CULP program selection

educateme

5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Messages
323
My MS I son applied for the summer 2012 CULP program. Not sure in the current environment whether they will select MS I for any such program. Unless they categorically turn down MS I's, he has a very good shot at it: he was selected as a Ranger Challenge team member as an MS I, and really doing way above what's required of him as a cadet (he is a true die hard) and also an only 4 year scholarship cadet from his school among the MS I's.

I believe the application deadline was Nov 4 (he told me). Any idea when the decision is coming out? This is not an idle question: if he is not selected for this program, as a family there are some things we would like to do together next summer and it would be nice to have some visibility well in advance since what we have in mind requires very complicated logistics and careful planning well in advance.... For instance, we have airline vouchers for the whole family worth thousands of dollars and the flight has to be booked by the end of this year (long story, don't ask)

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
I find it highly doubtful that he would get a slot unless there is zero interest among the MSIIs (not likely). However, it is not unheard of for one/two MSIs to get a school slot like airborne though.
 
My MS I son applied for the summer 2012 CULP program. Not sure in the current environment whether they will select MS I for any such program. Unless they categorically turn down MS I's, he has a very good shot at it: he was selected as a Ranger Challenge team member as an MS I, and really doing way above what's required of him as a cadet (he is a true die hard) and also an only 4 year scholarship cadet from his school among the MS I's.

I believe the application deadline was Nov 4 (he told me). Any idea when the decision is coming out? This is not an idle question: if he is not selected for this program, as a family there are some things we would like to do together next summer and it would be nice to have some visibility well in advance since what we have in mind requires very complicated logistics and careful planning well in advance.... For instance, we have airline vouchers for the whole family worth thousands of dollars and the flight has to be booked by the end of this year (long story, don't ask)

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

MS1's can be selected for CULP. My son's school had 2 cadets attend CULP last year, both MS1's. The only requirement is that the cadet be contracted
My younger son was asked by the PMS to apply, he is also a MS1 and the only contracted cadet in his freshman class. Last year the results of the CULP applications came out early December, I've heard the notification date this year is December 15th, if things follow they way the OML and Branch results came down...they will be at least a week late. Not sure if they will know the dates the same time they find out if they were accepted. The CULP assignments are given out by the brigades, the PMS of each battalion write a recommendation for each of the cadets that apply from their school. This is different then the application process last year. Again, MS1's can apply and have the same chance to be selected, they just need to be contracted at the time they apply. Another good reason for 4 year scholarship winners to complete all their paperwork and pass their APFT the first time, don't pass the test, you don't contract, and you do not have the opportunity to apply for CULP your freshman year.

On a side note, My younger son, was also selected for the Alpha Ranger Challenge Team as the one required MS1. It was special for him because his older brother is a MS4 at the same school and they were able to compete together, the icing on the cake was that they took First Place, doing that together was special to both of them, They had a ceremony tonight and each member was presented with a plaque. Sorry for getting OT, just being a very proud Dad.

Good luck you your son.
 
Last edited:
Both of you could have been writing about my son. He is also an MSI, was the only MSI on the Ranger team (they took 3rd place at Ranger Challenge out of 43 teams!), and is the only contracted MSI so far in his battalion. He picked up a 4-year campus-based scholarship this fall.

He also applied for CULP, but was the only cadet at his school to do so. Being an MSI, he's trying not to get his hopes up, but would that help his chances any? We weren't aware that slots are awarded at the Brigade level - I guess I assumed it's at a national level....

He's also hoping for an airborne slot, which is much more likely for him; not sure that he'll have time for both this summer.
 
[QUOTE Both of you could have been writing about my son. He is also an MSI, was the only MSI on the Ranger team]

Same here. DS - 4 year scholarship, contracted MS I on the Ranger Challenge Team :)
I think he also applied for CULP.
 
3 Justifiably proud dads! Congrats.

Jcleppe: How many cadets in your son's freshman class?
 
Actually, Mom here, but still proud :smile:

What makes this even cooler for me is that I went through the same ROTC program in the late 80's. Have a bit of a legacy going on here (although DS is twice the cadet I ever was!)
 
Actually, Mom here, but still proud :smile:

What makes this even cooler for me is that I went through the same ROTC program in the late 80's. Have a bit of a legacy going on here (although DS is twice the cadet I ever was!)

Sorry for the assumption! Congrats anyway.
 
mom here too. I will take the compliment anyway:biggrin:

My son is contracted. he told me about a small ceremony for that. And there, he got a special acknowledgment for the Ranger Team involvement. Off to a good start, so far....

I hope he gets what he wants. By the way, Airborne and Air assault etc are separate classes of programs from CULP, I think..... My son was also talking about those programs too but he was told that odds are not good at all as an MS I.

Well, if he gets both (CULP and one of the air-XXX program), he will be in hog's heaven next summer, but even without any of them, he will have finished a good freshman year, so............
 
mom here too. I will take the compliment anyway:biggrin:

My son is contracted. he told me about a small ceremony for that. And there, he got a special acknowledgment for the Ranger Team involvement. Off to a good start, so far....

I hope he gets what he wants. By the way, Airborne and Air assault etc are separate classes of programs from CULP, I think..... My son was also talking about those programs too but he was told that odds are not good at all as an MS I.

Well, if he gets both (CULP and one of the air-XXX program), he will be in hog's heaven next summer, but even without any of them, he will have finished a good freshman year, so............

I guess I had better start using gender neutral terms!
 
3 Justifiably proud dads! Congrats.

Jcleppe: How many cadets in your son's freshman class?

There are about 16 or 17 cadets in his MS1 class.

