I can kind of relate. I was on Active Duty in the Air Force. I’ve been retired for about 6 years. I am an alumna of New Mexico State Uni. It is a low ranked school. The philosophy Dept. is only undergraduate, so it doesn’t have a huge reputation, but the philosophers there are legit (check out Mark Walker). So, I think I had that on my side. I think applying for a terminal MA degree At a middle tier school is the way to go. That’s what I did. I got accepted to TX Tech’s MA phil program with funding and a TA position. It’s unfortunate your professors may not be well known in the field, but if they have good things to say about you, I would think, that would help. Also, make sure your writing sample is well written. I worked on mine for a year writing and editing, tightening up the arguments. It was a lot of work.
When you write your statement of purpose talk about how your military experience relates to why you want to pursue a phil MA. You’re right: there aren’t many military people in philosophy. But that works to your advantage, as you are unique! In my SOP I talked about how the military made me dogmatic and stifled my thinking. While philosophy turned me into a skeptic because I realized that people probably don’t know as much as they think they do. I hope this helps a some.
