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]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]

I am only sure of Marines.  You do not enlist.  You get paid in OCS but you do not enlist.  Your rank is Officer Candidate.  Recruitment is handled by Officer Selection team not the regular enlisted recruiters.  The summer program you are talking about is called the Platoon Leader's Course.  That is one or two summers.  You get paid.  You do not then have to go to OCS.  Again, you do not enlist.  You are an officer candidate and you can drop at any point in time.  No commitment until college graduation.  No matter how you come into the Corp you go to the Basic School which is 26 weeks where you learn to be an officer and learn to be an infantryman and lead an infantry platoon.  Then after that you go to your specialization school.  For Marines, all together including OCS there are about 50 weeks of training before you are with troops.

There are pathways from enlisted to officer.  But that is not the way most get to officer if you are in college.  In the Marines while there are Naval Academy folks, OCS make up a large part and you can make a career.

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