So i will be leaving for college this Friday and classes start on Monday and that is the day I have my first ROTC class and I was just wondering if anyone could kind of give an overview of what to expect the first couple of days and weeks. BTW i am a 3-year AD just in case that makes any difference.
What to expect the first weeks of AROTC?
- Thread starter sjbd94
- Start date
Congratulations.
Every Battalion is different, you will most likely have an orientation session where they will explain what to expect in the first Semester.
You will probably start your first day with PT so try and get some rest the night before, start getting up early now to get used to it. You will have your first APFT soon if not right away, don't be surprised if you don't do as good as you think you will. You will learn quickly that form is very important when it comes to Push Ups and Sit Ups, the run is straight forward. Just a tip....be a few minutes early to PT in the morning, you will learn the old saying "10 min early is on time, on time is late"
You will start your MS1 class which is probably once a week and will be given your Lab schedule.
Look into Color Guard and Ranger Challenge, each battalion is required to have at least one freshman MS1 on the Team, your APFT score will go a long way in securing a spot.
You will find that your first semester will not be that intense, you will have plenty of time to get aclimated to school and explore other school interests.
My son completed his MS1 year last year, during that time he Rushed a Fraternity, participated in many intramural sports, was on the Ranger Challenge A team, and Color Guard both semesters. He competed for the German Badge in the spring and Ran for School Senate and was elected. Sometimes ROTC functions were at the same time as his Fraterity functions, ROTC came first, but in the long run he was able to be an active member of his house and in school while still doing all the events for ROTC. It will require a little more time management but you shouldn't be too overloaded your first year. I only mention the above so you get the idea that you can still be very involved in your school while doing ROTC.
Have a great time, work hard and keep your grades up and your APFT as high as you can, make good use of the Campus Rec Center. High APFT scores don't happen by just going to PT, you need to workout on your own.
Use this time to explore all your opportunities in both school and ROTC, It's a great ride.
thanks for the write up, for the email i got I PT starts the second week of classes for me. The push ups are defiantly going to be where i have to work especially since being lazy this summer. I was a distance runner in high school so I got the run down pat and the strong core, but have always be plagued with a weak upper body haha. But since im not running for my college I am for sure going to look into ranger challenge to have a way to compete physically. Thanks again!
EDelahanty
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As you observed some months ago, many of your fellow freshmen are intent on partying. This is their first time away from parental supervision, and they will burn the candle at both ends.
Have fun, but don't overdo it. Maintain your focus on your goal of becoming an officer. This means getting sufficient rest and adequate nutrition. Do not skip any classes.
Have fun, but don't overdo it. Maintain your focus on your goal of becoming an officer. This means getting sufficient rest and adequate nutrition. Do not skip any classes.
Expect to take a lot of notes. There are a lot of things to get done early in the year. Paperwork, stuff to be issued, basic knowledge to be memorized, etc.
The top cadets listen well to both cadre and cadet leadership knowing there is no such thing as a small detail. The "high speed" cadets (ones who take notes and learn quickly) are quickly identified and offered the opportunities (color guard, etc.).
The other quote I hear about timeliness is "If you arrive early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late. If you are late, don't bother showing up."
The top cadets listen well to both cadre and cadet leadership knowing there is no such thing as a small detail. The "high speed" cadets (ones who take notes and learn quickly) are quickly identified and offered the opportunities (color guard, etc.).
The other quote I hear about timeliness is "If you arrive early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late. If you are late, don't bother showing up."
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As others have stated you will have an orientation day then classes and PT start. I wouldn't worry to much because the first few weeks of PT are extremely easy as they break in new freshman, the MSIII command gets PT organized and people get back into shape. MSI class for me was one day for two hours a week.
You'll find in AROTC that there are people who are strong at running but weak in muscular strength (usually upper) juxtaposed to people like me who are average runners but excel in muscular strength activities. I wouldn't worry too much about being weak in push ups as you will improve.
You'll find in AROTC that there are people who are strong at running but weak in muscular strength (usually upper) juxtaposed to people like me who are average runners but excel in muscular strength activities. I wouldn't worry too much about being weak in push ups as you will improve.
good to know they take it easy the first weeks to let you get acclimated. I've never been a partyer so im intent on not changing that just because i dont have my parents around. Idk if any of you have seen my other post but my ROTC scholarship is the only reason im going to college away from home, i would of either had to go to my local college which doesn't have ROTC because of cost or enlisted, i got a 90 on the ASVAB so the options i had with that were very tempting. But i had teachers who were prior enlisted and my parents who are prior enlisted telling me to go to college. So becoming an Army officer is the only reason im going to college and im not going to let any distractions deter me from that.
Pima
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sjbd94,
I understand your thinking regarding why you are going to college, but let me just say college, especially freshman fall semester is not an easy transition for many students. I may have misinterpreted your post, but it appears you see college as buying time to become an Army officer. I hope I am wrong, but if I am not please take my 0.018943 cents of advice and than throw it in the circular filing cabinet.
Getting that dream of being an officer means you have to also give 1000% to academics. You can't afford to just get by academically, you need to be successful academically. The fastest way to leave college is if you don't want to be in college. You don't have to be a partier to find excuses why you didn't go to that 8 a.m. class. Trust every poster that has been to college, there are tons of us that skipped class in college and hangover was not the reason...showing my age, but when Luke married Laura on General Hospital nobody went to their 3 pm class for 2 days to watch the episode (no Tivo in our day).
People that are not acquainted with the ROTC world do not understand that it is actually a dual career so to speak. You have to be strong at both. You can be the best academic student, but an EH ROTC cadet, and have the same result as the top ROTC cadet and EH student, both types won't get you a high OML. You are in essence shooting yourself in the foot by not giving your all to both aspects.
