Hi, I am going to be joining up with the Army Res. soon. I am trying to find info on the college credit hours scale. I was wondering how many college credits are needed to join the army as a specialist/corporal and a sergent. Thanks in advance. I have close to 20 credits now

I dont believe you have to have any college credit to join. Actually I am pretty damn sure. To commission as an officer one has to have a college degree. If you do have a certain amount of credit when you enlist you can enlist at a higher rank. Good Luck.

Hi tgifxray!

If you wanted to get a commission, you would need 90 credits to attend OCS. You would have to finish your degree within a certain amount of time, but to get into OCS you only need 90 credits! To enlist into the Army with a paygrade of E-4, you need a 4 year degree. For E-3 you need 48 credits, and for E-2 you need 24. I hope this helps you. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask!!

You know what I think is funny, that a PhD is only worth as many promotion points as shooting expert (it might be 25 pts higher) out of 1000 points, A PhD only 50-75 pts!!! That shows how much emphasis the military puts on education. And guess what you get for your bachelors degree, a chance to go to basic training (OCS) again, what a deal.

Once again -- a college degree does not guarantee anything in life or in the military. For some reason you hold a resentment about that fact and take every opportunity to whine about it.

Since this topic is more than a year old, you appear to be beating a dead horse. What good is a PhD outside of education, science, or psychology? Do you really think that they could go into the military without any training and be prepared to function with any semblance of competence? It is naive at best and could get someone killed at its extreme.

They are intelligent but their education has narrowed down from somewhat overall knowledge to a more specialized study on one or a closely related subject. Only a myopic belief than college graduates are superior in any way outside of their element of expertise can cause this quixotic journey of resentment towards the military to continue.

College is a wonderful experience and should be enjoyed by everyone who wishes to partake but it does require one to play by the rules of the organization – just as the military does. People who earn MBAs after working a number of years still have to do the homework.

The most confusing thing is the requirement of a bachlors degree to go to OCS. OCS has almost nothing to do with academics. I thought that if the prerequisites were an academic degree the training would be a professional academic atmosphere becasue they already initiated you in basic with the hazing. A sergant with little or no education or a basket weaving education would probably do much better than myself in OCS but they dont get that oprotunity. When I got hasseled in basic by other privates I told them to sit down and shut up, if they were such hot shit why dident they step up to the plate for OCS. They dident have the education and I dident have the tolerance or patients for hazing. When I got back to my guard unit I found out after I left OCS that only like 6 people from the state were going to OCS for the year and only like 2 or 3 would probably make it, so as far as im concerned I dont feel sorry for the military not making numbers for officers if they dont want to specialize them and cut the BS of OCS and go directly to OBC then they can keep hazing people out of the military. Becasue apparently everyone is stuck on stupid because they want a rewarding carrer in the military and dont want to be hazed or degraded to get there. The system has become so entrenched that all of a sudden im a bad person because I refuse to be treated like im subhuman, and because the system has been entrenched for so long it gets the socially accepable title of tradition which is nothing more than a long running fad and that fad countinues to perpetuate itself through the hardline members that buy into it, and I noticed that there a no good arguments in regards to the military hazing (ie basic, OCS) other than im stupid or I just dont get it. However doctors, nurses, lawyers and chaplians get to curcumvent the hazing part of military training (OCS) and go straight to OBC which is suppost to be actual military job school (they have an abriviated basic that is like 2 or 3 weeks long and the drills are alot easier maybe 4 weeks). So I guess the "rules of the game" are some get hazed and some dont" and thoes that do get hazed and refuse to tolerate it are stupid and thoes that get to curcumvent the training thats ok????

Why do you even bother to keep discussing this? You are never going to understand because you are long on ego and short on comprehension. Do you expect to run an engineering department upon obtainment of an engineering degree or join the worker bees until you have some real experience? It is possible for you to decline job assignments because your GPA was better than someone else’s and they should have gotten the assignment?

im a worker bee engineer working on my PE licence. Its not the position, the work, or the pay its the treatment regardless of the position that is important to me. Even as a disipline engineer I get treated like everyone else, where in the military if you are junior enlisted you are typically treated like a pee on. Things are probably better than they were 50 yrs ago. The comment about not being able to marry as a junior enlisted about blew me away, that spells pee on treatment in and of itself

I keep discussing it becasue its entertaining how people just accept things becasue it was writen on a little card given to you in basic by a oligarcy of officers. I think its funny in my state we are making great head way in the way of concealed weapons, you are now allowed to carry a concealed weapon in the entire state without a permit, thats awsome right? Well the military base in its infinate wisdom decided to make up a rule that military members could not carry a personal firearm on or off base. On base thats fine they can do what they want its a federal military establishment but off base MP's have no jurisdiction nor does the military, if that is the will of the state some base commander (that makes an arbitrary decsion) does not have the authority to decide what goes on on state land. Which goes back to the whole you signed on the dotted line so now your GI buddy, which is total BS.

You have as much an understanding of military law as you do the reasons people serve in the military. Nice attempt to change the subject but not a wise one.

I find it humorous that you do not understand what people post or when history and current times are discussed. Your grasp on reality seems to be non-existent and not likely to improve.

