sjs6416
March 11th, 2007, 04:41 PM
Sorry to post in multiple forums, but this doesn't seem to have posted successfully on the officer page.
I enlisted in the Guard as an 09S (non prior service, OCS enlistment option) last November and was all set to head to BCT and begin OCS when I ended up winning a government grant to study abroad in an Asian ex-Soviet republic. Tough call, but I decided to request a release to take the grant, got it quickly with congratulations and support from the RSP cadre, and duly went off to spend a year in the ‘stans.
Now the year’s winding down and I’m exploring my options for getting back in.
For the next three years, I’m juggling two degrees (a law degree and an area studies masters). I’m starting in the next couple of months and can’t defer admission again, as I already deferred to go abroad -- so it’s start now or lose my seat. Compressing the degrees into three years the way the program does means at least one summer dedicated completely to coursework (currently scheduled for this coming summer) and generally a full dance card until spring 2010. My 2nd year summer (2008-2009) is also scheduled to be totally booked apart from a couple of spare weeks.
Assuming the options are still on the table, either traditional OCS or graduate ROTC might fit, but would be a stretch unless I started after my second year. I'm eager to make the time, but just don't have large blocks of weeks/months over the summer or otherwise unless I take a year off in the middle (an option that's also on the table).
Is there anything I’m forgetting? I don’t think my background makes me competitive or even reasonably in the ballpark for a direct commission (no prior service or completed graduate degrees). Ideally I’d be able to work out something similar to the Navy’s direct commission program, which as I understand it stretches out the initial entry training/parts of OBC on a drill schedule over two years or so. Do Guard units ever do anything like this, formally or informally, on a person-by-person basis?
Alternatively, I guess I wait until I’m out of school again or try and fit the puzzle together in a year or two. Frankly, looking back, I’d have been happier turning down the grant and sticking with the Guard. What’s the best, fastest way back?
I enlisted in the Guard as an 09S (non prior service, OCS enlistment option) last November and was all set to head to BCT and begin OCS when I ended up winning a government grant to study abroad in an Asian ex-Soviet republic. Tough call, but I decided to request a release to take the grant, got it quickly with congratulations and support from the RSP cadre, and duly went off to spend a year in the ‘stans.
Now the year’s winding down and I’m exploring my options for getting back in.
For the next three years, I’m juggling two degrees (a law degree and an area studies masters). I’m starting in the next couple of months and can’t defer admission again, as I already deferred to go abroad -- so it’s start now or lose my seat. Compressing the degrees into three years the way the program does means at least one summer dedicated completely to coursework (currently scheduled for this coming summer) and generally a full dance card until spring 2010. My 2nd year summer (2008-2009) is also scheduled to be totally booked apart from a couple of spare weeks.
Assuming the options are still on the table, either traditional OCS or graduate ROTC might fit, but would be a stretch unless I started after my second year. I'm eager to make the time, but just don't have large blocks of weeks/months over the summer or otherwise unless I take a year off in the middle (an option that's also on the table).
Is there anything I’m forgetting? I don’t think my background makes me competitive or even reasonably in the ballpark for a direct commission (no prior service or completed graduate degrees). Ideally I’d be able to work out something similar to the Navy’s direct commission program, which as I understand it stretches out the initial entry training/parts of OBC on a drill schedule over two years or so. Do Guard units ever do anything like this, formally or informally, on a person-by-person basis?
Alternatively, I guess I wait until I’m out of school again or try and fit the puzzle together in a year or two. Frankly, looking back, I’d have been happier turning down the grant and sticking with the Guard. What’s the best, fastest way back?