Good luck, CoachBart! In view of the increasing competition for active duty slots that will be on our doorstop very soon, I think SMC is definitely the way to go for ROTC (unlike ROTC units at other colleges, SMC grad AD slots are protected by federal statute).
Not to quibble, but I am not sure that "slots" are protected, per se. Rather the pertinent federal statute, 10 U.S.C. 2111a(d),(e) provides (subsection (d)) that the services "may not take or authorize any action to terminate or reduce a unit of the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps at a senior military college" and further provides (subsection (e)) that the Secretary of the Army must ensure that "a graduate of a senior military college who desires to serve as a commissioned officer on active duty upon graduation from the college, who is medically and physically qualified for active duty, and who is recommended for such duty by the professor of military science at the college, shall be assigned to active duty."
I do not understand these provisions to mean that the number of commisssion slots for SMCs are protected. For example, if the Army reduced its need from 1000 new 2nd Lts to 500 2nd Lts, then that 500 slot reduction may well be distributed, consistent with the statute, across all the ROTC units in the country, including those at the SMCs. In other words a reduction in the number of new commission slots doesn't necessarily "reduce" a "unit" at a SMC, as the "unit" at the school stays the same -- just the number of commissions available to that unit is reduced. And while subsection (e) purports to guarantee a Army AD commission to those SMC graduates who are otherwise qualified, that commission is also conditioned upon the recommendation of a ROTC professor. The number of such recommendations is obviously subject to adjustment each year. Please note that subsection (e), by its terms, is applicable only to the Secretary of the Army -- subsection (e) thus does not apply to the Secretary of the Navy (and by extension the Marines) or the Secretary of the Air Force. The Navy, the Marines and the Air Force are thus not required to offer commissions under this statute, only the Army is.
If any of this is incorrect, I would be delighted to hear that as my DS wants a Marine commission, but if you think I am wrong in this please provide details and references. I would like to check this out. (And yes, I am a lawyer).
For those interested, the federal statute is 10 U.S.C. 2111a, and pertinent subsections are (d) and (e). I have reproduced the entire Section 2111a below:
10 U.S.C.A. § 2111a .
United States Code Annotated
Title 10. Armed Forces (Refs & Annos)
Subtitle A. General Military Law (Refs & Annos)
Part III. Training and Education
Chapter 103. Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (Refs & Annos)
§ 2111a. Support for senior military colleges
(a) Detail of officers to serve as Commandant or Assistant Commandant of Cadets.--(1) Upon the request of a senior military college, the Secretary of Defense may detail an officer on the active-duty list to serve as Commandant of Cadets at that college or (in the case of a college with an Assistant Commandant of Cadets) detail an officer on the active-duty list to serve as Assistant Commandant of Cadets at that college (but not both).
(2) In the case of an officer detailed as Commandant of Cadets, the officer may, upon the request of the college, be assigned from among the Professor of Military Science, the Professor of Naval Science (if any), and the Professor of Aerospace Science (if any) at that college or may be in addition to any other officer detailed to that college in support of the program.
(3) In the case of an officer detailed as Assistant Commandant of Cadets, the officer may, upon the request of the college, be assigned from among officers otherwise detailed to duty at that college in support of the program or may be in addition to any other officer detailed to that college in support of the program.
(b) Designation of officers as tactical officers.--Upon the request of a senior military college, the Secretary of Defense may authorize officers (other than officers covered by subsection (a)) who are detailed to duty as instructors at that college to act simultaneously as tactical officers (with or without compensation) for the Corps of Cadets at that college.
(c) Detail of officers.--The Secretary of a military department shall designate officers for detail to the program at a senior military college in accordance with criteria provided by the college. An officer may not be detailed to a senior military college without the approval of that college.
(d) Termination or reduction of program prohibited.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments may not take or authorize any action to terminate or reduce a unit of the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps at a senior military college unless the termination or reduction is specifically requested by the college.
(e) Assignment to active duty.--(1) The Secretary of the Army shall ensure that a graduate of a senior military college who desires to serve as a commissioned officer on active duty upon graduation from the college, who is medically and physically qualified for active duty, and who is recommended for such duty by the professor of military science at the college, shall be assigned to active duty.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary of the Army from requiring a member of the program who graduates from a senior military college to serve on active duty.
(f) Senior military colleges.--The senior military colleges are the following:
(1) Texas A & M University.
(2) Norwich University.
(3) The Virginia Military Institute.
(4) The Citadel.
(5) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
(6) North Georgia College and State University.
CREDIT(S)
(Added Pub.L. 104-106, Div. A, Title V, § 545(a), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 317, and amended Pub.L. 105-85, Div. A, Title V, § 544(d), (e), (f), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1745, 1746; Pub.L. 106-65, Div. A, Title V, § 541(c), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 607.)