Types

• The Army provides soldiers with four paths to becoming an officer. If you do not yet have a college education, two cadet options are the ROTC or the United States Military Academy. Both allow you to get a degree while also training for the military. If you already have a degree, you can also choose to attend Officer Candidate School, which allows you to build upon the skills you already have in the military to take a leadership position. Lastly, you can become a commissioned officer through Direct Commission. As a Direct Commissioned candidate, you need to have a degree and experience in the field of medicine, law or religion.
  
  

Prerequisites

• Prerequisites must be met before you can attend any of the four cadet training programs. All officer programs require that you're physically fit and pass an Army physical. You must also be a United States citizen. The Army requires that you are at least 17 to begin training, with the maximum age limit depending on the program. ROTC candidates must be under 32 at the time of commissioning, Military Academy students must be under 23 on July 1 of the year they're accepted, Officer Candidate School is for candidates not older than 41, and Direct Commission programs are available generally for those not older than 41, but waivers apply in many cases.
  
  

Location

• Your training location also depends on your program. In the Army ROTC, you can train at multiple locations across the country. The Army has many affiliate schools, as well as bases for officer training for students. The Military Academy is located in West Point, New York, while Officer Candidate School is located at Fort Benning, Ga. Direct Commission candidates attend their training courses at locations across the United States, depending on their specific specialty.
  
  

Commissioning

• After going through one of the four training programs, you'll be commissioned in the Army as a second lieutenant. At this entry-level officer rank, you'll lead a platoon of 16 to 44 soldiers. After 18 to 24 months, you are eligible to be promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, and from there, you can become a captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general or general.
  
  

Length

• Army ROTC programs and undergraduate degree programs at the Military Academy take about four years to complete, though some ROTC students complete programs more or less quickly, like regular college students. Officer Candidate School starts with a nine-week basic training course to learn general soldiering skills, followed by a 12-week training course to learn to be an officer. Direct Commissioned officers attend training programs that vary in length based on specialty.