ROTC Involvement

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jmd985

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I have been looking at both ROTC and the SAs, and have been trying to decide which one would be better for me. I am not sure if I want to eat, sleep, and breathe military at one of the SAs, but I want to do more military activities than just once a week in ROTC. Does anyone know if ROTC has opportunities to be more involved in the program than the typical cadet?
 
Have you looked at the senior military colleges? There are six SMC's; University of North Georgia, Norwich University, Texas A&M University, The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

The Citadel and VMI are similar to SA's, but the other four might offer more of what you're looking for.
 
I have not looked into them with much detail. From what I understood when talking to those who have, it seemed like it was still too similar to the SA's to be considered true ROTC for me
 
jmd985 said:
I have been looking at both ROTC and the SAs, and have been trying to decide which one would be better for me. I am not sure if I want to eat, sleep, and breathe military at one of the SAs, but I want to do more military activities than just once a week in ROTC. Does anyone know if ROTC has opportunities to be more involved in the program than the typical cadet?
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Oncee a week? What ROTC unit are you looking at?? Regardless of whether Army, Navy/Marine, or Air Force, you can normally expect at least the following:

-Physical Training 1-3 times per week
-Military classes twice per week (standard 3 credit class)
-A weekly leadership/professional development lab for a couple hours
-Drill team and/or color guard involvement for freshmen
-Mandatory study hall and tutoring commitments
-Leadership billets/collateral duties than take up significant time
-Weekend field exercises, typically every semester
-Duty standing, colors, etc.
-Local volunteer work in the community
-Lots of various additional opportunities (marksmanship training, sailing, clubs, field trips, air shows, etc.)

ROTC is not a once a week kind of thing. Freshmen in NROTC often spend about 10-15 hours per week involved in unit commitments; time demands only go up from there as upperclassmen. Never have I ever heard a midshipman tell me, "Sir, I don't have enough demands on my time."
 
NavyNOLA said:
Oncee a week? What ROTC unit are you looking at?? Regardless of whether Army, Navy/Marine, or Air Force, you can normally expect at least the following:

-Physical Training 1-3 times per week
-Military classes twice per week (standard 3 credit class)
-A weekly leadership/professional development lab for a couple hours
-Drill team and/or color guard involvement for freshmen
-Mandatory study hall and tutoring commitments
-Leadership billets/collateral duties than take up significant time
-Weekend field exercises, typically every semester
-Duty standing, colors, etc.
-Local volunteer work in the community
-Lots of various additional opportunities (marksmanship training, sailing, clubs, field trips, air shows, etc.)

ROTC is not a once a week kind of thing. Freshmen in NROTC often spend about 10-15 hours per week involved in unit commitments; time demands only go up from there as upperclassmen. Never have I ever heard a midshipman tell me, "Sir, I don't have enough demands on my time."
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I apologize for being so misinformed. Currently my #1 school is Notre Dame. Do you know anything about their specific battalion?
 
Notre Dame is an outstanding unit (though I hear Tulane is better!), and obviously the school is exceptional from an academic perspective. Their battalion holds an annual leadership conference in the spring that is viewed as one of the premiere national events among all programs. Midshipmen from every NROTC unit have the opportunity to attend and hear some very distinguished speakers.
 
jmd985 said:
I apologize for being so misinformed. Currently my #1 school is Notre Dame. Do you know anything about their specific battalion?
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Well, the basics that NavyNOLA gave you are pretty much the same across units. The clubs and other activities may vary. You may check to see if the Notre Dame unit has a webpage or Facebook page. Often, my son's unit posts pictures of activities.

Keep in mind it's not just attending the activities, either. Midshipmen are tasked with planning those activities. My son is a 2nd Class Marine Option mid. He is the captain of the rifle team. He has to plan the practices and coordinate the shoots. He is also in a command billet in his battalion, so it's pretty much a daily thing -- even on weekends. Every year, his unit goes to an out of state drill meet that there is a workup to, so practices increase. His unit is also tasked with supporting the football games as ushers. He also usually is assigned to the pre-game color guard.

