<p>Recall that there are two kinds of people in the military: officers and enlisted. Shoot for an officer training program.</p>
<p>If you want to become an officer, do not “enlist” with the belief that they will make you an officer from the enlisted ranks - it is incredibly competitive (think Harvard-full-ride competitive). Do not believe them when they tell you that it’s easy to switch from enlisted to officer, it is not. Yes, they have programs to do this, but it is really, really difficult to get into them once you’re enlisted. There are literally thousands of applicants for a handful of slots (one year in my branch it was 4 openings, service-wide).</p>
<p>Military life can be incredibly enriching and ennobling, but go into it with your eyes open, it will make for a better experience.</p>