January 4, 2011 AROTC Board

patentesq said:
1- If the move is to blame, why didn't CC plan to conduct such a disruptive move until the summer? Poor planning?

2- Also, why are the ROOs advising the ROTC candidates that the delay is budget-related?
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Maybe the answer to question two is actually question one :wink:

Maybe they had to move in October because the Army doesn't revolve around ROTC boards and scholarships.
 
FloridaDad said:
Maybe they had to move in October because the Army doesn't revolve around ROTC boards and scholarships.
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Point well taken, FloridaDad. Either someone totally underestimated the burden of the move, or CC's hands are tied by Congress. I think it is the latter. I would believe this even if we get word next week that some scholarships have been awarded. Time will tell, I suppose.
 
So the Army has had its hands tied by congress but the Navy and AF haven't? Its the 2nd board, and the first board handed less than 15% of the 2010 scholarships. Even if they awarded 1,000 scholarships now they would barely be at 50% of the 2010 allocation.
 
Jcleppe said:
JROTC and ROTC, Apples and Oranges.
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Obviously, but I was referring more to the inspectors comment about the Army's interpretation of the rules. In the JROTC arena, they aren't hesitating to spend money that they technically don't have right now while the Navy and Air Force are being more cautious. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the "interpretation of the rules" be consistent within each branch of the military? Do the funds for both programs come through their respective branch of the military, or does JROTC funding come directly from DoD?
 
The more I think about this, the less it makes sense. Army JROTC is run through Cadet Command...hence the fact that CC's website has a link to the JROTC website and that the CC Facebook page posts information on AROTC and JROTC. So why are they spending on JROTC, but not scholarships? Once again, something doesn't add up. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps JROTC is such a small fraction of CC funds that they don't really mind taking a shot in the dark?
 
FloridaDad said:
So the Army has had its hands tied by congress but the Navy and AF haven't?
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Yes. First off, let me just say that the only scenario where the hands of the various services will truly be "tied" is in the event of a government shutdown. Everyone gets sent home if that happens (except for "essential services"). Given the devastation that will result from a shut-down, I continue to believe that this will not happen and that we will see another temporary stop-gap CR in the end that will carry us forward for a little while longer. I can also see Congress carving out the military budget from this CR, because I don't think that MOCs are trying to hold the military budget hostage to get the cuts they want in other programs, like Medicare (at least I hope they aren't doing that, because we have troops whose lives depend on this budget).

Our members of Congress pulled an all-nighter last night and passed a bill that the President has sworn to veto. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/1...n-spending-cuts-after-marathon-funding-debate (I suspect that BHO wants the pain from the belt-tightening to be felt AFTER the 2012 election, and the Republicans want the pain to be felt BEFORE the 2012 election). The dem-controlled Senate will pick the matter up on February 28 after they return from their little "recess" -- less than a week before the scheduled March 4 shut-down. As reflected in the article published this morning, the House dems are seeking to extend the CR until March 31 "to prevent any interruption in vital government services", when the threat of a government shutdown will loom again.

At this point, there is no one -- not even the President -- who knows for sure what will happen. But here's what I think (which is a total SWAG).

Each of the services right now are faced with uncertainty. The budget planners in each of the services receive input from a variety of sources, including JAG lawyers and Finance Corps officers. And each service measures risk differently than the others. Ultimately, it is the commander who makes the decision (not sure which commander makes that call, but it is likely much higher than Cadet Command). The question that each service has to decide right now is whether it is "safe" to award some scholarships now when they don't really know how much money will be in the bank. Again, some planners and some services will be less risk tolerant than others. Some advisors will say that it is not advisable to make financial commitments because we don't really know how that will impact other desired funding objectives. Others will be more cavalier about this decision. The longer this goes on, the higher the risk becomes.

