Former SSG in the US Army now going ROTC

[waldoyamada]

Hello all,

I am currently going to Arizona Western College and trying to transfer to ASU or U of A as an ROTC cadet. I think that being an officer as an INTP is very valuable in comparison to being an enlisted.

I love being an NCO but having to continually manage and maintain people all the time sucked. It's like thinking for the other individual. My counseling statements for my soldiers are on point though. No one gets a counseling statement like mine.

A brief sketch about me. I am very well reserved and that makes it annoying to iNTJ's which is like the majority of the Army. They tend to huddle together and point at you like you're the weird one.

So I took some thinking and figured out that maybe a better job for an INTP in the military is only if you were a Commissioned officer. You don't have to deal with the menial tasks and worry about the bigger picture.

I dunno....what are your thought's folks?

 

[TimeAsylums]

U of A

I dunno....what are your thought's folks?

party

 

[Reluctantly]

When I looked into it, thinking I might make the Army a career, I gathered the following:

I've been told that Warrant Officers get the best of both worlds and have less responsibility. NCOs have to be micro-managers, which is something more for an extroverted personality and probably why you don't like it.

But Officers are supposed to be strictly macro-managers, but start off more like pencil pushers from what I've been told. And when they progress I think to Captain, you have more autonomy to be a macro-manager, but once you hit Lieutenant Colonel, it becomes more about how good of a politician you can be. The biggest downside for me is Officers learn how to be managers and not an expert in the field they work in.

But Warrant Officers become Officers through being an expert in their field and manage technology with people, which means they will still apply their expertise, while also macro-managing people with that technology as necessary. Less politics and more hands-on. Warrant Officers also seem to be a lot more respected because they were once enlisted and can relate to enlisted, while not having to live up to the same strict standards of formalities that Officers do. Or at least the Warrant officers I've met all seem to discourage strict formalities, but Officers who were previous enlisted seem to be the same as well for me.

Is Warrant Officer a possibility for you?

 

[waldoyamada]

Ive worked with Officer's and Warrant Officer's as well mostly on the combat support and combat arms role and they still have to do briefs and strategize about doing the tasks at hand. Usually that's when orders comes from higher and the Captain issues a Warning Order. Then it falls on down the line to the platoon. The preparing and training is something I dreaded the most because you have to deal with whining and complaining and "what if's" I could yell all day long but wasting time correcting a soldier than training is something that I dreaded the most. I think I'll leave that for the INTJ's.

The possibility of being a Warrant Officer is something I wouldn't want to do because I don't write policies and I don't have direct command. An NCO has direct command as well as an Officer but the Warrant Officer is the one who advises and does the technical field aspects and applies it with or without the Platoon. If I started fresh then that would've been my first choice, but since I went through Boot Camp and retired. I am more in tune with my weaknesses and strengths.


For example, time management. Being an enlisted soldier, you don't have time to think, you just execute a command and hope for the best results. As an officer you get time to think express how you want it done, with limitations, intent and policy standards.

So yeah I think I'm well suited for the job it's just having to get there and being prepared is something I have to have to get the mission done.

When I looked into it, thinking I might make the Army a career, I gathered the following:

I've been told that Warrant Officers get the best of both worlds and have less responsibility. NCOs have to be micro-managers, which is something more for an extroverted personality and probably why you don't like it.

But Officers are supposed to be strictly macro-managers, but start off more like pencil pushers from what I've been told. And when they progress I think to Captain, you have more autonomy to be a macro-manager, but once you hit Lieutenant Colonel, it becomes more about how good of a politician you can be. The biggest downside for me is Officers learn how to be managers and not an expert in the field they work in.

But Warrant Officers become Officers through being an expert in their field and manage technology with people, which means they will still apply their expertise, while also macro-managing people with that technology as necessary. Less politics and more hands-on. Warrant Officers also seem to be a lot more respected because they were once enlisted and can relate to enlisted, while not having to live up to the same strict standards of formalities that Officers do. Or at least the Warrant officers I've met all seem to discourage strict formalities, but Officers who were previous enlisted seem to be the same as well for me.

Is Warrant Officer a possibility for you?

 

[waldoyamada]

party

I dunno about partying LOL Im too old for that. Maybe community work maybe?

 

[walfin]

Well, I don't have any advice, but congrats, 2LT-to-be. Be a good commander and don't screw up your troops' lives.

 

[Analyzer]

I doubt the military is full of INTJs. Maybe in high ranks or something. For one they are rare and the military is a mostly SJ institution. Most military I have met were SJs, but sensors in general with intuitives scattered around usually as non infantry.

 

[Spocksleftball]

I was in the infantry, then combat engineers. I found being an nco and intp allowed me to manipulate the system easily since almost any work with troops fell on the e5 team leader and e6 squad leader; no one really paid any attention from above, and thus ways to accomplish missions were often open to interpretation. The army was full of istp and istj types just wanting to be led and told what to do; intjs maybe in the O ranks. As an 0-1 you will spend almost no time with the troops, and almost all of your time in planning sessions with the CO and BC. You are exchanging one set of irratants for another, but the pay and benefits are better. Now, btw, is a great time with the recommended downsizing from the sec. of of defense. Good luck to you, 6 actual.