It's all about balance and time management. Remember that serving also does involve a lot of mundane administrative tasks. The main difference I see between the Service Academies and ROTC is that you aren't nearly as regimented and that there are more "opportunities" to get distracted.
 
Wow! What 'Nola said! I can't imagine anyone in NROTC at least, saying they don't have enough NROTC stuff to do. During most of junior and senior years DS normally held two billets which consumed large amounts of time. During spring of senior year he was in charge of preparing/training the juniors who were going to OCS that summer. Lots of demands on his time and certainly of a military nature. As rocatlin said, it's the midshipmen that run all aspects of the unit. They take care of all the "doing" and "thinking" while being overseen by PMS and/or MOI.

Oh yeah, there is also those pesky uniform inspections, Navy Birthday Ball, and mess night which some midshipmen get tasked with scheduling and setting up. Some units clean the stadium after a home football game and then there is the NROTC football tailgate party to attend and maybe do prep for. Trust me, you will not be bored. Nevertheless, you will be able to make time for normal college stuff, and you're typically only trapped in that uniform one day a week (you'll be thankful).
 
jmd985 said:
I apologize for being so misinformed. Currently my #1 school is Notre Dame. Do you know anything about their specific battalion?
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My DD is Navy option at Notre Dame. She finds that the unit activities/responsibilities, along with her engineering course load are very time consuming. She doesn't have tons of extra time like she claims all the "humanities" majors seem to have. I think NavyNOLA laid it out pretty accurately for her. I do think the Marine option may have even more time commitments. She opted to do NROTC over a service academy as she did want a more "normal" college experience. Our DS is at an academy and thrives on the forced disciplined environment there. Neither has regrets in their decision.
 
Thank you for all your help and info. Its greatly appreciated. Would the AROTC time commitments be similar to that of NROTC?
 
jmd985 said:
Thank you for all your help and info. Its greatly appreciated. Would the AROTC time commitments be similar to that of NROTC?
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Have some fun by googling "college AROTC cadet life." Here's an example:
http://www.canisius.edu/rotc/cadet-life/

You can safely assume that ROTC cadets and mids participate in a similar range of activities and involvement, regardless of whether Navy, Army or AF.

I urge you to dig into unit websites, while also reading all the web pages, drop downs and links on the SA admissions sites. Showing initiative and exploring primary sources to get answers are good habits for an aspiring officer to have.
 
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My DD is staying extremely busy with AROTC and absolutely loves it. Try out for Ranger Challenge if you want an extra level of commitment. One aspect of AROTC that surprised DD is how encouraging and supportive the cadre and upperclassmen are. She was prepared for the "break you down, then build you back up" academy atmosphere, but her experience with AROTC has been very different. Don't misunderstand, there is a lot to learn and she felt like she was drinking out of a fire hose the first few weeks, but she was highly impressed with the battalion leadership in helping her assimilate. It was much more positive reinforcement than the upperclassman yelling in your face she expected. Not sure if this is unique to her battalion or a difference in philosophy between ROTC and the academies. Our experience is limited to this one battalion and our impressions of the academies is admittedly second-hand from friends who are current cadets and other sources. As you said, it may be the "eat, sleep, breathe" 24/7 military nature of the academies vs. the part-time nature of ROTC programs at conventional schools. Not saying one is better than the other, but DD is convinced that AROTC was the right option for her. There is still plenty of training involved and opportunities for deeper involvement with AROTC and the end goal of a commission is the same.

Do you have an opportunity to visit Notre Dame and see what the battalion there is like? DD connected with her battalion in the spring and was corresponding with cadet leadership over the summer to prepare. Then she recently hosted a prospective student who is interested in AROTC and took her to the MS class. I don't know anything about the Notre Dame battalion, but I know they host a basketball tournament for other AROTC battalions in the spring.
 
