>>106846166
the pay scale isn't that much different, and being an NCM means you're more likely to be an actual equipment operator and have more civilian-relevant experience to "fun" stuff. Officers are 99% managers and much of your training is in "warfighting" crap no employer gives a shit about. If the difference for you is the managerial experience, enlisted/NCM gets that as soon as you're trained because you'll have tons of untrained dipshits under you, and have an NCO or twelve above you whomst you may replace someday. degrees from military colleges are not well-respected and most countries have a GI Bill equivalent, and the US has the GI Bill itself so you can just do school somewhere proper during or after your service as an NCM. And officer promotions are slower and careers stall out faster than NCM ones so if you juts want to flash rank on your resume, getting to NCO is easier/faster than trying to get to a meaningful officer rank/appointment.