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Career Opportunities

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia, students who complete the Military Science program receive a commission as a Second Lieutenant. The student has the option of serving in the National Guard or Army Reserve as a part-time career, or on active duty in the Regular Army as a full-time profession. Lieutenants in the Army lead people, while also managing equipment, vehicle fleets, and financial resources. Immediately after graduating from college, new lieutenants are routinely put in charge of and lead groups of up to 30 people. Officer career specialties in the Army are as diverse as those found in the civilian sector. See Army Careers & Jobs for more information

Some of the 16 specialties students can request as an Army officer include the following:

  • Engineering (Horizontal, Vertical, Combat)
  • Personnel Management
  • Nursing, Signal Corps (Communications)
  • Finance
  • Transportation (Wheel, Rail, Air, Ship)
  • Medical Service Corps
  • Military Police
  • Aviation
  • the Combat Arms specialties (Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery)

Except for the health professions, an officer's specialty in the Army does not have to be related to his or her university academic degree. New lieutenants who go into the Regular Army serve on active duty for three or four years, and may then transfer into the reserves. Lieutenants commissioned in the National Guard or Army Reserve serve their entire tour in the Reserves.

Career Options with a Graduate Degree

Army career fields that require a graduate degree are not typically available to commissioned officers until after the sixth year of commissioned service. These include the following:

  • United States Military Academy at West Point Faculty
  • Foreign Area Officers (Military attaches to the U.S. Diplomatic Corps)
  • White House Fellowships
  • Operational Research and Systems Analysts
  • Army Acquisition Corps personnel (Research and Development), and
  • ROTC professors of Military Science

Officers accepted into these career fields attend leading universities, and the Army often pays for these graduate programs.

Potential Career Growth

  • Promotion from Second to First Lieutenant is approximately 18 months
  • Promotion from First Lieutenant to Captain is approximately three years
  • Promotion from Captain to Major is approximately six and a half years
  • Promotion from Major to Lieutenant Colonel is approximately five and a half years

Placement Statistics for graduates who complete the Military Science Program

One hundred percent of students who satisfactorily complete the Military Science program and commission into the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserves, or Missouri Army National Guard serve as Second Lieutenants within six months of graduation.
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