DS is a second year AROTC scholarship cadet at a medium sized State University, and while he is very busy with AROTC activiites, he finds time to do a lot of non-military things as well. One of the main reasons he turned down his acceptance at a SMC, was that he wanted to experience both the military as well as the "normal" college experience. He has expressed great satisfaction over his choice and is thriving there.

In his freshman year (MS-I) he carried 20 to 21 semester units (he is non-STEM) and still kept up good grades while also ranking high in his battalion. This is what earned him his on-campus scholarship. This year, besides field exercises, color guard duty, PT 3 times a week (he is up those mornings at 0500), and various other MS projects, he also found the time to enjoy some weekend geology field trips, and now has a PT job as a snowboarding instructor at a local ski resort (I am sure there is no way he would be able to do this at an SMC).

As a second year student, he moved away from the dorms, and shares an apartment with three other students who are all non-military. He has to now cook his own meals, carve time to study, help manage the cannon firing at the football games, and participate in growing leadership duties in his battalion. As his three roommates are all gamers, he has to know when to put the controller down. He also really enjoys occasionally surprising us at home (3 hour drive) on an occasional weekend. This summer he has applied to CULP (Army ROTC overseas study) and also will be applying for summer training (either Airborne or Air Assault).

Is it hard to balance AROTC with "regular" college? Perhaps, but it depends on the discipline of the student/cadet/mid. An SMC, or SA establishes discipline and regimented life almost 24/7. ROTC is different, and might not work for someone who cannot manage all the conflicting demands. Just as an SA may not work for someone who craves some degree of "normalcy" during his or her 4 years of college.

I encourage the OP to visit many colleges and tour both the AROTC and NROTC programs in addition to examining the SMC's and SA's. Only you can decide what is going to be the best fit for you, and seeing the environment first hand is the best way.
 
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As one rises through the ranks the time commitment increases. DS is an MS IV and the ops officer for the unit. He is always sending and receiving emails planning stuff. I think MS III is the busiest year for cadets.
 
On thing I have noticed looking at different schools ROTC websites is that they downplay the of time commitment required to participate in the program. It is not a full time job and you do have time for academics and a social life, but it is a significant commitment, and time management becomes important.
 
jmd985 said:
I have been looking at both ROTC and the SAs, and have been trying to decide which one would be better for me. I am not sure if I want to eat, sleep, and breathe military at one of the SAs, but I want to do more military activities than just once a week in ROTC. Does anyone know if ROTC has opportunities to be more involved in the program than the typical cadet?
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With ROTC you can live the life of a normal student - you get to leave campus when you want (e.g., midnight burgers off campus), can have a car when you want, can have a TV in your room when you want, wake up when you want based on the class schedule you choose (except for morning PT), hang out with friends who are non-military, have class days only 2 or 3 days a week (for most colleges) vs. 5 days at the SA's, choose whether to make your bed, etc. But it is more than one day of ROTC activity. My son has 3 days of something going on and then many Saturdays. But he also has time for other activities at school. You can also volunteer for additional military activities.

Have you thought of attending the SA's Summer Seminars for rising seniors?
 
unkown1961 said:
With ROTC you can live the life of a normal student - you get to leave campus when you want (e.g., midnight burgers off campus), can have a car when you want, can have a TV in your room when you want, wake up when you want based on the class schedule you choose (except for morning PT), hang out with friends who are non-military, have class days only 2 or 3 days a week (for most colleges) vs. 5 days at the SA's, choose whether to make your bed, etc. But it is more than one day of ROTC activity. My son has 3 days of something going on and then many Saturdays. But he also has time for other activities at school. You can also volunteer for additional military activities.

Have you thought of attending the SA's Summer Seminars for rising seniors?
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I am currently a senior, and have applied to all the programs. I have done both NASS and SLE at WP. I also overnighted at WP, but I am trying to get a better feel for ROTC
 
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