[Tikihut27]

Now that we've all determined she should be an officer (not everyone wants to be one, although I am one myself), the key factor to me is how she is going to intergrate her service into her long-term career goals.

She should look at what job she wants 10-15 years from now... research a little as to the qualifications of the positions. Things like TS clearances, experience, civilian degrees, etc.

She should then tailor her military goals so that she meets her long-term goals- that the military leaves her with those qualifications when she decides to leave. The military helps with Master's degrees, but different branches and jobs within them will offer her specialty skills and clearances.

Then balance that with having her pick a job she will enjoy in the meantime.

For example, MI can help her get a TS clearance, but could be kind of boring if you are stuck writing powerpoint presentations all day. CA can get her out into the world and interacting with all types of people. Then again, CA folks get deployed a lot and it's a kind of dangerous job...

The National Guard and Reserves offer a lot of the training and experiences while at the same time allowing (most of the time, ho, ho) for officers to gain experience in the civilain sector at the same time. This has worked out well for me, except for the multiple deployments since 9/11. The National Guard also offers state missions, which in FL is a big deal. As a Guardsman, I can tell you the opportunity to help folks right here in NY deal with natural disasters is a big reason for me to stay in.

Drawback to the Guard and Reserves is that is can be hard to find the job you want located close enough to you.