Reply to What's the benefit of ROTC versus just graduating from college and becoming an officer?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Lot of misinformation on this thread. Speaking only from the experience of the Army. Some of this info might be dated, but it was accurate as of about 10 years ago:

If you have a college degree or are going to graduate, you can &quot;enlist&quot; with the purpose of attending Officer Candidate School. There's a selection process, and you don't have to sign anything binding before finding out if you have a slot (recruiters might say otherwise, but they're lying because they don't get bonuses for OCS enlistments, only regular enlisted). OCS is like 12-16 weeks and comes after attending Basic Training (used to be 9 weeks, no idea these days). You'll be paid at E-4 until you receive the commission. 
ROTC can lead to scholarship money. One reason to do it is the sense of camaraderie. It's a big time commitment, but so are some sports and if that's what you like then good for you.

If you really care about making it a career, you should know there is an unspoken but obvious hierarchy in where Army officers come from. West Point &gt; ROTC &gt; OCS. Good people get promoted, and all lieutenants are treated (deservedly) like spoiled, dangerous amateurs, but as you get to mid-late career, wouldn't you know it, theres lots more of the former and fewer of the latter. Some of it is professional networks, some of it is snobbery. It's not right, but it is what it is. So that's a benefit to ROTC.

Now this is where some of my info might be dated. When an ROTC or West Point cadet graduates and is commissioned, and when an OCS candidate receives their commission, all three are mixed together and attend a course that used to be called BOLC II. This is where the three enlistment pathways merge, acclimatize and become &quot;equals&quot;. After a few weeks of that they go their separate ways to their specialization schools. Armor, Infantry, Air Defense, etc.

Other branches might be different. I think the Marines might have an enlistment pathway that is more flexible, starting out enlisted for a few summers in the reserves while you're in college and then sending you to Officer Basic School or whatever they call it. That's what they told me, but at the time it sounded like the kind of recruiter pitch that gets bodies enlisted and then the &quot;promises&quot; about specific schools or becoming an officer kind of disappear. That's why I didn't pursue it. [/quote]

Question for you, PP. Do you have a rough estimate of the % of junior officers from West Point, ROTC, and OCS? Curious more than anything, but I would assume that OCS is the biggest bucket of the three?[/quote]

PP here. West Point graduates consistently ~1000 per year. What percentage of the total Army officer corps that represents goes up and down, depending (between 1/6 and 1/4). ROTC is over 50% though. OCS is typically less than West Point. The Army keeps it around because 1) it provides a path to an officer's commission for enlisted personnel, and 2) it can scale quickly in the event of a shooting war. [/quote]

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