AROTC Branching Time

Jcleppe

10-Year Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
6,714
Most MS4's have begun the process of Branch Requests.

I know there are some MS4's and parents of MS4's that post here. I thought I would start a thread to share which branches our cadets are looking at and follow the process through the Branch assignments in October. This is an exciting time for all the MS4's as they get close to commissioning and starting their time in the Army.

Good luck to all the MS4's
 
AD Army Medical Corps then branch transfer Field Artillery or Engineer for NG

Interesting note, my roommate WANTS to branch reserve med corps and for some reason they are blocking it even though I don't think the deadline has passed for accessions packets.
 
or maybe it has and I am just slow.....haha
 
or maybe it has and I am just slow.....haha

So your kidding around a bit yes. As a MS4 I'm sure you know when the deadlines are.

Your friend probably did not have the Pre-Branching requirements completed to request the MS branch.

Or of course you could just be pulling our leg.

Wouldn't you automatically branch MS since you are in the Army Nursing Program.

Good luck I hope it all works out for you and your roommate.
 
AD Army Medical Corps then branch transfer Field Artillery or Engineer for NG

Interesting note, my roommate WANTS to branch reserve med corps and for some reason they are blocking it even though I don't think the deadline has passed for accessions packets.

I'm assuming you mean med service corps, not medical corps. Big difference.
 
So your kidding around a bit yes. As a MS4 I'm sure you know when the deadlines are.

Your friend probably did not have the Pre-Branching requirements completed to request the MS branch.

Or of course you could just be pulling our leg.

Wouldn't you automatically branch MS since you are in the Army Nursing Program.

Good luck I hope it all works out for you and your roommate.

Medical Corps, Medical Service Corps, and Nurse Corps are three separate branches. Within these three, you could be anywhere from a dentist to MEDEVAC pilot.
 
You forgot Medical Specialists Corps and yes nurse. They are technically separate branches but all fall under AMEDD and you attend the same BOLC at Ft Sam Houston.
Well his situation is a bit interesting since he was supposed to go to med school, but I think hes getting everything figured out today. Ya I automatically branch Nurse Corps unless I fail my NCLEX, then its needs of the army....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Medical_Department_(United_States) (URL is being weird)

Med serv is getting extremely popular because many who want to flyt and won't get aviation flock there for MEDEVAC


What is your son wanting to branch?
 
Last edited:
You forgot Medical Specialists Corps and yes nurse. They are technically separate branches but all fall under AMEDD and you attend the same BOLC at Ft Sam Houston.
Well his situation is a bit interesting since he was supposed to go to med school, but I think hes getting everything figured out today. Ya I automatically branch Nurse Corps unless I fail my NCLEX, then its needs of the army....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Medical_Department_(United_States) (URL is being weird)

Med serv is getting extremely popular because many who want to flyt and won't get aviation flock there for MEDEVAC


What is your son wanting to branch?

Med Service is a very poor route to fly. Highly competitive for very few slots. 67J is a rough field to get into, and limits your career.
 
That might be so, but it didn't stop the droves at LDAC from changing their accessions packets after visiting the Med Service tent.
 
You forgot Medical Specialists Corps and yes nurse. They are technically separate branches but all fall under AMEDD and you attend the same BOLC at Ft Sam Houston.
Well his situation is a bit interesting since he was supposed to go to med school, but I think hes getting everything figured out today. Ya I automatically branch Nurse Corps unless I fail my NCLEX, then its needs of the army....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Medical_Department_(United_States) (URL is being weird)

Med serv is getting extremely popular because many who want to flyt and won't get aviation flock there for MEDEVAC


What is your son wanting to branch?


Son's first choice is Aviation, I believe MI w/ Infantry detail second, and Infantry third.

Best of luck with the NCLEX
 
Son's first choice is Aviation, I believe MI w/ Infantry detail second, and Infantry third.

Best of luck with the NCLEX

Awesome, very competitive branches but if he did well at LDAC and ADSO'd he should be fine.

Good luck to him! The wait is almost over.
 
Awesome, very competitive branches but if he did well at LDAC and ADSO'd he should be fine.

Good luck to him! The wait is almost over.

During his counseling with the PMS he was told that his OMS score was in the top 10% the past 3 years, not at the top but still in there. So he's holding his breath right now waiting for the OML to come out and see if he makes that mark this year, he was in the blue for all 3 years even if he wasn't top 10%. It would relieve a little stress for sure.

If he is not in the top 10% he'll be close and I'm sure he will ADSO just to increase the chances.

Good luck to you as well.

Anybody else out there that would like to share their choices, it would be fun to see where everyone wants to end up.
 
