[Doc_Shane]

Go ROTC and get them to pay for your school.

Branch infantry if you want do something besides push paper.

Everything else in the Army is just support for the infantry, whose job is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy.

Go to Ranger school, get in the Q Course- don't just be another zero, be a leader.

From my experiences as senior enlisted, the officers that had the best positions were 1LT and Captains, they get to lead and not become pencil pushing politicians.

Most of the Officers I worked for were ROTC grads the absolute best ones were prior enlisted, the few ring knockers I knew came off as uppity and slimey- perfect for later life political careers. The academy ring only matters to senior officers and political types, the troops couldn't care less how you got commissioned if you are a good leader.

Serve because you have a desire to serve, not for how it will look on a corporate resume. It is not a checkmark on a to do list.

 

[Doc_Shane]

Thank you all for the advice. But another question if it isn't too much trouble. For those of you who did ROTC, how did it actually prepare you to lead men and not get them killed?

I guess the real question is; what can i do to prepare myself to lead men and do what needs to be done, and not just get a bunch of people killed my first time out.

I just want to make sure i do it right.

School will teach you theory, only experience teaches leaders.

My last Platoon Leader had just turned 5 years old the same year that I first enlisted, so he tapped into the experience of the NCO's and learned how to lead instead of just giving orders.

 

[Doc_Shane]

I'd really rather not do reserve or national guard. No offense to anyone who did either. They just wouldnt be my thing!

Cant you ask to be put on active duty and sent to the middle east after ROTC?

Depends on needs of the service........ I've known officers that were given reserve commissions out of ROTC and never saw a day of active duty other than training. Completely depends on what the Service branch needs staffing wise, especially since they went to the Total Force concept and the Guard and Reserve became a major part of their combat planning.

Even an entire Academy class not long ago was not commissioned because the AF decided they had too many 2 LTs, the Army and Marine Corps picked a lot of them up. But some of them went 4 years to Colorado Springs and only ended up with a free education, no career.

The reserves and guard make up 80% of the combat strength these days.
As far back as Desert Storm 70% of the deployed troops were reservists and guardsmen.