Volunteer Work?

[Coota0]

Will Volunteer work help my OCC aplication?
Do I have to get a waiver for OCC is I'm married?

 

[skidkid]

It wont hurt it, depends on waht you are doing etc. It will not make up for a low GPA or PFT score however. Honestly most of that time would be better spent running but some well rounded stuff is good too.

 

[samadma]

If you're over the age limit (Air 27 1/2, Ground 28, Law 28) you will need an age waiver reguardless of being married or not. If you have children and are married, you will need a waiver for dependents as well. I hope this helps.

 

[Coota0]

Thanks, no kids...yet, so that helps me out, and I'll just PT more instead of worrying about volunteer work.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Thanks, no kids...yet, so that helps me out, and I'll just PT more instead of worrying about volunteer work.

You realize that volunteer work is not meant to be for you, right?

 

[livefast]

Steve Wilkins makes a great point. Think about your community first. This should be a big picture endeavour, not a bullet point on your resume.

 

[skidkid]

yeah whatever go PT, you will do more for your community as an officer than all the volunteer things you could think of.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

yeah whatever go PT, you will do more for your community as an officer than all the volunteer things you could think of.

hmmm....very short sighted, and well, pretty much an ignorant statement all around. I'm actually surprised this is coming from you.

 

[skidkid]

Steve,
You are probably right. My intent was that right now his focus should be on what will get him his commision. I read into his post that it ws volunteer work for the sake of his OCS package in which case a high PFT will be much more valuable. I sometimes bristle at things like comrels during liberty calls, I know it is noble and helping people is good etc but by being out on deployment away from loved ones and very often in harms way I think this does more to support your community than ladling soup out on a couple of weekends.
Point taken though it probably was short sighted.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Steve,
You are probably right. My intent was that right now his focus should be on what will get him his commision. I read into his post that it ws volunteer work for the sake of his OCS package in which case a high PFT will be much more valuable. I sometimes bristle at things like comrels during liberty calls, I know it is noble and helping people is good etc but by being out on deployment away from loved ones and very often in harms way I think this does more to support your community than ladling soup out on a couple of weekends.
Point taken though it probably was short sighted.

Gotcha, and to an extent I agree. I think doing volunteer work for the sake of any type of application whether it be for this or even college/grad school/law school is transparent and can easily be identified by the selection board. If, however, there is a long term trend in a person volunteering his/her time, then that says something altogether different. I agree that his time would be better well spent focusing on getting in the highest caliber of shape possible. Certainly, serving in the military is a form of community service.

However, I think most people think that only certain stereotypical volunteer work counts as community service, such as helping out in charities, feeding the hungry on Thanksgiving, etc. These are noble and necessary, but not the only thing people can do to volunteer their time. Coaching Little League (or any other sport for that matter) can be classified as community service. Think of the impact that you can have on young kids. This is but one example, and it's not one of those things you can do when you feel like it. It takes a committment of person's time. To me, community service is just that....service to the community. That should be the first priority. If you can use that as leverage in some application process, then that's just a bonus...but it shouldn't be the goal.

 

[Coota0]

I feel suitbly shallow now, for wanting to know if any volunteer work (prior or otherwise) would help me out. I haven't had much time latley, knowing it won't help me out will give me the ability to better judge wich priorities should come when and where.

 

[supplywife]

If you do want to volunteer just to volunteer, look into being a mentor or Big Brother. You might be suprised what just an hour a week can make for a kid who has no one!!