Source of Commission for AC Officers

Source of Commission. The criteria for the selection of potential officers for commissioning include age, U.S. citizenship, physical fitness, moral character, education, and cognitive ability. Given that officers form the military's leadership and professional echelons and that investment in officer education programs is high, the selection standards are quite stringent.(2)

With few exceptions, a 4-year college degree is a prerequisite for commissioning. To this end, two of the primary commissioning programs, the Service academies and the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), are administered in conjunction with an individual's academic preparation. The United States Military Academy (USMA), the United States Naval Academy (USNA), and the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) each offer room, board, medical and dental care, salary, and tuition throughout a 4-year undergraduate program of instruction leading to a baccalaureate degree.(3) Located at numerous undergraduate colleges and universities throughout the country, ROTC has both scholarship and non-scholarship options.(4)

The two remaining primary commissioning programs, Officers Candidate/Training School (OCS/OTS) and Direct Commissioning, are designed almost exclusively for individuals who already possess at least a baccalaureate degree. OCS/OTS exists as a rather quick commissioning source for college graduates who did not receive military training or indoctrination as part of their undergraduate education. This source also provides a means for promising enlisted personnel to earn a commission. Direct commissions, with a minimum of military training, are offered to professionals in fields such as law, medicine, and the ministry. Because of their advanced degrees and/or work experience, officers directly appointed are often commissioned at ranks higher than the customary second lieutenant or ensign. There are other specialized commissioning sources that, together with the primary programs, ensure that the Services have access to a number of different pools of personnel with diverse skills.

Table 4.3 highlights the flexibility afforded officer procurement by the alternative commissioning programs. The largest proportion of FY 1998 officer accessions (40 percent) came through ROTC programs—and most were recipients of a college scholarship (29 percent of all officer accessions and 72 percent of ROTC accessions). Among officers on active duty who were commissioned through ROTC, slightly more did not receive scholarships than those who did get them. However, this is exclusively an Army phenomenon. Direct appointments accounted for 20 percent and academy graduates accounted for 18 percent of incoming officers. OCS/OTS produced about 17 percent of FY 1998 Active Component officer accessions.

Table 4.3. FY 1998 Source of Commission of Active Component Officer Accessions and Officer Corps, by Service (Percent)
Source of Commission	Army	Navy	Marine Corps	Air Force	DoD
ACTIVE COMPONENT OFFICER ACCESSIONS
Academy	16.7	19.5	10.7	17.0	17.8
ROTC–Scholarship	39.3	16.8	11.8	32.2	28.8
ROTC–No Scholarship	21.4	1.5	0.0	10.9	11.1
OCS/OTS	5.6	23.7	59.0	11.2	16.9
Direct Appointment	16.5	24.5	1.3	25.7	20.0
Other *	**	13.8	17.2	0.3	5.2
Unknown	0.5	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.2
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
ACTIVE COMPONENT OFFICER CORPS
Academy	16.4	19.8	11.9	19.8	18.1
ROTC–Scholarship	18.9	19.7	16.6	21.8	19.9
ROTC–No Scholarship	40.1	2.5	0.0	20.4	20.6
OCS/OTS	8.3	20.6	56.9	19.2	19.0
Direct Appointment	15.7	21.7	1.3	18.7	17.2
Other *	0.1	14.6	13.4	0.1	4.8
Unknown	0.5	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.5
Total	100.0	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. * Includes officers trained in one Service and accessed into another (primarily Marine Corps). **Less than one-tenth of one percent. Also see Appendix Tables B-40 (Active Component Officer Accessions by Source of Commission, Service, and Gender) and B-41 (Active Component Officer Corps by Source of Commission, Service, and Gender).

There were Service differences in reliance on the various commissioning sources. For example, 59 percent of the Marine Corps' newly commissioned officers came through OCS-type pipelines and only one percent were recipients of direct commissions. In fact, the Marine Corps does not have a Service academy or ROTC program. Midshipmen at the Naval Academy and in the Navy's ROTC program can opt to enter the Marine Corps upon program completion. The Marine Corps relies on the Navy for officers in medical and dental specialties and chaplains, thereby lowering its need for direct commissioning. The Service differences are probably influenced by retention rates, budget considerations, and historical fluctuations in officer recruiting needs.