AROTC Branching-Tips and Tales

[hardknock96]

I am a 1st year Cadet at Norwich University. I got a 3.8 GPA for my first semester in Criminal Justice and a minor in Spanish. I am contracted as a four-year Scholarship Recipient(I have a CIET slot for this summer). I have an average of around 280 for PT scores; I also wrestle for the team here.

I have been recently looking at what branches in the U.S Army interest me.What are the most competitive jobs? I have chosen three jobs in Combat Arms and three other Combat Support/Combat Service Support. I understand for the OML the majority of branching comes from academics, but am not to sure what else goes into account.

Is the OML or local to the respective unit? What is a good range to be at? I am trying to draw my plans early to shoot for anything I need to do before branching. Thanks.

Infantry
Artillery
Field Air Defence

Military Intelligence
Military Police
Chemical Corps

 

[Thompson]

OML for commissioning is a NATIONAL-based OML system. This means that you will not only be competing against peers at your school, but every other Battalion across the country.

There's a bunch of other stuff that goes in to it. I don't have the slide deck handy at the moment, but here's most of it:
PMS/school recommendation/evaluation of the cadet
ROTC extra curriculars (Ranger Challenge, Honor Guard, recruiting team, etc)
Non-ROTC extra curriculars (IM sports, clubs, organizations, etc)
A couple of tests you take at Camp (both ROTC and other academic exams)

OP ... don't get all super Hooah about figuring out what you want to branch now.

1.)What you may want to do now, may very well change in 2 years
2.)How everything works now, may very well change in 2 years (this I can almost guarantee) .... so don't place your bets on gaming the system

From my understanding - it's no longer about how well you do on your OML that dictates what Branch you can/will get.

CC is now creating these "tests" (for lack of better words) that basically ID's the things your good at, not good at, etc to essentially "match" you to a branch ... I don't know the full details, but it's in the works.

Good luck

 

[Jcleppe]

Thompson covered it pretty well

1.)What you may want to do now, may very well change in 2 years
2.)How everything works now, may very well change in 2 years (this I can almost guarantee) .... so don't place your bets on gaming the system

This is the best advice you can get right now.

I understand for the OML the majority of branching comes from academics

This is not really the case anymore when it comes to your GPA. GPA is now only worth 25% of your OML, and it is not figured like it used to be when a 3.5 was worth 35 points. Now they give points based on the mean average of all GPAs, if that Average is 3.3 then those with that average would get 12.5% points, you can see how that can effect the OML. The Standardized tests, ROTC test, and the PMS Eval make up a much larger part of your OML. APFT and Athletics is still worth 15%

Like Thompson stated, the system today could look vastly different when it comes your time to go through accessions. The best thing you can do is work hard and control the things you have control over.

 

[nofodad]

Search the forum for all the posts that Thompson and jcleppe have posted follow their advice and you'll be fine...

 

[k2rider]

1.)What you may want to do now, may very well change in 2 years
2.)How everything works now, may very well change in 2 years (this I can almost guarantee) .... so don't place your bets on gaming the system
Good luck

^^^ This!! They already changed it just this Spring after coming out with a new system last year. According to some cadre at my son's school I talked with, when the Army decided that they were going to allow women in Combat Arms branches, they had to open up slots for them so others got bumped....and no, you'll never know if you were bumped out of a slot you would have otherwise had.

 

[hardknock96]

Ohhhhh no, I definitely know that can happen. I had bad experiences with that going for other scholarships. I guess that unit won't do as well with out me lol. All I can do is get good grades, be in shape and be a good leader; if not well I got a free education out of it and opportunity to serve a great nation.