DS is done waiting. Has decided to do National Guard Reserve at state school and SMP ROTC. Good news is that financially works out much better and ultimately end up in same place. Bad news is that was accepted at Norwich and we would have loved him to go there, and has to leave for boot camp for the summer right after graduation. His decision and what he wants.
March 8th, 2011 AROTC Board
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I, too, have had a tough time restraining DS from making a decision before all of the cards have been dealt and the dust has settled. The good news is that we are almost at the end of the decision cycle right now.
Ohio2015Parent
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Glad your DS has moved forward and is pleased with his path. SMP/ROTC is a great option. We are also considering it, but since the Guard unit DS would join will not send him to BT until next summer(between Fresh/Soph college) there is no reason to not wait this thru for him.
Good luck with everything!
chickenleg0423
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Wow. I just signed up for Service Academy Forums, and I'm sooooo glad that I can find other people involved in this application process/waiting game. Hopefully the March review board results will come out soon!!!
Thank you. I feel like I'm a part of a new family. It's been quite the journey with our son since last March. Loving every minute of it. Very trying at times, especially now with the waiting...and waiting...., but I know it's all part of the package. I love reading everyone's posts and all about their process. Thank you to everyone who responds to our posts when we have questions.
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I'm not sure if this was directed at just one person, or all of us. But it gives me a good reason to post so here goes. I'm from Southeastern Pennsylvania. I will be going to a University in Southern Mississippi regardless of ROTC scholarship. If you want to know which specific one, pm.
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Cadet Command is really facing difficult challenges this year. Check this out: http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/24/news/economy/budget_federal_agencies/index.htm?hpt=C2
FloridaDad
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You are really good at taking two and two, and adding them up to make five.
I highly doubt he budget turmoils in Washington have filtered down to the lowest level of the military. Sure new contracts for very expensive civilians are on hold, and high expense procurements are up in the air. That doesn't mean CC are directly effected on a day to day bases. Cutting the number of new officers can actually increase budget if you get it wrong. Offering scholarships now is a huge budget drain, they are not guaranteed, nor are the jobs after graduation.
All we are seeing with the ROTC right now is a re-adjustment to the long term military commitments, and the need to reduce numbers in all areas of the federal budget.
Ohio2015Parent
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Interesting. Sounds like a lot of government agencies are under the gun without clear budget limits set. Maybe the children in DC ought to get back to work and figure something out instead of taking another recess. Have read somethings about 6 bipartisan legislators working on a plan, it seems to be the best hope for clarity and resolution. Of course, getting it done doesn't allow for great sound bites and fodder for FOX/MSNBC but the news cycle would find other topics to go on and on about.
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You are really good at taking two and two, and adding them up to make five.
I highly doubt he budget turmoils in Washington have filtered down to the lowest level of the military. Sure new contracts for very expensive civilians are on hold, and high expense procurements are up in the air. That doesn't mean CC are directly effected on a day to day bases. Cutting the number of new officers can actually increase budget if you get it wrong. Offering scholarships now is a huge budget drain, they are not guaranteed, nor are the jobs after graduation.
All we are seeing with the ROTC right now is a re-adjustment to the long term military commitments, and the need to reduce numbers in all areas of the federal budget.
You may be right, FloridaDad. But I am convinced more than ever that the delays we have experienced and the lower number of scholarships awarded in the January board are ALL budget-related (the October board was smoother when there was less uncertainty). It may be that I'm applying fuzzy math, but I really don't think I am. Of course, your view is just as valid as mine.
FloridaDad
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CC moved between the October and January board. Someone at CC posted the January board results would be out by March 1st weeks before they were released. Guess what they were released a couple of days before March 1st. No way they could have made that statement if the budget was the main cause of the delay.
Pima
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Patent,
From your perspective it is the Fed budget re:scholarships
However, if it was a Fed budget issue NROTC and AFROTC would have not released their boards either. They have released in the same time frame.
