SMP questions

Hello all, I posted here about a month ago about SMP. Since then I have went to MEPS and was unfortunately DQed for "pectus Excavatim" the doctor basically told me that nobody has been denied a waiver for this and it just has to go through proper channels. Unfortunately I was supposed to ship May 9 to be able to come back in time for fall semester of school. That is looking like a slim possibility. Can anyone shed any light on how SMP will work say if I come back from AIT in november and obviously will miss the fall semester. I assume I do not contract with ROTC until the spring semester. WIll I be deployable during that window between coming back and starting school? A deployment as a private is not something I really want to do considering I already am 60 credits in.

Thanks

NYJETS...Even though Im a Patriots fan, I will help you out. I am doing what you are doing through National Guard. Just got accepted to my school and wrote letter to have my admission deferred to Spring semester. I don't get back from BCT/AIT until October. Check with your recruiter, if it's a state school, there should be a "guaranteed 2 year no deployment" agreement. By then you should have your required credits for SMP and then be free from deployment. You should be able to get credits for BCT/AIT. And then make sure to plan on taking a couple off semester (Summer, winter break) classes to assure the 60 credits. Let your PMS know what is going on as soon as you get back from AIT. Good luck

To answer your question. I assume you wouldnt contract until the spring, but talk this over with your PMS or whoever you have been talking to.

I just met with the enrollment officer at my rotc.

A few things. You don't need to go to basic/ait to do SMP. The downside to not going is you will only receive your monthly drill pay/rotc stipend. You will not be eligible for the BI Bill/GI KICKER (around 600-700 more a month) I'm not sure about TA though.

You should talk this over with your rotc enrollment officer.

I just discussed my options with him today. He said he may be able to get me a spot at LTC still (SHIP out june 16 for that)on last moments notice. Or he asked if I wanted to SMP, Contract this fall, do basic/ait next summer, and commission after LDAC the follow summer.

Not sure what I want to do if he offers me the LTC spot. The financial incentives even w/o the GIbill + experience + having the 2 years count towards payscale/retirement seems like a way better option than being a normal contracted cadet.

I don't graduate until end of June, so can't even leave until July 17. Just wanted to get everything out of the way at once and get a few extra bucks. If you can handle the schedule, it is definitely a much better financial deal taking this route. And depending on the school, even better than the scholarship route. Just did first NG drill this past weekend, tough but loved it. And after 14 weeks this summer,will be so ready for anything ROTC brings.

What did you do while drilling. Theres a helicopter unit nearby that i have my mind set on

running, sit ups, push ups, marching, classwork. Make sure you train before you drill or go to BCT.

NYJETS,

I would assume that you won't enroll in school until the Sring semester, in which case I would imagine you would be deployable up until the date you enroll. Double check but I believe you are deployable until you contract, which as stated by otherrs may depend on which SMP program you are in, Guard or Reserves.

Will you be registering as a junior or sophomore.

One thing I would like to bring up, it has been discussed before, regarding BCT and AIT. Completing both will give you some slight advantage your freshman year. You will have a better understanding of Army regulations and basic drill skills. Once you start your sophomore year that advantage will not help as much.

ROTC and BCT/AIT are completly different, don't for a second think that because you have completed BCT/AIT that you can handle anything they throw at you. The biggest piece of advice is don't show up at your new ROTC Battalion with that BCT Chip on your shoulder, the upperclassmen will see that and they will compete to see who knocks it off. The training you receive is geared towards becomming an officer, BCT/AIT does not have the same training. You will be learning to write OPORD's, WARNO's and FRAGO's over and over again. You will learn to lead a platoon not be just a member of the platoon. Just remember ROTC and BCT/AIT are apples and oranges.

Of the top 5 cadets in my son's class, none attended BCT/AIT, #4 is SMP but he did not go to BCT.

Do not get me wrong, SMP is a great program, my son has even tried to see if could go to BCT just for the experience, it was not allowed unfortunatly. Keep it all in perspective, BCT will help in the beginning but that advantage will quickly disappear.

One other thing to remember, you will be drilling one weekend a month. This will mean you will need to have your time management skills down. Taking a full college load and ROTC is time consuming, don't under estimate the time commitment, now you will have one less weekend a month to study and complete course work. Make sure you manage your time well.

Sorry, just one more thing, DON'T get hurt at BCT/AIT, while you may be able to stay in the reserves you may not be able to pass Dodmerb to become an officer through ROTC.

NYJETS,

If you are indeed starting school as a Junior SMP cadet you will be in the thick of your leadership training, BCT will not help you very much, it will give you more money though the GI Bill/Kicker.

Nope, starting as a Freshman. Understood on the rotc thing. PMS has already warned me and told me to keep a low profile on that stuff. I understand that time mgmt will be big. That's why I am doing BCT/AIT all at once. Will spend next summer getting some basic courses out of the way. Summer classes are a little less intense. Already have 2 college courses completed in HS. Already DODMERB qualified, so yes I know I need to stay healthy. Thanks for the info.

sember5 said:

Nope, starting as a Freshman. Understood on the rotc thing. PMS has already warned me and told me to keep a low profile on that stuff. I understand that time mgmt will be big. That's why I am doing BCT/AIT all at once. Will spend next summer getting some basic courses out of the way. Summer classes are a little less intense. Already have 2 college courses completed in HS. Already DODMERB qualified, so yes I know I need to stay healthy. Thanks for the info.

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Sounds like you have a good plan.

Good luck this summer and have a great first year.

thanks for the responses, I am going to be a junior, and LTC would be an option for me once I get cleared medically i suppose, The GI bill is not so important to me because as my dad so eloquently put it, getting deployed as a private and not being able to finish college is not worth 6,000 dollars. TA is however. IF i get cleared which Im still waiting on, and miss a semester and lets just say I can start on the spring semester... Someoone told me I could be an MS IV and then do my MS III the year after and then after i graduate become a lieutenant after LDC? Can anyone shed light on what my path would be?

NYJETS said:

thanks for the responses, I am going to be a junior, and LTC would be an option for me once I get cleared medically i suppose, The GI bill is not so important to me because as my dad so eloquently put it, getting deployed as a private and not being able to finish college is not worth 6,000 dollars. TA is however. IF i get cleared which Im still waiting on, and miss a semester and lets just say I can start on the spring semester... Someoone told me I could be an MS IV and then do my MS III the year after and then after i graduate become a lieutenant after LDC? Can anyone shed light on what my path would be?

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If you are starting as a true junior and have 4 semesters to graduate and you start your Spring semester you would most likely do the following:

Spring Semester 2012
Fall Semester 2012
Spring Semester 2013
Go to LDAC
Fall Semester 2013 and graduate and commission at the end of the semester.

I'm not sure about the path you described.

Jcleppe said:

If you are starting as a true junior and have 4 semesters to graduate and you start your Spring semester you would most likely do the following:

Spring Semester 2012
Fall Semester 2012
Spring Semester 2013
Go to LDAC
Fall Semester 2013 and graduate and commission at the end of the semester.

I'm not sure about the path you described.

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yeah that makes sense however, what If i took summer classes and winter classes and such to make up for the lost semester, would I still have to take 4 semesters of ROTC or no?