Officer Commission: What counts as the "first term"?

[OldGuy59]

I was commisioned after 25 years as enlisted in the Canadian Forces. There were a few programs and paths to get a Commission later in careers. The Limited Commissioning program let high ranking NCOs take up specific Captain or Major positions, should there be experience/training advantages to doing so. There was a Commissioning From the Ranks program, to identify NCOs that exhibit leadership qualities and experience that could translate well in the Officer ranks. And there was the University Training Program for NCOs. NCOs could apply for a paid university degree, and become an Officer. This could happen any time, as long as the member could serve long enough to cover the cost of the degree (usually four years, so eight years before obligatory retirement at 55 years old).

So, Traveller appears to be more limited than, at least, the Canadian Military.

 

[rinku]

It is a lot more limited than that, but does at least have three paths to late career commission: Soc 9+ can try any term; any term can result in a 12 result for Event; and pre-career education can be taken as late as 3rd term. So for a random background story generator it does do okay.

For what it's worth, the odds of rolling a 12 by your 7th attempt aren't too bad - about 18%.