Stay Enlisted or go Officer?

[HawkGuy]

Ok, so here is my question- if you were a young man starting over, what route would you take?? If you wanted good job security, respect, and a nice pension- what IS the road to get you there?? And where do degrees fit in to the plan??

Knowing what I know now, I would have done better in HS and tried to get accepted into West Point. Failing that, I would have gone to a good school and done ROTC. That way, I'd have come out with no student loans, a degree, and a job for the next 4 years. After several years in the service, I'd apply to a top 20 business school and earn an MBA. After the MBA, I'd follow it up with a 20-30 year career, then use my B-School connections to land a sweet job on the outside to supplement my already sweet pension.

Good job security, check. They can't fire you haha.
Respect, check. Military officers were among the most respected professions in a recent survey.
Nice pension, check. Retire with 20 years in as a MAJ and take home 48k/yr. Put in 30 years retiring as a LTC gets you 121k/yr. After taxes.

Edit: Degrees are important because they get you to where you want to go. You can't be a military officer without a bachelors degree. Most senior officers have masters degrees too. I would recommend a B&M school over online to any young person simply because of the people you meet and the friends you make. A college roommate can becomes a lifelong friend. Online classmates, probably not so much.