The vast majority of the people who post on this site were (or are) enlisted and we all went through things you will never understand and for reasons that your mind will never be able to comprehend because of the massive ego filter you seems to have materialized. We all (I hope) served under some fine officers but they did not come out of the box that way – they paid their dues to become leaders. You seem to not desire that quality. Thus, you miss the point entirely.

The only point that you seem capable of articulating is that the military did not give you exactly what you wanted and precisely when you wanted it. We all got that point ages ago but find your reasons rather supercilious. Face it – you are not fit for the military in any shape or form and your subtle insults about us following mindlessly what you, the wise one, saw through is rather petulant. You are myopic to the point of seeing only a pin head of light.

I guess I dont understand. I dont understand how the military would ban military members from carrying firearms, this is very confussing. Military members train how to use weapons so wouldent it make sence for them to be able to carry them if they so choose.

Its a little thing called common sense rppearso.
Our job is dangerous enough without carrying around guns in garrison. Military installations are predominantly safer than any average neighborhood in the country, so there is no need to carry concealed weapons. Plus, we know how to use weapons expertly. First time an instance comes out that a GI has to defend himself and used a personally owned weapon, kills someone; everyone would be up in arms that a bloodlusted killer military person killed some poor criminal with malice and overwhelming force.
The base commander you are so quick to point a finger at has his authority given to him by The President and Congress. All military bases are FEDERAL LAND, Federal being that big organization that governs the entire country..not just little states..maybe you've heard of it?

I understand that on base, im talking about off base, they have no juristiction off base. And I agree that there is no need to have POW on base but I have a pistol with me like half the time seeing as I dont go on base anymore.

They have the authority to require conduct any where at any time because being in the military is 24/7 and one is always subject to orders regardless of location.

The person and not the place is a good way to think about it.

Ok thats like the whole IET solder cant have sex. Technicly im still IET until I get get out and im married... hmm I wonder what im doing.

What?!? IET soldiers cannot engage in sex because its not what they are there for. They are there to TRAIN. What does that have to do with carrying concealed weapons!? Nothing, your logic baffles me.

As for carrying a concealed weapon off-post, the Commander has all the jurisdiction in the world to tell his soldiers what they can and cannot do; off post and on. Failure to follow orders is something the military isn't real keen on. You break the rules, you get what is coming.

My last question, why do YOU carry a gun? I ask this for one reason only; is it for self-defense or is it for self-assurance, I wonder.

What would be the difference, I carry it because I go shooting often. If you break the rules what are they going to do, discharge you, oh well. I thought it was interesting this morning there was outrage at the new rule on talk radio, so it had to be controversial, to defend a constitutional right that you as a soldier are not afforded.

Holy Crap are you kidding??

I have college degree, doesn't mean anything from what I understand. You still get to go to basic and you still have to prove yourself! This started over a year ago, for all we know he loves it and just finished Ranger School --- times about right. right?

Back to the degree thing.....again
I would presume most your midlevel noncoms are going to have a degree, seems to be encouraged. And yes rppearso by the time someone reaches e-5 they have more leadership experience than you'll ever have -- since you're shooting for a professional engineering cert (want that $ right?) -- even if you get that -- look at your posts you are would be too SELFISH to be a good leader!!! Which means by the time a staff sgt gets out (if they get out) they will be paid higher than you because they make better leader/managers -- ie they make better decisions for the company.(team thing)

What's with carrying around a firearm? Did you say you're here in Colorado -- mister school of mines? or whatever. You're the type of people that screw up firearm laws for us hunters...knock it off. You have no need to carry around a weapon.

Finally, to everyone one else. This kids' already in, come on a year later.... and you can all smile because he probably wasn't a QUITER!!

Its all about doing what you like to do and I like engineering, once I get my PE I could become an engineering manager if I want. Are there ex military that are successfull, absolutly, one of my best friends is an ex marine and has his own abatment company and is a flight instructor. If he hadent told me he was a marine I would have never known, he dident get short with me because im complacent or layed back and he was my flight instructor, he got me to solo in 13 hrs and he dident need to act like a mental patient to do it.

I dident know people generally hunted with handguns (which is what I carry) and I only carry it becasue I like to go shooting often. Its not like I have it in the back of my pants in a grocery store, but it is concealed in my truck where I have access to it from the drivers seat.

Sweet your from Colorado, the fact that you think CSM is "whatever" shows you dont know the schools reputation for engineering, my employer does though and the paychecks show. The money is nessicary to buy a plane since the military makes flying a convoluded path.

The thing about a staff sgt getting out and steping into senior managment, is pretty slim, does it happen sure but it is more likely that he will be marginally employed or homeless, becasue buissness works much different than the military. Also that staff has to be able to leave the attitude at the base gate, the hazing flys in the military but not civilian, unless your bossing around mexicans. So if he has his degree, is personable sure I wouldent mind working for him. Its these guys with this hollier than thou attitude about how your going to come to parade rest or im going to throw a fit, these are the ones that will have problems and these are the ones that im talking about. I may not take my hat off at the national anthem and if your little military training kicks in you could be in for a lawsuit if you want to pull the military BS in the civilan world.

rppearso, as a retired corporate controller I have to admit that your knowledge of business shows even more ignorance than your knowledge of the military. What a pathetic young man you are.

You do not have enough experience under your belt to be allowed to clean the bathroom in most places that I have worked (based on your comments). You do not check your work nor do you listen to the comments of others and if you do, your interpretation is beyond belief. What a propeller head!