- BECOME AN OFFICER
- ARMY ROTC
- DIRECT COMMISSION
- OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL
- WEST POINT
About this video:
explains how prior service and recent graduates can get on the fast track to officership.
Major Lynn Ray: My name is Lynn Ray, proud Officer of the United States Army. I chose to become an Officer so I can have a broader impact. I wanted to reach out and touch more Soldiers so becoming an Officer gives me the ability to do that. Officer Candidate School provided me with the opportunity to continue to be a Soldier, go through twelve weeks of training and come out a commissioned Officer.
OCS Candidate Lisa Hilliard: The fastest way to become an Officer is the college option program, once you have a college degree you do Basic Training and you go directly to OCS. Combined is about twenty-two weeks.
Colonel Terry Sellers: Being an Officer is a challenge and you get to solve some pretty complex problems. You get to feel good about what you're doing, physically, mentally. You're doing something more than just for yourself. You're doing something for the Army and for the Nation.
Major Lynn Ray: The responsibility of being an Officer is huge, you make decisions that affect an individual's life or could affect a whole battalion. Our role is that of leaders on the battlefield.
Colonel Terry Sellers: If you've been a career Soldier certainly being an Officer in the Army is different that being a Soldier in the Army.
Major Lynn Ray: I had to learn how to go from being an executer to being a planner. To use analytical thinking and to think on a broader scale. So instead of being able to control eight, nine Soldiers, I had to now be able to think forward, for thirty.
OCS Candidate Jeremy Dillard: I'm mature, but I've matured a lot more. And I matured to the point where I'm ready to step back and let the NCOs do the job. But as an Officer to administrator the most help I can to Soldiers, and that's what made me want to become an Officer. I wanted to show that this is the right way to do it so we can continue to be strong as an Army.
Major Lynn Ray: It's a team effort to make a good leader. A leader doesn't make themselves, there's a lot of things that go in to that pot to turn out an awesome Officer.
OCS Candidat Lisa Hilliard: We don't just study by ourselves we study in groups, we're always helping each other, we're squaring each others equipment away...it's such a different perspective of me, me, me. Because you never think about me, it's about your squads or your team.
Colonel Terry Sellers: One of the things that I've been able to do in my career is coach, teach, and mentor a number of junior Officers and I've been able to watch them grow and develop throughout their careers. I'm not responsible for their success but I've certainly facilitated and hopefully empowered their success.
Major Lynn Ray: All of these things come together to make us leaders of the military. Being an Officer is probably the most rewarding experience I have had to date. The fact that you can give back to other young Officers coming in, your experiences can now be turned around to help guide and mentor and be their supporter and role model for young Officers coming in to the Army. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL
AVAILABLE TO ENLISTED SOLDIERS AND RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATES
TRAIN TO BECOME AN ARMY OFFICER IN ONE OF 16 DIFFERENT CAREER FIELDS
GET HELP PAYING FOR YOUR COLLEGE TUITION THROUGH A SCHOLARSHIP
BECOME AN OFFICER IN THE U.S. ARMY IN JUST 23 WEEKS
For more than 200 years, West Point graduates have served our country as Army Officers, engineers, explorers, and leaders at all levels of business and government. The United States Military Academy at West Point is one of our nation's top universities, offering a fully funded and elite education while preparing you to become an Army Officer. You must be under 23 years old to enroll at West Point. Upon graduation, West Point Cadets are awarded a Bachelor of Science degree and commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army.
Military Junior Colleges (MJCs) provide a more structured and disciplined college experience, and the opportunity to become an Army Officer in two years. MJCs offer Army ROTC classes, leadership labs and field training along with your required degree courses. ROTC also offers full-tuition scholarships, allowances for books and fees, and annual stipends worth up to $5,000. At a MJC, you will complete the Leader's Training Course (LTC) at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, the summer before your freshman year. You will then take the ROTC Advanced Course studies while at the MJC. Upon graduation, you'll receive an associate degree and a commission as an Officer in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard.
Senior Military Colleges (SMCs) provide a more structured and disciplined college experience while also offering the Army ROTC curriculum. ROTC provides leadership training through a series of classes, leadership labs and field training taken along with your required college courses. ROTC also offers full-tuition scholarships, money for books and fees, and annual stipends worth up to $5,000. At graduation, you'll be commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard.
If you have two years remaining on your bachelor's or advanced degree, you are eligible to enroll in Army ROTC after completing the Leader's Training Course (LTC) at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. ROTC provides leadership training at more than 1,100 schools in the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico, and is taken along with your required college courses. ROTC offers full-tuition scholarships, money for books and fees, and annual stipends worth up to $5,000. Upon completion of ROTC requirements and graduation from college, you'll be commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard.
Some of the most highly specialized experts in the U.S. Army are Warrant Officers. Warrant Officers are experts in aviation, piloting some of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world. You can become an Army aviator directly from high school. After selection for the aviation program, you'll attend Basic Combat Training (BCT) for 9 weeks and then go on to Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) and flight training. As an Aviation Warrant Officer, you'll be paid for your expertise, receiving flight pay in addition to regular pay, allowances and benefits.
Officer Candidate School (OCS) provides college graduates the opportunity to enlist in the Army and become an Officer. Upon completion of Basic Combat Training (BCT), you'll attend OCS, enabling you to be commissioned as an Army Officer. OCS is also available to enlisted Soldiers with a college degree who want to join the ranks of the Officer corps.
Becoming an Officer is just one of the many careers and job opportunities available to you in the U.S. Army. To learn more about all of the career options the Army offers click below.
Officers serve in many different capacities in the U.S. Army. Based upon your education and level of expertise, you may be eligible to apply for a direct commission. Opportunities are available in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps for lawyers, Army Medical Corps (AMEDD) for doctors and nurses, and the Chaplain Corps for clergy. Direct Commission is also available into branches such as Adjutant General, Quartermaster or Military Intelligence for Army Reserve or Army National Guard Soldiers who meet the requirements.
