Time Commitment

ancou

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
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I'm curious if ROTC allows for time in other activities?

I'm interested in joining a college marching band (Pride of Arizona) which would mean Saturday rehearsals and friday night football games and that doesn't include weekday rehearsal as well and I do not know how July band camp would affect ROTC?

I've heard that sports can get waivers but I don't know if marching band would be considered a sport...

Regardless if anyone knows about doubling marching band and ROTC, what is the general time commitment?
 
depends on the individual ROTC program. Some are very willing to work with students regarding other time consuming activities and some are not. Remember also, that ROTC units participate in weekend training activities, often with other schools. An occasional missed weekend event might not be a big deal, but if you were going to miss every weekend during the Fall and Spring due to another activity then it could potentially be a big problem.
 
ancou - are you considering Army ROTC?

For Army ROTC the above comment is not true at all (post #2). In fact, Army ROTC encourages all their cadets to become involved in their college through athletics and leadership activities. Your band participation won't have much, if any effect on ROTC for the first two years. The only conflict you might have is LDAC which is the summer prior to your senior year.
Additionally, when the complile your OOM points for branching your senior year - they give you extra points for your involvement.

Be sure you tell your ROTC officers that you are in the band - I would be shocked if they didn't work with you. Good Luck!
 
With personal family experience ROTC PMS, I will stand by my comments. Some programs with definitely work with other activities, others will not . Very much depends on personal command climate and expectations of individual ROTC unit.

This does not mean that you should not ask, or even indicate to your unit that you will also have conflicting schedule. However, particularly if you are a scholarship student, the main priority should be ROTC. Actually the main priority should be academics, followed by ROTC ( if they are paying your tuition) followed closely by other extra-curricular activities.

That is not to say that you can't participate in everything you want to, you just have to be willing ( and able) to keep good grades, manage time well and fully commit to your other activities so that you are not only giving partial effort to your committments.

If you are a non-scholarship student then it doesn't really matter until you get ready to contract. However, consider that competitions for ALL ROTC scholarships and slots is extremely high. If you are unable to show up for PT, unable to schedule classes or participate in labs or other ROTC activities ( although voluntary) because of a continuing schedule conflict then you may not be competitive for scholarship/slot in the unit.

It does not necessarily sound fair, but it is an unfortunate fact of a very competitive climate.
 
Agree that some programs are certainly NOT willing to work with the kids. My daughter was looking at the opportunity to play Division 1 soccer while doing NROTC and the unit was truly not willing to make much of any accomodations to help her do both.
 
This is where the branches of service differ. There are quite a few athletes - Div 1 even who are in Army ROTC. I know one D-1 school where the captain of the football team is a contracted ROTC cadet.
They can do this because the Army encourages it.

What we don't know about the OP is - which branch of ROTC and if he/she is a contracted Cadet. Army Cadets who are not contracted have very little time commitment until they contract.
The weekend commitment will vary by school as some will have labs during the week and others will have labs on a Sat (about one per month).
July Band camp should not interfere with Army summer training except for possible LDAC which I stated.

Anytime one is involved in two demanding activities, there is generally some give and take. There might eventually need to be a sacrifice made but probably not initially.
I would hate for a prospective cadet to decide not to pursue ROTC simply based on remarks made here. The most prudent thing is to talk to the PMS and the band leaders and inform them that you are planning to do both.

I can't and won't speak to Navy or AF ROTC.
 
Agree that some programs are certainly NOT willing to work with the kids. My daughter was looking at the opportunity to play Division 1 soccer while doing NROTC and the unit was truly not willing to make much of any accomodations to help her do both.

My condolences to your daughter on not being able to pursue her sport. One of the reasons we ruled out D1 is that yes, indeed the coaches seem to own you (in their humble opinion). I've come to find that there are a few D1 schools who do work with their athletes - for example the backup ice hockey goalie on Brown this year is ROTC - but it does take a coach who appreciates the committment of their players to their life objective.

OTOH in D3, every coach we've dealt with - even the Canadians - are willing to work with goaliegirl to accommodate her schedule. The ROO's and PMS's are very supportive, although with a D3 winter sport, there is not a conflict with field exercises which can be a problem with fall and spring sports. Additionally, D3 programs do not have "off season" workouts, so many coaches recognize that ROTC candidates keep in shape all year and will show up for the preseason ready to go.

I encourage all prospective ROTC candidates to talk to the ROO's about your EC plans and the coaches about your ROTC plans. In our experience, it has been very beneficial as she gains respect on both fronts. If coaches are unsure, ask the ROO to call the coach and discuss the unit's requirements.
 
goaliedad - Best of luck to you and your daughter! Mine is adjusting and playing club. Since I had a son who played baseball at a Top 10 D1 program I was quite aware of all that goes on. In talking to the soccer coach I could almost see him struggle with the concept that since he was putting out little to no money he also didn't have the control they usually have. NROTC did, and logically so. Again, best of luck!!
 
goaliedad - Best of luck to you and your daughter! Mine is adjusting and playing club. Since I had a son who played baseball at a Top 10 D1 program I was quite aware of all that goes on. In talking to the soccer coach I could almost see him struggle with the concept that since he was putting out little to no money he also didn't have the control they usually have. NROTC did, and logically so. Again, best of luck!!

Thanks!

