Army ROTC and employment status

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GMU CDT
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Brief overview, I'm an MS I Army ROTC 4yr Scholarship Cadet at a school in the DC Area, fully contracted, oath taken, the whole enchilada. Recently, I've been in the process of applying for internships at State and the DoD, but I've been left me with a couple of unresolved questions about my employment status vis-a-vi ROTC.

1.) Does contracting in Army ROTC, drawing pay, ect, mean that I am employed?

2.) If it does mean that I am employed then who is my employer? US Army Reserve, US Army, US Army Cadet Command?
 
Actually, you're not "drawing pay", or technically, W-2 wages.

- Your scholarship tuition/fees are a MERIT award, just as it would be if a university awarded you a scholarship...just as you are not an employee of the University granting merit award, you are not an employee of the DOD b/c of the award.
- Your Stipend of $300/mo is not a salary (not W-2 wages), but as it says, a STIPEND, therefore you are not an employee b/c of the stipend.

So, no, you are not an employee of the Army by contracting with ROTC.

One of the reasons Stipends are used, historically, is to offset living expenses OUTSIDE the mechanism of either hourly or weekly.monthly salary. Since you aren't receiving Salary, you aren't an employee, and the company/entity/Governement is not obligated to provide Benefits (medical, dental, 401k, etc.).

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Side issue not related to your specific question:

Neither Stipend nor tuition/fees/books are INCOME with respect to filing your 1040 income taxes.... At some schools, ROTC gives you the option to choose to apply the scholarship to tuition/fees, or to room/board. If you elect to apply your ROTC scholarship to room/board instead of tuition/fees, that IS 1040 INCOME, but you're still not an EMPLOYEE of the university. In the case of Room/Board, taxes are owed. In the case of Tuition/Fees they are not. This needs to be understood at schools where tuition/fees are slightly less than room/board... after tax consideration, the cheaper Tuition/Fees could be the better choice.
 
Last edited:
dunninla said:
Actually, you're not "drawing pay", or technically, W-2 wages.

- Your scholarship tuition/fees are a MERIT award, just as it would be if a university awarded you a scholarship...just as you are not an employee of the University granting merit award, you are not an employee of the DOD b/c of the award.
- Your Stipend of $300/mo is not a salary (not W-2 wages), but as it says, a STIPEND, therefore you are not an employee b/c of the stipend.

So, no, you are not an employee of the Army by contracting with ROTC.

One of the reasons Stipends are used, historically, is to offset living expenses OUTSIDE the mechanism of either hourly or weekly.monthly salary. Since you aren't receiving Salary, you aren't an employee, and the company/entity/Governement is not obligated to provide Benefits (medical, dental, 401k, etc.).

------------------------
Side issue not related to your specific question:

Neither Stipend nor tuition/fees/books are INCOME with respect to filing your 1040 income taxes.... At some schools, ROTC gives you the option to choose to apply the scholarship to tuition/fees, or to room/board. If you elect to apply your ROTC scholarship to room/board instead of tuition/fees, that IS 1040 INCOME, but you're still not an EMPLOYEE of the university. In the case of Room/Board, taxes are owed. In the case of Tuition/Fees they are not. This needs to be understood at schools where tuition/fees are slightly less than room/board... after tax consideration, the cheaper Tuition/Fees could be the better choice.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, thanks for the speedy response.
 
DS did an internship on the Hill, he placed ROTC in as an EC. It actually helped him because he was given an internship with a Senator in the VA benefits dept. which in turn gave him insight from a different perspective that he could use as an ROTC cadet in classes.

He also placed it as an EC so they understood he had a commitment on top of his classes that they would need to work around. Most internships on the Hill to get school credit will require @20 hrs a week, so it can become an issue regarding scheduling classes, ROTC and hours.

Good luck.

OBTW as dunninla stated it is a stipend or aka Allowance, when you enter AD anything with the word is not taxable. When you go TDY and get a per diem that will be taxable because it is not an allowance. Many cadets don't realize that.
 
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