Just remember to become that officer you need to succeed in college. Not saying you won't, just saying that your post made me feel like your heart is not in it regarding the college you are attending. That worries me. I apologize if I mis-read your post, but if I didn't I hope you take it to heart.
I understand your thinking regarding why you are going to college, but let me just say college, especially freshman fall semester is not an easy transition for many students. I may have misinterpreted your post, but it appears you see college as buying time to become an Army officer. I hope I am wrong, but if I am not please take my 0.018943 cents of advice and than throw it in the circular filing cabinet.
Getting that dream of being an officer means you have to also give 1000% to academics. You can't afford to just get by academically, you need to be successful academically. The fastest way to leave college is if you don't want to be in college. You don't have to be a partier to find excuses why you didn't go to that 8 a.m. class. Trust every poster that has been to college, there are tons of us that skipped class in college and hangover was not the reason...showing my age, but when Luke married Laura on General Hospital nobody went to their 3 pm class for 2 days to watch the episode (no Tivo in our day).
People that are not acquainted with the ROTC world do not understand that it is actually a dual career so to speak. You have to be strong at both. You can be the best academic student, but an EH ROTC cadet, and have the same result as the top ROTC cadet and EH student, both types won't get you a high OML. You are in essence shooting yourself in the foot by not giving your all to both aspects.
Just remember to become that officer you need to succeed in college. Not saying you won't, just saying that your post made me feel like your heart is not in it regarding the college you are attending. That worries me. I apologize if I mis-read your post, but if I didn't I hope you take it to heart.
Thanks Pima i didn't really think of that and after re-reading my post i understand what you are saying and Im going to have to make sure I dont allow that to happen. In a sense I really dont want to go to college, but I didn't want to go to school while I was in High School either, but I still did reasonably well. I look at college as a box i have to check off on the list to pursue my ultimate career goal. But when I say check off I know i have to do well academically. ROTC is my primary motive, but with that comes succeeding in academics as well.But without a doubt I thank you for calling attention to this because I know this could happen to me if I am not careful, especially sense it happened to me in high school. I would skip out on going to get help after school for class if I needed it because i was so worried about going to cross country practice and getting faster. But at least I can say i wont have to worry about missing TV shows any more haha. Thanks again!
I think you would be doing yourself a favor by re-thinking your approach to college. There is a reason officers are not commissioned out of high school, or off the street. Why not just commission Eagle Scouts or Junior ROTC cadets? Why bother with making potential fine Officers go to college at all?
There is a reason that the military will take enlisted sailors, airmen, soldiers and Marines of promise and send them back to college to participate in ROTC, or to the Academies. Why do you suppose the Academies make their students "waste" or "spend", depending on your point of view, about 70% of their day in college level classes and doing homework for classes like Calculus, Physics, Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, Anthropolicy, Geology, etc? I mean, they could eliminate the civilian college curricum altogether, just leaving a few classes on Military History, Strategic Warfare, Principles of Leadership, etc. and spend 90% of the time teaching and drilling their cadets/mids how to be good officers all day, right?
College exists for more than just to feed students information about subjects like English, Math, History, etc. Ideally, college will help you to learn to "think critically". This basically means that over time, you learn how to think in a way that will help you solve problems and improve whatever situation you find yourself in thoughout life. You learn to ask a lot of questions, like "Why is it done this way?", and "What if we did it that way", and "what's in it for this person, vs. that person", and "why are we even here?", etc. You learn how to analyze a situation, break it down, and creativley work and think through different possible ways of improving that situation to find a good solution ... that situation could be a broken down truck at the front of a convoy, or it could be soldiers under your command who can't get along, or it could be something strategic like -- how can I get the village elders to cooperate with my troops in passing along intel that helps me track down and eliminating threats? It could even be helping the Quartermaster working along side you in solving a bottleneck in getting needed supplies to your soldiers. Recognizing, understanding, and solving problems.
If you approach college as an important phase in "learning what questions to ask, and then working toward answering those questions", you'll enjoy it a lot more than if you look at it as chopping 10,000 cords of wood and then at the end you've paid your dues and finally get to be an Officer.
There is a reason that the military will take enlisted sailors, airmen, soldiers and Marines of promise and send them back to college to participate in ROTC, or to the Academies. Why do you suppose the Academies make their students "waste" or "spend", depending on your point of view, about 70% of their day in college level classes and doing homework for classes like Calculus, Physics, Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, Anthropolicy, Geology, etc? I mean, they could eliminate the civilian college curricum altogether, just leaving a few classes on Military History, Strategic Warfare, Principles of Leadership, etc. and spend 90% of the time teaching and drilling their cadets/mids how to be good officers all day, right?
College exists for more than just to feed students information about subjects like English, Math, History, etc. Ideally, college will help you to learn to "think critically". This basically means that over time, you learn how to think in a way that will help you solve problems and improve whatever situation you find yourself in thoughout life. You learn to ask a lot of questions, like "Why is it done this way?", and "What if we did it that way", and "what's in it for this person, vs. that person", and "why are we even here?", etc. You learn how to analyze a situation, break it down, and creativley work and think through different possible ways of improving that situation to find a good solution ... that situation could be a broken down truck at the front of a convoy, or it could be soldiers under your command who can't get along, or it could be something strategic like -- how can I get the village elders to cooperate with my troops in passing along intel that helps me track down and eliminating threats? It could even be helping the Quartermaster working along side you in solving a bottleneck in getting needed supplies to your soldiers. Recognizing, understanding, and solving problems.
If you approach college as an important phase in "learning what questions to ask, and then working toward answering those questions", you'll enjoy it a lot more than if you look at it as chopping 10,000 cords of wood and then at the end you've paid your dues and finally get to be an Officer.
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