Expert: Rod Powers - 11/23/2007

Question
QUESTION: I will be graduating from college in December with a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Forensic Science and I have been researching a possible officer career with the Air Force.

My question is: How difficult is it to ascend to the Special Investigations Officer position? I know the SIO is not an entry level position but I am very much interested in attaining it if I chose the Air Force as my next stop;

And what job would be the best job get into to help me eventually work for the Special Investigations Unit

ANSWER: Hi Michael,

I'm afraid I have bad news for you.

For the past three or four years, the Air Force has been decreasing in size. That includes the Officer Force.

With a college degree in "Criminal Justice," your chances of being selected for Air Force OTS (Officer Training School) are small -- very, very, very small.

With the exception of pilot/navigator applicants (for which any college degree major is accepted, if they have a very high score on the pilot/nav sections of the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test), the Air Force is pretty much only accepting officer applicants who have college degrees (with a very high GPA) in "hard science" majors, such as electronic engineering, computer science, foreign language, aerospace engineering, etc.

In other words, your chances of being accepted into OTS as an Air Force commissioned officer (except as a pilot/nav position) with a degree in Criminal Justice and/or Forensic Science are very, very, very, very small.

These days, AFOSI are looking for applicants (whether enlisted or officer) who are extensive education and experience in areas such as foreign languages, or computer science.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com.

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What about the navy or coast guard? are they down sizing and what is the probability of these two branches accepting me into thier officers program and utilizing the degree I possess

Answer
Hi Michael,

The Navy is also downsizing (but not to the extent of the Air Force), and the Coast Guard is maintaining its current size (but they have *never* had a problem getting enough officer applicants).

Both will take non-pilot applicants with "non-technical" degrees, but the process is still very competitive. In other words, every year, there are hundreds of more applicants for available OCS slots than those two services are allowed to accept. College GPA and scores on the Navy OCS test are the biggest factors in selection.

Take a look at the Navy officer jobs at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerjo2/a/menu.htm. You'll note that the Navy does not have any commissioned officer jobs in the area of law enforcement. The vast majority of NCIS agents (the Navy's equivelant to Air Force OSI) are civilian agents.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com.

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com