Commissioned Officer or enlist in the USMC ?

Question

how do the responsibilities/jobs of a marine corps officer compare to that of an enlisted man?

I'm a senior in high school and i'm not sure whether to enlist then go to college, or to go to college with an NROTC scholarship and the become an officer.

I'm worried that as an officer i won't get the whole "marine experience"

the only major appeal of an officer to me is the higher pay.

I'm in the top 95% of my class and have leadership experience, which many say would be best used as an officer, but i heard it's NCO's that are truly in charge.

If u have any experience in any branch let me know your thoughts

Answer 1

If higher pay is your only motivation for becoming an officer, then you are better off as enlisted.  Officers have heavy responsibilities that enlisted do not.

Answer 2

i would go with enlisted if you don't want this to be a career. if you plan on staying in for a while be an officer also better pay is no motivation, officers tell men to live or die so if your an officer be ready to take the blame for what ever you do.

Answer 3

There is a way to experience all of it, but it's not easy.  You can enlist, make Sergeant, and with that and 8 years enlisted, and of course superior performance, apply to become a Warrant Officer, if select for that, serve 8 years as a Warrant Officer, then you can apply for the Limited Duty Officer program.  If you're accepted, and successfully complete training, you're an officer.  

Answer 4

the USMC is a bunch of arrogant, immature idiots.

Answer 5

Let me tell you this now, you will get no respect if you become an officer without any enlisted experience. I would become an enlisted and do college through the Marine Corps on base then become an officer. If you become an officer without any prior experience the Marines below you will not respect you because you are green and don't have any prior experience. Both my husband and my best friend want to be officers, but they are both enlisted right now because they want experience first. They don't want to get c**p from other Marines for not having any experience. My best friend says she feels like a officer with no enlisted experience is probably going to get her killed. That is the opinion of two Marines right there.  

Answer 6

Don't have any experience except life I but can say that you will get different knowledge and values from each choice.

The Marines will shape your values and interior being.

Officer will raise your social status on many levels with everything that goes with that-higher quality people around you- less problems in life.

Its a very tough world so  I would choose the Officer path.People are very hard to get away from in this world.Its good to be above them.

Answer 7

Go for the NROTC Scholarship and also look into the Marine Corps PLC program if you don't want to have the ROTC commitments that the NROTC scholarship requires you to have during college.  I can speak from personal  experience on this subject being a Marine Corps Brat having to Marine Corps Officer parents.  I was strongly encouraged to become an officer when I told my parents that I was interested in joining the Marines, but being hard headed and stubborn I enlisted right out of high school because I heard the same stuff that you mentioned in your description above.  It is true that the NCO's in the Marine Corps run things and they really use their small unit leadership skills, but enlisting will NOT rob you of the whole Marine experience at all.  It will just be different.  I have done my time in 2nd Force and 2nd Anglico so I have had enough combat time to get the whole enlisted Marine "experience" and I can tell you that the officers that I've served with never missed a thing.  

Answer 8

It is very rare that someone can be both..You need to search inside of you and figure out which one you are..The answer is there, you just need to know where to look..

Read this writing titled OFFICER/ENLISTED..It will explain some things to you..

http://lavadog23.webs.com/officerenliste...