MBA vs OTS (Officer Training School)

If you join the Air Force with a college degree, you’ll begin your career with officer training school. It is one of the most memorable training and education programs in the Air Force. This is a mentally and physically challenging nine-and-a-half-week program, organized into four phases. In the first and second phase of your training, you’ll focus on teamwork, military management discipline and standardization. Phase three focuses on the practical application of the lessons learned in the first two phases. The final phase of the program prepares you to make the transition from training environments to the operational Air Force.

The program will give you the tools and the knowledge necessary to be an effective and professional leader in the US Air Force. The main mission at OTS is to produce leaders of moral character in an environment of mutual respect.

OTS gives you the skills and character you need to become a world-class officer prepared to lead your fellow airmen. In comparison, an MBA gives you a deep understanding of the business world. A candidate who has completed an MBA course has a good level of knowledge of business administration, business techniques and principles and can apply for jobs related to business administration or be appointed as a consultant, manager or business expert in firms.

Some veterans choose to do an MBA because they are concerned about how transferable their military occupational specialty (MOS) is to the civilian workforce. Finding a job is all about networking. The odds of getting interviews for positions that a transitioning service member is interested in are statistically higher when that person has met people inside that organization. The MBA is a perfect career-transitioning option for a veteran. It offers enhanced networking opportunities and teaches business skills like accounting, finance, and statistics, as well as valuable professional development lessons.

With the MBA training, veterans can add the final polish to their resume. Veterans are in demand and businesses are always looking for people who have been in leadership positions over sustained periods in austere environments. That kind of experience cannot be replicated in the civilian sector, and capping those experiences off with an MBA is a recipe for success.