SMP/National Guard questions

Does anyone have any answers to these questions?
Any insight would be very helfpul


1. Can he enlist now (end of Spring) and do basic training in the summer with the deployment deferment, if school doesn't begin until Aug. 24th.
2. Can he enlist in the National Guard (ANG) at home (Los Angeles) and transfer to a battallion in NY when he begins school
3. Is there an ROTC committment between the summers of his freshman and sophomore years that would prevent him from AIT (Advanced Individual Training) training between those same years
4. What is a MOS qualified job specialty that would entitle him to receive $309. per month GI bill money while in the program
5. In order to receive the GI bill kicker money (350. a month), does he merely need to be enrolled in ROTC or is there an additional requirement (does he have to have gone through AIT training)
6. Is the ROTC stipend only offered to non-scholarship students in their junior and senior years
7. How would his potential receipt of a 3 year ROTC scholarship during his sophomore year impact his committment to the Guard

Thank you.

Major Toth(Clarksonarmy)is in NY state and you should ask him about finding a NG recruiter there that know the ins and outs of SMP in NY, but I will give this a stab anyway

mhale said:

1. Can he enlist now (end of Spring) and do basic training in the summer with the deployment deferment, if school doesn't begin until Aug. 24th.

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Yes its called split option, he is not "employment differed" he is Non-Deployable (think useless ) until AIT is completed.

mhale said:

2. Can he enlist in the National Guard (ANG) at home (Los Angeles) and transfer to a battallion in NY when he begins school

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Yes, but maybe not best idea see bottom note.

mhale said:

3. Is there an ROTC committment between the summers of his freshman and sophomore years that would prevent him from AIT (Advanced Individual Training) training between those same years

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No

mhale said:

4. What is a MOS qualified job specialty that would entitle him to receive $309. per month GI bill money while in the program

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GI Bill is not MOS dependent, Truck Driver 88M is shortest AIT (7 weeks), recommended for SMP, not a bad skill to have either.
(88M AIT is at Ft Leonard Wood MO, lots of running and big snakes)

mhale said:

5. In order to receive the GI bill kicker money (350. a month), does he merely need to be enrolled in ROTC or is there an additional requirement (does he have to have gone through AIT training)

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GI Bill requires AIT

mhale said:

6. Is the ROTC stipend only offered to non-scholarship students in their junior and senior years

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Non-scholarship, non-SMP - only Juniors and Seniors receive stipend
But SMP which starts sophomore year pays stipend = $350 a month during school for MS II’s, $450 - MS III, and $500 - MS IV

mhale said:

7. How would his potential receipt of a 3 year ROTC scholarship during his sophomore year impact his commitment to the Guard

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Little Change...His first year as a NG his PRIMARY commitment is to NG, ROTC comes second if there is a scheduling conflict. But when he signs SMP paperwork (sophomore) then his PRIMARY commitment is to ROTC.

If you have not already done so, look over the NY NG Beni chart here LINK
The listed $5,000 enlistment bonus is worth looking into with a NY NG recruiter LINK.

If he receives a 3 year scholarship he has two options. Leave the guard or reserves and use the scholarship

or

make the scholarship a GRFD scholarship, which would prohibit him from serving on active duty when he graduates.

Gojack is right on with everything else.

Remember also that you can do SMP without ever going to basic. You will loose out on the GI Bill and kicker, but you will still be able to use Tuition Assistance (which will pay state school tuition) and drill pay. You'll also receive stipend once you contract...as soon as your sophomore year.

Thank you to both of you very much for your quick responses. They are very helpful to people like us who literally spend days searching out these answers on the internet/over the phone.

Regarding gojack's suggestion that I ask Major Toth about any NY Guard recruiters knowledgeable about SMP: Do you have any recommendations in that area Major Toth? Our son plans to attend The King's College in Manhattan and would do his ROTC through Fordham. Also, where would he do his monthly Guard drilling (in NYC, outside of NYC, somewhere else in the state)? And is there no need to establish residency in NY prior to joining the NY Guard in order to receive the signing bonus?

One more point of clarification: In gojack's response he mentioned that an enlistee is non-deployable until he finishes AIT, but in your blog Major Toth, you note that a freshman may be told to deploy. Is this just a matter of enrolling in ROTC immediately after enlisting in the Guard?

Thank you both again very much for your time. It is invaluable for people who are trying to understand what can be a very convoluted process.

mhale said:

a freshman may be told to deploy.

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To clarify what I wrote earlier, when my DS was looking into SMP, thinking a ROTC scholarship was a long shot, we spoke to several PMS/ROO's at; OSU, UTenn, UArk, OU, UC, XU...

What we were told at several units, was that a cadet in this situation
would have a "pocket deferment" ... The NG CO would note the cadets status
(untrained for any job and attending ROTC) and would choose not to deploy this cadet if the unit was deployed. Although not a guarantee, nobody at 6 separate schools had ever heard of a cadet in good standing being deployed.

