Becoming an officer

[Sir_Krahn]

I am just wondering, do you have to become a warrant officer before you can become an enlisted officer? I mean can you go straight from the enlisted ranks to officer ranks? I was also wondering do you HAVE to attend college before you become an officer. I heard something like that from someone and I just want to clarify. For my last question, if you join the infantry when you first start out how long do you have to serve before your superiors even consider promoting you to an officer position? THanks for any light you can shine upon the subject.

[Vulture6]

Check out the posting above on the Enlisted to Officer Programs. That will answer most of your questions.

In a nutshell:

To become a commissioned officer, you need a college degree... whether you are coming from the enlisted ranks or not.

You do not need to be a warrant officer to become commissioned.

How long do you have to wait to apply to and enlisted commissioning program – that’s all spelled out in the Enlisted to Officer Programs thread. Check out that post: http://www.goinfantry.com/forum/showthread.php?t=628

There’s a lot of good info on this site – take the time to read it…Especially the stuff that has been “pinned” to the top of each section.

[cincymarsdad]

A reverse point, a surprising number of Marine non-comms and even lance corporals have college degrees (maybe the ratio is higher among reservists than active duty folks).

So, just so you understand, college alone does not equal commissioning. Review the sites cited closely - it can be confusing in parts.

[SR-25]

Originally Posted by sir_krahn

an enlisted officer.

An Enlisted Officer is only in the super Mall Ninja Red Cell squad. Its classified, you wouldnt understand.

[Sir_Krahn]

Well I decided that I don't want to go to college after high school. So what do I do? And also what kinds of degrees do most officers get? Is there like a special type of college that soldiers traing to be officers can go to?

[SR-25]

Originally Posted by sir_krahn

Well I decided that I don't want to go to college after high school. So what do I do? And also what kinds of degrees do most officers get? Is there like a special type of college that soldiers traing to be officers can go to?

What do you do? Enlist, thats your only option.

They get degree's in underwater basket weaving.

[Sir_Krahn]

Well alright I will just enlist and rise through the enlisted ranks. How long can I be in the corp if I just stay in the enlisted ranks? I want to try to make the marine corp a career I don't want to have to retire early and be broke at home....I just figured that if I became an officer I could stay in the marines a little longer. Is there a way to stay in active duty for awhile then get out just for a little bit to get a degree then go back to active duty? If that exhists I would definitely do that.

[Grimmy]

There are education opportunities available while enlisted. It's not unheard of for enlisted Marines to earn a degree while serving.

BUT!! If you are wanting to be an officer, go the officer rout. Get accepted to a college ROTC program or talk to recruiters about what ever it is that pre-officers have to do...like OCS or PLC or what ever it is and follow that rout and do your best to achieve your goal.

If you are dead set on not going to college and joining the Corps, then it's the enlisted life for you.

[cincymarsdad]

Originally Posted by sir_krahn

Well I decided that I don't want to go to college after high school. So what do I do? And also what kinds of degrees do most officers get? Is there like a special type of college that soldiers traing to be officers can go to?

From your questions, I think you have your work cut out for you to get this sorted out. The "special type of college" would be a military academy, not only West Point, USNA, the Air Force Academy, etc., but also places like VMI, the Citadel, etc. However, one can attend VMI for example with no military obligation whatsoever and you can major in anything.

Officers can and do major in about anything, with perhaps engineering degrees being prominent at the U.S. military academies, but you can major in chemistry, history, math, etc. Your officer training will be separate from you college major. Your college coursework will have nothing to do with learning to be an officer (save ROTC courses).

A common path is to attend college, take ROTC, attend things like Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) in 2 summers, graduate, and get commissioned. You can do this while being a reservist, subject to all that entails. Read the sites Vulture6 noted carefully - he is the expert here and I learned nearly all I pretend to know from him.

Anyway, if you enlist after high school, you will go to boot camp in whichever service and serve as an enlisted man for a good long while (barring attending college as a reservist or some other routes). There could be an exception somewhere, but as V6 says, being an officer means a college degree, BUT a college degree does NOT mean you're an officer.

[Sir_Krahn]

I was actually thinking about being a scout/sniper for at least 5 years before trying for an officer position. And officers can't be scout/snipers so I was wondering if that's something I could do or is my cause hopeless?

[Grimmy]

If you make the cut and IF the Corps needs you enough to keep you, you can do a full 20 years as enlisted (might be more, talk to USMCRET or Vultcher).

Whether or not you leave the Corps broke is soley up to you. Do you set up a repsonsible saving program while getting you paychecks? or do you piss it all away?

There are education avenues open to Marines while serving.

[SR-25]

Originally Posted by sir_krahn

I was actually thinking about being a scout/sniper for at least 5 years before trying for an officer position. ?

How about you worry about getting through Basic Training first eh?