[Felix The Assassin]

Adding college. Two options and two paths to chose from. There is a third, but has a different thought process.
1. Prior to starting college, go ROTC. OR, have all of your families formidable and wealthy friends petition your state Senators for an appointment into one of the acadameis.

2. Enlist, WITH the college bonus, do the 4 year minimum, and take your 35K and run. Or 55K for 6 years.

2A. Do a few years enlisted, then go Green/Blue to Gold. Enlisted to officer program.

3. If you are already in college without ROTC, you will have a couple COAs (course of actions) after college.
1: Enlist at the rank of E-4, and sign for 4 yrs.
2: Enlist at the rank of E-3, and take the college tuition pay-off program, 4 years.
Neither of these are as good as they sound.

Officer education to college education from a retired enlisted soldiers (Armor/19K/Tanker & Advisor) perspective. All non-medical/doctor officers.
Company grade - Lieutenant through Captain O-1 - O-3 (Officer grade). BA/BS from accredited institution, or service acadamy. Green to Gold, must have BA prior to O-3E.
Field grade - Major to Colonel O-4 - O-6. Masters time. Usually started at the O-3 level after company command time (6-9 yrs). Must have by LTC-O-5. O-5 in addition to Master's, be a graduate from the military Command, and General Officer staff college (CGS).
Most O-6 are MA+ without thesis.
General Officer O-7 - O-10. Some have MA without thesis, some have MA+ Law, some have PHD. ALL must be a graduate of the War College.

A brand new recruit makes a scraping by with $1178 a month.
A college graduate starting at the E-4 scale, makes 1662 a month. But must pay his own college loan.
A fresh O-1 LT who can buy a new car cleans the closet with 2416.
The Green to Gold O-1E makes 3039.
A mid career SSG E-6, wife two kids, makes 2770.
A mid career Major O-4, with a paid for Masters, a new sports car, and two houses plays with 5755.
The Senior Enlisted Advisor with over 30 years of service competes with your local Wal-Mart manager @ 5400 monthly.

In addition to Enlisted and Officer, a bridge is created with the Warrant Officer field. These guys have some college, a lot of common sense, and are either technical gurus or aviators. Their pay is well above enlisted, yet way short of Commissoned Officer. A seasoned W-3 makes about 4k, and a crusty W-5 pulls over 6500.

And the CSA (Chief of Staff, Army) who rubs elbows with Donald, owns the bank with over 15K monthly.

As you can now see, Officer is the only way to bank!

And you might find this amusing Felix...was talking to a friend in the department with me who was in the army once upon a time stationed in Germany. They got sent back to Georgia, to which her comment was "Man, that really sucked. We actually had to do army stuff, unlike in Germany.

Fully comprehend.