This is an Army issue, which is a part of the Fed budget. It is Army centric from a manpower POV. The Army has limited dollars to spend within the Fed budget. They are working on FY 10-11. Military budgets run Oct 1st to Sept 30th. Incoming scholarship recipients will come from FY 11-12.
Outsider POV, but to me the motivation is Army manpower needs along with Fed budget. We are drawing down from Iraq and Afghanistan, thus, the Army will be like the AF...too many members for military needs. Where to cut? The Army is looking at balancing the budget they have with their future needs. In these economic times it is tricky.
From your perspective it is the Fed budget re:scholarships
However, if it was a Fed budget issue NROTC and AFROTC would have not released their boards either. They have released in the same time frame.
This is an Army issue, which is a part of the Fed budget. It is Army centric from a manpower POV. The Army has limited dollars to spend within the Fed budget. They are working on FY 10-11. Military budgets run Oct 1st to Sept 30th. Incoming scholarship recipients will come from FY 11-12.
Outsider POV, but to me the motivation is Army manpower needs along with Fed budget. We are drawing down from Iraq and Afghanistan, thus, the Army will be like the AF...too many members for military needs. Where to cut? The Army is looking at balancing the budget they have with their future needs. In these economic times it is tricky.
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Pima, I agree. It's not just Fed. budget. The only thing that is "purely" Fed. budget is the case of a shutdown, when the services are prohibited by law to initiate new contracts (keeping active duty folks at their desks is not "new contracts", but committing funds to cover new offers of scholarships is).
As I understand it, each service gets their marching orders from DoD on (1) their mission, and (2) how much they have for the FY to spend to accomplish that mission. There is flexibility among the finance departments/budget offices in each of the services on how and when to accomplish things, and they have different approaches. For example, the Army may be more guarded on the front end and hand out fewer national scholarships as a result. And if AROTC underestimates for some reason, it can fix things by pumping up the number of campus-based scholarships. In contrast, the Air Force may be less compelled to be guarded, knowing that it can be more hawkish about cutting folks when the Class of 2015 completes its sophomore year of college.
The point is that there is uncertainty in the air for all agencies. Where there is uncertainty in the air, things move slower and more cautiously (people are more ready to "prepare for the worst").
That said, uncertainty doesn't mean that there will be a drastic reduction in headcount. It's more of a timing thing. The President's budget does NOT call for major reduction in the Army Class of 2015. However, Army budget planners know that there is going to be a major budget battle ahead and that it may be unwise to make plans according to the President's published budget request (Congress has the final word on budget matters, not the President). In the days of balanced budgets or surplus, Congress basically rubber stamped what the President proposed. But we are not in a day of balanced budgets or surplus.
At the end of the day, everyone in AROTC knows that May 1 is an important date in the college selection cycle. AROTC will meet that deadline by extending offers in early April and give folks 30 days to decide whether to accept/decline the offer. I would expect that April 1 will hold regardless of the noise in Congress. The only thing that could have thrown a monkey wrench in things was if there was a shutdown in Feb./Mar. But now the CR is extended until Apr. 8, which I believe will be AFTER the day AROTC offers from the last board are extended (so the issue of shut-down is basically become less relevant now).
The end result of all this may mean this -- fewer AROTC scholarships now but more campus-based scholarships in the fall once the budget is sorted out.
That's just my view.
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Have we heard any official release dates for this last board? Trying to be patient like everybody else but we all know how that can be 
No matter the outcome, I cannot wait to start ROTC this fall at North Georgia and begin working toward being an officer and serving this great country
No matter the outcome, I cannot wait to start ROTC this fall at North Georgia and begin working toward being an officer and serving this great countryCC and ROTC may know that May 1 is an important date as far as colleges are concerned, but they had no issues awarding scholarships from the last board past date last year. It was mid May before those that were awarded from the last board was notified.
hopeful_mom
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That makes me want to cry! DS is making a decision based on an AROTC scholarship. Our only hope is that if the NROTC scholarship is awarded after the May 1st deadline, it would be awarded to the same school. Much like it will be likely that I win the lottery this Saturday!