Community College + Transfer or Military?

I am about to enter my junior year in high school and I have a 1.5 cumulative grade point average. I do consider myself to be a highly intelligent, organized, and articulate person. But I had my priorities mixed up freshman and sophomore year and went through lots of personal issues. I would love to go to college, but fear that I do not have the GPA to attend a 4 year university out of high school.



You are either a person who goes to college, community college, military, or you do nothing with your life after high school and hope that you land a good job through work experience.



I don't have the GPA to get accepted into a university (2.8 for ECU) so that leaves me with community college or the military (or McDonalds lol). I could go to community college and try to do well there, and then transfer to a university after 2 years, or I could enlist in the military. I have considered the Navy and Air Force for their good technical training which can look pretty good on a resume if you pick the right field (such as Information Technology). But I feel a calling to serve in the infantry so I would enlist in the Army with an 11x option 40 contract which guarantees me a shot at becoming an Army Ranger.



Would going to community college and getting my GPA up there and then transferring to a university and majoring in something be a reasonable, safe, and reliable plan? If so how hard would it be and would this be less or more costly than going straight into a university out of high school?



Or should I strive to become a Ranger and serve for 4 to 8 years, then get a job in law enforcement such as SWAT, take college then (using the GI Bill to pay for it), then do whatever I major in?



I could also make a career out of the military. If you serve for 20 years you can retire, that means I could retire at the age of 38 and receive monthly pay checks, if I were to serve 25 years then I would get 25% more per month. If I were to serve in the Army that long, I would shoot for Special Forces, that alone is like going to college, they are highly trained in politics and the Army also teaches you a foreign language (35,000 dollar bonus per year on top of SF bonus, Airborne bonus, EOD bonus which is 45 grand a year, and diver bonuses). Does that sound like a good plan?



So to break it down, I could go to CC then transfer to a university and live life. I could serve in the military for 8 years, then get a job in law enforcement and use the GI Bill to go to college then get a job in the field I majored in or continue with law enforcement, or I could make a 20-25 year career out of the military, retire at 38 or 43 and live pretty comfortably.



Which would you do?



* 0.3% of troops who get deployed die, so I'm not that worried about that, especially if I was in an elite special operations group such as the Rangers or Special Forces (aka Green Berets)Community College + Transfer or Military?
I would go to CC then transfer to a university really It's pro ably the best option I don't know much about the USA but in the UK if you are educated at a university you will enlist as an officer without having to just be a grunt first in fact most university's have ROTC (royal officer training core)associated with them which you can join and will mean when you leave you won't ned as much training any way that's just me but I wouldn't join the armyCommunity College + Transfer or Military?
If you're interested in the military then just enlist.Community College + Transfer or Military?
Why not raise your GPA? You seem mature enough to put in the time, you have 2 years and good grades would raise it alot.

jdm