Military Recruitment Programs

Programs established by each of the branches of the armed forces that provide information about careers in the military and enlist people who choose to volunteer. There are three entry points to the military: military recruitment offices; Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs in colleges and universities; and the U.S. military academies which provide military training in addition to their undergraduate academic and NCAA athletics programs for young people who receive an appointment. The military academies include West Point, The U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis) and the U.S. Air Force Academy as well as the U.S. Coast Guard Academy which is under the Department of Homeland Security. Graduates of the U.S. military academies and juniors and seniors in ROTC programs as well as freshmen and sophomore students who have accepted a scholarship are under contractual obligation to the military and become officers when they complete their programs. Freshmen and sophomores not under scholarship are not officially in the military but must make a decision before their junior year to sign a contract or drop the ROTC program.