General Military Opportunities Defined

Enlisted Personnel

Enlisted personnel are the primary workforce in the armed forces and begin at the lowest rank. The military prefers those prospects who have earned a high school diploma, and with time, good service, and education, advancement can be expected.

Officers

Officers begin at a supervisory rank. They must have a four year college degree from an accredited institution before being commissioned; however, the military has several programs that lead to becoming a commissioned officer:

Military Academies

• Officer Candidate Schools
• Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
• Direct Appointments
• Do You Want a Full-Time or Part-Time Military Career?

The next question you should ask should be the degree of commitment you are willing to make. The military is flexible and has several full-time and part-time options.

Regular Service

In the regular service, personnel serve on a full time basis. After enlisting in the service, members are sent to basic training. After graduation, they are sent to specialty job training schools. Upon completion, they are assigned to a station or unit for duty. After 20 years of regular service, members qualify for military retirement.

Reserve Service

The reserves are part time military soldiers. Personnel serve an initial period on active duty after attending basic training and job training. After the training period, which usually lasts several months, reservists are free to return to civilian life, but for the remainder of the service obligation they attend training sessions and perform work in the job specialty one or two days a month with their local unit. Once a year, reservists participate in an active duty training session for 14 days. When reservists have completed 20 years of service and have reached age 60, they are entitled to retirement, based on reserve pay.