Benefits of joining as officer over enlisted?

[jcabin]

Well if you read my other post i simply wanted to enlist. but ive been in contact about this with my best friend whos been in the navy for almost 4 years(he's heavily considering going blue to green, if i join up he definately will) and he said at 22 joining as an enlist is dumb, even with a 2 year degree. I should just go to officer school. He said the main thing he's telling me this for, is because i'm a leader and not a follower. I must agree, I am a leader, and people have always looked up to me. Something i didnt state in my original post is that although i wanted to join as enlist, i wanted a leader role.
That being said, how would being an officer benefit me over joining as an enlisted? how much more of a leadership position would i be given than joining enlisted and showing up others? your help would be much appreciated, thankyou.

[matlt]

Being an officer does not necessarily make you a leader. As an officer your only job might be flying, or just paperwork. You could become a company commander and have 300 people under your command. You could spend half of your deployment making wooden furniture like one of our walking warrants that got screwed over during our deployment. The only real difference between officer and enlisted, is that you will make more money, and unless you're some kind of ground pounder, officers don't get their hands dirty. No manual labor. You don't need to be an officer to be a leader. Officers are basically administrative positions. This may start arguments, but officers should only manage from behind the scenes. The true leaders are the E5-E7's and the senior specialists. If you want a more involved leadership role, enlisting and waiting to become an E5 would be your best option. An officer leads by paper while NCO's lead by example.

[slugger6]

Originally Posted by Cannibul

While it's a military truism that most O-1 are dumber than a stump

What an absurd statement!

[jcabin]

Theres no reason to bash me. im in the research phase right now. i dont know much about military rankings so i came here for information, not to have someone tell me im scare the sh!t out of them because im stupid and should work for a business. My major is criminal justice, i want to work in law enforcement, not sit behind a desk. I was just trying to figure out if being an officer still puts you on the ground with everyone else, just at a higher ranking with different capabilities than an enlisted. Obviously from your negative post, you indirectly gave me my answer. Being an officer is not what i was looking for. Thanks for your support Cannibul. I'll remember you when im shooting insurgents.

Edited and mod note:

Bashing and belittling of fellow forum members
is a violation of the forum Code of Conduct,
thus the edit of a quote in this post which was
a reference to one already made above, which
was deleted.

This post is not is violation.

Ed

[LtDan]

For appearing to be a pretty knowledgable person about the military your blanket generality about all O-1s was completely out of line and unprofessional. I hope you outrank an O-1 yourself to be making such comments in a public forum. Also, it is my opinion that being critical of someone looking for advice is rude.

[jeepinbanditrider]

IMO if you are looking to truly lead no matter what MOS you need to go enlisted and work towards getting into the NCO ranks. NCOs are the backbone of any organization. IMO at the rank of CPL or SGT. (USMC rank structure) you are at a rare position to be as fully involved as possible in the leadership process. You get orders handed down to you and then YOU lead the people that actually do the work. You get to see the end result of all the hard work. You have not only the ears of your subordinates but the Marines above you also. You get looked to for advice from both lower ranking and higher ranking Marines.

That just MO though. Officers do make more, get treated way better, and if they are good officers will get more respect than anyone I've ever meet in my life.

[Ed Ely]

RHIP - Rank Has It's Privileges.

Ed

[Smoke_Works]

Chicks and billeting

[cce1302]

Some of my first hand observations (Applies to USMC; I don't know the other services much):
Advantages
-Chicks and billeting: true. You can cock block one of your Marines just by walking into a bar. I've never done it on purpose.
-Pay.
-Leadership. If you are in a combat arms MOS especially, or in many of the support MOSs you will start as a platoon commander. You will be responsible for as many as 42 Marines as soon as you set foot in the door.
-You will be looked to as a subject matter expert in your field.
-Your dress uniform looks just a little bit better than the enlisted uniform (sorry guys).
-Once you earn the respect of your Marines, they will have your back. When they realize you respect them (even though they are older than you and have less education and make less money than you do) they will respect you. If you don't respect your Marines, however, they will never respect you.

Disadvantages
-You are expected to know everything about everything.
-The Marines you lead may have derogatory perceptions of you based on previous experience. You will have to earn their respect.
-If you're any good, you will begin work before they do, and go home after they do.
-If you're any good, you will take the blame when something goes wrong. You'll give credit to your Marines when something goes right.
-You have to lead from the front.
-You may be relieved from command for actions of your subordinates that you could not possibly have influenced.
-You get more pay, you pay back in more. Expect dues for officer's fund, pay more for your dress and service uniforms, for birthday ball tickets, fund raisers, etc.
-Casualty assistance calls. Telling a parent or spouse their son or husband is dead.

That's a few that I can think of. Probably didn't word some the way I meant to.

[Cannibul]

Originally Posted by slugger6

What an absurd statement!

Why is every O-1 paired with a senior NCO to teach them then?