What kinds of things might my MC learn or do at military academy?

@JadeX

Great question and a subject I’m really interested in. There was a lot to unpack here with additional details added after the OP. However, first things first...

What is a military academy? What are its objectives? Man management, Strategic thought, Tactical application.

You and others here might disagree, but that’s about as close to bare bones as you’ll see. Fantasy or Sci-Fi or real life that’s what any military school teaches. A graduate will be a leader of men. There is no need for rank, it should be apparent to all this soldier knows his stuff, and I will follow knowing he has my best interests at heart. Full Stop.

So, whatever setting you use, your MC must evolve in ACT1 from a timidly 16year old to something else through experience by the end. Watch FULL METAL JACKET, this is boot camp only but see how Joker changes. Watch ENDER’S GAME, see how trust, support and knowledge build into a fierce loyal team. And STRIPES, what does Bill Murry do?

Each story as a start and an end with personal growth from a military school. You’re setting whatever that maybe needs to have that arch. This achieved through several trials that teach a lesson. Basics of team building, war man ship, and developing trust within your men are key hurdles ACT1 must explore.

Take it with a pinch of salt, I know nothing...

MartinM

 

A friend of mine and I started off as PFCs together in the Marines. Served almost four years together (he was three or so months ahead of me, I met him in service) but he's a full-bird colonel in the Army now. I asked him what the point of the officer/enlisted division was, why not just have NCOs continuously leveling up and he explained it something like: "There needs to be a division. When an officer directs a unit to take an objective or go on a patrol, he needs to be detached enough from the knowledge of how many of his men will get maimed or killed as a result of that order. He has to be able to just think of them as pawns, which is why traditional officers get trained that they're "better" than the enlisted rabble." Now, he's a mustang (enlisted transitioned to officer) and the unit we were from was an intel unit. Our company XO was a 24 year old kid with a bachelor's in Sports Nutrition, my squad leader had a master's in English, but we were the "rabble." An egalitarian society may work, but there needs to be a high degree of stratification in the military or buddies won't order each other to stand to the last man or whatever.

As for only ten ranks, I just don't see it. Warrior Jones, 18 years old, fine soldier, gets into a lot of battles, kills a lot of enemy, saves a lot of her troops, at 45 ends up promoted to Marshal of the whole army? I had a first sergeant who was functionally illiterate but had memorized the promotion warrants. No way he was going to be in charge of anything significant.

 

Good advice, but better advice is to read Ender's Game too. It's fairly short, and mostly concerned with officer training of a group of children.

 

Uh, well, my brother went to the Air Force Academy, so let me see what I remember of that experience.
- You can't just go to the academy. In the US you have to get nominated by a congressman, and even then you might not get to go because of various reasons -- not enough spots, affirmative action, or just plain not qualified. The second one happened to my brother, but they put him in a one year military institute to tide him over. He had to get re-nominated by a congressman again, but he made the shortlist to get in the next year. I think what qualifies you is stuff like grades, ROTC, and...actually I'm not sure what else.
- When graduating USAFA, one becomes an officer (starting with Lieutenant). Corporals and sergeants are NCOs, not officers.
- There were usually two people in each room, and the rooms were regularly inspected for neatness and everything being in its proper place, beds made and such.
- There was lots of drill, but also regular sports. Mainly football.
- They get paid to go. Seriously, if you go to the Air Force Academy, you get a salary. It's not terribly much, but sure beats student debt.
- Uniforms are academy-specific.
- There were a lot of foreign students. Not entirely sure why, but there was a Korean national when my bro was there. Apparently the military drills in Korea were more difficult.
- Lots of boring classes saying bland things about leadership. Some normal subjects were taught, but there were also lots of nice-sounding pseudo-classes about teamwork and crap. If you've ever been in ROTC you know what I mean.

Uh, that's about all I remember at the moment, but hopefully it's at least a place to start for research.

 

The thing I don't understand in this thread is that I did add the distinction between NCOs and commissioned officers that was insisted upon, yet everyone seems to either be ignoring that, or insisting it's not good enough. See:

I don't know what the problem is now. I added a distinction between enlisted personnel and the officers corps. Non-commissioned, enlisted, they're the same thing. A rose by any other name, as they say.

Why must I use the same exact terms as real life? Does that insistence not defeat the point of this being a fictional world? If I were writing about a real modern military, sure I'd use those terms. But this military is neither real nor modern. The difference is merely a word choice that has the same literal meaning for the exact same concept. So, what's the problem?