I am currently a Accounting & Finance major at Indiana University in Bloomington,IN.

I have been talking with ROTC here at school and looking at joining the Army Finance Corp. I will graduate and the end of next year, but ROTC will give my 20k per year towards my degree. This would would allow my to stay on an extra year and earn a masters in accounting.

Do you have any advice or recommendation for me?

I would be open to being deployed, but I would prefer working in Korea, Germany, Hawaii or somewhere amazing like that if I can get that lucky, but I would go to Iraq.

I am worried about what position I may be placed once commissioned. I need challenge otherwise I get bored and discouraged. I want to see that people recognize my hard work, and that if I do an excellent job I will be promoted to more difficult and challenging positions. Am I going to be stuck as a 2LT?

I am sure that I would excel in the captains training course, but how long do I have to be LT before the chance of promotion? Is there much of a chance being more than a Capitan?

My school is currently ranked as one of the top ten business schools in the country for undergrad accounting and finance, and I scored a 30 on my ACT and a perfect 36 in science. After college I could make at least 55k my first year out of college.

I feel like the army may have something to offer that a civilian job does not, the most obvious being the personal pride in serving my nation but also the chance to do something truly different and honorable.

I know that the Finance Corp takes some Flak for not being a combat specialty, but this position would allow my to do what I excel in while serving my country and from what I've read I will also be able to train in combat.

I happen to be a CPA (public accounting firm experience) and a member of the Financial Management Corps (the name just got changed).

I have to warn you, being in the Army is not about being an accountant, it means being a soldier. The actual accounting work will be underwhelming to say the least. If you really want to be an accountant, why don't you apply to a regional public accounting firm in your area via your school's on campus recruiting or call every local firm you know. There is always a need for new staff accountants. Trust me, even in this bad job market, there is ALWAYS a need for new graduates, it's just a matter hitting up enough firms.

You can always be a reserve soldier rather than active duty (that's how I started out).

In terms of how long you will be a 2LT... This is the Army. It has nothing to do with your inherent skills. You just slowly progress when the time comes. Right now it's about 18 months to 1LT and another 18 to CPT in active duty. In reserve it's 18 months to 1LT and 2-4 years to CPT (they keep on changing it).

Seanie85, getting into Finance Corps is tough. Each year, the Army only selects a handful of people for the branch. Normally its somewhere in the range of 20-40 Second Lieutenants a year. Another thing you must understand. If you go the officer route, the Army ultimately decides your branch.

I had a friend get picked up for Finance Corps. The work he did sounded interesting. As an example he got stationed in Korea and spent much of his time traveling all over ROK troubleshooting finance problems. And yeah, they dont do a whole lot of accounting specific stuff.

You may want to look into becoming a Warrant Officer (920A). You will still "do the books" and they won't/can't assign/detail you to be a line officer. You will get to serve in the front, but in the relative "safety" of a base.