Posted on Oct 20, 2016
Is West Point A Deciding factor when getting promoted to BG/MG/LTG?
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There's actually an inverse correlation between longevity between Commission type. Acadamy Graduates stay in the shortest (on average). OCS stay the longest. ROTC are "middle."
Of the last few Army Chiefs of Staff, we've had about equal USMA and ROTC grads.
ROTC: Generals Milley, Schoomaker, Casey
USMA: Generals Odierno, Dempsey, Shinseki
Of the last few Army Chiefs of Staff, we've had about equal USMA and ROTC grads.
ROTC: Generals Milley, Schoomaker, Casey
USMA: Generals Odierno, Dempsey, Shinseki
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SGT Tim Soyars
I wonder what the numbers are for grads from VMI, Norwich, Texas A&M, and The Citadel are? Technically, they are ROTC grads, but this is a whole different animal.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
SGT Tim Soyars - It gets really complex really fast. It's easy to look up flag officers, especially 4 stars because there just aren't many of them. I think we run less than 500 total generals at any given time and less than 50* 4 stars. With Colonels, we're in the 1000s. The farther down the rank structure and the more historical we go....
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SFC Joseph Weber
SGT Tim Soyars - not ROTC when they get active commissions upon graduation. Pretty sure the Citadel and Norwich get those.
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SGT Tim Soyars
SFC Joseph Weber -I'm from about 50 miles away from VMI. I have friends who went to VMI, VPI Cadet Corp, Texas A&M Cadet Corp & The Cidadel. Most took active commissions. One in the Marines, one AF and two in Army. Another went to OCS after grad from VMI for the Coast Guard. No USCG ROTC. Lol. You don't have to take service in the military after grad. One friend went into engineering after VMI. You do have to take the ROTC courses. Pick your poison. Army, Navy, or Air Force.
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In the USAF being a grad of USAFA is a definite plus for promotion and assignments. It may have a lot to do with the type of personality necessary to succeed at a military academy, a Service tradition, a "good ol' boys" group of USAFA grads, or all three. I've posted here that after a couple of months you couldn't tell if a pilot training student came from USAFA, ROTC, or OCS. They all passed or failed flight school in about equal numbers in my experience. The differences tend to show up after they get to the Squadrons. They have shared common experiences with other USAFA grads that are completely outside the sphere of other officers. Consequently, they form a subgroup of officers in every specialty and unit. It's not necessarily bad, just a fact. I haven't done the research, but I suspect that the number of USAFA grads becoming GOs in disproportionately high compared to their numbers in subordinate grades. Again, not necessarily bad. The USAFA purposely educates its students to be the future senior leaders of the Air Force. It's built into their thinking upon graduation that one day one of them will be Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Is it a deciding factor, probably not, but it can be a tie-braker when it comes to promotion or key assignments. If two officers are being considered for aide to a MAJCOM commander, a career changing assignment, and one is an Academy grad and the other isn't, the Academy grad may have a slight edge over the other officer. This is especially true if the General is an Academy grad. Once the opportunity is presented, then performance will determine how much the officer benefits from the assignment.
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