AROTC Active Duty/extended service commitment

bfrat93

5-Year Member
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Oct 28, 2012
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I am an MSI on 4-scholarship and I am still confused about the service commitment. I originally thought that every cadet (regardless of scholarship) competes for active duty. I then heard from MSII cadets that if you are a high school 4-year winner (which I am) you will receive active duty, as long as you are in good standing. Is this true? Furthermore, I have also heard that you can sign to extend your service commitment which can increase the chance of getting active and branch choice. Again, is this true?

I know I am only an MSI but I would like to get the facts straight. Any insight will be appreciated. Thank you.
 
I am an MSI on 4-scholarship and I am still confused about the service commitment. I originally thought that every cadet (regardless of scholarship) competes for active duty. I then heard from MSII cadets that if you are a high school 4-year winner (which I am) you will receive active duty, as long as you are in good standing. Is this true? Furthermore, I have also heard that you can sign to extend your service commitment which can increase the chance of getting active and branch choice. Again, is this true?

I know I am only an MSI but I would like to get the facts straight. Any insight will be appreciated. Thank you.

First, MSIIs should not be your source of this type of information.

Second, the MSII is incorrect about your first item (guaranteed AD), unless you happen to attend an SMC which in and of itself guarantees AD - not the scholarship.

Having a 4-year scholarship, you are required to request AD (where non-scholarship cadets can request reserves). However if your OML score falls below the AD cutoff, I believe you will be allowed to serve your commitment in the reserves.

Yes there are ways to increase (but not guarantee) your branch selection by signing up for additional AD time. If you search on ADSO in the ROTC forum, you will find many a thread where this is dicussed. There are situations where even an ADSO will not guarantee your branch however. You will learn more about this from your Cadre as you get to MSIII year, if nothing else.

For now, the best advice is to keep your grades as high as possible, max out your PT, and be involved in every unit activity you can and any campus leadership/athletics opportunities available to you. That will maximize your OML score giving you the best chances at AD and branch preferences.
 
I am an MSI on 4-scholarship and I am still confused about the service commitment. I originally thought that every cadet (regardless of scholarship) competes for active duty. I then heard from MSII cadets that if you are a high school 4-year winner (which I am) you will receive active duty, as long as you are in good standing. Is this true? Furthermore, I have also heard that you can sign to extend your service commitment which can increase the chance of getting active and branch choice. Again, is this true?

I know I am only an MSI but I would like to get the facts straight. Any insight will be appreciated. Thank you.

Every cadet competes for Active Duty, Scholarship doesn't matter.

Extending you service commitment is called ADSO. An ADSO adds 3 years to your service commitment. You can ADSO to move you up the list for Branch selection (Still not a guarantee). You can not ADSO for Active Duty, you either make the AD list or not, if you make the AD list then you can use the ADSO for Branching.

Goliedad,

When did they change that Scholarship cadets were required to request AD. Two of the Scholarship cadets that graduated with my son went Reserves, they both were high enough on the OML to make AD, they both requested Reserves.
 
Anyone can request guard/reserves...even 4 year winners. Here is the bottom line...this process changes every year...it is something that a contracted cadet can not control. The scholarship contract stipulates that the Army will pay you, train you, and commission you. You agree that you will accept a commission and serve as assigned. Make sure you pay attention when your cadre talk about the accessions process. Make sure you talk to the MS IVs that just went through it to understand what it may be like for you, and make sure you take care of what you can control (your preparations, your academics, and your fitness level).
 
You will compete for AD like everyone else. If you fail to make the AD cutoff score, you will be forced to go Reserves / National Guard.

The ADSO (Active Duty Service Obligation) that you're talking about is the #1 biggest myth that goes around in ROTC as far as I'm concerned. You don't have an additional chance of going Active Duty if you ADSO for a branch or post. ADSO only applies IF you have accessed active duty to begin with, and is a tool that Cadet Command uses in order to help cadets get jobs that they are more satisfied with.

Worry about what you can control - grades, PT, and how you do in ROTC. Active Duty will take care of itself if you do those things.
 
You will compete for AD like everyone else. If you fail to make the AD cutoff score, you will be forced to go Reserves / National Guard.

The ADSO (Active Duty Service Obligation) that you're talking about is the #1 biggest myth that goes around in ROTC as far as I'm concerned. You don't have an additional chance of going Active Duty if you ADSO for a branch or post. ADSO only applies IF you have accessed active duty to begin with, and is a tool that Cadet Command uses in order to help cadets get jobs that they are more satisfied with.

Worry about what you can control - grades, PT, and how you do in ROTC. Active Duty will take care of itself if you do those things.

Care to explain why the ADSO is the #1 Myth in ROTC.

It seems to have worked well for a lot of cadets over the years.
 
Care to explain why the ADSO is the #1 Myth in ROTC.

