AROTC basic training?

Hello! As my DS gets closer to starting his AROTC career, he and I are getting more questions about the process. One we've had several times recently is, "will he go to basic?" What is a good answer to explain what happens? He is a 4-year scholarship winner.

tjb1975 said:

Hello! As my DS gets closer to starting his AROTC career, he and I are getting more questions about the process. One we've had several times recently is, "will he go to basic?" What is a good answer to explain what happens? He is a 4-year scholarship winner.

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No you're son will not go to basic training. Contracted ROTC cadets will have to go to summer training at Fort Knox and other places...for example I'm leaving for a month for CIET soon.

Opportunities like...
CIET 1 month
CLC 1 month
CTLT (not sure)
Airborne 3 weeks
Air Assault 10 days
And so on...

Explain that basic training is an introduction to the Army for enlisted personnel that teaches them military basics and how to follow orders. As a future officer going through ROTC, he'll spend 4 years in classrooms and labs, learning to lead.

In addition, he'll have summer training experiences that will expose him to various aspects of the military, as well as providing opportunities to gain some tactical knowledge and opportunities to practice the leadership he's learning at school.

Although us old timers on the discussion board live to answer questions such as these I would suggest having your son open up the dialogue with his new Battalion for answers to your questions. Hopefully there is a ROO or Gold Bar Recruiter at your new school who is just waiting to answer these questions, and the answer you will get will be more in line with the Programs philosophy, since each program is different.

There is no Basic Training for an Army ROTC Cadet, unless he or she is also in the Guard or Reserves (SMP), and even an SMP cadet may avoid basic. Although CIET has been proposed to be a kind of CIET, it has proven to not have the capacity to accommodate all Cadets. As mentioned above, summer opportunities are available and I encourage any Cadet to pursue as many of those opportunities as possible if they intend to compete for Active Duty.

Thanks for the input. We are having a difficult time getting a response from his Battalion these days, which is odd considering how frequently we were in touch during the application process. I know the PMS is retiring at the end of the month, so maybe the transition is causing some strain there. I will have DS look into your suggestion, @clarksonarmy. He does have the cell phone numbers for several cadets we met during our campus visits.

tjb1975 said:

Thanks for the input. We are having a difficult time getting a response from his Battalion these days, which is odd considering how frequently we were in touch during the application process. I know the PMS is retiring at the end of the month, so maybe the transition is causing some strain there. I will have DS look into your suggestion, @clarksonarmy. He does have the cell phone numbers for several cadets we met during our campus visits.

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This is a very busy time for battalions. Newly commissioned 2nd lts. CIET, CULP etc. I bet you'll have more success the closer he gets to August. I know my son's cadre go to Knox for almost the whole summer. If he wants to be ready just have him run work on form for his push-ups and show up with a regulation haircut.

Great reminder, nofodad, about everything on their plate right now. YES! The kid needs a haircut PDQ.

I'm letting mine raggamuffin out since at end of summer he will be required to be squared away 24/7