Explore the Several Ways To Serve

Marine Corps commission ceremony chief warrant officer — Rear Adm. Bill Byrne, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea, presents Senior Chief Information Systems Technician George Tango with a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal during Tango's commissioning ceremony to chief warrant officer. (Mass Communications Specialist Jermaine M. Ralliford/U.S. Navy)

Military.com

Published May 08, 2012

Generally speaking, all the services offer active duty (full time) and Reserve (part time) careers. If you have the right qualifications, you may have the opportunity to train to be an officer (i.e., through Officer Candidate School, or military academies). Individual services also may have other options. The chart below provides more details on the ways you can join each military branch.

Ways of Joining

U.S. Army	Active duty (full time) Reserve (part time) Officer (including ROTC, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, direct commission officer)
National Guard	Drilling Guardsman (part-time reserve) Full-time Guardsman (full-time reserve) Officer (including ROTC, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, direct commission officer)
U.S. Navy	Active duty (full time) Reserve (part time) Officer (including ROTC, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, direct appointment)
U.S. Air Force	Active duty (full time) Reserve (part time) Officer (including ROTC, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Air Force Academy, direct appointment)
U.S. Marine Corps	Active duty (full time) Reserve (part time) Officer (including ROTC, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, direct commission officer)
U.S. Coast Guard	Active duty (full time) Reserve (part time) Officer (including ROTC, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, direct commission officer), Coast Guard Auxiliary (volunteers)

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