What bachelors degree is right for me in the Army?

College Majors
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<p>Sorry if this thread is in the wrong section, i’m new around here. Anyways,</p>

<p>I’m looking to pursue a long career in the U.S. Army as an officer in probably the Infantry or Artillery(still can’t decide) and would like some opinions and advise on what degree I should get. I want to know what degree or field of study/major will be useful for a long-term military career.</p>

<p>So far all I can think of is History, Public Relations, Political Science, and Military Technologies. What do you think?</p>

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<p>Good for you! </p>

<p>Look into becoming a Marine Officer also…</p>

<p>First, whether you become an Infantry Officer or an Artillery Officer isn’t really your decision. You rank the branches you want from top to bottom, then get placed according to the needs of the Army. At least in the case of OCS recruits. </p>

<p>For example, the most coveted branch is usually Military Intelligence, but it pretty difficult to get right out of OCS. However, I’m pretty certain that if you excel in OCS you will at least get one of the two (Infantry or Artillery).</p>

<p>Also, you most likely spend your whole career in one branch. Instead you will get shuffled around the more you get promoted.</p>

<p>Concering majors, History, Poli Sci and International Relations are fine choices. You really can’t go wrong with any of them in the military, but remember, if you decide the Army isn’t for you, those majors will also limit your employment opportunities.</p>

<p>Don’t overlook “technical” majors such as Computer Science, Information Technology and MIS. Weapon systems are becoming very advanced and having a background in software and tech could be very useful, especially for an Officer. This is also true for Intelligence, which will mainly require the use of databases and other computer technologies.</p>

<p>Another one I strongly recommend is Civil Engineering, as it can be applied in nearly any environment the military will operate and will give you a specialized skill.</p>

<p>I think your best route is to major in Information Technology and minor in History/Poli Sci/International Relations. Or some other combination of Tech/Humanity. I will add Chem/Bio to the list as well.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about what is useful for “a long-term military career”, because once you are in your major (unless specialized like Civil Engineering or Science) really won’t be that important. Promotions aren’t based on your college major, so don’t worry to much about that. </p>

<p>I know that not to long ago the Army was promoting Officers pretty quickly due to many of them resigning their commissions. I know a few that made a very fast rise to Captain, so it’s not a bad time to jump into the mix.</p>

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<p>“so it’s not a bad time to jump into the mix”
Except the fact that you’ll get paid chump change to get shot at for some BS cause. :D</p>

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<p>say what you want about the cause, but i bet a 2nd Lt. gets paid a lot more than most 22 year olds- hardly chump change.</p>

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<p>The base pay really isn’t anything special, but benefits like BAH are way better than… uh… stock options.</p>

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<p>Good advice again from BEAST. </p>

<p>Do keep in mind what you would like to do <em>after</em> you leave the Army. Your choice of degree has lot to do with opportunities there.</p>

<p>Until then, focus on obtaining admission to West Point or an ROTC scholarship. And once in school, concentrate on Order of Merit, so you can receive your branch of choice.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies and info, guys.
I may pursue that Criminal Justice degree that I always wanted just incase the military isn’t right for me, then I will be able to pursue another career I like.</p>

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<p>That would be a big mistake.</p>

<p>Assuming your other career is law enforcement, don’t major in criminal justice. It won’t give you any preference when applying and it won’t open doors in other fields.</p>

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<p>Military pay table here: <a href=“http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables/2010WebPayTable34.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables/2010WebPayTable34.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
O1 (Officer 1, i.e. 2nd Lt): $2745.60/month
I’ll second the notion of an engineering degree.</p>

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<p>@BIGastBEAST</p>

<p>What do you suggest as a major or degree for law enforcement? I’ve always thought that they wanted something like criminal justice. And engineering isn’t really my thing, I have no interest in it whatsoever, I wouldn’t want to go into something that I don’t like. But the computer science and information technology stuff do interest me.</p>

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<p>$2745.60/month is base pay. i live in the south where housing is cheap and i get an additional 1260 in housing allowance and about 300 in food allowance. the housing varies by locations, but here, with those numbers, that brings it to over 50K/year. i actually make more than that as i have been in a lot longer, but 50K for a kid right outta college regardless of degree ain’t bad.</p>

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<p>If you have an interest in IT and computer science (which can be two very different things) you should definitely explore that. Those fields likely have a greater civilian upside than law enforcement.
If you’re considering the ROTC route, note that although you’ll see statements like “Cadets are allowed to major in nearly all academic areas.” when looking at the ROTC websites, there is a strong preference for technical majors. The Navy, for example explicitly reserves about 75% of it’s ROTC scholarships for engineering/hard science majors.</p>

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<p>Your branch preference may change by the time you graduate, and in many circumstances your major does matter.</p>

<p>If you decided that you still wanted to be part of the military, but the Air Force was a better choice, a technical major would be very important, has most OCS slots (or whatever their system is) goes to tech/science majors.</p>

<p>An IT major can be hired to work at just about any company, doing just about any job. The same can’t be said about CJ majors, so do yourself a favor and major in something that gives you options and skills.</p>

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<p>af has cut WAY back on office ascensions. they have not had a non-rated board for quite a while and ROTC cadets have been literally told thanks but no thanks late in their college lives. times are hard for the civilian job market which has driven up our recruiting and retention rates. most AFROTC programs won’t require a technical degree but will require students to take calc and other courses maybe not found in a LA major.</p>

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<p>I agree that IT/CS would provide more opportunities in and out of the military. A lot of LE jobs only require some combo of Honorable (important) military service and/or college credits.</p>

<p>I checked your profile, Javier, and saw that you are 15. Good for you for thinking about these issues a few years in advance. In addtion to keeping up your studies, extracurriculars, etc., try to keep a clean record. That is <em>very</em> important for a career in the military and law enforcement.</p>