Happy New Year to you as well!

In short, I think so long as your GMAT is in range (high 600s or above; but if the GMAT ranges creep up over the next few years I'd say shoot for 700+ to be safe), you should be competitive at any of the top schools, including HBS, Wharton and Stanford -- although my suggestion as it would be for any applicant is to apply to a range of 4-6 schools.

Note that more than any other demographic, b-schools love military officers (from all branches except I haven't heard of any Coast Guard guys going, but then again not sure if the Coast Guard is a branch in the military). Of course not every single officer that applies gets in, but by and large they are quite successful - even with subpar GPAs and GMATs. And yes, even though b-schools are going younger, the ones who are on the older side tend to be ex-officers.

The key hurdle for military applicants is being able to show what aspects of your military experience could translate in a civilian (whether b-school or corporate) environment, and which aspects may not. Ultimately, it's being able to show that you can transition relatively smoothly from a military environment to a civilian one.

The other challenge is that even though b-school adcoms love officers, the volume of officers applying is greater now than pre-9/11, and many of whom have exceptional leadership experience compared to peacetime periods. So they can afford to be a little more selective than in years' past.
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Alex Chu
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