AFROTC In College Scholarship (ICSP) Questions

aeroparent

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Hello. I have some questions regarding the "ICSP" Scholarship Program for AFROTC.

To give a bit of history, DS is a college freshman - he received a TWE last year to USAFA, and moved on to his "Plan B" where he also enrolled in AFROTC - no scholarship. He loves the school and has done well both academically and through the ROTC program. Last week, he was awarded a Type 2 ICSP scholarship by his commander. Of course we are very proud and excited for him - yet we have a few questions. DS has also reapplied and received nominations to USAFA and other SA's, but has heard nothing. DS's goal is to become an officer (prefers AF) - whether via SA or ROTC. The scholarship happened so quickly, that we've barely had time to process it. He already signed and was contracted.

So - as parents, we're a bit confused - and don't want to pressure DS with too many questions... We realize the decision was his - we just would like to understand some things:

DS says he's a cadet 4th class, but also at an "E2" pay. Does that mean he technically enlisted? Do all AFROTC scholarships work this way? Now that he's already signed, what if he receives an appointment to USAFA? What about any other SA's? Can he go? (DS has told us that he would be able to go to USAFA).
Also - if he doesn't get selected for field training, or for some reason his GPA drops below the minimum, does he have to drop out of college and serve as enlisted? (he had a classmate go through that recently) Will he have to pay back the scholarship money? Does he become dis-enrolled? Is this the normal process all scholarship recipients go through? If so, we'd be a lot more comfortable. We have no military background in our family - and we are not familiar with a lot of the process - so maybe we are just overly concerned. The forum has been very helpful.

DS is one of those rare young men who has known what he wants in a career for a long time - so it really helps us to know he wants a military career.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
 
Hello. I have some questions regarding the "ICSP" Scholarship Program for AFROTC.

To give a bit of history, DS is a college freshman - he received a TWE last year to USAFA, and moved on to his "Plan B" where he also enrolled in AFROTC - no scholarship. He loves the school and has done well both academically and through the ROTC program. Last week, he was awarded a Type 2 ICSP scholarship by his commander. Of course we are very proud and excited for him - yet we have a few questions. DS has also reapplied and received nominations to USAFA and other SA's, but has heard nothing. DS's goal is to become an officer (prefers AF) - whether via SA or ROTC. The scholarship happened so quickly, that we've barely had time to process it. He already signed and was contracted.

So - as parents, we're a bit confused - and don't want to pressure DS with too many questions... We realize the decision was his - we just would like to understand some things:

DS says he's a cadet 4th class, but also at an "E2" pay. Does that mean he technically enlisted? Do all AFROTC scholarships work this way? Now that he's already signed, what if he receives an appointment to USAFA? What about any other SA's? Can he go? (DS has told us that he would be able to go to USAFA).
Also - if he doesn't get selected for field training, or for some reason his GPA drops below the minimum, does he have to drop out of college and serve as enlisted? (he had a classmate go through that recently) Will he have to pay back the scholarship money? Does he become dis-enrolled? Is this the normal process all scholarship recipients go through? If so, we'd be a lot more comfortable. We have no military background in our family - and we are not familiar with a lot of the process - so maybe we are just overly concerned. The forum has been very helpful.

DS is one of those rare young men who has known what he wants in a career for a long time - so it really helps us to know he wants a military career.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi! I'm a junior in AFROTC. I also did the same thing as your son (twe from USAFA and then reapplied), except I had a scholarship out if high school.

Technically, after contacting, your son is now enlisted in the Air Force reserve. He can read the contract and enlistment paperwork for more details. However, AFROTC has a freshman option where if you leave after your freshman year, you have no obligation. If he doesn't get selected for field training, they are allowed to ask for the money back, but I've never seen it happen and they usually don't. He would usually be disenrolled, but can request to come back and redo AS200 year as an AS500. If, however, his grades drop below the min or he doesn't meet another standard, or leaves ROTC for any other reason after beginning sophomore year, he will owe money or time in service. They normally want the money and may not give the opportunity of enlisting. However the stated scholarship minimum GPA is lower than you really need to stay in the program and be competitive for field training. The min is 2.5, but the average for my class who got accepted to field training was a 3.3.

I hope this answers your questions, feel free to PM me if you have more specific ones!
 
Well said afrotc16.

I cannot stress hard enough that 2.5 min is nowhere they want to be at anytime. If he is nontech and wants non rated, I would say 3.3 is probably too low from an SFT selection perspective. The lower that cgpa if not selected for SFT, the harder it will be for the CoC to fight for them regarding becoming a 500.

If he gets an appointment to any SA it voids the scholarship and he is free to go with no financial burden. Same would be true if he reapplied as a 200 next year.

In all of my years here nobody has been offered the option of enlisting. Some that were disenrolled and handed a bill requested enlistment, but were not allowed.
~ Think of it from their point of view. Currently they have more than enough people enlisting, they don't want to bring someone into the enlisted ranks that may feel like an indentured servant from a morale perspective.

I would not look at him as an enlisted member at all. We always viewed our DS as a college student in AFROTC.

The one thing he may want to look into is AFROTC has brought back the summer program for AS100 cadets, but I am not sure if that is just for HSSP.

Congrats! Enjoy the moment.
 
Pima and afrotc16 - THANK YOU!! You both have explained things well, and helped us better understand the process...

Fortunately, DS is well aware of the need to keep his gpa high - a lot more is at stake for him, as he needs a minimum 3.0 to keep a separate but substantial merit scholarship he received from the university, and I believe to stay in their honors program as well. Plus he's determined to get the highest gpa possible while also going after as many "extras activities" as he can. It was a challenging first semester, but he was able to do well with a full schedule and also make through Arnold Air Society and is now an active.

Thanks again for helping put us at ease! We really appreciate the wonderful wealth of knowledge, encouragement and willingness to help given by so many on the forums...
 
Our DS was like yours he had a merit scholarship from his college. He had to maintain a 3.2 for his merit.
 
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