This article and the discussion has branch selection info on ROTC, OCS, and a little USMA. https://www.rallypoint.com/command-post/how-do-i-choose-an-army-branch-a-framework

Change your topic tags. The ranks are not very helpful. Some are the Marine equivalent ranks. Recommend the following tags: Army ROTC, Army OCS, there may be several variants. Click on the tags after you post and read the information at those tags.
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Cpl D M
Cpl D M
>1 y
LTC Jason Mackay - Thank you for all the info, I am in my sophomore year but taking as many courses as I can at the moment to get through school as quick as I can. I know CLEP is transferable credits at my school but I am planning to register for my first exam so I haven't asked a whole lot about it yet. I am currently taking Psychology as my major, so I don't think I am eligible for Direct commission. I'm thinking my best bet would be the OCS route, due to having to drive to school for my ROTC events and working 3rd shift, would be tough. Thank you for the articles, I will read up on them. That's what I was thinking, just finish school and go to OCS or the NG route. I agree on the uncertainty of enlisting first, I didn't want to enlist and not get my shot at getting to do what I'm joining to do.
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LTC Jason Mackay
LTC Jason Mackay
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Cpl D M 70B May be an option for direct commission. CPT (Join to see) might be able to help you
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COL Jon Lopey
COL Jon Lopey
>1 y
Jason: I knew some officers that received direct commissions, usually based on extraordinary training, technical skills, and education. Not a bad way to go especially if you are older and have the credentials; however, I think it works better for younger Soldiers to go through a commissioning program to gain more knowledge and skills as a leader. I must say, however, some Soldiers can pull it off depending on their skill sets. COL L
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LTC Jason Mackay
LTC Jason Mackay
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COL Jon Lopey Sir ACK, he wants to be an Infantry Officer, so no direct commission path
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Also, you need to elaborate more.soecifically, for all of us to try to help you properly, OK? What major is your bach, did you do an assocs, if so, what major for that, STEM or non-STEM field, grades, GPAs, specific course titles, exactly how much science or conscience you've done, grad school interests, other svcs you've looked at, I know you want Army, I was 3 yrs Army ROTC, then went USAF OTS, you're fortunate to have been prior enlisted, I wasn't, I took way too long to adjust to the role as a result...any flight interests? Lemme send this, then I'll try to add more...add hobbies, other interests, reading tastes, sports esp any martial arts, type of civilian work generally, any supervisory level you've done at all, even if only generally...there are many aspects I can suggest for you, also you're gonna have to do minimum a masters, part time if need be, the moment you'd commission regardless of svc, and, would you think about warrant at all? Doo a really thorough, detailed biosketch if you can, I'm on a clumsy tablet, not always the best medium for sending such suggestions...had you thought about USMC platoon leaders course (PLC), which, having been USMC, you may well have heard of? Would you want to try to do FOR for grad schiol? ROTC on full scholarship to be able to stop full time outside work? I'm not saying you'd want either, I'm just asking to get an idea, that's all, honest...any cyber interests at all? Army direct commission cyber? Navy warrant cyber, which is relatively new? Other svc direct commission programs.later on? Those are the kinds of career/educ things telling us can help us try to help you more effectively in here, I've found, honest, as I'd said, I'll try to send more that might be of interest, lemme send this for now, elaborate if you can as specifically and as detailed as possible, meanwhile, I'd be most interested to hear more, OK?
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Capt Daniel Goodman
>1 y
https://www.attorney-cpa.com/

If you're gonna try for an MBA, to not consider a CPA with it might well be a waste, as the two obv naturally complement one another...that being said, we've actually gone to one of these for help in the past, so, you might possibly find a JD with an CPA, mixed with an mBA, a quite good approach....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Capt Daniel Goodman
>1 y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Laws

Few know of this...it's done typically, as I understand the whole thing, after a JD, though I've never quite understood the reason, or the content, I'm merely making you aware of it....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Capt Daniel Goodman
>1 y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_law

This is a really rough way to do law, the pass rate on bar exams isn't great, I've been told that many times, also, few states allow it, plus, there are a zillion restrictions on how it's done, I merely once again mention it just so you'd know about it, I'm NOT saying this is the best way, obv....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Capt Daniel Goodman
>1 y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Business_Administration

You might not have considered this, it'd be a natural follow-on to an MBA, plus going well with law, a CPA, and an LLM...with all those, you'd most definitely be at the top of the intellectual food chain, or as close as you'd likely need to be, I'd expect....
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