A co-worker recently re-enlisted in the Army reserve. He has limited community college courses, approximatley 20 credits along with vast professional law enforcement experience. I was wondering if he was to complete a BA degree through a DETC accredited school, would it be accepted for commissioning as an officer.
Manny, Your friend would be best served by discussing any commissioning opportunities with his chain of command and whoever manages the commissioning program. Invariably commissioning programs have many other requirements besides an undergraduate degree (when required). Has your friend identified a particular program?
As long at the degree is DETC or RA, it is acceptable for commissioning purposes. I don’t mean to come across as an RA degree snob but, like I used to tell my enlisted personnel when I was active duty, if you have the option, earn an RA degree. In the end, an RA degree has more utility. Some employers, besides the government/military, may not accept DETC degrees and if your friend ever decides to earn a graduate degree, he may find more doors open to him with an RA degree. There are many VA approved RA DL schools offering undergraduate degrees. The following web site should help. http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/InstitutionsByDegreeType.asp?RecID=3
I am in agreement with Phd2B. Although a DETC degree is acceptable for the purpose of applying to OCS, your friend would be better off if he had an RA degree. Getting accepted into OCS is highly competitive for all of the services right now. And, whether fair or unfair, the officer selection boards view RA degrees in a better light than DETC degrees. Keep in mind that I am not an RA zealot. I have nothing against nationally accredited degrees. However, I think RA degrees generally have higher utility for the puposes of career investment----both in the public sector and private sector.
Manny, This has come up before and, IIRC, there are some standards differences between the services. What is acceptable to the Army might not be acceptable to the Air Force. That, at least, is how I recall the discussions.
Re: Re: Military Officer - DETC While this is true, having commissioned Army officer experience and staff experience in an active duty Army recruiting brigade, I can tell you the Army does accept DETC accredited degrees for OCS. But, urge your friend to at least look into an RA degree. At this time, RA degrees are more highly regarded than DETC degrees. In time DETC degrees may be looked upon as equivalent, but this is definitely not the case now. If your friend wants his OCS packet to be as competitive as possible for an OCS slot; he should complete an RA degree.
Rich is correct. I think we had an officer recruiter for the navy post here not too long ago and this was the point he made. That while it might be acceptable, in the Navy where there were limited slots it would not likely be competitive. I can say that the Air Force is likely just as competitive and therefore going to be difficult. Army may not be so, especially if he wants to become an infantry or tank officer. However, I cannot guarentee that and someone else's idea to talk to a recruiter is the best idea. Frankly, I once saw an otherwise talented ex hooah infantry Sgt try to go OCS with his University of the State of New York degree (Excelsior). His commander was not impressed. He did not get into OCS and he would have gladly gone infantry. North
FWIW, I had but a high school diploma and the Army offered me OCS based on test scores and what they saw in Basic Training. Course that was in 1966 when they needed Second Looies for sniper bait. It was heartwarming when the First Sergeant told me a Second Lieutenant had an average lifespan of six seconds in combat. Though they were looking for officers, even then there would have been limited advancement opportunities for someone without a degree.
You would be surprised how many people want to become an Infantry officer or Armor [tank] officer. These [combat arms] branches are popular and not as easy to get as you would think. One of my buddies in ROTC wanted to be an Infantry officer so badly that he lived the part while in college. He was a much better cadet than I was, did very well in ROTC, was recommended by the professor of military science for active duty Infantry, but only got selected for Reserve Infantry because his GPA was low. He was pretty crushed. My GPA was solid, so I got selected for active duty [and no, I did not want combat arms]. A little Army officer humor for you...what do you do with a degree in English? You become an Infantry officer. The funny thing is there is some truth to this joke. A few of the combat arms officers that I met were liberal arts majors in college and when it came down to it; according to them, becoming a combat arms officer was a better option than the unemployment line.
I don't put much value into the prestige of a particular school, but I wonder if this is one of those times where, if the goal is a commission, that you go out and find the most prestigious school you can. I have no earthly idea, but it would seem so. Tom Nixon
I got in. I was accepted to Army OCS on the basis of my USNY Regents degree. I declined it, and accepted a slot into Air Force OTS instead. Along the way, I was also accepted to Navy OCS. None of these services had any problem with my degree. (During my Air Force career I had to, more than once, convince education officials that I did not graduate from SUNY Albany. In one conversation, the official insisted I did graduate from there! Gee, you think I would have known.... I declined the Navy and the Army in order to stay "blue" (Air Force).
Air Force ROTC doesn't play that nonsense. All of our graduates go on to active duty. There is no separation between those who go to active duty and those who go off to reserve duty. Our cadets know their futures after their sophomore years. They don't have to have their lives utterly on hold until their respective service makes up its mind.
Rich, I'd like to respond but I might be "bouying the thread" whatever that means. http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18559
