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FNG
Group: Registered User
Last Login: 2/11/2010 8:53 PM
Posts: 1,
Visits: 8
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Hey there!
My current situation:
I'm 24 years old.
I have a Bachelors in Legal, Criminal, and Asian Studies.
I will begin working on my Masters in Foreign Affairs next spring ('11).
Career Goals:
After doing some time in the service, I'm hoping to work for a federal agency (State, Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, etc.) The army seems like a great route to pay for grad school and get my foot into the door. After finishing my graduate degree I want to be an Infantry officer.
After speaking with an Army recruiter, I've decided to enlist in the Reserves prior to contracting in ROTC next year. In any case, that gives me a year to get BCT, AIT, and other schooling out of the way.
My Question:
What kind of contract should I sign to get me into Airborne, Ranger or sniper school? Keep in mind that I will be enlisting in the Reserves, which prevents me from doing an 18x. Also, I don't like the idea of doing a straight 11x--I would like some kind of guarantee to attend those schools.
Thanks for your help in advance!
EDIT
I've learned that Infantry is not an option for Reservists...whose lame idea was that? Apparently I can still go to Airborne school (with nearly any MOS) but neither Ranger school or sniper school will be a realistic option for a combat support job.
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Napalm Pisser
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Welcome to the site. There is(or was) one Reserve infantry unit left but that is in Hawaii. The Reserves have both Civil Affairs and Psyops units, which would get you to Airborne school and maybe Ranger School. However, for the rest of it you would need to go to a SF or Infantry unit in the NG.
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American GI. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
"History teaches that when you become indifferent and lose the will to fight someone who has the will to fight will take over." COLONEL BULL SIMONS
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Green GI
Group: Registered User
Last Login: 9/1/2010 8:39 AM
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| Just my .02--and its dated as I left service in 1994. Your options for Reserve/National Guard are limited by what units are within driving distance of where you live. There are no Reserve or Guard Ranger Battalions. If a Long Range Surveillance Detachment is in your area, then go visit them before you sign any paperwork (they typically won't take you unless you are prior service put circumstances can change that). A regular infantry reserve or guard unit will not get you Airborne School or Ranger School in most cases (they just don't get the slots, and if they do, it won't got to a private). Remember also that the depolyment cycle for alot of these units is pretty agressive right now, which will impact your school schedule. If you go to a SF Reserve or Guard unit, I am guessing you can kiss grad school goodbye for a few years as the training for that route is full time once you get into it. I am not SF, so they SF guys on this board would have to elaborate. I have not attended Sniper School, but I doubt too many officers get slots. You probably need to sit down and decide priorities and whether enlisted or officer will best get you where you want to be. I did active first, then college, then grad school--now too old to go back and be high speed. If I were to do it over again, I would have gotten my BS first in college, then joined enlisted for four years, under 11X Option 40 (Ranger Contract) with Abn School. If you get selected and make it through RASP, you are on your way to attending Ranger School and whatever else they get slots for. If you fail to get selected after RASP, the airborne qual will at least help you get to the 82d Airborne Divsion (though not guarantee it), and if you do, you can get Ranger School slots there. Sniper School slots are few and far between in general. Getting an assignment in the Scout Platoon of an Infantry Battalion would give you a shot at being placed in a Sniper Slot, which might open the door to the school if you are lucky. Scout Platoons (Infantry Scout Platoons--not Cav Scout) prefer either experienced E-3s or E-4s and up. They are also a good place to pick up Ranger School slots. Once you do your time on Active Duty, you can decide whether you wish to cross over to SF on the active side, reserve side, or not at all. You can get out and finish grad school afterwards. You can go to grad school anytime. Your body is not going to remain as tough and durable as your mind will. Officer Corps works differently and you will not have as much of an ability to control your assignments. On the plus side, you can probably pull off, if you get Infantry Branch, Ranger School and Airborne School before your first duty assignment. Some of the officers on the board can better direct you from there. The federal gov may value the officer experience more than the enlisted--but again, there are others on this board that would be better able to help here. Bottom line, I don't think you can do school and the high speed stuff at the same time.
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Hard Charger
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| Re: Sniper school. There is actually one non-combat arms MOS that has snipers, and that's the Military Police. Now, actually getting a sniper slot in an MP unit is not going to be easy. MPs have a lot of specialized schools that have more or less direct applications to civilian LE (K9, SRT a/k/a SWAT, Traffic, Investigations, etc) but generally speaking you have to "pay your dues" and show that you're proficient before you get sent to one of those schools. There are quite a few MP units in the reserves, I was in the 805th MP Co, USAR, out of Raleigh, NC for OJG (Bosnia) in 97-98. Keep in mind that MPs are among the most in-demand specialities in both Iraq and Afghanistan, so a year-long deployment is a near certainty if you go into the MPs. Of course, the same can be said for Psyops, Civil Affairs, or just about any other support MOS since a large portion of the Army's Combat Service Support comes from the Reserves. Barry is right, though, that generally speaking the Combat Arms units are in the Guard, rather than the Reserves. That was a political decision that was made years ago and whether you like it or not, that's the way things are. Having served in both the NG and the AR, I can tell you I liked the NG a little bit better just because in the NG you felt like you had a "home", that being the state. In the Reserves you're sort of a bastard stepchild - the regular Army doesn't really consider you one of theirs and the state doesn't either, so you're more or less in limbo. As for grad school, some states will pay for grad school, the last state NG I was in (Wyoming) paid for about 4 semesters of law school for me.
Martin  "When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission" - Zapp Branigan, Futurama
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Strac Trooper
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Just to add to the post about MP's and sniper school. It is not quite sniper school. It is Marksmen/Observer course. It is the second phase of SRT school. Last I remember it was only one week. No ghillie suits or anything like that though.
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Masters of Hard Knocks from the University of Gravity
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You want an honest opinion. If your career goals are Federal Service and you already 24 years old. Don't bother with the military. Apply for the service of your choice. If you think that you going to start out as a field agent, you need to step back and re-evaluate the jobs that are being offered.
You are 24 years old and already planning on working on your Masters. So you are the right age and have the type of education they are already looking for.
If you go in the service it will be for between 3 and 6 years. If you go ROTC after enlisting you will have at least a 4 year commitment. That makes you 29 or 30 before you can apply for federal service. Guess what. Your already getting over the hill for them. Yes I know that they accept up to something like 40 years old now (maybe it was 38) or something like that, but it is the competition you have to worry about and how long it will take you to get the experience with the feds before you start getting decent assignments.
Figure for instance you go for the Feebies. After something like 6-9 months of training you get your first assignment. Let's say Boise, ID field office. You are going to spend 3 years there before you get a transfer to say the Cheyenne, WY office, bigger town but still small scale. It will be probably 5-8 years before you get to one of the big field offices, say St. Louis.
You need to map the career progression of the field to see what the timelines are.
If you commit to the military whether reserve or guard you are going to be stuck and in all likelihood end up with at least one deployment someplace. Which will also interrupt your education.
Seems to me your career goal and your stated goal of being an Infantry officer don't track with each other. By the time you finish your Grad School (lets say full time for two years) your now 27 and you then become an officer. That's OK a little old for a Lieutenant but as long as you are in good physical condition doable. But now you for sure have at least a 4 year commitment. So again you are over 30.
Bottom line- If you want to be a fed, keep working on your education, apply for federal tuition assistance and start applying for to the 3 letter agencies.
You won't get enough experience that will be focused on what you want to do as a Fed by being in the infantry.
"Si Vis Pacum Para Bellum"
If you want peace prepare for war!
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