Keep in mind, that's a lifetime for me .
I know I am an old fart After 6 orthopedic operations --4 since retirement--the local surgeons call me when their business gets slow to see if I need a new tune up.

But on the GRADSO program as I knew it, we were given the choice. You could go straight to grad school as a new 2LT or delay. You just had to start inside 5 years of commissionng. I did a tour with the 82d (we used C130s, C123s, and C141s--not C119s or C47s), my advanced course, and then started at the Naval Postgraduate School as a MidEast FAO wanna be. That got me into the FAO field earlier than most.

Best

Tom