A Question On Options

rcneid · 08-23-2005, 20:13

First of all, I'd like to thank you guys for taking the time to answer posts from guests like myself; as I'm sure your well aware, your firsthand experience with the subjects discussed is extremely valuable and difficult to find anywhere else.

My question is somewhat involved, so my apologies if I get too long-winded here. Basically, it breaks down like this: I'm nearing the end of my university spell - I'll be graduating in December - and I've long since decided that joining up is the way to go, for numerous reasons. First of all, I've always felt that putting a career into serving a country that's given me more opportunities than I can count is the least I could do; secondly, my family's own military background is fairly rich, and I've always been drawn to the lifestyle. But that's also part of the problem. My father's currently a Navy officer, a former fighter pilot and carrier captain, and currently doing staff work. My grandfather was the same; two out of four great-grandfathers were Marine officers. My brother's currently on-track to graduate out of Annapolis in three years. Now, that's a lot of Department of the Navy stuff, but I've always felt I could do more, make more of a difference by going Army, and specifically Special Forces, should I ever be lucky enough to get that far.

But here's my dilemma; I've gathered from the comments by officers on this site, as well as general information floating around out there, that the most time an officer can hope for with a team would be something in the nature of 24 months. I think I'd want more. I've got a buddy in the Navy who ended up as a SWO (Surface Warfare Officer) after his dreams of flight school got crushed by a back injury, and he's already complaining about the fact that he's basically a corporate middle-manager in whites. I guess everyone wants to be the guy kicking down doors, no matter what branch, and selfish as that may be, I suppose that's kind of where I am. So aside from OCS and being lucky enough to have a shot at SFAS down the path, the other option's the ol' 18X enlistment.

My real question is, how significant is the difference in the amount of time the NCOs see in the team? It's all about the team, as one of your members said in another thread, and that's what I'm looking for. Nevermind that all the officers I mentioned above would likely have a stroke if I went enlisted rather than go their route, I'd like to do something I can take pride in for as long as possible. So I guess that sums up my question.

Not even sure this next one should be in this thread, and if not, I apologize in advance, but at least I'll make it short: what's family time like for team members? I'm a Navy brat, so I'm used to deployments, but I'm curious how it works greenside. Mostly a question for the fiancee, as this is her biggest concern.

Thanks, and apologies for being so long-winded.

Edit: I figure I ought to mention that I've looked into the warrant officer role within the team, and at first and even second glance it seems like this is a pretty good way of combining longevity in the detachment with a leadership position, though I'm clearly not familiar enough with the environment to make that call; any perspectives on that would be most welcome.

Warrior-Mentor · 08-23-2005, 22:30

Without sounding too much like TR, here goes:

Figure out whay YOU want. Don't do something because someone else might get mad. Time to grow up and live your own life and make your own decisions.

NCOs can spend almost as much time on a team as they like. O's move out in 24 months on average.

As for deployments, for the 3 1/2 years I was in Group, I averaged 240 days per year deployed..that's 8 months...and that was in a peacetime Army (Fall 1997 to Spring 2001). From what I hear, things haven't slowed down (no shit).

Best,
JM

rcneid · 08-23-2005, 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior-Mentor

Without sounding too much like TR, here goes:

Figure out whay YOU want. Don't do something because someone else might get mad. Time to grow up and live your own life and make your own decisions.

NCOs can spend almost as much time on a team as they like. O's move out in 24 months on average.

As for deployments, for the 3 1/2 years I was in Group, I averaged 240 days per year deployed..that's 8 months...and that was in a peacetime Army (Fall 1997 to Spring 2001). From what I hear, things haven't slowed down (no shit).

Best,
JM

I suppose that did sound a little too petulant, and thought it might get locked on.

Truthfully, the officer history bit wouldn't color my decision at all; I was more trying to make the point that all of my gained knowledge (second-hand, of course) with NCOs had been from the Navy side of things, and that I was more familiar - and had more points of contact - with the officer point of view, at least as the overall military goes. Simply attempting to get a feel for the environment, since all of my contacts are Navy or Marines and can't tell me too much about the way it all breaks down for a Special Forces NCO.

I appreciate the response, sir, as that essentially answers my questions.