Hi I’m currently between my ms1 and ms2 year uncontracted and without a scholarship, however I have an appointment to usma. As much as I would like to stay at my rotc, with the recent rumors about reduction in force and slashing of afrotc cadets, I am worried that if I stay in rotc there is a chance I will not be able to commission. Does anyone know if there is truth to this rumor?
From your post and the subsequent thread, I gather you are a rising MS-II at Virginia Tech. First, that's a good place to be -- great school and great ROTC/COC. But let's clear up a semantic issue. There is a difference between
commissioning and going
active duty, particularly with Army ROTC. I'm sure there's some exception somewhere, but if you remain academically eligible, pass your PT tests, stay within height/weight, don't commit some sort of misconduct, and pass Advanced Camp, you WILL commission. Now whether it will be to an
active duty slot is a different issue. I suspect that's the question you meant to ask, but on the slight chance you were only talking about just
commissioning, I believe that is entirely in your hands, and I imagine -- given you received a WP appointment -- you should have every reason to believe you will get that far, scholarship or no scholarship.
Active duty is a different animal, and
@MohawkArmyROTC already covered that. I'll say that I'm a little surprised -- given that you did well enough at VT so far to earn a WP appointment -- that you weren't able to snag a 3-year scholarship. My son is in your class at Texas A&M AROTC, and I know that at the beginning of the school year they reached out to anyone in his class who was interested in obtaining a 3-year scholarship. I don't know what came of that (he had won a 3AD from the national board so the request didn't apply to him), but I know they were soliciting incoming cadets for that purpose. So I'd be surprised if VT wasn't doing the same thing last August.
Anyway, to boil this all down, I agree with
@MohawkArmyROTC. If your primary concern is getting active duty, then WP is the safest bet. But I'm not sure that the inherent difficulty in enduring 4 years at WP doesn't outweigh the somewhat easier path you have with only 3 years remaining at VT. OTOH, and to me this might be the most important factor, can you afford to pay for 3 more years at VT on your own? How much is cost a factor? If you've basically been told you aren't getting a scholarship, and you are definite that you want to be an active duty Army officer, and you've successfully passed your first year in the VT COC, then I might weigh the
cost issue (as opposed to the active duty/commissioning issue) a little more heavily in WP's favor.
Just my long-winded 2 cents.