Disenrollment From AFROTC as Contracted Cadet

[Generic123]

Hello all--

I'm a contracted AS400 cadet (non-scholarship during GMC) set to commission in 2016.
After a lot of thought I've decided that I no longer wish to be an Air Force officer. As someone who has come this far in the program, this is not a decision that I've come to lightly.

When I decided to join AFROTC several years ago, my main motivation was the ability to be able to pursue graduate school at a free or reduced cost thanks to the GI bill. I figured that AFROTC + the 4 years commitment would be a good experience and small price to pay to forgo having to take out thousands in loans. However, I don't think it would be fair to me or any potential future airman under me, for me to continue on this path. Every day I feel less and less motivated to take part in AFROTC and I realize now that this is really not the career path for me (no matter the length of commitment).

Unfortunately, it has taken me until my AS 400 year to come to terms with this. I have already successfully completed field training and contracted. I am familiar with the terms of the contract and therefore am asking for help on how to proceed with some form of dis-enrollment. For obvious reasons, it would be difficult for me to initially bring this issue up with my cadre. Thank you for your time and help.

 

[Zero]

I would go directly to your cadre and talk to them about it. It should be a simple process as you are not on scholarship. If you picked up a scholarship after 300 you may have to pay some back, however the AF is cutting back and has let tons leave free and clear. I'd talk to your CC.

 

[Pima]

My very 1st thought is that they may turn to you and say the stipends paid out already as a POC will be required to be paid back in a lump sum for a release.

Second thought is that as difficult as it may be to address this issue, you need to do it ASAP, as in yesterday. You are 21 going on 22...sorry, but welcome to the world of being an adult.

I am guessing you are going non-rated. It would be impo, extremely unfair to your peers that you stay silent because the non-rated assignments are about to dro within the next month or so. Staying silent means they can get the shaft when it comes to a competitive non/rated AFSC, such as, Intel, because HQ AFROTC assumes you will commission.

Finally and most importantly. Nobody here can answer your question if they will allow you to walk at this point. Nobody knows their manpower needs. They may turn to you and say you are free to go, or they may say you must go Guard/Reserve for X amount of years.

As far as how to proceed, I think you know there is only one option. You tell them!

As a parent, I would say one thing. You are a senior in college, have you investigated job opportunities for your career field straight out of college? Will you regret come July/Aug with no job offers on the horizon, the decision to leave, especially if they force you to pay back 1oK in stipends at the very least?

I am not trying to be mean, harsh or rude, I am just wondering how delaying this will equate into anything good. Until you talk to them you and they disenroll you, you are at a standstill. You can't apply for any job in the civilian world. It could take 3 months to get the official release from HQ AFROTC. That means Dec or later depending on how long you wait. Your college peers that are not ROTC meanwhile have started sending out resumes an applying for Grad schools.

Bite the Bullet. Go in as soon as you have the chance to sit down with them for a serious conversation.
~ IOWS, don't go in if you only have 30 minutes between classes.

Good luck.

 

[DeskJockey]

At your age, a four-year commitment probably seems like an unreasonable period of time to delay getting on with what you really want to do. I know, because I felt exactly the same way almost forty years ago when I was a senior in college. I didn’t join AFROTC because I had some burning desire to be a fighter pilot, or even to be in the military at all. I just sort of fell into it, I was a deliberately indifferent cadet, and by the time I was ready to graduate I was quietly resentful that I was going to miss out on all of the opportunities that my classmates were going to have in the civilian world. I had no expectation that I would enjoy being an Air Force officer, and was prepared for the worst.

As it happened, I ended up spending almost six years on active duty and I loved every minute of it. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you will love it also – maybe you will hate every minute of it – but I am convinced, based on my own experience (and that of my son, who was a similarly disaffected NROTC midshipman a few years ago), that there is almost nothing that a young man or woman can do right out of college that is as personally and professionally rewarding as spending at least a few years on active duty as an officer – if only because there are not many other jobs where someone right out of college is given significant responsibility for critical projects that really have to be done correctly and on-schedule, along with the support and mentorship to allow you to be successful. And when your commitment is up, you can move on to whatever it is that you want to do - while you are still only in your mid-twenties, with a better resume than most of your peers and some nice GI bill benefits.

My final pitch is this. Right now, no matter how much you may think you know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life, you really don’t; and that would be just as true if you were convinced that you wanted to be a career officer. Whether or not you are able to get out of your Air Force commitment, the very best thing you can do for your future is to take at least a couple of years off and work at a full-time job before you decide to pursue graduate school. This will help you in two ways: first, it will give you the perspective you need to make an informed decision as to your future career plans; and second, if you do decide to go to grad school, you will be a completely different type of student. Grad school will not be just the next step on an unbroken educational journey you started in kindergarten, but rather a distinct and purposeful intellectual experience. And if you can see the value of taking at least a brief respite from the classroom, and entertaining the possibility that you have yet to discover what it is that you are meant to do with the rest of your life, perhaps you can also convince yourself that spending a few years as an Air Force officer is likely to be more rewarding – and probably even more enjoyable - than the other alternatives available to you.