afrotc freeze?

It seems like the Air Force is the Army's greatest recruiting tool right now. Of course with the Army's draw down plans for the future it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. The Army does seem to be a bit less volitle right now so trading blue for green is always an option.
 
I qualify to get on Express-Scholarship because I am a foreign language major.
When you say you qualify does that mean you have one of the majors listed for an Express Scholarship or that you have already applied and been granted an Express Scholarship but haven't accepted it yet because you are waiting to find out about EA?
 
I just meant that I am a Japanese major and it is on the Express Scholarship list. No, I haven't applied for anything.
 
Thanks. I have yet to hear of anyone that has received an Express Scholarship since FY2011 has begun. For that matter I haven't heard of anyone receiving any AFROTC In-College scholarships since the year has begun.
 
I am with AG on this one, I haven't heard of anyone either. Just because you qualify and they exist doesn't mean they(the AF) will employ this type of scholarship this yr.

I have to be brutally honest here, and say I am willing to eat crow, but I would highly doubt they will be awarding these scholarships this yr.

Reason why:

13,14 and 15 are being hit hard from a manpower perspective.

When the AFA announces that their incoming classes for 15 and 16 will be @ 15-20% less than previous yrs, it isn't hard to take a leap that they are saying we need to pull back on the officer pipeline.

This of course is on top of the AF canceling OCS boards last yr, and basically RIFing AFROTC cadets ly just before commissioning. Let's not forget that for C200's it was the lowest % in yrs that were accepted for SFT.

Put that all together and what you see is they are attacking every yr group from 10-16.

I would look at this like OCS...yes, there is that option, but that doesn't mean they will use that option.

Also hate to say it, but Japanese is not one that they are going insane over for the must haves in foreign language, now if you said Farsi or Chinese, I would probably say there still was a slim hope.

It should also be understood, taking a scholarship like foreign language can lock you into a particular career field. If you take it and think that you can than parlay it into a pilot slot, you are mistaken. They are recruiting you for your language expertise, not to fly planes.
 
I agree with Pima on choosing the language major for the Express Scholarship.

Some languages may be highly sought-after but they are also difficult to learn. Most of the cadets studying foreign languages have the average GPA 2.5-2.8 in my detachment. It could hurt when competing for EA and AFSC. However I believe language majors are now in the AF categorized as "tech" majors. So it helps somewhat for EA given the same GPA.

After trials and errors weighing the benefits choosing majors myself, I'd strongly suggest anyone to study whatever they like and can handle.
 
AG is right, they are in their own field.

WJUW is also right. Your AFSC MAY and CAN be tied to that scholarship.

In essence you are stating I want to serve in the AF in this field. The AF is structuring their manpower around that fact. They are not about to cut you loose if they are short in that arena because now, 2-3 yrs later you personally decide you want to do something else in the AF, like being a pilot.

Devil is always in the details.

Off topic...kind of

Most of the cadets studying foreign languages have the average GPA 2.5-2.8 in my detachment.

Don't know where you go, but that gpa is frightening low, and I wonder if they would even be commissioned.

Our DS is a C300 scholarship cadet, so I can't recall the barrier, but I could have sworn for AFROTC scholarship their min must be @3.0-3.2, 2.5-2.8 seems very low.
 
AG is right, they are in their own field.
Of course.:cool:
Devil is always in the details.
My daughter is an AFROTC C100 (freshman) and was awarded a HSSP Type 7 scholarship....any major. Her plan was to major in nursing (BSN) and also try for a pilot slot....one of the first AF flying nurses?:rolleyes: In theory it should work....pilot slots do not require a certain major so nurses could compete for an UPT slot. Ahhhh but the devilish details....She was "advised" by her AF academic counselor that she had to choose either General Studies or Nursing for her major. If she chose nursing she could not compete for a pilot slot. However if she chose General Studies she could continue to actually major in nursing, graduate with a BSN, take and pass the N-CLEX test to become a RN....but if she didn't receive a UPT slot then she could be assigned to any of the AFSCs including possibly nursing. While it is difficult to believe that the AF wouldn't just assign her as a nurse...it all depends on the needs of the AF at that time...and there aren't any guarantees.
 
I'm not intending to be disrespectful with my following comment:

The AF is in a period of identity crisis. Strategic long range bombing has reduced in importance over the past decade. Geopolitical uncertainties make land-based fighters more difficult to place now that ever before, at least in the regions where we need them. Aircraft carrier deployed fighters are more flexible, though limited in range in many cases. So there is a tradeoff between allocating add'l resources to Naval Aviation vs. AF.

I wrote a month ago that moral at the AFA was low, and that spring Semester last year, many, many cadets were inquiring about how to transfer to the Naval Academy.

I expect to see a reduction in all forms of Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC scholarships over the next couple of years, perhaps 25% less. However, I believe the Air Force ROTC scholarships will decrease proprotionately more... maybe 35%? who knows, but I expect that just as the AFA has announced 10-20% fewer slots into the Academy for this fall and beyond, and the USNA and USMA have not made any such announcements, that we are already beginning to see a reduction in Air Force resources greater than the reductions we see for Navy+Marines, and Army.
 
That's the thing...devil in the details. Her det has informed her of those details. Just saying nobody here has a crystal ball, or is at Randolph MPC. so just because right now somebody you knew did it, doesn't mean you can.
 
