AROTC Contact with ROO vs PMS

Blackbelt890

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2013
Messages
11
My son has accepted the offer of a 4 yr ROTC scholarship that was awarded at the January board. He has been in contact only with the ROO at the school who also conducted his application interview so far. He has reached out a few times to the ROO recently with some questions and to keep him in the loop with the med board status. Response has been really slow/limited and wondering if he should be contacting/establishing communication with some others in the Cadre instead at this point? Don't want to advise him to subvert the proper chain of command but just wasn't sure if response time from ROO's is usually a few days vs a week or more? I'm sure there are a lot of things going on in the Battalion but was expecting, and leading him to expect, at least a quick email response to keep comms open. He has only sent about 4-5 emails total to the ROO during the entire process so doubt he is overkilling it. Suggestions anyone?
 
My son has accepted the offer of a 4 yr ROTC scholarship that was awarded at the January board. He has been in contact only with the ROO at the school who also conducted his application interview so far. He has reached out a few times to the ROO recently with some questions and to keep him in the loop with the med board status. Response has been really slow/limited and wondering if he should be contacting/establishing communication with some others in the Cadre instead at this point? Don't want to advise him to subvert the proper chain of command but just wasn't sure if response time from ROO's is usually a few days vs a week or more? I'm sure there are a lot of things going on in the Battalion but was expecting, and leading him to expect, at least a quick email response to keep comms open. He has only sent about 4-5 emails total to the ROO during the entire process so doubt he is overkilling it. Suggestions anyone?

I'm sure Clarkson or Marist will have more to say on the topic and, of course, are far more knowledgeable.

IMHO, I think the response time would very well depend on the nature of the question. If it's not an urgent question and is something that will get answered in the normal course of events when the ROOs reach out to them with info, then I wouldn't be too worried about it (eg. when do we report?). If it is something urgent (and by that I mean something you need an answer to within the next week or sooner) then I might be a bit concerned and reach out to someone else in the cadre.

I imagine response times in general vary with the size of the batallion and how much is going on. I also expect the ROO puts the question through his priority filter as well and determines action timelines based on that.
 
My son has accepted the offer of a 4 yr ROTC scholarship that was awarded at the January board. He has been in contact only with the ROO at the school who also conducted his application interview so far. He has reached out a few times to the ROO recently with some questions and to keep him in the loop with the med board status. Response has been really slow/limited and wondering if he should be contacting/establishing communication with some others in the Cadre instead at this point? Don't want to advise him to subvert the proper chain of command but just wasn't sure if response time from ROO's is usually a few days vs a week or more? I'm sure there are a lot of things going on in the Battalion but was expecting, and leading him to expect, at least a quick email response to keep comms open. He has only sent about 4-5 emails total to the ROO during the entire process so doubt he is overkilling it. Suggestions anyone?

I'm sure every school is different, but when my son needed a question answered he emailed the ROO and cc'd the PMS. This was the recommended method from the two back when he started the application process. He generally had a response by email or a phone call from one of the two by the next day. Again, different personalities and priorities at each school. During the next conversation with the ROO, I would just ask what the preferred method of communication is.
 
Thanks for the advice. None of the questions were urgent, and perhaps since they were of general interest, the ROO will be passing along info to the incoming group as a whole rather than individually. I will suggest next time my son talks or emails with him, that he verify the preferred method of comm and recipient. Just had started to wonder if perhaps the ROO's role mostly involved the initial recruiting and once the scholarship was accepted, the questions should go to someone else. Thanks again for the assist, we've been reading this board for a long time learning from others but finally had a specific question of our own.
 
Always use the chain of command and at this point the ROO is your only real contact within that spectrum. As a habit though it is not a bad idea to CC since you will be doing that OFTEN.
 
Personally I don't cc someones boss unless I'm not happy with the attention I'm getting. Would not advise bothering the PMS unless it's really necessary. On the other hand, if the ROO is not returning your emails in a timely manner she/he is not doing their job. Remember that at a bigger school they may be dealing with hundreds of applicants and 10s of scholarship winners. I know that here at Clarkson I usually try to answer a question from a scholarship applicant or prospect (or a discussion board poster) within a couple hours. Sometimes I get busy and an email will slide a little further down the inbox than I like, and sometimes I miss a facebook message or PM on the discussion board.
The ROO and the HRA are usually your two points of contact until you set foot on campus and enroll in class. At that time you will belong to the instructor and the Cadet chain of command.
 
blackbelt --

The problem you have is a common one in business sales -- if you start engaging *below* the level of the decision maker (PMS), it is really hard later to jump over a subordinant (ROO) and engage him/her after dealing with a subordinant and getting stuck.

However, if your FIRST contact is the decision maker (PMS), even if he/she asks you to work with a subordinant (ROO or HR Admin), you have already cleared the path to speak with the decision maker again without offending the subordinant.

The very best salespeople start trying to first engage a company at the very top, and only first engage lower if they are not successful at the top. Ineffective salespeople start with whoever will accept their call first.
 
Thanks for the advice. None of the questions were urgent, and perhaps since they were of general interest, the ROO will be passing along info to the incoming group as a whole rather than individually. I will suggest next time my son talks or emails with him, that he verify the preferred method of comm and recipient. Just had started to wonder if perhaps the ROO's role mostly involved the initial recruiting and once the scholarship was accepted, the questions should go to someone else. Thanks again for the assist, we've been reading this board for a long time learning from others but finally had a specific question of our own.

This is a busy time for the Battalions, the MS3's are getting the last push before LDAC, there are Labs, FTX and STX training. I wouldn't read too much into the fact that you have not heard back from the ROO right away. The Battalion knows that your son has accepted and will get back to him with all the info he needs.

With both our sons we did not have a lot of contact with the Battalion the Spring before he went to school. Once the school year was over our sons started receiving a lot of information and paperwork to fill out.

Don't expect to hear from the PMS over the summer, they will most likely be at LDAC. You will get most of your information from the ROO or the HR person. When filling out the paperwork the HR will be your best contact, at least it was at our school. Other then a congrats letter that came in early summer, neither of my son's had any contact with the PMS until they showed up at Orientation. For now I would be patient, the info will come soon enough, I wouldn't contact the PMS unless he contacts your son first.

Now is the thme to enjoy the rest of his senior year.
 
Thanks for the additional perspectives. We'll just lay low for awhile and expect to hear more as the time gets closer.
 
I would advise calling the ROO. Middle of the week is usually best.

Once they pick up the phone you usually have their undivided attention.
 
Back
Top