AROTC FAQ

As requested, added a couple Space-A-Travel links.

Bottom Line;
ROTC cadets can only travel Space A if under contract or on scholarship,
travel is limited to USA (No Europe, Japan etc)
Military ID - DD Form 2 (Red) and a DD Form 1853 are required
 
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Anyone who has been in the military will tell you unless you have time to kill Space A is not the way to go. This is coming from an AF wife.

There is a lot that goes into this including:

1. You must sign up in person.

~~~ Thus, you need to be close to the base. You show orders, sign up, and wait to see if there is room. You are allowed to sign up a certain amount of hours prior, can't remember, but I think it is 24-48 hrs. Hence, people sign up ASAP.

2. Priorities

~~~ AD members on orders get 1st dibs. (PCSing )
~~~ AD members on leave
~~~ Military spouses with deployed spouses get priority for their 1x a yr freebie
~~~ College kids with parents assigned overseas get free passage to come home for the summer and return....yes, I understand ROTC can't go overseas, but use my DD's friend as an example. Folks are in the UK, he is attending a midwest college...he transfers stateside to another plane.
~~~ Retirees may take priority over ROTC. Not sure, but I would guess they do since they have an ID card, and it is a bennie they earned.

Now you have to hope that the plane you want:
A. Doesn't break down
B. Doesn't get diverted
C. Has enough room to take you....they do have limited seating.

You have to also hope that everything I just explained works in your favor for the return trip.

A one way train or plane ticket short notice is very expensive.

People do it, but they do it with the reality that they are on no fixed time schedule of getting there and getting back by X day.
 
Links go into Space A in great detail-some people are really into it,
volunteers updating flight data daily...

I took a couple Space A flights back in the stone age (70's)
Not convenient but it was an adventure -
If I were a 18/19 yr old ROTC'er with a summer to roam,
I would be off to Hawaii or Alaska w/backpack and sleeping bag.

BTW the original PM question was, can a cadet use Space A to travel to Europe
for a CULP program - I think the answer is no - unless someone knows better?
It would be on official business - at least sort of.
 
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is there any way to access this FAQ document without having a google account?
 
Gojack,

I wasn't meaning to attack. I was trying to state how hard it is to fly Space A. Heck, when Bullet got in, and we were stationed in the UK, I thought we could dart off around the world. Theory and reality never ever met in the 20 yrs he served.

Again, I don't want cadets thinking this is an easy process, like buying an Amtrack College student rail ticket.

The other thing to understand is once you get there, there is no guaranteed lodging. Again, it is Space A. May - August is PCS season, as an AD member there were times we were told "no room at the inn", even on PCS orders. You get it, it is still a night by night scenario.

OBTW AK and HA are considered overseas, they are not CONUS. A military member stationed, at least for the AF, in HA cannot be forced to PCS to Germany, Japan, Italy, or even HA, because it is seen as a concurrent overseas tour, that is a volunteer tour. I know I am muddying the waters, but it is important that members of this forum with no military background understand how AK and HA are not considered as CONUS, even though they are a state in the good old USA.

Yes, the thread got diverted to Space A, but at least the kids and parents understand that this option exists, but it is not all butterflies and bows.

Our DS is a military dependent, AFROTC, and no way on Earth would we let him pursue this unless he had hotels backed up along the entire route for the entire time.

Of course that might be due to the fact his Dad flew for the AF for 21 yrs and got stuck out somewhere often because his jet broke or the tanker was diverted due to weather. It happens more than we want to acknowledge.

Again, my only goal is if any poster or lurker here thinks "WOW, I can do this?" "Yes, you can, BUT..."

Janie Raincloud signing off.
 
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no way on Earth would we let him pursue this unless he had hotels backed up along the entire route for the entire time.

Hotels:scratch:

I spent my 19th summer bumming around Europe solo, slept on trains, in train stations, youth hostels, in a church once (with permission) and on the beach several times. Sacked out on the deck of a ferry somewhere out in the Greek Iles - talk about starry nights... different strokes I guess :wink: from Bodo Norway to Crete - best summer ever.
 
You are correct different strokes for different folks.
 
Added to FAQ

Link to; Officer Development DA 600-3

It looks like to get Army funded grad school
you need GRE scores of 500/500/4.0

First I had heard of this, anyone up on this?
 
Update with a CC New CULP Briefing for MSL 101 Cadets (July 31,1010)

See page 16 on for CC overseas deployment as Active Duty "Security Cooperation" and receive "cadet pay" if deployed more than 28 days...
 
Added a link to WKU's Army ROTC website

Extensive and detailed Army ROTC online handbook, covers everything from the history of the expression "HOOAH!!" to the cadence for "Hey hey Captain Jack"

Thanks for the link JJ
 
Do you know what AROTC scholarship cadets are issued? I cant seem to find the answer to that question anywhere online.
 
gojack, I think class of 2015 was closer to 2,000 scholarships? Or am I mixing that up with the big drop in NROTC this past application season?
 
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