Scholarship Moratorium

Hello, Ohio! The Distinguished Military Graduate award is given to the top 20% of the national OML. It's basically an award for outstanding performance in ROTC. There is a brief discussion about it on page 15 of this document (your DS should inquire about this):

http://www.armyrotc.msu.edu/resources/CadetHandbook10-11.pdf

Note that DMS is different than DMG (I believe DMS is local, while DMG is national). I do know that this status is key to graduation and an active-duty slot if slots become scarce.
 
Patentesq,

You mentioned in your earlier post a "Distinguished Military Grad..." sure, I could google this, but could you explain this term, haven't heard it before. Anyone else feel free to define critera for me too.

Thanks!



Top 20% of Order of Merit List = Distinguished Military Graduate.
 
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that DMG has an effect on your branching.

The way I was told was this:

Top 10% get their first choice regardless
Top 20% DMG get their first choice if the branch is available.
Anything below 20% is a crap shoot so to speak.
 
jcleppe,

did you really mean DMG or OML?

DMG - top 20% of OML.

So, if you really meant DMG in the above post,

then

2% of OML gets first choice, and so on. (20% x 10% = 2 %)

I thought it's the top 10% of OML (not DMG) that gets the first choice.

Am I mistaken?
 
I think you've got it right, Jcleppe. My list of potential priorities was simply patentesq's view on who would likely get the active-slots if those start to dry up. This is the way the Army has handled things like this in the past. I think if you are DMG status, you've got a very good shot at earning an active-duty slot.

Incidently, this story couldn't come at a worse time for DoD. I wonder whether the report about $60B wasted is TRULY bipartisan.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/31/wartime.contracting/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

$12M per day could buy a TON of ROTC scholarships!! As the late Senator Dirkson once quipped, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, we're talking real money!"
 
I thought it's the top 10% of OML (not DMG) that gets the first choice.

Am I mistaken?

I think jcleppe meant top 10% of OML gets first choice of branch. It also depends on which branch we're talking about. Some are more popular than others. Although I was extremely active as a cadet, I would be shocked if I were top 10% of OML (don't remember and don't have a clue). But I got my first choice -- Infantry! (probably because most cadets, particularly the tankers, follow the adage "why walk when you can drive!").
 
Hello, Ohio! The Distinguished Military Graduate award is given to the top 20% of the national OML. It's basically an award for outstanding performance in ROTC. There is a brief discussion about it on page 15 of this document (your DS should inquire about this):

http://www.armyrotc.msu.edu/resources/CadetHandbook10-11.pdf

Note that DMS is different than DMG (I believe DMS is local, while DMG is national). I do know that this status is key to graduation and an active-duty slot if slots become scarce.

Thanks for the link and explanations everyone!! Now the goal has an offical title: DMG or bust:thumb: DS will be thrilled:rolleyes: We've already made a deal that he will at least graduate magna, if not summa, so this will tie right into the overall plan. Moving him into school tomorrow, classes start Tuesday - let the game's begin has a very different meaning now:wink:
 
jcleppe,

did you really mean DMG or OML?

DMG - top 20% of OML.

So, if you really meant DMG in the above post,

then

2% of OML gets first choice, and so on. (20% x 10% = 2 %)

I thought it's the top 10% of OML (not DMG) that gets the first choice.

Am I mistaken?

I think I got lost in all the Math.

The top 10% get their first choice.
If a cadet is in the top 20% they are a DMG, that includes the top 10%
If a cadet is in the top 20% but not the top 10% they would get their first choice if the branch they choose is still available, meaning it has not been filled to 50% capacity yet.
After the top 20% the Army can select a branch for you, it may not be your first choice even if the branch is still available.

Finishing in the top 20% is not easy, you will need a high GPA, high PT, and most likely an E at LDAC, which only about 10% or so of cadets receive. Lots of hard work ahead.
 
jcleppe said:
Finishing in the top 20% is not easy, you will need a high GPA, high PT, and most likely an E at LDAC, which only about 10% or so of cadets receive. Lots of hard work ahead.
I get your drift, but just to be accurate in the detail, LDAC produces 4 separate scores for different criteria: PT, Land Nav, TAC Eval (E/S/N converted to points), and Overall LDAC Leadership (again E/S/N converted to points), as detailed on page 1 of this powerpoint: http://www.career-satisfaction.army.mil/pdfs/Order_of_Merit_Score_Calculations.pdf , We see that 31.95 of the possible 100 OML points is earned in the 4 weeks at LDAC. In sum, and in agreement with your point, broughly one third of a cadet's OML comes from the four week performance at LDAC. That is why at the Battalion I am most familiar with, PT is mandatory 3 days/wk during MSIII year, but only 2 days per week (even though most do the third PT voluntarily) during Basic Course of MSI and MSII.
 
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I get your drift, but just to be accurate in the detail, LDAC produces 4 separate scores for different criteria: PT, Land Nav, TAC Eval (E/S/N converted to points), and Overall LDAC Leadership (again E/S/N converted to points), as detailed on page 1 of this powerpoint: http://www.career-satisfaction.army.mil/pdfs/Order_of_Merit_Score_Calculations.pdf , We see that 31.95 of the possible 100 OML points is earned in the 4 weeks at LDAC. In sum, and in agreement with your point, broughly one third of a cadet's OML comes from the four week performance at LDAC. That is why at the Battalion I am most familiar with, PT is mandatory 3 days/wk during MSIII year, but only 2 days per week (even though most do the third PT voluntarily) during Basic Course of MSI and MSII.