I wrote a month ago that moral at the AFA was low, and that spring Semester last year, many, many cadets were inquiring about how to transfer to the Naval Academy.
I missed your post from last Spring. Why in your opinion was moral so low at the AFA?
..I believe the Air Force ROTC scholarships will decrease proprotionately more... maybe 35%? who knows, but I expect that just as the AFA has announced 10-20% fewer slots into the Academy for this fall and beyond, and the USNA and USMA have not made any such announcements, that we are already beginning to see a reduction in Air Force resources greater than the reductions we see for Navy+Marines, and Army.
While I certainly don't have a crystal ball...I believe that the reduction in AFROTC scholarships you are seeing has been going on at least since last year. Now you are starting to (evidently) see reductions this year in both AROTC and NROTC scholarships. It may just be that the AF feels the effects (and needs to react) first when the US military involvement is decreased. I would not be surprised to see a reduction in the overall number of slots at the USNA and eventually the USMA within the next year or so. Just my opinion...
 
I agree I think the AROTC is already showing it since they announced they will be offering 25% less scholarships.

The AF is always the 1st out in the AD military, which means less need. When we start pulling all of the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, plus a 9% unemployment rate, it will not be pretty for the Army.
 
I'm not intending to be disrespectful with my following comment:

The AF is in a period of identity crisis. Strategic long range bombing has reduced in importance over the past decade. Geopolitical uncertainties make land-based fighters more difficult to place now that ever before, at least in the regions where we need them. Aircraft carrier deployed fighters are more flexible, though limited in range in many cases. So there is a tradeoff between allocating add'l resources to Naval Aviation vs. AF.

I wrote a month ago that moral at the AFA was low, and that spring Semester last year, many, many cadets were inquiring about how to transfer to the Naval Academy.

I expect to see a reduction in all forms of Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC scholarships over the next couple of years, perhaps 25% less. However, I believe the Air Force ROTC scholarships will decrease proprotionately more... maybe 35%? who knows, but I expect that just as the AFA has announced 10-20% fewer slots into the Academy for this fall and beyond, and the USNA and USMA have not made any such announcements, that we are already beginning to see a reduction in Air Force resources greater than the reductions we see for Navy+Marines, and Army.

I believe USAFA has always admitted more cadets than the other academies. 2012 and 2013 were over 1350. USMA and USNA entering class is about 1250. Basically the future class reduction is to get USAFA total enrollment in line with the other academies.
 
I agree I think the AROTC is already showing it since they announced they will be offering 25% less scholarships.

The AF is always the 1st out in the AD military, which means less need. When we start pulling all of the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, plus a 9% unemployment rate, it will not be pretty for the Army.

I don't believe there have been any official announcement by Cadet Command in regard to a 25% reduction in scholarship offers this year.

I know there was an ealier post by Marist College stating there could be 250 less offers from the expected 1000 for the Jan. board. No one knows and there have been no official news whether this will continue to the next board. The overall total for AROTC scholarhips is still an unknown.

Even with all the unknowns I would not be surprised if reductions do happen.
 
The one thing I learned as a spouse of a military member...gossip in the military traditionally turns out to be true.

LY before the AF announced that there would be no OCS board, it was on this forums months before.

Same with fewer SFT spots.

Same with everything.

Don't believe all of the gossip, but typically there is always a kernel of truth in that gossip.
 
in response to the foreign language major GPA, I am holding a steady 3.8GPA right now so I don't feel like I have a problem in that area... The things that do worry me are:
1. an average PFA score that should be considerably better this semester thanks to my everyday training.
2. I was told by my Det that I shouldn't take the AFOQT until after I return back from Field Training. The way I understand it is that they would use my prior SAT scores in place of the AFOQT and they are about as low as you can get >_<
3. I'm not heavily involved in my Det as I am both busy most days with my major's homework and on top of that my wife would like to actually spend some time with me throughout the day sometime. Field Training Prep takes quite a lot of my schedule as it is.

If I don't get an EA it's GoArmy for me ;)
 
This turn of events is somewhat unsettling to hear, as an applicant for the class of 2016. I intend to study Japanese, but based on what has been said (and the generation of a foreign language category opposing it), I'm unsure that I will be of any use to the Air Force. I have no problem following a career path based on my language study- it is my passion, and I feel I would be happy to apply what I learn for the entirety of my career- but is there truly no place for another Area Studies major?

Not sure AFROTC scholarships even exist for such a major... I've seen Soviet area studies, Japanese Language and Korean Language, but no East Asian studies major.
 
I would assume that as a Japanese language major you would take Japanese studies classes. So, just do dual major and have Japanese language as your intended major for the scholarship.

Asian languages will always be demanded. However, becareful with selecting foreign language majors. For ex: Arabic majors may be never offered the chance to fly because the AF is going to want them more in the intel arena since they are so rare.

Russian studies will always be needed because we don't have bases there, but we do in Japan and that is why the need for East Asian studies major may not needed at this time.

If you really want East Asian studies you may want to investigate the Diplomatic Corp. You still get to serve the country, but your career will be directly connected with your major.

16 is still expected to be a competitive yr for many reasons.
1. AFA appointment numbers will be decreasing even further than 15. 99% of AFA candidates will apply for ROTC as plan B, that means less coming off the AFA list will opt for Plan B.
2. The economy is not expected to be out of the slump, thus everyone is going to try for a scholarship
3. Even with Libya, the AF were be in and out quickly so people do not see it as a threat to the life of their Johnny or Janie if they join the military.

In the end, what always hurts a non-tech major is that they are the minority of scholarships awarded, they have to really, really shine as an applicant. In some cases they have to have a stronger packet than the tech major.

Notice the key word when the AFROTC describes the types for majors regarding scholarships...mostly. In other words, they are not locked into giving X amount to non-tech or tech. Mostly could mean 51% tech or it could mean 99%.

The AF is a technical oriented branch. It is easy to take a tech major and put them in maintenance or comm, not so easy to do that with a non-tech major. Purely due to the academic requirements for the degree. A non-tech major is not required to take as much math and science as a tech.

Best of luck, and the adage always holds true...the only guarantee that you won't get a scholarship is if you don't apply!
 
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