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Five cannibals were employed by the 5th SFG at an A Camp in the Central Highlands as scouts and translators during the Vietnam War. When the 5th SFG CDR flew in to personally welcome the cannibals for joining in the fight against the communists, he said, "You're all part of our team now. We will compensate you well for your services and you can eat any of the rations that the Army is eating. But please don't indulge yourselves by eating any soldiers." The cannibals looked at each other, shrugged, and promised. One month later the Colonel returned. Gathering the cannibals together, he said, "You're all working very hard and I'm very satisfied with all of you. However, one of our NCOs has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to him?" The cannibals all shook their heads 'no' and denied knowing anything about the missing SF NCO. After the Colonel left to return to Nha Trang and the cannibals had returned to their living quarters, the leader turned to the others and said, "OK - which of you idiots ate the Sergeant?" A hand raised hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals barked, "You fool! For four weeks we've been eating Lieutenants, Captains, and Majors to our hearts content...and no one noticed anything. And then YOU had to go and eat an NCO!" And so it goes...;) Richard :munchin |
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Why? |
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Big Teddy |
Hate to say it, but a 3.2 GPA is not competitive for an initial enlistment into OCS. 2 years ago, heck maybe even a year ago, yes, you would have been good to go. The army today has no shortage of officer applicants, and thus can be very selective. Ask your recruiter to provide the last OCS board selection statistics for your area, it will have the lowest GPA accepted and the average GPA selected. Then you will know for sure if you are getting jerked around. My advice, if you really want to be an officer first, apply for OCS anyway (they can't not let you apply), if you make it, great, if not then you can enlist and apply for OCS down the road with some enlisted experience under your belt.
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To echo what goon175 stated.
I recently just finished going through the Accession Process through ROTC -- granted it might be a little different than straight enlisting and going through OCS, but take it for what its worth. We had guys with 3.5's not get awarded even an Active Duty commission, so while the 3.2 is something to be proud of, don't automatically assume that it'll hold that much weight. Also, being a chairborne ranger by reading up a bunch of crap you found on Google does not "qualify" you to become an officer, so don't go around spouting out that you are. Shit, I'm not even sure that some guys graduating in my class and receiving their commission with me in May are really qualified to be an officer. While the Officer Candidate process isn't exactly the toughest of courses to make it through, this isn't just a civi job where meeting a checklist of criteria simply "qualifies" you for the job. If becoming an 18A really is your "lifelong dream," then why not sign an 18x contract, do your time in the enlisted world, then put in an OCS packet when the time comes/you actually know what the job actually entails? Hell, that's the route I wanted to take -- so much for that. |
Thanks for all of the information and constructive criticism...
After much thought I've decided to seek an 18x contract and enlist. Since I plan to do at least 20 years in the Army, I'd like to see both sides of the coin and gain as much experience as I can before going after a commission. After my first contract term is up I'll put in my packet for OCS and go to the dark side. Whew...now that the hard part's over I just have to get selected at SFAS... :rolleyes: -Jim |
[QUOTE=MG*;394542] Since I plan to do at least 20 years in the Army, [QUOTE]
20 years is a long time, pace yourself. It'll go by in a blink. |
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1. You're not medically qualified...you're at the same place you are now. 2. You don't make it through Basic...welcome to civilian life. 3. You don't get selected...you're now an 11B. 4. You get selected but break your back on a jump going through the Q course...you're now being medically chaptered. 5. You get through basic, AIT, SFAS, SFQC, HALO, CDQC, and every other cool-guy school...and on your first deployment you loose your legs...at least you get some VA benefits. Too many guys in your age bracket have their "goal" in mind...but no idea what to do if things don't go their way. |
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You're right and thanks for the gut check. I should definitely have a backup plan and not be too cocky. I just tend to be a bit type A and optimistic and sometimes that leads to me thinking too big. I'll focus on the closest target from here on out. -Jim |
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Good afternoon,
Just to let you all know, I enlisted today as an 18X and my ship date is in March. Thanks for all of the help and useful information that this site continues to provide. I'm looking forward to taking these interim months to make sure that my final preparations for selection are top notch. I'll post on this thread from time to time, most likely after I graduate from each school. -Jim P.S. For any 18Xers that read this, the order of operations regarding schools has been changed; you will go to Basic + Infantry AIT, then SOPC (where you will be screened for progression), and then if and only if you make it through SOPC will you go to airborne and then SFAS. If you do not make it through the prep course, airborne is no longer guaranteed. |
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