I am an AS100 on a four-year scholarship and have been looking at some alternative options besides just going ADAF after graduation. While I am totally willing to serve on active duty, if there is a way I could serve in the guard or reserves and avoid putting my private sector career on hold for a few years, I definitely want to look into that.
Most of the research I've done so far seems to indicate that only a few (if any) AS400s get reserve or ANG slots each year, and it's usually a result of overmanning when it does happen. I know it's difficult to predict four years out, but for the class of 2022, what are the odds looking like? I recall reading awhile back that something like 50% more scholarships were offered for my class, so is it possible that it may end up overmanned? And might it be easier to go guard/reserves as a nonrated officer since pilots are still in short supply on AD?
Don’t sell AD short on gaining meaningful experience for a civilian career. I came thru AFROTC in ‘89 as a 4 yr scholarship cadet and spent 10 years as an engineering officer. My civilian career has been very successful because of the leadership experience and the ability to work with others in all kinds of conditions and cultures.
Regarding manning, it is really hard to tell as military funding can change drastically from year to year. In ‘87, the graduating cadets were waived and allowed to go civilian, in ‘88 cadets were allowed to pay back their scholarships or go Guard/Reserve. In my year ‘89 which was a very large class, the USAF declared they were undermanned so everyone went AD. I spent my summers doing engineering internships so I Gained a lot of experience and was highly employable (I tried to explore not going on AD because of it and was counseled for it), but the years on active duty were great for fulfilling my personal and professional goals and serving the country.
Net, if you are thinking serving will hamper your civilian career, then you need to evaluate why you are going ROTC. If it is for the scholarship, fine, but you have to come to terms with the service commitment now. My time in the service made me realize I valued more of the leadership aspects than the engineering role, so when I left the military, I went for general management in the civilian sector. Many of my civie engineering friends started in engineering and had to fight their way into management roles or leave to get MBAs in order to transition to management roles.
Another thing to think about is what exactly is this civilian career? Do you already have a job and salary lined up 3.5 years from now? Is that role so much better than what you would do as aUSAF officer? If you are in a technical slot, what you do as an officer can be very similar to what you may do as a civilian but you also have more responsibilities. And going into senior year knowing you gave a job and your starting pay is pretty comforting - not to mention that the AFROTC scholarship pays for a chunk of your education so minimizes loans that you’d have to pay back after graduation.
Agree with Tbpxece that working with civilians (leading not by positional authority but influencing - ie, convincing vs commanding) is a critical skill set to demonstrate when you transition from the military to the civilian world. Good thing in the AF there are many roles working with both civilians and military folks.
Cheers!
