AFROTC and AROTC Board Results

mudspokes

5-Year Member
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Jan 2, 2013
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My son has completed his Air Force and Army ROTC scholarship applications and has completed his interviews. I know that AFROTC had their first boards and was to release on 12/21/12... Do we get notification if he is pushed to the next board? Or do we just wait until accepted to find out? The entire family is excited about the opportunity.
 
At this point I would say he did not meet the board. Even if you have the paperwork in by their deadline date it does not mean that they will be boarded. It is a queue system and they only meet for X amount of days. Dec. being their 1st board it is more than likely they did not board every candidate. Remember some candidates had their applications in since Aug. In total they usually board 5K candidates, or about 1250 per board.

Traditionally if they have boarded you will receive 1 of 3 snail mail responses along with internet acknowledgements.
~ Congrats
~ At this time you have been boarded, but will be re-boarded
~ At this time we are unable to offer....
 
Thanks for the quick response and insight. The LTC who did his interview told us that he expected my son to make it to the december board, but maybe it didn't happen. Hopefully no news is good news... We will keep an eye out after the next boards. Thanks again
 
What Pima just told you only pertains to AF.

Army ROTC is not a queue system...if your stuff is in by the deadline the board will see it. Additionally, if you were not selected for an offer you will not be informed of your status. You will only receive a letter from Cadet Command if you have an offer, or if the process is over and you didn't receive an offer. Your best source of information regarding your Army ROTC status is to contact a helpful ROO and ask her or him to let you know where you stand. If you were one of my applicants and contacted me (I'm a ROO) I could look in our system and tell if you have an offer or not. We usually have a blackout imposed until the board results are released, but once we get the go ahead we can tell you whether a letter is coming, or you need to wait until the next board.
 
To add to what Clarkson said above, the next AROTC Board meets on Jan. 7th. If the LTC said he should be ready to go then your son' application will most likely be seen by the Jan. Board. Based on previous boards I wouldn't expect to hear any status updates until at least the last week of Jan. or the first week of Feb.

Good luck to your son.
 
He will most likely end up AROTC at NGCSU, and possibly UGA, regardless of scholarship. I will make sure he stays in contact with the commanders at both schools. Good ACT scores lifted his scholarship chances, and since he wants to fly, he applied to USAF almost as an afterthought. But his USAF interview went really well and the interviewing LTC was extremely complimentary. Lacrosse season starts at the end of the month and we were hoping to get everything resolved asap so that he could focus on school, athletics and his senior year.... Like everyone else, just want to map this thing out. Thanks for the insight.
 
mudspokes,

One thing I would stress to you from an AFROTC perspective is if he is offered an AFROTC scholarship, take time to really investigate the AFROTC program. For example:

AFROTC cadets must be selected for SFT as a sophomore to remain in AFROTC. Scholarship has no impact on the selection board.

AFROTC has a rated board, there is no guarantee he will be selected, it is like the scholarship board...% assigned to CGPA, SFT, CoC rec, and tests

AFROTC there is no option of Guard or Reserves, they will serve ADAF, and if selected for UPT, upon winging (1 yr school) they will owe 11 yrs back. Our DS commissioned in May 2012, he will be able to leave the AF in May 2024. He entered ROTC in Sept 08. Basically 1/2 of his life before he can walk.

The devil is in the details, and all of these things should be taken into account before signing on the dotted line. I would hate him to go AFROTC because they offered a scholarship, and than not get SFT, which means 2 yrs of paying out of pocket, plus no SFT = no AF commissioning.

OBTW, I get he wants to fly, but if he wants rotor and not fixed wing that should also be placed into the equation. AF is not known for helos, and Army is not known for fighters.

College is IMPO part time..30 weeks, 20 hrs in class for 4 yrs where they want to be living. Military is 365/24/7 where they tell him to live for many yrs., and that can be in Korea, AK or anywhere else.

One last thing I would suggest is get his medical paperwork in order. You'd be amazed at how many kids thought they had no medical issues only to find out DoDMERB is requesting a remedial or DQ'd them.
 
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It is simple, to contract you will need to be medically qualified. That is the DoDMERB exam. Many candidates that were prescribed an asthma inhaler at 15, and never used it, but kept the prescription up to date would be required to report that prescription, and it would most likely become a red flag. Kids don't realize what seemed as a no biggie medically can cause a hiccup.

DoDMERB DQs, branches waive. AFROTC may decide not to waive, and AROTC will, or vise a verse. It is a case by case and I only said that because it is a part of the contracting process. I wouldn't worry about it overall.
 
It is simple, to contract you will need to be medically qualified. That is the DoDMERB exam. Many candidates that were prescribed an asthma inhaler at 15, and never used it, but kept the prescription up to date would be required to report that prescription, and it would most likely become a red flag.

DoDMERB DQs, branches waive.
Oh okay; knew the first part - wasn't sure what you meant until you mentioned the second part! Thanks!
 
