Quote:
Originally Posted by rblockmon
First of all, I just want to say thanks for the replies.
QP Jack Moroney - that I would be hard to take a 'two year' break, and then come back in.
rblockmon
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Actually it is not that hard. When I was but a young CPT on orders to go to 46th Company in Thailand, Infantry Branch came around to visit some of us to tell us that we needed to get a Master's Degree if we were to be successful in the military. At the time I was in the 10th SFG and was determined to stay in SF as long as I could. As this was before there was an SF Branch, Infantry Branch had control of my young butt. When I told the COL that I really wanted to go to another SF assignment and stay SF as long as I could in my career, the nasty COL replied that the needs of the Army came first and that if I turned down this wonderful opportunity to go to Harvard for an MBA my career was over. I told the COL that having an MBA in the Infantry was about as much value as having herpes and then proceeded to ask him if it was the academic discipline (a masters in business) or the fact that the Army wanted their officers to have Masters degrees. He told me that it was the degree and not the academic discipline. So I told him I would resign my RA commission, take a USAR commission, go back to college for a Masters of my choosing, and then come back in. He told me that was fine and that was what I did. During that time I did not divorce myself from my military skill sets-I maintained and enhanced them as best I could. When it was time to come back in and continue along the way I was in a bit of a trick as my year group was over strenght and it took me a couple of years to get my Regular Army commission reinstated. The break did not hurt me or my career and the Masters ensured that I remained competitive with my peers but it never did anything for my military career save one assignment that required a Masters of any discipline. The negative aspect of this two year hiatus was that times had changed, the Army was in a draw down and those that had not been fortunate enough to have fullfilled the necessary career management gates according to the Branch requirements got their pink slips and left the Army. So, if you are going for a Masters and it is not under the umbrella of an Army program you are pretty much on your own and you may find that when you come back in, if you are allowed back in, your status as well as your future may be altered in a manner that does not fit your game plan. If the Army is sending you for a Masters you can be assured that there is going to be a utilization assignment for that degree so that they can get a return on their investment not just in time but also in the discipline so you can assume your assignment will probably not be with an operational SF A, B, or C team.