To the Air Force, they may view the pipeline for new pilots as a "must have" while the Army can view the pipeline for new platoon leaders as a "nice to have". I certainly can see the services saying, "Well, it's a pretty safe bet -- even in the worst-case scenario -- that we will need to award a certain percentage of scholarships, so let's dribble out a few offers now to the top folks on the OML before the AF does, so we can grab these folks for the Army." It is for that reason that I can see AROTC releasing a few scholarship awards irrespective of what happens in Congress. The bulk, though, will come once the picture for the financial planners becomes clearer, which I suspect will be in March and April. This means rolling over the bulk of the AROTC Scholarship applications over to the March 8 board.

Certainly, to those who have already been offered an AROTC scholarship last fall from the October board, when CC was less concerned about budget-related issues, those binding offers have been made and it would be EXTREMELY unlikely that AROTC will go back on its word now for those folks. Those AROTC awards are binding contracts already formed at this point, in my view. And if it comes down to a decision about whether the Army can purchase more ammo for troops deployed overseas, I think the Army would rather have the CONUS troops practice with squirt guns before rescinding any scholarship offers that have already been extended.

Again, this is a total SWAG. Your view on this delay is just as valid as mine. I actually hope your view is the correct one. :thumb:

Once again, the silver lining in this delay (regardless of its origin) is that the admissions decisions from the bulk of colleges (i.e., non-rolling admission colleges that had application deadlines of Jan. 1) will start rolling in and the AROTC scholarship winners won't have to guess about which college they want their AROTC scholarship to apply when offered scholarships to more than one ROTC unit.
 
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February 19th

Good morning.

I've book marked "The Hill", there have been a lot of good articles linked here. There have been a few other sources, I just can't recall them by name, if you know of any other sources of reliable military or government news, please post them. Even after the scholarships are awarded, I think keeping better tabs on what those powers that be are up to is a good idea.

Hope there is some sunshine where ever you are -- Cincy has been really nice lately.:smile:
 
Good morning, Ohio!!

Here are some links (hopefully other posters can list more):

http://www.armytimes.com/
http://www.navytimes.com/
http://www.airforcetimes.com/
http://www.defensenews.com/
http://www.congress.org/news

The Pentagon announced yesterday that it is laying off DoD executive civilians:
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5748673&c=AME&s=TOP

The Navy described the current situation this week as "uncharted waters" in an address to a bunch of USNA grads:

"'Right now, we are in uncharted waters,' Vice Adm. Terry Blake said Wednesday in a speech before the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Naval Academy Alumni Association. 'We have three budgets in the air,' and the prospect of a year-long continuing resolution. He added, 'We have never been in that situation before.'” (http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/02/navy-terry-blake-budget-holdup-delays-maintenance-021911w/).
 
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I spoke to Bullet this morning about that link (SES DOD) and he was very happy to hear that.

He informed me that there are 400 SES officials for 20,000. In the Army they may have 1000 Gens (SES equivalents) for the entire Army ...millions.

He had stated that this is just too many jobs that are being duplicated, all due to 9/11.

For example:

We have a family member who is a DOD employee with the Army in Homeland Defense.

We have a close friend who is employed with Homeland Defense for the AF.

Makes your head spin trying to figure out who's on 1st?

Due to the secrecy of their jobs, as a taxpayer you can never figure out if these jobs are duplicates or not.


Yet, they both exist.

I am gaining more and more respect for Gates everyday. He will be leaving this position soon, and knows this is the time to fall on every sword so the next SOD has an easier job.

Marine One
AF Tanker
F-22 production
F-35 engine
RIF
SERB

And now this. I wonder what the next blow will be.

I am starting to wonder if he is eyeing a political run.

He is also the only cabinet member that followed Obama's directive of cutting 100 million from their budget in the 1st 100 days of Obama's administration.

Fiscally this guy is a hawk.
 
Wow, that poor mom. The AF types of scholarships seems confusing - but at least they are not tied to the school like AROTC. As Pima put it "the devil is in the details"...just like any contract, every scholarship document, housing contract etc...is litered with lots of details-know them or you can be SOL.


oh, and thank you Gojack for the additional links(king of the military links-should have known you'd have just a few..)
 