My take away was;
Deployment would only happen if the NG Commander was desperately short on bodies and had no other choice. So shop for the unit DS is joining, to see if they are close to at/close to 100% manpower. (and maybe a unit just returning from a deployment?) Then speak to the CO and ask about future deployments and a cadets deployment status. I would also speak to the PMS and confirm that he has a good working relationship with the NG unit before signing any papers. Some NG unit commanders will allow ROTC activities to replace NG activities (with pay) but others will not.

Here in Ohio, at least some NG Split Option soldiers do not report to their unit but report to a centralized training facility, attending a sort of pre-Basic/AIT training. Running, marching etc... I don't know about other states.
The program is called the Recruit Sustainment Program Link and Link

Does your son like Airsoft? Link and Link

If you look at a map you will notice that Clarkson, and Potsdam NY are about 8 hours away from NYC...so I would suggest talking to the ROO at Fordham, who should be able to help put you in touch with a Guard recruiter. You won't be deployable until you are MOS qualified (=BT and AIT). Some freshmen have already been to Basic and AIT (especially the ones who let the recruiter talk them into Basic and AIT right after HS and cause them to miss their fall semester). As long as you have only been to Basic you won't be deployed. gojack is right that units who are smart will make sure the cadets finish school and become officers first.


CPT Richard Gomez
Assistant Professor of Military Science, Battalion Recruiting Officer
Email: AROTCRoo@fordham.edu
Phone: (718) 817-4876

Sounds like you are asking all the right questions and are on track.

Good luck

Thank you guys, again.

Yes, we've already established a connection with Captain Gomez and hope for good things to come from that.

at Airsoft. We spent a considerable amount of time making sure our son knew that military service wasn't going to be "like your Airsoft wars" when we discussed his desire to serve. Wouldn't you know...

hello all,

I have a question regarding SMP, I am sophmore currently and would go away this summer to basic, this would mean I would also go to AIT as well my questions are

Do I have choice in what MOS i want, I mean some AIT's are longer than others, and wouldnt that not be an option because I have to go back to college in the fall?

Does the MOS i go to AIT for affect what job I would get after commisioning? Say i go to Artillery AIT this summer, could I do aviation after commisioning?


thanks in advance

Are you in ROTC also? First off, you don't have to go to AIT if you are SMP, you don't even need to go to BT. If you go to AIT, will you miss a semester of school (the perfect reason not to attend AIT)? What your MOS is has no impact on what branch you get. Once you contract, and are on track to become an officer, when you drill you should be training as an Officer, not as an enlisted soldier in your MOS. Hopefully that makes sense.

clarksonarmy said:

Are you in ROTC also? First off, you don't have to go to AIT if you are SMP, you don't even need to go to BT. If you go to AIT, will you miss a semester of school (the perfect reason not to attend AIT)? What your MOS is has no impact on what branch you get. Once you contract, and are on track to become an officer, when you drill you should be training as an Officer, not as an enlisted soldier in your MOS. Hopefully that makes sense.

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currently im an AFROTC cadet but with the climate there due to cuts, i feel that AROTC and particularly SMP will give me a better deal, not to mention the more i look at my life AD i think that ARMY will be a better fit for me,

I talked to to the Army det at my college and they said that if I wanted to do SMP to get the scholarship and the pay I would go away to basic as soon as summer starts and get back right before school starts again which is more than 10 weeks. I guess i should go back and talk to them about exactly what the deal is now that I made my mind up

That makes sense. You should probably go to Basic this summer, and contract in the fall. If you don't go to AIT you won't be eligible for GI Bill or kicker, but you will still be eligible for TA, drill pay, and stipend. You can also compete for a GRFD scholarship if you are sure you don't want to go on active duty. Good luck.

clarksonarmy said:

That makes sense. You should probably go to Basic this summer, and contract in the fall. If you don't go to AIT you won't be eligible for GI Bill or kicker, but you will still be eligible for TA, drill pay, and stipend. You can also compete for a GRFD scholarship if you are sure you don't want to go on active duty. Good luck.

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thanks, so if I do go to AIT there would obviously be restrictions on which ones but it would have not bearing on my MOS once i commission correct

thanks

right, the accessions process doesn't really look at your prior MOS. Google "Accession process Army ROTC" and you will find plenty of resources that will explain how your branch will be determined.

I was told today from an ROTC cadre member that SMP is locked down -- frozen -- in my state due to budget-related issues. Has anyone been told the same thing?

Note: I have no independent verification of this, and we have received bad info from ROTC cadre before (their heart is totally in the right place, though).

That sounds plausible if you are looking to join the guard. Suggest talking to a reserve recruiter if SMP is still your goal.

patentesq said:

I was told today from an ROTC cadre member that SMP is locked down -- frozen -- in my state due to budget-related issues. Has anyone been told the same thing?

Note: I have no independent verification of this, and we have received bad info from ROTC cadre before (their heart is totally in the right place, though).

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clarksonarmy said:

That sounds plausible if you are looking to join the guard. Suggest talking to a reserve recruiter if SMP is still your goal.

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Thanks for the heads up. DS's plan C is Ohio National Guard. We will be on campus Friday, will check with the recruiter there to see where Ohio might be in the "funding stream". Reserve recruitment is also available? Is there a big difference in the obligation etc...? All the ROOs we've spoken to (3-4) have recommended National Guard over reserves. Insight appreciated.