Pima,

Thanks again for the input. Active Duty is the goal. He isn't immediately interested in NG or Reserves. We know flight school is a long shot, but he's choosing the military for the challenge and experience. His primary focus will be on CULP programs (russian) like project GO and/or other strategic languages and to, maybe, eventually work for one of the 3 letter agencies. He will be ROTC with or w/o the scholarship.

As far as medical goes, he did have mild asthma but hasn't used an inhaler since he was 10. He has broken a few bones in hockey, football and lacrosse. What are the primary concerns with the DoDMERB that might cause problems?

We have met with cadre commanders at to in-state schools and got a good feel from both. Any additional advice to help us make the best decision would be appreciated.
 
Pima... What medical paperwork should we have available? Medical file from pediatritian... Contact info from othaepedist? Anything else?
 
As far as medical, I really don't know the yr that asthma becomes a player. I want to say it is 13, best to ask that over on the DoDMERB threads. It really is a case by case, and many times they will ask for a remedial first to see if it was a mis-diagnosis.

Regarding broken bones, etc., I wouldn't worry unless a surgery was required, and even than again they may just request a remedial first.

Sometimes they just ask for the paperwork. The reason I said get the paperwork in order is because people tend to overlook that part of the process. The problem is if a waiver is needed it can take as little as 2 weeks and as long as a few months.

As I said you can be in ROTC, but the scholarship won't activate until you contract, and colleges can "lock out" a cadet from registering the following semester if the 1st semester is not paid yet. For all 3 of my kids registration started in October/Nov. depending when they started in the fall.

Additionally, nor will you get the book allowance or stipend.

Personally, I would just get all of it together, because either way he will be leaving the nest eventually. We took a CD-ROM to the docs and had them download it, so he could take it with him to school and had access to his records in a moments notice if something happened at school.

One thing to understand about the AF is if the major is considered a critical manning field, than going to UPT/UNT/RPA/ABM is off. I don't know if Russian is considered one of these majors, so I would suggest he checks with AFROTC to see. I think AROTC does have a better program than AFROTC when it comes to this aspect.

I also would point out that if I am correct there is a huge difference from a commitment payback. I believe the Army is only 6 yrs from winging as a pilot. The AF owes 11 yrs, and to wing it takes one yr. In essence, 12 yrs., and if they go casual status, it could be 13 yrs. DS is at UPT now, and will not start class until Apr. That means he can't leave until April 2025 as a 12 grad. Your child could be 2030.

He needs to think about that too.

Also for AFROTC you apply for the rated board, but you have to be willing to take any of the career paths, such as CSO/Nav, RPA (UAVs), and ABMS. There is no guarantee that they will get pilot. OBTW the time commitments for them are not 11 yrs., it is 6 (I think). For our DS graduation class last yr., 13 asked for rated. 13 got rated. 11 got pilot, 1 got CSO (eyes), 1 got RPA. Chances are statistically pretty good, but who knows what it will be like regarding slots available in 2016 when they go up for the board.

The scholarship is just the gravy. You have to want this life and be willing to serve in any career field for many yrs. Don't go one path because of a scholarship, go because you want to wear that uniform.
 
Before you get too spun up regarding DODMERB take things one step at a time. You don't need to gather any paperwork until you are told to schedule your DODMERB.

Here's way more information than you need at this point

http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/dodmerb-part-1-open-up-and-say-ahhhh/

Bottom line...be prepared to explain anything that you answered "yes" to on the medical questionaire. If you can explain it to the doc and it's not a disqualifier you are good. If DODMERB needs more info they are going to ask for it after the exam (it's called a remedial).

Hopefully if you get to that point you have a good ROO who will coach your son through the process.
 
I also would point out that if I am correct there is a huge difference from a commitment payback....The AF owes 11 yrs, and to wing it takes one yr.

Our son graduates UPT next month and everything on his ADSC says 10 years from winging. Is the commitment different based on commissioning source? I have never seen the 11 year ADSC.

Stealth_81
 
No way to thank you guys enough for the input. We've done our best to try to get all the facts together... No real surprises in what I'm hearing. Just reinforcing what we thought to be correct... I guess that means we've done okay. Like Pima said, the scholarship is the gravy. I'm extremely biased. But he's going to make a good officer, wherever he ends up. Hopefully we'll know something around the end of the month.
 
Stealth, maybe I am wrong, I could have sworn he said 11, but it could be I misunderstood and he was talking about the yr casual status. Let's be honest when you start talking decades, 1 yr more or less is nothing IMPO.

Either way though, it still is between ROTC, casual status, UPT and the time you could leave it will be 1/2 of their life. Which I think is important for any applicant to think about if they really are on the fence either way to think about the little issues.

AROTC has some really great and unique aspects that AFROTC does not offer. AFROTC once they become a POC guarantees AD which AROTC doesn't. It really can be difficult to decide.
 
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