Time out about that AF link.

Nobody knows if it was HS or College. Two different breeds.

Fear is starting to take hold in a negative light.

The devil is in the details as I traditionally state, but when I do state it I mean 1 of 2 things.

1. GPA will matter...get below and they cut you
2. You will serve at their pleasure.

Number 3:
You don't get to demand they give you your dream job.

I really don't want people freaking out.

The facts for that situation are not in.

In my 3 yrs here, and with my own AFROTC child, yes, there were issues, yes, it took time to clear up, but once it was corrected they were good to go.

1st and 15th every month got the stipend.
6 weeks after school began got book money
College never charged late fees because they knew he was ROTC scholarship.

The DOD is contracting in size. That is not an opinion, but a fact. The branches will operate within the new constraints. For 15 that probably means less scholarships re: HS and college.

Step away from the keyboard, breath, think, and go from there.:wink:
 
I agree with Pima on this one. Before anyone panics that received a scholarship, take a deep breath.
Not only did the mom not state what type of scholarship was awarded, but there may be more to the story that the mom even knows. Without having all the facts, like scholarship type, current GPA, passing of Dodmerb or the Physical Test it's hard to really understand what is going on with that Cadet.
 
patentesq said:
Huh? I don't think anyone is freaking out.
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Glad I'm not the only one not seeing freaking out...agreeing parents should know what their kid and/or themselves are responsible for paying(ie type, length, details of scholarship and criteria to keep it: THE DETAILS). Lots of paper work involved in college, somebody has to read and understand what is expected or be SOL when something goes wrong. This poor mom obviously thought her DS had it under control - whatever his circumstances are - and it isn't what they thought it was.

Oh, and when I freak out - you'll know -- lots of caps, emoticons and really long posts or I'll disappear for a few days with no posts at all:smile:
 
February 20th

Good morning.

Well, off topic, but college related: FAFSA randomly selects students for what is know as VERIFICATION. Its Ohio's turn to complete this process. Third year filing and wish they would have waited for next year. Its not difficult, just a lot of extra paperwork to prove my taxes and numbers used on their form. Unfortunately, we also have had a death in our family - my father in law - so I will be in and out this week, but not around as much. I guess since the DC crowd is on vacation this week anyway, there won't be too much going on here. Keep on keeping on and I'll talk to you for my morning recording of the date:smile:
 
Does anyone know how the Army budgeting process differs from that of the Navy and Air Force?

"Officials at the academies say budget comparisons are difficult because of differences in the schools as well as in their parent services' budgeting processes and categories." http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17096093
 
February 21st

patentesq said:
Does anyone know how the Army budgeting process differs from that of the Navy and Air Force?

"Officials at the academies say budget comparisons are difficult because of differences in the schools as well as in their parent services' budgeting processes and categories." http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17096093
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Well, at least this confirms a little bit of why AF/Navy can still feel comfortable with continuing to award scholarships - the branches do run their accouting differently. No big surprise, but I have no knowledge of exactly how they are different. Another interesting link.
 
Silver lining

Ohio2015Parent said:
Good morning.

Well, off topic, but college related: FAFSA randomly selects students for what is know as VERIFICATION. Its Ohio's turn to complete this process. Third year filing and wish they would have waited for next year. Its not difficult, just a lot of extra paperwork to prove my taxes and numbers used on their form. Unfortunately, we also have had a death in our family - my father in law - so I will be in and out this week, but not around as much. I guess since the DC crowd is on vacation this week anyway, there won't be too much going on here. Keep on keeping on and I'll talk to you for my morning recording of the date:smile:
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Sorry to hear about the death in your family.

Often when verification is requested it's because you are in the range for more financial aid. Maybe this will be you!

And are we now shooting for 60,000?
 
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