<p>So, met my college junior son for dinner last night and he dropped the bombshell that he has been meeting with military recruiters at the college and wants to sign up after he graduates. Did a little internal freak out and said, “I will support you in any way, but PLEASE do not sign anything without speaking to me and your father first”
Soooo…what do I need to make sure he thinks about or finds out about prior to making this commitment? I actually think he would do well in the military, i just, you know, don’t want him to die. sigh…</p>
<p>No particular advice except to say that if it was my son, I would be so proud. As it is, I thank him, and you, from the bottom of my heart. You raised a great kid.</p>
<p>Which branch of the service is he considering?</p>
<p>Did he mention whether as an officer or enlisted? Makes a huge difference.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Big questions to ask, IMO, are these:
Officer or Enlisted?
What service?
What career field?</p>
<p>Why does he want to do so? Motivations vary, and there are many good ones, but some are not as good. It is extremely important that his motivations match his choices, or he will likely regret his decisions.</p>
<p>If your son is going to be an enlisted solider,that’s one thing. If he is thinking about becoming an officer, this may not be easy at all.</p>
<p>The officers are coming from the service academies, ROTC corps,and the officer candidate school (OCS) which accepts college graduates. For ROTC, the latest time he can join is at the beginning of the junior year, so it’s too late. The only avenue left for him is the OCS, but here is the problem. There are writings on the wall that they may not recruit officer materials through OCS for a while. If they do, a very few. </p>
<p>They have a glut of officers now and in the pipe line. With the economy still in a questionable shape, with budget cuts, and with two wars winding down, there is less demand for officers and more supply (junior officers are staying put,rather than leaving for civilian jobs). they have drastically reduced ROTC recruitment, became very stingy with the scholarships last couple of years, </p>
<p>My second son is a lucky one who got the full ride 4 year scholarship to one of the five most expensive private schools in the nation. He told me that the Army is clearly, and actively looking for a way to dismiss cadets on a slightest infraction of rules and qualifications that have to be maintained. The kind of infractions that would have resulted in a slap on the wrist in the past are a cause for dismissal now. He said, unless he performs at a high standard, the Army may still put him on a reserve duty after they have invested well over a quarter million dollars by the time he graduates. </p>
<p>If this is the case,they have no room or motivation to recruit additional officers through the OCS. In short, there may be very little viable avenue left for your son this late in the game to join the armed forces as an officer upon graduation from college. </p>
<p>There is some difference among the branches though. Marine division traditionally relied heavily on OCS as the source of their officers than other branches. So, one may still become an officer through OCS if s/he chooses Marine. </p>
<p>Serving the country is a noble occupation. I salute your son for his desire. If he is really serious about this route, he needs to do a lot of research and see which options are still left for him to join as an officer: as much as I am proud of my son’s desire to serve, I would be singing an entirely different tune if he had wanted to enlist as a solider (not an officer).</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>He wants to go in as an officer. He is speaking with the marines and the army; I would like him to consider the Air Force, my family has a long history of service in both the Air Force and the Navy. He is interested in military intelligence and strategy. I think his plan is to do 8 years as a Marine officer, then go into the FBI.
He is a great kid and extremely intelligent, he’s been on the Dean’s List for the past couple of semesters. He sees his friends with no ambition to do anything and really wants to make a difference.
