Education · 1 of 4

The path

Every route ends the same way: a bachelor's degree and a commission as a Second Lieutenant or Ensign. What differs is where the degree comes from.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Grades, fitness and a clean record. Academy and scholarship applications look at leadership and sport as hard as they look at your transcript.

2. 2

   Pick your route

   Senior year

   A service academy, a ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) program at a normal university, your own degree followed by Officer Candidate School, or a direct commission if you already have a professional qualification such as medicine or law.

3. 3

   Earn the degree

   4 years

   Any bachelor's degree works for most branches. Academy and scholarship students do military training alongside classes all four years.

4. 4

   Commissioning

   0 to 3 months

   Academy and scholarship students commission at graduation. Everyone else goes through Officer Candidate School, about 12 weeks, then commissions.

5. 5

   Branch or specialty school

   3 months to 2 years

   Training for the job you were assigned: infantry, logistics, cyber, intelligence, flight school. A few months to well over a year.

6. 6

   First unit

   Ongoing

   You arrive responsible for a platoon, a division on a ship or a section, usually in your early twenties.