Enlisted HM to Officer in different community?

[Hog Wild]

Hey there everybody. I've got a B.A in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration (both from traditional brick-and-mortar schools, no online stuff). Anyways, would it be possible to enlist as an FMF Corpsman attached to a Marine unit, and then in the middle of my service apply to OCS for a different community (say Intel or Surface Warfare)? I was just curious, because I've heard of people with college degrees enlisting in the Army and Marine Corps and then going officer later on in different communities, and I just didn't know if it was possible with HM in the Navy. Thanks for any answers.

[reservedoc]

Of course its possible. Just dont take a bonus for enlisting and then try to become an officer during your enlistment, you will have to pay it back. With a poli-sci degree you have many options on which officer corps you want to be in. Intel, Line, Supply. See if you can get in touch with an officer recruiter and see what options are out there. Kudos on being enlisted before getting a commision, most of the best officers I have worked with are mustangs.

[DeeDee]

I have always thought that it should be a requirement of any officer to have served on the enlisted side for atleast one tour - then you know what it is like to be on the other side of the desk, so to speak, and you know what you did and didn't like about the way your superior officers treated you and how you would like to treat your subordinates.

just my humble opinion
DeeDee

[Hog Wild]

Ever since I was a little boy, I've wanted to serve in the miliitary. Ever since I've graduated from college and have seriously started surveying my options, I've thought that it would be much better for me to enlist first and get some experience under my belt (possibly in the form of deployment) before I go officer. I have heard that the best officers are mustangs. Thanks for the replies.

[Taylor]

Thats exactly what I am doing. I forstalled going to nursing school with my biochem degree because I wanted a full 5yrs as a corpsman first. Then that should make me a better member of the Nurse Corps.

Working out so far, already have great examples of good officers and bad officers. Hell, and Ive only been in 2yrs now.

[manningrr]

Good luck either route you choose. From your post I am going to assume you are in your mid 20's. Just keep in mind certain officer communities have different max ages. For example to be a Naval Flight Officer (Goose from Top Gun) you can not be over 28 years of age or 30 with at least 2 years of prior active service. Pilot is 27 and waiverable up to 29 with prior active service. Your best option would likely be going to OCS directly or going enlisted and applying for OCS later. Please someone correct me if I am wrong here, but I think since you already have a Bachelors then you can not apply for STA-21. MECP could be an option if you wanted to be a Nurse. The max age for Nurse is pretty high. I want to say 35 or maybe even higher than that.

I learned a lot of this just recently because I am thinking about dropping an OCS package. I came to the realization because I am now 30 that realisticly I could only do Intel for the most part.

My advice to you is to think long and hard before you decide which way. Generally speaking Mustangs do make the best Officer's but that is not always the case. I have met some Mustangs that should have just went to OCS first and got it over with and I have met some Officers that were never enlisted and I would have followed them into a house in Fallujah anyday. The type of Officer you are comes from the type of person you are and the Chiefs that train you. Being enlisted does give you a different view point, but I would not say that it fully prepares you to be an officer. The two worlds are completely different.