Jcleppe said:
It has been told to us by the Cadre and mentioned on this board by Marist that if a scholarship cadet loses his/her scholarship for any reason the funds will not be re-allocated to other cadets this year.
I have also heard this too from various people across the nation (some friends in NC, some in OH, some in PA). Basically, it comes down to man power needs for the graduating class yr.
Nobody here is sitting in the meetings for Army Personnel when it comes to their strategic manpower needs. They do this 5 yrs in advance. Yes, right now, the Army is determining what their manpower needs will be for FY 16/17.
They are looking at the fact that Obama has promised no boots on the ground in Libya, out of Iraq and a drawdown from Afghanistan. That means a lot of these AD members will come home to their installation, and now there will be no "duty" jobs for all of them. Add in the economy, and more and more are staying because a paycheck is a paycheck. Yet, at the same time they know that at least 10% of the DOD budget is to be cut.
Where do they cut? Cut AD and they will need to do a RIF or a SERB. That is a lot of money to pay out.
That leaves you with the pipeline coming in. Reducing scholarships given and tightening the waiver process saves money.
People who have ever lived the military life as a career will tell you 2 things.
1. Timing
~~~ You can be the best and the brightest, but because you entered when you did you got boffed due to timing. Had you entered a yr earlier or later things may have played out differently.
2. It's not what you know, but who you know.
~~~This is more the AD ladder, but also can be said for ROTC. There will be CoC's that will fight for a cadet just because they believe in him, and because that CoC has his own "path/respect/connections/whatever" they maybe able to get that waiver, whereas, another cadet with the same stats is not going to get one.
~ The military as much as people don't want to believe it is like any other Fortune 500 company out there, except their business is defending the country. I dare anyone to tell me that By Name Request doesn't exist in any branch.
Nobody flame me about the last points, I am not saying someone was inferior and got it. I am saying it was timing. I am not saying you only get a job or are safe because you know someone, I am saying that for many it is a fact of life.