Hello everyone,
This is my first time posting here, and I’m very new to the military, so please excuse any misconceptions or naivete I may have about certain subjects. I’m a college freshman majoring in Electrical/Computer Engineering and recently enlisted as a 35P (Cryptologic Linguist) in the National Guard. I ship out in May 2026, so I’ll have a full year of school before heading to basic.
I initially joined for the monetary benefits, but being part of the armed forces has always been a lifelong goal of mine. My assigned language at DLI will be Arabic for all intents and purposes.
My goal is to eventually become an officer, either by finishing my degree after training or, if possible, having enough credits to attend OCS and continue serving in the Guard while pursuing a strong civilian career or go active.
It has also been a dream of mine to join the SOF community, and from my research, SOT-A seems to be a potential path for the 35P MOS. If given the opportunity, I’d be ecstatic to pursue becoming a Green Beret someday. I’ve been very active athletically—currently playing college sports and having served as team captain in high school—so while I know sports don’t directly translate to selection success, I hope the discipline and conditioning will help. I apologize for the long post and the lack of a single direct question, but I’d love to hear from those with experience:
Respectfully,
farmer175
This is my first time posting here, and I’m very new to the military, so please excuse any misconceptions or naivete I may have about certain subjects. I’m a college freshman majoring in Electrical/Computer Engineering and recently enlisted as a 35P (Cryptologic Linguist) in the National Guard. I ship out in May 2026, so I’ll have a full year of school before heading to basic.
I initially joined for the monetary benefits, but being part of the armed forces has always been a lifelong goal of mine. My assigned language at DLI will be Arabic for all intents and purposes.
My goal is to eventually become an officer, either by finishing my degree after training or, if possible, having enough credits to attend OCS and continue serving in the Guard while pursuing a strong civilian career or go active.
It has also been a dream of mine to join the SOF community, and from my research, SOT-A seems to be a potential path for the 35P MOS. If given the opportunity, I’d be ecstatic to pursue becoming a Green Beret someday. I’ve been very active athletically—currently playing college sports and having served as team captain in high school—so while I know sports don’t directly translate to selection success, I hope the discipline and conditioning will help. I apologize for the long post and the lack of a single direct question, but I’d love to hear from those with experience:
- What pipeline or path would you recommend for someone in my position?
- If you could do it again, what route would you have taken?
Respectfully,
farmer175