Would they recruit him as an officer if they didn’t really need him? My understanding is that a lot of military people are wanting to get out, so there is room for new people. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what I read.</p>
<p>You might want to suggest that he read Nathaniel Fick’s memoir One Bullet Away. Fick went to Dartmouth, did officer training–not ROTC–and became a Marine officer. He joined before 9/11, and was served in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The book Generation Kill was written by a journalist embedded with his unit in Iraq.</p>
<p>Just make sure he knows to read and re-read anything they ask him to sign. Make sure that what he wants is spelled out and cannot be changed once he is “in.” Recruiters are not bound by honesty and integrity, for some odd reason.</p>
<p>I’m sure he is a desirable candidate. Obviously Air Force or Navy is safer, but war is never safe, no matter where you are, and he is to be admired for his willingness to serve in the military in wartime, particularly in the marines or army. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Recruiters ARE bound by honesty and integrity! But they are not the kids’ parent and are not going to repeat things and clarify every detail! What the recruit ‘understands’ or what happens ‘most of the time’ or how things ‘most likely’ play out—are altogether different. They don’t lie, but they may not offer the kind of full disclosure I as a mother would like. They have quotas to fill and the wait is fairly long these days. Very few hard and fast timelines are kept. </p>
<p>If the FBI a goal, he cannot go wrong with officer training in the USMC. Years ago, there were only two ways into the FBI–law school or the Marines. Back in the Dark Ages, my boyfriend went into the Marines for that reason. I know that has changed but the training he receives will serve him well. </p>
<p>All the best to him (and you). Public service is a good thing.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, at times, they do lie. There was another whole thread with bad experiences, including that of my son.</p>
<p>OP-Best wishes to you and your son. Go in with eyes wide open, everything written, and everything read at least twice before signing.</p>
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<p>If they are recruiting him, then there is a potential opening. So that’s good. I did not know that they already approached him when I wrote my post.</p>
<p>Find out which “route” this is… Is this officer candidate school route (OCS). If it’s Marine, then it makes sense: they predominantly draw their officers from the OCS, so perhaps that’s why they are still recruiting. I believe Air Force will be the toughest. They are actually DISMISSING ROTC cadets in their junior and senior years now. If they are doing it, the odds are very poor that they will recruiting candidates through the OCS route.</p>
<p>That said, I am sure there are always exceptions. So it’s still worth looking into. If he is serious, he should starting planning very thoroughly and strategically.</p>
<p>Another point, often, even when you are admitted to the OCS, you may not be able to go right away. Even for an ROTC cadet who graduated, the wait time for you to get a spot at an officer training program is often as long as or longer than 6 months. They don’t get paid: they often work as a sales clerk or a waiter. (the service academy graduates get immediate spots). Not a biggie. But something to take into consideration.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>One of the most overlooked branches of the military is the Coast Guard. If your son is interested in a career that has a 365 day a year mission NOT solely dependent on wars being waged on foreign soil, have him take a look. A service with a humanitarian bent…Go Coasties!</p>
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<p>Putting aside the issue of becoming an officer or not, if he does become a Marine Officer, he needs to keep his long-term plan to himself. The prime assignments go to those who are dedicated to making the Marine Corps their career, as they should. </p>
<p>Further, the future is unknown. Your son may get to eight years in the Marine Corps and decide to go for the 20 plus years needed for retirment from the Corps. It’s always smart to keep ones options open, and even smarter to do it in the military. That means always saying that one plans to make the military their career.</p>
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<p>Is it? The OP’s son could serve his country just as well by being a teacher, America needs more good educators and less soldiers. I do not understand the American, or indeed British attitude to the military- sure, it can be dangerous but so are many jobs and there’s nothing heroic in fighting unjust wars in my opinion.</p>
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<p>Air Force and Navy personnel serving in the Iraq war had a lower risk of death than the US civilian male population age 20-34, but Army and (especially) Marines had a higher risk of death.</p>
<p>However, the next war may not have the same risks to military servicemembers and civilians as the last war.</p>
<p>[“Mortality</a> of American Troops in Iraq” by Samuel H. Preston and Emily Buzzell](<a href=“http://repository.upenn.edu/psc_working_papers/1/]"Mortality”>http://repository.upenn.edu/psc_working_papers/1/)
<a href=“http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=psc_working_papers[/url]”>http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=psc_working_papers</a></p>
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<p>“Unjust war” is a matter of political opinion… but someone considering military service may want to consider that politicians during his/her time of military service may lead the country into a war that s/he disagrees with.</p>
<p>Make sure that he is taking to an OFFICER recruiter, not an enlisted recruiter.</p>
<p>Yes, make sure he checks out absolutely everything he is told and by whom. If he asks a question and gets moved along to another subject? He should insist on an answer. “We’ll figure that out later,” or “Look at this,” is not an answer.</p>