Your comment on the coach said volumes. It is probably best that she doesn't play for him. There are D1 coaches who worry about about disciplinary control not having the scholarship to hang over the kid's head, but with the case of a ROTC candidate, that should not be the case. Then there is the coach who is insecure in his job that he feels he must have control over everything and demonstrate that to all under his charge. I would suspect this. Not the leadership model you want for your daughter.

A coach's job, like a military leader's job is to secure the objective with the minimum of casualties. A coach's methods should be to instruct and motivate his people to find and execute the best solution to obtain the objective while directing the operation. Not too different at all from the military leader's method. The coach like the military leader who finds him/herself managing all of the details will not be able to manage the whole affair effectively. S/he must recruit and train good people and trust them to do the job the best way they know how and be responsible for teaching and motivating.

I'm sure your daughter is getting better leadership training in NROTC. Glad to hear that she made the right choice there and has found an outlet for her sport. :thumb:
 
Summer time commitment

Thanks for all the advice on varsity sports participation. I also have a question about summers if there is someone out there who has experience in this. For entering NROTC freshmen, looks like they have most of this coming summer to themselves but report to the unit earlier than regular college students to get a week or so of ROTC orientation, uniforms, etc. Then summer cruises of 4 - 6 weeks between freshman/sophomore years, sophomore/junior years and junior/senior years. Are they free for the rest of the summer until school starts up again for fall semester in those 'in-between' summers?
 
Army Cadets who are not contracted have very little time commitment until they contract.
While the time commitment is different for each battalion, both the contracted and non-contracted have the same time commitments at the battalion I'm going to in the fall.
 
that being said, each AROTC program will have some differences depending on the individual programs' goals and command climate. Some PMSs use the first year as an opportunity to assess potential cadets just as those same students are using Military Science classes, PT and other "training" as a testing ground for their interest in the ROTC program and their future possible desire to serve as military officers.


We should all probably remember that the sole purpose of the ROTC programs ( as I understand it) is to train college students to be future military officers. Not just to pay tuition, serve as an outlet for good PR because there are top-notch D1 athletes that participate or even just to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the college and community. Not that ROTC does not provide all those opportunities; that is just not the main mission.

Whether or not AROTC or other ROTC programs are flexible and willing to work with other extra-curricular activities is not so much the issue as whether or not ROTC or potential ROTC students are willing to invest the time and energy necessary to participate in training to become future military officers. And are those individual students capable and willing to take on the challenges of balancing academics, military training and other time consuming activities all at once?

Some students are very willing and capable of managing an incredibly full schedule and performing quite well in all areas and others are not and are not even willing to attempt. But it is certainly something to take into consideration when looking into an ROTC program. All programs DO NOT operate exactly alike and it is important for all ROTC students to do an assessment of their potential units and figure out how that unit meshes with each individuals goals and activities. A lot of headaches and stress could possibly be avoided upfront!
 
that being said, each AROTC program will have some differences depending on the individual programs' goals and command climate. Some PMSs use the first year as an opportunity to assess potential cadets just as those same students are using Military Science classes, PT and other "training" as a testing ground for their interest in the ROTC program and their future possible desire to serve as military officers.


We should all probably remember that the sole purpose of the ROTC programs ( as I understand it) is to train college students to be future military officers. Not just to pay tuition, serve as an outlet for good PR because there are top-notch D1 athletes that participate or even just to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the college and community. Not that ROTC does not provide all those opportunities; that is just not the main mission.

Whether or not AROTC or other ROTC programs are flexible and willing to work with other extra-curricular activities is not so much the issue as whether or not ROTC or potential ROTC students are willing to invest the time and energy necessary to participate in training to become future military officers. And are those individual students capable and willing to take on the challenges of balancing academics, military training and other time consuming activities all at once?

Some students are very willing and capable of managing an incredibly full schedule and performing quite well in all areas and others are not and are not even willing to attempt. But it is certainly something to take into consideration when looking into an ROTC program. All programs DO NOT operate exactly alike and it is important for all ROTC students to do an assessment of their potential units and figure out how that unit meshes with each individuals goals and activities. A lot of headaches and stress could possibly be avoided upfront!

Excellent post House06.

We've been warned that the level of committment (in terms of hours) goes up with each year. Yes, freshmen typically show up and learn and participate. But when the Junior year rolls around, typically the cadets are expected to lead the underclassmen and the seniors take on most of the planning responsibility.

However, it is expected that the cadets grow their ability to manage more things as they progress not only in ROTC, but in their outside life as well.

I'm hoping that goaliegirl is well prepared from her prep school experience with classes 6 days a week. 2 of her years, she played club hockey on Sundays leaving her with 0 days off between November and March except when on break. I expect hockey season at college to look a lot like this experience.
 
Thanks for all the advice on varsity sports participation. I also have a question about summers if there is someone out there who has experience in this. For entering NROTC freshmen, looks like they have most of this coming summer to themselves but report to the unit earlier than regular college students to get a week or so of ROTC orientation, uniforms, etc. Then summer cruises of 4 - 6 weeks between freshman/sophomore years, sophomore/junior years and junior/senior years. Are they free for the rest of the summer until school starts up again for fall semester in those 'in-between' summers?

I've been wondering about this a lot too.

But because I will be a Nurse-option student, I was also wondering how the first summer cruise (after my freshman year) will differ from other NROTC students.
 
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