It seems to have worked well for a lot of cadets over the years.
If I read that post correctly, it means there is a myth that a cadet can ADSO to get into Active Duty even if the cadet is below the AD cutoff line.... that would indeed be a myth.
 
If I read that post correctly, it means there is a myth that a cadet can ADSO to get into Active Duty even if the cadet is below the AD cutoff line.... that would indeed be a myth.

I was 50/50 on the idea that was the meaning, I agree, there are always a group of cadets every year that ask if the ADSO will help them get AD. I would think the cadre would have made that clear by the time they reach accessions, maybe not.
 
Having a 4-year scholarship, you are required to request AD (where non-scholarship cadets can request reserves).
I do not believe that is correct, as already stated by other posters. The ROTC Scholarship Cadet Contract http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/milcsi/DA597_3_Scholarship_Cadet_Contract.pdf

stiplulates in Section 2.a. "enlist in the Reserve Component of the United States Army".

in Section 4.a ACCEPTANCE OF APPOINTMENT, we find: "...this obligation may be met in a variety of ways as outlined below ..."

then we see that the "ways" are:

A. Active Duty,
B. Army Reserve,
C. (don't get this one) and
D. Army National Guard.


Since I think the CONTRACT is what defines a Cadet's future obligations, and the CONTRACT indicates that Reserves is the primary option, and that further ELECTIVE options include Active Duty, I interpret that to mean that Reserves is the default, and Active Duty is an optional election.

HOWEVER, this is where the Army has the right to throw a curve ball: per Section 4b of that contract, the Army reserves the right to deny an Application by the Cadet into US Army Reserves, or Army National Guard, if "the needs of the Army" don't allow it. This begs the question... if the "needs for the Army" don't allow the cadet to join Reserves or Guard, does that necessarily obligate the Cadet to Active Duty? I don't interpret the Contract that way. I interpret that the Cadet's OBLIGATION under the ROTC Scholarship Cadet Contract is an 8 year Reserves or Guard duty, and if both don't want the Cadet, there is no obligation to Active Duty.

Lastly, section 11 does state that anybody in Reserves or Guard can be called up into Active Duty at a time of War or National Emergency, so there are never any guarantees of anything.

Boy, if I as an experienced adult and business person with an MBA and even one course in Business Law have trouble understanding exactly what this Contract obligates a cadet to, how can we expect 18 or 19 year old cadets to understand its implications?
 
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Having a 4-year scholarship, you are required to request AD (where non-scholarship cadets can request reserves).

I believe what Goaliedad may be referring to is the obligation of cadets at the US Military Academy... which as I understand it, is in fact 5 years AD.

This seems like a good place to point out that Non-Scholarship cadets in Advanced Course signed a slightly different Contract, the Non-Scholarship Cadet Contract, http://armyrotc.missouri.edu/pdfs-docs/Forms/a597.pdf which obligates the Cadet, if they fail to complete the Advanced Course in the MSIV year, to only 2 years AD enlistment obligation, vs. the 4 years for a Scholarship Cadet.
 
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I was a four year scholarship winner and I requested reserves so it is definitely possible.
 
I found something interesting in AR 145-1 page 39 http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/r145_1.pdf ) that implies that a Distinguished Military Student (top 1/3 of a Battalion OML + top half of school academically) cadet has the right to decline an Active Duty appointment, or as this section calls it, an appointment into the Regular Army:

6–13. Appointment in the regular Army
a. Appointment authorities and the PMS will be given the names of the cadets under their supervision who have been selected for RA appointment. Only those cadets selected according to AR 601–100 and this regulation, will beappointed as RA officers.

b. ROTC cadets who are selected for RA appointment, but the appointment is not available, will be tendered appointment in the Reserve of the Army with assignment to the USAR. Nonselection for the RA does not preclude a cadet from applying later under another RA procurement program. A DMS who declines selection for an RA appointment may ask to be reconsidered for appointment at any time before the date of the DMG designation.

What this tells me is that a DMS cannot be forced to accept an RA appointment. If this is true, than I don't know how a non-DMS would be thus forced.

What a weird topic...
 
I recall hearing a couple of years ago that the top cadet in the nation went Reserves.
 
I recall hearing a couple of years ago that the top cadet in the nation went Reserves.
Yes, that was correct. It was a female cadet at University of Maryland. However, I don't know if she picked Reserves, or if she was already in Reserves (SMP).
 
Thank you for all the information, everyone. Just to clarify; it is my goal to get AD to make a possible career in the Army. I fully understand the burden I have to carry to get AD. My PFT still has much room for improvement but I am taking care of it (i.e. attending Ranger Club PT, independent workouts) and my current GPA outlook for this semester is 3.8 (based on my current grades). I'd say I am definitely starting on the right foot.
 
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