Can an enlisted soldier in the US army rank 2nd lieutenant with only having served 4 years?

Question

I don't know much about how the military works, but some things that a friend told me about this guy are not making sense. First of all, he claimed he was enlisted at the age of 17...around his junior year of high school. He claimed he was sent to Iraq that summer and part of his senior school term. He claimed that after his graduation he was sent back overseas then resided at Fort Benning. He says he was in the National Guard but was a Green Beret. He said his rank was 2nd lieuntenant. He had some job jumping out of planes. This summer, he claimed that he was discharged for a bad knee, but that they are constantly harrassing to try to get him back in and almost forced him to go back overseas. At one point, he even claimed they'd switched him over to the Air Force, but that then he joined the Marines, but then got out.

So he says he was a 2nd lieutenant in the National Guard but claims he went to some college for only two years. He never said whether he has a degree or not, but I haven't seen it. Now, I'm not the smartest person in the world, but something about this isn't making sense.

Answer 1

1st off you can join at 17 with your parents consent, however it is the Armys policy not to send you to a combat zone until you graduated high school. WHat happened here is this guy joined the National Guard at 17 and went to Basic Training between his Junior and Senior Year. He finnished his senior year, then probably went to AIT (his job training or MOS). He NEVER went overseas during that time. Also to be a 2LT you have to have a four year degree which would mean he would have to be 22 to be a second LT. is he 22? He could have went to airborne school, but to be a Green Beret, its about a year of training all by itself. and to be an officer in the Green Berets, you have to be a captain, which takes 36 months for active duty and 4 years for the National Guard. The National guard does have special forces, IE Green berets, but trust me, this guy is full of ****. And no they do not harrass you if you get out for a knee injury, they medically discharge you and do not want you in cause you cannot perform to standard.

So no you are correct, 2 years does not qualify you to become an officer, and if he was a green beret as an officer he would have had to be in the Army for 4 years of college ROTC, 1 year at least Special Forces / Green Beret training, 2 weeks airborne school, and to be in special forces as an officer an additional minimum 36 months active duty to be a Captain, or 4 years National Guard to be a Captain.

He is full of ****.  

Answer 2

nope liar liar pants on fire...and there are more then one of him out there sadly

you dont get rotated around like that

also the rank sound suspicious, more info on how to get there can be found here

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

and based on this page it would take 3 years at least because they dictate stuff for freshman year, junior year and senior year(s)

http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/training_and_...

Answer 3

sounds like a huge load of bs

Answer 4

That doesn't sound right. I'm pretty sure you have to a four year degree to be an officer.

Answer 5

I'd believe him if he was a Lance Colonel in the 'elite' CIvDiv.  

Answer 6

1. you gotta have a college degree (4 year) to be a 2LT

2. if you have to have a college degree, that means you should have a high school diploma also

3. at age 17, even if you have a high school diploma, you still need parental consent to join

Answer 7

most of the is probably a lie.  but yes he could be a second lieutenant.  right now because of the was you can go green to gold which meant he would be no longer enlisted and would be an officer on the terms that he continued his education and would have a time requirement to Finnish.  but the other stories are mostly bull.  he could enlisted he was 17 and got to basic in the summer.  but a 17 year old could not go to iraq.  i know i had one in my unit.

Answer 8

ROFL

That's almost as funny as Jesse Macbeth.

It is possible to enlist at 17.  I believe it requires a High School diploma on top of parental permission.  So, no spending the summer of his junior year in Iraq (when did he supposedly go to Basic? Not to mention Airborne and Special Forces training).

Even if somehow he did get in without a High School diploma, the Army would NOT send him back for his senior year of High School.

Likewise, I don't know what the requirements are for OCS.  But there's no way a 17-year-old is going to be sent there by his command.  Even the superstud Airborne Special Forces who summered in Iraq before getting TDY orders to go back for his high school prom.

Answer 9

This sounds like your friend has a really bad personality disorder.

In the first place, if he went split option in the reserves in his junior year, he would not deploy until he completed AIT after his senior year.  

Special Forces, aka 'Green Beret' is an absolute minimum of 18 months of traing.  But to even get there you need to be an E-5 with several years in service and a number of other qualifications.  High school dropouts need not apply.

Two years of college, or an associates degree is the minimum required for Officers Candidate School (OCS), which is what would make him a 2LT.  But GEDs and bad knees don't usually get into OCS.

But if he got out on a medical, like a bad knee, nobody would beg him to come back.

And it has been over 50 years since ANYONE has been 'switched' to the Air Force.  They had some shake outs in the late-40's/early-50's where AAA (ADA) units initially went with the Air Force but went back to the Army after a few years.  But that was half a century ago.

My bet is your friend is lying.  But you can get the straight p**p easily.  Just ask to see his DD214 and/or get him to sign an SF 178 and get his records yourself.

To answer your exact questions, yes, a soldier could go from enlisted to 2LT in 4 years.  If, and only if, he already had at least 2 years of college and a few other requirements..

There is almost no practical way a E-nothing without a high school diploma could complete Basic, AIT, Airborne school, get promoted to E-5 , complete SF Q Course, then Special Forces Training (18 mos), then OCS.  In an absolutely perfect world, yes, it could be done if everything lined up and all the schools accepted you without transit time, but realistically, no chance.

Answer 10

Never never never....Once again, NEVER. This person is a liar.