Best ROTC Detachments?

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warrior15

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Does anyone know what the best ROTC programs in the country are? Not including the Academies (not ROTC anyway), the Senior Military Colleges, or Junior Military Colleges. Any branch, but especially Army. Just interested...
 
The best program is the one you feel comfortable in and will excel in. In 2012 these programs were rated as the best in the nation: Texas A&M,Gannon,Iowa State, U of Virginia, University of Colorado, Pacific Lutheran,Notre Dame and U of Georgia. I'm kind of partial since DS goes to Boulder.:wink:
 
The Golden Knight Battalion at Clarkson University
 
Melitzank said:
Best is kind of subjective. You should look at the school rather than the ROTC program.

Cadet Command selected the "8 best ROTC programs" http://www.army.mil/article/73239/, if that helps though.
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Nice article. Of course it is the best programs in each of the 8 brigades. A program could be a close #2 in a very strong brigade and not make the list yet be "better" by CC criteria than one of the chosen programs in another brigade.
 
I will take even a different twist than the one I support...the best det. is the one you like the best.

What if I said the best dets. cost 40-50K a yr. Would you place that on your list?

What if I said the best dets have a min. SAT of 2350 superscore for admission? Would you place that on the list?

What if I said it was 2000 miles away from home,..IOWs Thanksgiving may mean not coming home due to cost. Would you place it on the list?

The thing with ROTC is you need to understand IMPO, to be truly successful means you need to balance your academic life with ROTC life.

You may have to attend a school that is not your dream, but the det is, or attend your dream school that is not the dream det.

It is a personal decision.

In a teen perspective asking about best dets., is like asking friends in HS about what girl you should date for your entire sr. yr. Would you leave it to your friends to make that decision for you if it meant 24/7 for an entire yr. she would be in your life every day? Now put that on steroids of 4 yrs!
 
Don't forget that detachments are constantly evolving.

Since the terminology is so different by military branch, in layman terms:

Students move up and out. 25% new every year.

Professional active duty staff on our tours that all end at different times - including the Commanding Officer. So you have lots of flux in this area also.

I will admit that top units (however you define that) probably stay that way for the near term. But all will evolve, change and morph as students and leaderhship change.

Rough analogy (and admittedly weak) but can't get it out of my head... Alabama didn't always have the top football team and will eventually fall off. Northwestern didn't always have the top lacrosse team. The Red Sox won't always be the World Series Champs.

In the end Clarkson is right - the Golden Knight Battalion is the top detachment from where he sits and rightfully so.

You have to succeed in the school and the detachment you select. Don't make your choice based on a historical ranking.
 
My older son commissioned in the top 10%, received the branch he wanted, and had a blast at College.

Point is, if you asked him, his school and battalion would be the best in the country.

It has much more to do with what you put into it and how well you do then how the battalion is perceived.

I agree with the posters above, pick a school that you want to attend, one that you see yourself doing well and has a good fit for you. If your happy at the school it will make ROTC life much better and you'll excel farther.

As said above, leadership changes all the time, so who you meet during your first visit may not be there when you start school. My older son had 3 differnt PMS while he was in AROTC, each with a different leadership style.
 
My son is in an MSI in a company of the Campbell Bn (4th Bde) in NC. The Bn is always rated near the top in the Bde. It was one of the reasons he ended up choosing the school he did.

Since he has joined, he is learning why they perform so well. The proximity to Ft. Bragg means that at lot the cadets in the unit are 82nd Airborne and Special Forces guys on Green to Gold. He is learning so much from these guys on a daily basis. The first FTX was land nav, and they all nailed it. His squad leader was a SF instructor at Ft. Bragg before joining ROTC. The guy really understood land nav, and how to teach it. The downside is the cadet who runs PT is also SF... and the PT is hard. My son did well on his first PT test (240 overall) at the start of school and still finds the PT especially challenging, but in a good way.
 
Jcleppe said:
Point is, if you asked him, his school and battalion would be the best in the country.
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I believe this statement would be echoed by many cadets, even if we could not necessarily prove it to be objectively true. There are "better" BN's out there that have higher percentages of DMG's and AD grads with their first choice branch but a good program will not guarantee success. It will help, but it is better to go somewhere where you can excel, especially in the classroom.

Also, Jcleppe, it is interesting hearing your son had such high turnover rates with his PMS. Our BN had about the same turnover rate, but I recall that being fairly uncommon in discussions with other cadets.
 
OP: Here are the Top Battalion winners for the past few years. One Battalion is recognized from each Brigade. Winners are based on which PMS' give the best Christmas gifts to the Brigade Commanders (joke)

I have not seen the winners for Fiscal Year 2012.

