ROTC/SMP

Been a while since I've been here (about the time I got rejected for a 4 year AD Army scholarship ) but anyways, I have a few questions for you all.

I am currently an MS1 at a large central PA school and I am not on scholarship. I am debating, and most likely going to take the SMP route this summer and go to Infantry OSUT. I just have a few questions.

1. Can I choose my ship date, or am I given one? I am doing the Tough Mudder 12MAY and my sister's law school graduation is 17MAY so I am hoping I can get maybe 18/19MAY but I know nothing is guaranteed.

2. Being hypothetical, if I sign up for OSUT say, Jan 20th. I start drilling whenever, OSUT ship date is set for 20MAY. What would happen if I got a 2/2.5/3 year AD scholarship in the middle of February? I would contract AD as soon as possible afterwords, but would I still have to go to basic after I contract with ROTC?

3. At what points am I deployable? Is it after OSUT but before I contract? Do I have to contract to become non-deployable? NOt that I don't want to be deployed at all in my life, I want to... but AFTER I graduate/get my degree.

4. When I graduate from Infantry AIT, and I am 11B qualified, will that "guarantee" I branch Infantry when I commission, or increase the chance that I do, or does it not affect anything?

5. After graduating from OSUT, can I go back to school and sign an AD contract immediately? If I do, will I still drill with my guard/reserve unit and receive the financial benefits?


Thats all I have for now, if I think of anything I'll add it.

Thank you,
Cooper

First off, there is no such thing as an AD scholarship. If you are on scholarship there is absolutely nothing that guarantees you will go AD. It will be up to your recruiter and the availability of training slots when you ship. You are giving yourself a pretty small window to ship and still get back for the fall semester. As far as branching, for an MS I you don't seem to be very well informed about the branching process. The only way you can guarantee that you get IN is to remain in the guard or rank in the top 10% of the OML. You shouldn't be deployable as long as you are enrolled in ROTC, and get contracted in a reasonable amount of time. If you graduate from OSUT you can contract when you meet the requirements. If you are in the Guard or Reserves you will be eligible for TA and most likely GI Bill/kicker. You will also be required to drill and will receive drill pay and stipend.

Not sure why you are asking these questions on a discussion board, and not asking your enrollment officer or recruiter. They should be giving you this information.

Sir,
The reason I'm asking is because i dont go back to school until the 8th and wanted a larger base knowledge before I sat down with the freshmen advisors.

Also, we were told by our pms that we had a single Active Duty scholarship available, along with NG and GRFD scholarships, so I don't know if my school is different from Clarkson, but we were told of ad scholarships being given out, which guaranteed ad because we had to sign an ad contract with it. Or atleast that's how it has seemed with the graduating seniors.

Also I am aware of the top 10% privilege, but I thought maybe if you were already infantry qualified, it would make sense to allow the cadet to commission as something they are already trained in.

Thank you for the response sir,
Cooper

cooper1234 said:

The reason I'm asking is because i dont go back to school until the 8th and wanted a larger base knowledge before I sat down with the freshmen advisors.

Click to expand...

This is a very commendable response. Good job, Cooper!

Again, there is no such thing as an Active Duty scholarship. I'm guessing your PMS refers to a regular scholarship that way because the alternative is GRFD. In the near future a regular scholarship will still give you a 50/50 chance of ending up in the guard or reserves. As far as branching, your current MOS has nothing to do with what branch you get. Ask the current Seniors in your Battalion to tell you a little bit about how the accessions process works.

Check out these two articles for more info...I think they'll help explain things.

http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/smp-another-option/
http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/i-want-to-be-an-airborne-ranger/

clarksonarmy said:

Again, there is no such thing as an Active Duty scholarship. I'm guessing your PMS refers to a regular scholarship that way because the alternative is GRFD. In the near future a regular scholarship will still give you a 50/50 chance of ending up in the guard or reserves. As far as branching, your current MOS has nothing to do with what branch you get. Ask the current Seniors in your Battalion to tell you a little bit about how the accessions process works.

Check out these two articles for more info...I think they'll help explain things.

http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/smp-another-option/
http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/i-want-to-be-an-airborne-ranger/

Click to expand...

Thank you sir for the links, they answered a lot of my questions. I still have a few more, but I'll give you a break and will wait until I get back to school and talk to the Cadre.

Thank you again

cooper1234 said:

Thank you sir for the links, they answered a lot of my questions. I still have a few more, but I'll give you a break and will wait until I get back to school and talk to the Cadre.

Thank you again

Click to expand...

Clarkson, thank you for all the information you provide for these kids. Your blog is truly amazing.

Thanks for the kind words...I'm pretty happy with the way the blog turned out, and the utility of being able to pass a couple links along that clarify Army ROTC. Glad I can help thee young people who are willing to serve.