You are so correct.

Even though GPA is 40% the scores from LDAC are important as well as are the the points from the Cadre at the cadets battalion. My older son completed his OML Counseling with his PMS and received his point total, he told me it was interesting to see how all the points were counted up.

My son's battalion must subscribe to the "Work em til they drop" method. PT is required 5 days a week for all classes, MS1 through MS4. They do have an easy workout on Tuesday, unless your on the Ranger Challenge team, then they work you to death. They break the PT down into 2 platoons, within the platoons they break it down by PT scores, the top group gets worked hard, the lower groups work on improving. They sure look forward to the weekend so they can get some extra sleep.
 
5 days per week? I hadn't heard of that before. I think that is highly irregular. The loss of sleep could be more detrimental than benefit derived from the extra reps. Supposedly the brain keeps developing into our 20s, and sleep is an important requisite for brain development. Even Marine Option NROTC is PT 3 days, while Navy Option is 2 days.
 
5 days per week? I hadn't heard of that before. I think that is highly irregular. The loss of sleep could be more detrimental than benefit derived from the extra reps. Supposedly the brain keeps developing into our 20s, and sleep is an important requisite for brain development. Even Marine Option NROTC is PT 3 days, while Navy Option is 2 days.

My son's NROTC battalion requires PT 3 days per week for all midshipmen. Marine Option Midshipman are required to do another 2 sessions on their own for a total of 5. OCS candidates are required to PT 5 days per week during the semester prior to OCS. It's called the "Breakfast Club". :smile:

You are correct about sleep but there is a solution.... go to bed earlier. :wink:
 
The cadets learn real early to try and not register for early morning classes. Most of the cadets grab an extra hour or 2 after PT if they need it. Older son is a MS4 and has been doing PT 5 days a week for most of his time there, somehow he always found a way to grab a few extra sleep hours.
 
Dunninla,

Time out.

Do you believe that are enemies care if they get 8 hrs of sleep?

If you believe they don't care and understand what ROTC is about...not scholarships, but training, you will realize that the brain development issue is BS in their eyes.

They are training future military leaders to lead troops into battle.
 
Dunninla,
Do you believe that are enemies care if they get 8 hrs of sleep? ...
They are training future military leaders to lead troops into battle.

Right on Pima. In fact our enemies will make sure they don't get 8 hours of sleep. In part that's why I believe orientation is so tough. On the other hand orientation teaches them how far they can press themselves and still function effectively. Personally I think that's a great thing to learn the first week of college!

BTW, I knew a naval aviator who served on the USS Wasp when it went down. His was the last plane off. He was then stationed on Henderson Field during the worst of it on Guadalcanal. One of his more vivid memories was the lack of sleep the pilots got due to being shelled by the Japanese each night....and then flying sorties during the day. Just an example...:wink:
 
Pima -- no, I don't think the enemy cares about sleep. However, we're not talking about, at least I wasn't talking about, an active duty scenario. I'm talking about 18 year old kids who won't see active duty for at least 4 years.

College is about balancing classwork, training, and social life. I suppose we can disagree about whether 18 year olds need a good night's sleep while on a college campus. Of course we agree that sleep is secondary in active duty.
 
"It's really sad. I'm at college and I'm supposed to be going to bed at like 2AM every day but now it's 930PM and I feel like it's midnight...The more I think about it, the more I realize it's for the best. ROTC has really normalized my sleep schedule."

Actual facebook post from a Clarkson AROTC cadet
 
Great Post!

"It's really sad. I'm at college and I'm supposed to be going to bed at like 2AM every day but now it's 930PM and I feel like it's midnight...The more I think about it, the more I realize it's for the best. ROTC has really normalized my sleep schedule."

Actual facebook post from a Clarkson AROTC cadet

Clarkson, How's the hockey team looking this year?
 
"It's really sad. I'm at college and I'm supposed to be going to bed at like 2AM every day but now it's 930PM and I feel like it's midnight...The more I think about it, the more I realize it's for the best. ROTC has really normalized my sleep schedule."

Actual facebook post from a Clarkson AROTC cadet

I'm looking forward to my DS having his sleep habits "normalized" by ROTC PT. Hope your cadets are doing well this year and getting with the program:thumb:
 
Goaliegirl (who actually reads these posts and chuckles at some of the parent types around here) only wishes some days she could "sleep in" until ROTC PT. She has to be at the hockey rink while the rest of the ROTC guys are sleeping in their beds. Her secret is taking naps when she has a couple hours off during the day.

Seriously though, she does realize how lucky she is to have a scholarship these days and has put in the effort this summer working out to improve her PT scores and has spent a lot of time looking ahead to LDAC and the OML stats at the end (thanks gojack and others )

And despite the "cutbacks" in scholarships, she is telling me that her unit (public school) has significantly increased in size this year (based upon enrollment in ROTC classes). Not sure yet (classes don't start until Tuesday) how much is SMP and whatnot, but it seems that there is plenty of interest in the program.

And I too will ask Clarkson how's the hockey looking this year and whether he has gotten a player in his battalion yet. As to the scholarship cutbacks/realignments, I imagine it will affect his Clarkson population, but will probably be offset by increased numbers at his SUNY Potsdam campus across the bridge. Wishing him well in adapting to the latest changes in the environment. :thumb:
 
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