Fiscal Year 2011 (Sept. 2010 - Sept. 2011)

The Citadel (Charleston, S.C.) Cadet Command's 1st Brigade
Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.) 2nd Brigade
Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) 3rd Brigade
The University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) 4th Brigade
The University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) 5th Brigade
The University of Mississippi (Oxford, Miss.) 6th Brigade
The University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.) 7th Brigade
Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, Calif.) 8th Brigade


FY 2010 (Sept. 2009 - Sept 2010, Announced early 2011) Winners:
Texas A & M University (1st Brigade)
St. Johns University (2nd Brigade)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (3rd Brigade)
James Madison University (4th Brigade)
Texas Christian University (5th Brigade)
Georgia Southern University (6th Brigade)
Western Kentucky University (7th Brigade)
Pacific Lutheran University (8th Brigade)

FY 2009 (Sept. 2008 - Sept 2009, Announced early 2010) Winners
1st Brigade, North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega, Ga.;
2nd Brigade, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.;
3rd Brigade, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.;
4th Brigade, Campbell University, Buies Creek, N.C.;
5th Brigade, Cameron University, Lawton, Okla.;
6th Brigade, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Ga.;
7th Brigade, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati; and
8th Brigade, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif.


FY 2008 (Sept. 2007 - Sept 2008, Announced early 2009) Winners

(the press release I read did not identify which Brigades these schools represent, however I think I got them right)

The Citadel,
University of New Hampshire,
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities,
Georgetown University,
Cameron University,
University of South Florida,
Austin Peay State University,
University of Hawaii.
 
You will drive yourself insane looking for the "best" ROTC program in the nation. The curriculum is virtually the same wherever you go and cadre turn over every couple years..

However, I think school that are close to major bases have distinct advantages.

1. Training facilities
2. Draws in tons of experienced soldiers from the base
 
Here are a few things to consider regarding Battalions:

1. The school matters much, much more than the Battalion
2. PMSs change every 2-4 years, on average. Quality flows from the top, and since the Top changes frequently, so will Battalion quality.
3. In agreement with kcdale99 and Aglahad, Battalions with higher than average prior Enlisted or Green to Gold cadets should have an advantage ithe overall military culture of the Battalion: military bearing, STX quality, FTX quality, LDAC prep, and esprit de corps.
4. The HR civilian contractor admin person(s) is critical and much more important than people might think from a distance... see current thread on paperwork processing for Tuition/Stipend/Book pay.
5. Being a cadet at a cross-town affiliate campus who needs to travel to the Host campus can be a royal pain in the butt... depending on whether Lab, Class or PT must occur at the Host, and for how many years.

P.S. "Detachment" is an Air Force term. Army uses Battalion, or Unit.
 
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ghost_rider said:
Also, Jcleppe, it is interesting hearing your son had such high turnover rates with his PMS. Our BN had about the same turnover rate, but I recall that being fairly uncommon in discussions with other cadets.
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The first PMS left after his MS1 year. The second was there for 2 years. The 3rd came during his MS4 year.

My younger son will have 2 different PMS during his time.

Close proximity to a major base does not always mean you will succeed at a higher level. My sons school is nowhere near a base but has out performed many of the schools that have a base right next door. Not all classes have had the same success, some classes will do better then others within the same battalion. A lot depends on the cadets in each class.
 
DS is at SUNY Brockport, and he appreciates experience of officers and staff that have experiences that directly impact his instruction and future Army mentality. Some cadets have experiences for this 2nd brigade school.

You can not always pick your choices in the forces, but you can learn all you can from the available resources. DS is happy where he is, and has been challenged so check plus to his school.



Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app.
 
Jcleppe said:
The first PMS left after his MS1 year. The second was there for 2 years. The 3rd came during his MS4 year.

My younger son will have 2 different PMS during his time.

Close proximity to a major base does not always mean you will succeed at a higher level. My sons school is nowhere near a base but has out performed many of the schools that have a base right next door. Not all classes have had the same success, some classes will do better then others within the same battalion. A lot depends on the cadets in each class.
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There have been some excellent posts on this thread. I just wish I had input from Pima before I picked my high school girlfriend! :biggrin:

Dunninla pointed out that the "best" unit, from an Army perspective, is always changing. Jcleppe points out one of the reasons why.... the cadets run the Battalion, on a day to day basis, and it's leadership changes every semester.

And let's not pretend you can only learn lessons from good leaders. I think my DS has learned as much from watching folks he doesn't consider to be effective leaders (in some areas), at least in knowing what he is not going to do.
 
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