I was looking at the Navy and Air Force to go OCS but they have tried to get me to go enlisted and get a commission, I am not going to do that. I am 26 years old, have Purdue degree in TV/Radio, starting to possibly consider Army to get an officer position, maybe in the Reserves. I want to go back to school and get my Master's (I go for free regardless if I join the military--dad is disabled vet). What would be best if I was looking to be Public Affairs Officer? Army? Then, Active Duty or Reserved?
2007-06-20 18:44:28 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
Aviation is great right now, they need pilots. Also Intelligence, and Military Police. Good branches to be in right now, all of them can lead to high paying, civilian jobs later on if you leave the military.
2007-06-20 18:51:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Suggest you look into that "free" bit. You only get paid to go to school until you are 23 by the VA. After that you are not considered his dependent and get no money.
You do not have to enlist to get a commission. You get a "direct commission" as a reserve officer and the very first day on duty you are a 2 Lt.
Air Force is probably down sizing right now so chances of getting a commission there are less. Navy is holding about the same size so odds are better. The Army is expanding so you have a much better chance of getting a commission from them.
Forget the "weekend warrior" idea for the Reserves. If you join, you probably will do some long tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. If you are going to join so you can go to school it is going to be hard due to the deployments no matter which you join, Active or Reserve.
As far as "best"...I was 20 years USAF so I am biased.
2007-06-21 22:51:48 · answer #2 · answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As an Army Officer, you must first serve in a traditional branch (Infantry, MP, Finance, etc..) for about 3 to 4 years. Then you can transfer to a specialized branch like PAO. As far as I know, there is no PAO LTs, so you can transfer about the time you are promoted to Captain.
As far as Active or Reserve, you will be deployed about the same amount of time if you are a PAO. As a reservist, I think your life will be disrupted much more when you deploy than if you are active. It seems it would be hard to develope a civilian career if you keep getting deployed, no matter what laws are in place to protect reservist from losing their jobs.
2007-06-21 15:40:40 · answer #3 · answered by bkgaddis 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The army will snap you up in a second. They are hurting very badly for junior officers right now.
I suggest contacting them, and be prepared to upsell yourself too because you can probably get more than they initially offer.
If you are going to goto school, go Reserve, but you will more than likely end up going to Iraq before you are done with school.
If you join ROTC you will be on a non-deployable status, its something to consider
2007-06-21 01:47:35 · answer #4 · answered by Nickoo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Army has nearly a 100% acceptance rate. problem being.. you don't get to choose which field you are in, so the chances of you getting PAO are probably slim.
2007-06-21 08:05:29 · answer #5 · answered by Mrsjvb 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Forest Ranger! Your CO will be Smokey the Bear! With BOO BOO as your TOP!
2007-06-21 12:00:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
All of them are looking and should have no problem if you are quality military material.
2007-06-21 01:49:14 · answer #7 · answered by East Lansing Brat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