army, enlisted vs officer?

That was my plan. The good news is, the Army can open your eyes about what you really want to do - turns out I don't want to be in the FBI after all.

I did both. I completed my bachelors degree and then enlisted in the Army. "It is my understanding that NCO's earn more respect than commissioned officers." Not exactly, but ROTC Officers who are a mere 23 years old earn less respect than Officers who have enlisted time first. The sum total of what college kids know about the Army was what they learned in college from their Military Science instructors. It is VERY apparent as a Second Lieutenant. I was enlisted for 5 years first before I commissioned. Of course, by the time they all make Captain, you don't see the knowledge difference anymore.

Officers get more money, but if you aren't in it for the money and just the experience, go enlisted. Officers don't get to choose their branch (it's a matter of mathematics and politics), but enlisted can choose their exact job. The major downside is that you will be taking orders from a guy or gal who either has zero college or is currently taking classes to get an associate's degree. Your advanced education may cause you to feel superior to those who outrank you. Try VERY HARD not to be condescending to your superiors or you will get your butt handed to you.

You can always switch over to the "dark side" after a while if you decide the Army is something good enough for you to hang around and do for a while longer. Plenty of opportunities, including OCS and Green to Gold. I chose the latter, and went back for my master's degree for 2 years while getting paid active duty pay. Pretty sweet.

Enlisted Vs Officer

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If you graduate from a Service Academy you are practically guaranteed whatever job you want. If you graduate from West Point and want to be an infantry officer, you'll be an infantry officer. You should certainly go officer, they do get more respect as they gain experience and you do have a higher quality of life to some degree. However enlisted will stay in combat longer than you, after a while you'll probably be assigned to desk work as you gain rank.

You have two equally good choices here. Go officer, and regardless of which branch they put you in, you'll learn leadership and a lot of really good skills which various government agencies like a lot. You will not have much say in your branch assignment (your specialty) but employers tend to look favorably on people with background as a military officer.

Or you could go enlisted. The advantage there is YOU could pick your career field. One good option to look into is military linguist (35P.) That will get you eighteen months of intensive language training, which you get paid for. It's REALLY rare to get that as an officer. Other good options are imagery analyst (35G) or HUMINT 35M.) This experience would be more directly transferable to work with various government agencies.

Enlisted life is not easy. Junior enlisted guys are the ones who mop and paint and mow lawns and check out the unit's trucks for maintenance problems. They are not given a lot of freedom - but this varies from branch to branch. Military intelligence guys are treated like grown adults, more than, say, the Infantry. The pay is not great. But the housing is free, you can eat for free at the chow hall, you'll make some great friends, and be getting a lot of hands-on experience in your field. With a degree as an E-4, you'll likely make Sergeant within two years (assuming you pass your weigh ins and PT test) and get some leadership experience.

If you are using the Army as a career stepping stone toward civilian federal gov't work, I would recommend going to OCS and becoming an officer.

Officers = Management and Enlisted = Labor.

I have my degrees and I'm going enlisted. My reason? I want to do the actual job, not just oversee it. For me, the Army is my career goal. Therefore, I feel it's a better choice to learn the nuts and bolts as junior enlisted and an NCO before earning a commission. Then again, I'm the rare individual who believes in working one's way up.

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army, enlisted vs officer?

I plan to join the army after finishing my bachelor's degree next year, for the following reasons:

1) serving my country

2) incredible experiences I wouldn't find in the civilian world

3) boosting my resume to get a better job in the civilian market (so in other words, I don't want...

Go officer!!! Trust me for what you want to do enlisted isn't the way to go. I have a degree and I enlisted, I even made e5 pretty quickly, but it still doesn't matter. New sergeants get crapped on just as much as any butter bar... and for a lot less money. The only problem with the officer route is you won't be able to pick your branch, but still to future employers it's gonna look a lot better.

Go enlisted, make it through all the trouble of getting into and then through Special Forces training, and once you have completed a deployment or two in SOCOM, then go after your commission. The respect for an USMA grad, or ROTC officer, is no where when compared to prior enlisted.

Officer. Definitely. As an officer, you lead. As enlisted, you follow.

NCO's are more respected because they know the men and women better than newly commissioned officers. If you don't want to be un-included at the beginning then you might want to start out as an enlisted personnel and then get commissioned.