Joining the military as an officer

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to join the military? Are you unsure if you want to be an officer or enlisted? Maybe you don't understand the differences.

Let’s break down the difference between officer and enlisted and the different paths to becoming an officer. We will also touch on the benefits that are available to members of the military.

Enlisted versus officer: What's the difference?

Here is where it can get confusing. Officers are often viewed as the leaders of their respective branch of service, and enlisted are viewed as the followers. While that’s true to a certain extent, I’ve learned some of my biggest leadership lessons from some of the senior enlisted non-commissioned officers I had the chance to serve with. I retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves after a 20-year career — 12 years on active duty and the last eight in the Reserves.    

Officers do maintain legal authority over their subordinates and will have the ultimate leadership authority and lead enlisted. Officers are leaders first, and their jobs come second. When I was a major doing combat operations, I relied on the wisdom and expertise of the enlisted intel members I worked with but in the end, I knew the ultimate responsibility was mine, not theirs. I would be held accountable and would answer for how I led the combat mission. 

There are more differences. Becoming an officer also requires a four-year degree. We want enlisted service members to get their degree, but it’s not required. As with most careers, more education garners more responsibility and more pay. You can learn about different pay scales and how much you could earn in the military with USAA’s military pay calculator. While pay might vary, benefits like health care, dental and vision for you and your family are the same.     

There also are some jobs that are only available to officers and some that are only available to enlisted. For example, command positions are only available to officers — the commander of a squadron, platoon or battalion will always be an officer. That’s part of the command structure.   

If you want to be a fighter or cargo pilot in the military, you will need to be an officer. Only officers can get qualified to fly helicopters, planes or jets. You can be part of the crew as enlisted aircrew, but officers are at the controls. That said, times are changing in our military. The Air Force now trains enlisted airmen to fly many of its remotely piloted aircraft.

Why join as an officer

There are many reasons one may choose to become an officer instead of taking the enlisted path. Let’s review a few of them.

Specific job

As I mentioned before, some jobs are not available to enlisted members.    

For example, I knew I wanted to fly, which led me to the officer path. I was able to pursue it and had the chance to fly fighters, my dream.    

Desire to get college done first

I wanted to go to college before serving, which also led me down the officer path. That’s why I decided to pursue attending a military service academy and am a proud graduate of the United States Air Force Academy class of 2000.  

Influences

The choice of officer versus enlisted can sometimes come down to who influenced you. Maybe it’s a family tradition to attend West Point and you desire to follow in that legacy. Or a close friend of the family is an Air Force ROTC instructor and they have guided you to this path for years.

Your mentors might also guide you to active duty versus National Guard or Reserves. To learn more about these options, check out our article devoted to explaining the differences.

But, let me warn you that just because an important person in your life went one path does not mean you have to — or even should. Remember, you will have to go through basic training, not them. You will get the orders to deploy, not them. Listen to their advice, but make this your decision.

Different paths to becoming an officer

Let’s talk about different ways to become an officer.  

Service academy

There are service academies that train young people to serve as commissioned officers in branches of the armed forces. There are four-year military universities and, of course, U.S. Air Force Academy is the best, no bias here.

Upon graduation, students receive bachelor's degrees and are commissioned as military officers.  

Tuition for the service academies is covered by the branch of the military they represent. In exchange, you'll commit to serving in the military for a certain period of time after you graduate.

That period of service can change but for most people, it’s five years of active duty unless you go through a specialty course. For example, the pilot training commitment for the Air Force is 10 years after completion of pilot training. That makes sense, since it cost a lot of money to put me through pilot training. The Air Force wanted to make sure it reaped the reward of its investment. 

ROTC

The Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or ROTC, is a program in which college students are educated and trained to become officers in the U.S. military.

The Army, Navy — which also trains for the Marine Corps — and Air Force — which also trains for the Space Force — each operate their own programs. The Coast Guard operates a similar program called the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative, or CSPI. Not every college offers ROTC on campus, and even schools that do may not have opportunities for all branches. If you're interested in ROTC, you'll need to do some research. 

There are two ways to do ROTC:

1. ROTC scholarship participants commit to a term of service as an officer and receive substantial assistance paying for college. Applications for an ROTC scholarship begin your senior year of high school.
2. ROTC non-scholarship students can join the program either as an incoming college student or after they're already enrolled. It's possible to enroll in ROTC without committing to military service for the first two years of training, but before their junior year each student will have to sign a contract stipulating the academic and military standards they're required to maintain.

Officer Training School, or OTS

This goes by different names based on military branch. In the Air Force, it’s OTS. In the Army, it’s Officer Candidate School, or OCS. This is a quick way to becoming an officer for those who already have or will soon have their college degree, or who are currently serving and decide to make the transition from enlisted to officer.

Officer Training School lasts five to 17 weeks and you learn about the military and how to be an officer so you can integrate and lead very quickly upon graduation. We often see OTS and OCS for people who are enlisted or civilians who want to join as an officer. Many of the civilians are professionals, such as those with medical degrees. Maybe they are a doctor in private practice and want to be a doctor in the military.

How do I choose between a service academy, ROTC or OTS?

Many times, that choice may be made for you. If you already have a college degree, then you can’t attend a service academy or join ROTC. Age is also a consideration. For example, while you can attend the Air Force OTC up until age 39, the United States Air Force Academy upper end is 23 years old. The maximum age to begin OTS without a waiver is 42, unless you join as a health care or ministry professional. In that case, the maximum age is 48. If in doubt, it’s always best to ask a recruiter.

Also, you need to think about experience. A service academy is a full-time military school, while ROTC is more of a balance between military and civilian. ROTC students attend their military class but the rest of the time, they are like a normal civilian college student. Many people who desire more of the college experience go ROTC, as the service academy experience is unlike any other normal college experience.

Also under ROTC are senior military colleges, or SMCs, such as Virginia Military Institute, the Citadel or the Corps at Texas A&M University. While those are ROTC programs, they will look and feel more like a service academy than a regular ROTC program at a school like the University of Alabama. But, you will still have a little more of that college “experience” than you would get at a true service academy.

I can tell you from experience that the service academy experience is difficult. I admit that there were many times when I was doing a Saturday morning room inspection followed by a parade that I wished I was at a normal college. However, I would not change my decision to attend the Air Force Academy. The level of support you get from the institutions and the leadership lessons you learn vastly outweigh any of the difficult days.

Benefits of being an officer

There are benefits that come with joining the military. First, you get to serve your country, and that is not something to take lightly. While not every experience in the military was easy or fun, I would do it all over again.

There also are financial benefits. When you graduate, you have an immediately job and will have a regular paycheck coming in, as well as health care, dental, and vision benefits. Plus, you have access to a 401(k) retirement plan through the military Thrift Savings Plan. And, when eligible, it provides both automatic and matching contributions. How many of your college friends can say that? Many of them may struggle to find a job or at least a job in their desired career field, while you have a job immediately after graduation. 

What actions should I take if I’m thinking about become an officer?

The first is to visit USAA’s Joining the military experience. Here, you will find resources to help guide you as you join, with the most valuable being a personalized timeline.

Also, remember that consistent paycheck we talked about earlier? Think about how you will use that to improve your financial security. That’s why we created a Top 10 list of things to do when you join the military.

When you show up to day one of basic training, you will need to have a checking account so the military can directly deposit your paycheck into your account. Since you will be joining the military, that makes you eligible for USAA membership. You can then also apply for a USAA Classic Checking account. Once the account is opened, you should be able to receive your paycheck through direct deposit.