3 scholarship cadets...scratch that one has left the program. The other did not pass his APFT and then broke his ankle so he has yet to contract.

There are a few SMP's that will contract next year and a couple 3 year AD that will contract next year as well.

The rest are made up of non scholarship, non SMP cadets.

My son is the only contracted MS1

The PMS told my son that MS1's have the same shot as everyone that applies. Like I said last year the only 2 from our battalion that went to CULP were MS1's.
 
jcleppe,

as usual, thank you so much for your feedback. You really are a treasure to all of here on this forum.

I am a bit confused. Does each brigade or battalion have a different policy regarding MS I's eligibility for various summer programs. On one hand, I hear that in some battalions, they have very poor odds of getting selected no matter how good they are, and then in some other cases, they seem to be on par with the upper classmen (women) regarding the odds.

For instance, my MS I son was told that it's VERY unlikely that he will get the airborne or air assault as an MS I. On the other hand, he was told to apply for CULP even though the odds heavily favor the non MS I.
 
jcleppe,

as usual, thank you so much for your feedback. You really are a treasure to all of here on this forum.

I am a bit confused. Does each brigade or battalion have a different policy regarding MS I's eligibility for various summer programs. On one hand, I hear that in some battalions, they have very poor odds of getting selected no matter how good they are, and then in some other cases, they seem to be on par with the upper classmen (women) regarding the odds.

For instance, my MS I son was told that it's VERY unlikely that he will get the airborne or air assault as an MS I. On the other hand, he was told to apply for CULP even though the odds heavily favor the non MS I.

It must have something to do with each brigade and battalion. This year the PMS sent out an email to 2 cadets encouraging them to apply for CULP, my son, a MS1 and another cadet, a MS2. The MS2 went to CULP last year as a MS1. Nothing was ever said to my son that his chances were low as a MS1, like I said before both cadets that went to CULP last year were MS1's. He was told that he would not be considered for other summer training unless they could not fill all the slots with MS2's which is unlikely.

Brigades do seem to do things differently across the country, the way they give credit for MS classes, FTX, and even Ranger Challenge. The competition for the 8th Brigade was totally different then the competitions in other brigades. I could see how different brigades and battalions might do things differently regarding CULP. If you read the requirements for CULP it only states that the cadet is required to be contracted, it says nothing about only MS2's and above. I guess our cadets will just have to wait and see.
 
It must have something to do with each brigade and battalion. This year the PMS sent out an email to 2 cadets encouraging them to apply for CULP, my son, a MS1 and another cadet, a MS2. The MS2 went to CULP last year as a MS1. Nothing was ever said to my son that his chances were low as a MS1, like I said before both cadets that went to CULP last year were MS1's. He was told that he would not be considered for other summer training unless they could not fill all the slots with MS2's which is unlikely.

Brigades do seem to do things differently across the country, the way they give credit for MS classes, FTX, and even Ranger Challenge. The competition for the 8th Brigade was totally different then the competitions in other brigades. I could see how different brigades and battalions might do things differently regarding CULP. If you read the requirements for CULP it only states that the cadet is required to be contracted, it says nothing about only MS2's and above. I guess our cadets will just have to wait and see.

I am in 8th brigade as well and our battalion goes off of a BN OML for schools/training. The regs state any contracted cadet is qualified, but in my 4 years it seems that MSIs always get shafted because there are inevitably high speed MS IIs with more OML points.

I think brigade regs come into play when there more elusive slots like Mountain Warfare and Combat Diver.....I've seen very very few over the years and perhaps BNs get rewarded these slots from a BDE OML?
 
I am in 8th brigade as well and our battalion goes off of a BN OML for schools/training. The regs state any contracted cadet is qualified, but in my 4 years it seems that MSIs always get shafted because there are inevitably high speed MS IIs with more OML points.

I think brigade regs come into play when there more elusive slots like Mountain Warfare and Combat Diver.....I've seen very very few over the years and perhaps BNs get rewarded these slots from a BDE OML?

That's about the way things are at my son's school, summer schools are based on BN OML. The Brigade looks to be controlling the CULP awards.

It sure seems that the East Coast BDE's get more of those elusive summer schools beyond the traditional Airborne and Air Assault.
 
Any idea when the decision is coming out?

My daughter was an MS1 last year. She found out about her CULP assignment at the end of November or early December. I know she knew the assignment when she was home for Christmas break. However, as I recall, she did not know when her group was scheduled to leave until some time in the winter quarter.

It seems most of the trips are scheduled to start in late May through end of June. My sense is that most leave soon after a cadet's spring term ends. My daughter's school is on the quarter system and therefore did not end until mid-June. Her CULP experience started about a week after the term ended and I think it was one of the last ones to leave. My guess is that your son is likely to be done by late July.
 
My CPT just found out that he did get the position to go to China as cadre. He said that there is a possibility that we will find out within 1-2 weeks or the beginning of dec. But December 15th is the official date.
 
so the cadre finds out when/where they will go and the cadets who have applied will be notified within a couple of weeks? That's great.

meanwhile, do all cadets from the same battalion/brigade go to the same location? Or, each "group" for a particular program (let's say, China) comprises of cadets from multiple battalions/brigades?

I am asking this question since I saw a couple of references as a caption for some pictures of cadets in the CULP program as "cadets from XYZ school".

Thanks for your clarification in advance.
 
Cadets from the same Battalion don't have to go together. Some cadets are trying to go to China with my CPT, but I asked for Africa. Doesn't affect my chances.

Not sure about Brigade, but I don't think so.

One of my fellow cadets went on CULP last year. He was with a majority of students from BYU, but also with students from other universities. Probably just depends on the trip.
 
Back
Top