DS will be keeping fingers crossed for Signal w/ Armor detail. Armor 2nd. ??? 3rd. I am on a strictly need to know basis.:smile:
 
DS will be keeping fingers crossed for Signal w/ Armor detail. Armor 2nd. ??? 3rd. I am on a strictly need to know basis.:smile:

I had buddy who got signal + armor detail last year and his scores weren't amazing..solid but not amazing (S at camp...decent GPA). So there is a good chance for him barring no crazy changes from FY11.
 
Was told that the OML for the class of 2012 should come out next week!
 
If he is not in the top 10% he'll be close and I'm sure he will ADSO just to increase the chances.
Wow, I don't know how a person can casually increase their AD commitment from 4 yrs. to 7 yrs. without any first hand experience about what Service life is actually like...or even whether the Branch they put in ADSO for is truly the best branch fit for them... I mean how much can you know based only on ROTC experiences?

3 yrs. is a long stretch to commit to without the benefit of first hand experience.... Just my humble opinion! I sure hope the cadets get a lot of counseling with regard to that additional 3 yr. AD commitment.

AGLA -- is there much discussion among the cadets about the pros and cons of ADSO'ing?
 
Wow, I don't know how a person can casually increase their AD commitment from 4 yrs. to 7 yrs. without any first hand experience about what Service life is actually like...or even whether the Branch they put in ADSO for is truly the best branch fit for them... I mean how much can you know based only on ROTC experiences?

3 yrs. is a long stretch to commit to without the benefit of first hand experience.... Just my humble opinion! I sure hope the cadets get a lot of counseling with regard to that additional 3 yr. AD commitment.

AGLA -- is there much discussion among the cadets about the pros and cons of ADSO'ing?

You will be surprised how many cadets ADSO to move them up the OML. The problem is that once a large group ADSO's the rest feel they need to just to keep pace.

My son is not to concerned about the ADSO, if he gets Aviation it will be a longer commitment anyway because of flight school, almost equal to the ADSO.

I agree with you that no cadet has a real feel for what the real Army will be like, if they ADSO they will be stuck.

Now there is a couple things about ADSO. When you agree to ADSO for your branch it is only used if you would not have gotten the branch without it. If you don't get the branch you ADSO'd for then it does not go into effect.

Some ADSO because the are going for a Branch detail for example; Military Intelligence with a Branch detail in Infantry. This means they will spend the first 3 years Infantry and then go to the school for MI after which they will start their time in MI. They ADSO so they end up having equal time in each branch.

I have heard of some cadets that ADSO for their Duty Station, now that is not a good idea in my opinion. There was one cadet that graduated from my son's battalion the had made a deal with his wife that if she helped him through college and ROTC and agreed with his choice to join the military he would try and get Italy, he ADSO'd for the Italy duty station and got lucky. I guess I could understand that one.

The cadets do get counseling prior to selecting ADSO.
 
ADSOs for duty station is a little ridiculous in my opinion however there are those cadets who really want to guarantee a prestigious unit or one that deploys a lot. (i.e. 173rd ABN, 82nd ABN, 101st ABN etc). Kind of a bad deal since most will probably PCS in a few years anyways. If all their ADSOs are accepted cadets can be looking at a ~10 year extra commitment w/o any real knowledge of the actual army. A risk, but a risk many many cadets take.

Branch detail can be an awesome alternative for cadets who just want a few years in combat arms to set their career off with a bang (i.e. Ranger school, combat PL time) or can be disappointment (i.e. getting stuck in a low fill branch for a few years).

The army pushes med professionals to ADSO for grad school (NP, Med, PA, PT school etc) but most I have seen rather pay for it themselves and enter the civilian world ASAP.
 
The ADSO for grad school makes a lot of sense for the cadet who is looking for a leg up in the OML for O4 and the full 20. With little control over deployments, it is often difficult to get a masters completed on the side, especially if one develops a spouse and children along the way. The 2 years that can be dedicated to getting the degree completed allows the young cadet to focus on other things in his/her life career beforehand.

As to the continuation of the student loan ADSO option, the young Lt doesn't make much money to make much headway against any student loans taken to get his/her commission. To have that much debt wiped out for an extra 3 years, they have a great incentive to stay through their O3 promotion where withouth that debt, they rapidly growing pay is generally enough incentive to keep them in. Without that debt erased, the temptation to grab a higher paying private sector job afte the minimum AD requirement to pay back that debt so they can buy a house, etc. becomes a much stronger pull.

Now with the current outlook for private employment being weak, I could imagine the Army cutting back on that incentive as I am guessing that their retention rates are rising with the limited job prospects outside of the military.
 
Back
Top