Initial Meeting #2: US Army

Not just any other branch, either...

Well ladies and gents, after a long week of trading emails and finding a good time for a meeting I can finally say I've spoken to a representative of another branch of the military.
Last Wednesday I met Staff Sergeant Monsale of the US Army. Unlike the Marine Corps, the Army uses enlisted personnel as recruiters for enlisted soldiers as well as officers (at least from what I can tell). This would also be a great time for a disclaimer: my knowledge of the Army's recruiting process is very limited, at best. I will probably make multiple incorrect assumptions in this post alone. I highly encourage anyone with a more intricate knowledge of the Army's recruiting procedures to comment and correct any misconceptions and mistakes that I make here.
With that said, I did my best to get a feel for how the Army differed from the Marine Corps. Not only in the broad sense of it's mission as a force, but also just the intricacies in the OCS process. Obviously, I was mainly concerned with what my specific options were. The Army does not do a course like PLC in the Marine Corps; I could technically "join," however there's no way I could go complete OCS while in college. That's a little bit of a bummer. Not necessarily a deal-breaker though. 


One plus with the Army is the student-loan repayment plan (I'm not sure what the technical name is). From what I gathered, the Army will pay up to $65,000 in student loans, in lieu of your G.I. Bill. That's a pretty solid perk. Truthfully, I don't have that many loans though, and I personally think it'd be more worthwhile for them to pay for my grad school.. so that aspect is really a non-issue. 

As for the differences, the best place to start would be with actual OCS. Army officer training is broken up into three phases: Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) I, II, and III. The first phase is OCS, which lasts twelve weeks. Phase II last six weeks and Phase III is branch-specific training. In the Army, you apply for a "branch" such as Infantry, Finance, Aviation, etc. It's more or less like a MOS with the USMC. The third phase is job training, which can last from six to fourteen weeks, depending on what branch you're selected for. Like the Marine Corps, you do have a choice, but that largely depends on your performance in the first two phases of BOLC and the needs of the Army.

The different branches are pretty similar to the MOS choices offered by the Marine Corps. You have to select three for your preference and one of the three has to be a combat branch. To me, this says there are probably a decent amount of people trying to join the Army with no intention of serving in a combat role. While the Army needs support elements, I think trying to entirely avoid combat in the US Army is kind of missing the point. 

Much like the Marines, you and your recruiter put together an application package to be sent to a selection board with many of the same required documents. Some of these include recommendation letters, a dress photo in a suit, letter stating why you want to become an officer, college transcripts, etc. From what I understand, you then are interviewed by a panel of officers to gauge appearance, confidence and how well-spoken you are, among other things. On top of that, I'll also need to take the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), which shouldn't be too difficult. In the office I did very well on the practice test (frankly, it doesn't judge very tough material) so I'm not especially worried. 


For the most part, I liked what SSGT Monsale had to say, but it really didn't do a whole lot to change where the Army stands in my list of choices. He generally confirmed what I was expecting in a lack of a comparable program to PLC. Also, the Army still seems like an inferior version of the Marine Corps, at least in combat elements. Marines are largely in better shape than their Army counterparts and I'd feel much better going into a combat zone with the Corps. Having said that, the Army did also show that it's an organization where motivated and ambitious soldiers can accomplish some very good things. The advanced education offered for soldiers in schools such as Jump School in Fort Benning, GA is just one of many opportunities for Army officers with a little drive to have opportunities to better themselves in their profession. With that in mind, if the Marine Corps doesn't work for me this summer, I'll definitely be giving the Army a strong look after I graduate.