Capt. Richard Gomez, battalion recruiting and enrollment officer at Fordham University, said it’s hard for students to be in the ROTC just for the money.
“Based my experience, anybody who is doing it just for the money will quit, period,” he said. “Last year, we had seven students give up their full four-year tuition scholarships. Full rides to Columbia [University], Fordham and NYU. They just didn’t want to do it.”
This is an amazing number. Regardless of whether this may just be an outlier or not, something like this should be a concern for not only the local battalion but also for the cadet command, that is, more applicants in economic tough times, but many of them may be applying mostly for the financial reason, and not ready ton follow through with their commitment.
Army ROTC saw a 15 percent national increase in the number of people who completed the application and went to the scholarship board this year
So, I guess this is the increase going into the Oct 25 board. In an environment like this, careful planning and strategy is even more important.
In my strategic marketing/planning career, I have always emphasized "differentiated product positioning". If you don't have differentiation, you become a commodity.
I approached my son's ROTC application the same way. Competitive market landscape. Differentiated product positioning. How about the needs of the "customer"? What are the customers (Army) looking for? A dedicated, committed candidate who is not applying just for money. What else are they looking for? Officer for the 21st century where the global military engagement is not just about firepower, but also the war of ideas. General Petraeus's counter insurgency program is all about understanding the enemy, understanding the diverse cultural and historical context of the conflict we are engaged in. A nuanced global understanding of the international conflict is necessary to win the war of 21st century.
So...
When my son was putting together his application, there are couple of things I brainstormed with him and advised him to emphasize. One of them is to discuss/emphasize how his passion for all things military date as far back as possible, so that the reader of his essay and the PMS who interviews him realize that this kid's interest in ROTC did not just happen as a result of economic downturn.
My son told me that he used many Army/military lingos in his interview (e.g., sir, my goal is to try my best to reach at least the rank of O-6, and hopefully even beyond that. Sir, I can see from your insignia that you were special force qualified, can you tell me how I should prepare myself for that since that's my goal also, etc). I thought that was good - it showed that he has done a lot of thinking and researching on the Army career path.
Another thing I advised him to consider in essays and interviews is his very cosmopolitan, international background and experience. He has been all over the world with relatives spread into 3-4 continents. I won't go into the detail since I don't want to put too much personal data/information. I advised him to emphasize how he came to realize the global geopolitical implication of American's military power on a personal level, and why that attitude embedded into his basic orientation will make him an outstanding officer in the age of counter insurgency and what not. I assume that in this competitive year, there are many more sufficiently qualified candidates that will make an outstanding officer in the future than the number of scholarships available. So, if you are not the perfect candidate, you need to be "one of those we need to complete the picture for the variety's sake". My son's international orientation is one thing not many candidates have, and he needed to emphasize and accentuate what he brings to the table from this angle.
No false advertisement. Just sharpened marketing message that accentuates the product strength.
If he is a SAT 1500, GPA 4.0, captain of the football team, student government president, all this and part time job, none of this would be necessary. However, he is not a perfect candidate. As such, we needed a plan to let him shine where he can, in the way the Army would like to see, and meet the institution goals and plans of the Army.
But, I have to emphasize. None of this is to present my son as someone who he is not. He is a truly dedicated would-be military officer. At this point, he cannot possibly think of any other career path. He is 1000% dedicated to the idea of serving this country. His goal is to be deployed where the country most needs him regardless of personal danger. As a parent, this could potentially be a horror scenario. However, that's what he truly wants to do. Given that this is his life mission, I am helping him so that while the Army get the best part of him, he also gets best of what the the Army has to offer.
Who knows, with all this, he may still not get the scholarship. In this competitive environment, nothing is for sure. However, in the process, he learned a very valuable lesson of forward looking thinking, strategic planning, leaving no stone unturned, the importance of data gathering, doing research, research, and more research...... Though it was stressful at time, it was also a bonding experience. And, he came away with a very, very , very vague notion that maybe, just maybe, his mom may not be all that clueless and useless, and there may be a reason to perhaps consider listening to her- of course only rarely and only under extreme circustance
**** disclaimer *******
I have no insider's knowledge of what the Army considers their institutional needs for international orientation what knot. I was basing my assumption on available data and logic. Of course, maybe I am totally off the mark.