I'm torn b\w Airforce and Navy ROTC.

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Luigi59 said:
And it doesn't always guarantee a good politician, but I think many of us who respect and admire the military would give the edge in our voting choice to an ex-military officer over a non-military service candidate, all other things being equal.
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And you would be surprised that this is not true. Last year I went to a political workshop at George Washington University hosted by the school's veterans group.

I found it enlightening. A few federally elected officials talked to us. You would be surprised how little military service plays into someone's decision to vote.

I wouldn't vote for Wesley Clarke over my ferret's turd in a second. I also don't appreciate veterans who constantly run on being a veteran, especially the ones who hope to use that service to justify being elected. John Kerry figured out how putting too much focus on military service can backfire (of course, tossing out your medals doesn't help).

Veterans don't get votes from veterans because they are veterans.

You want to be elected? Don't be the guy to bring up how "selflessly" you served. People don't like service or patriotism shoved down their throats. It's something we tend to forget when we're in uniform isolated from the general voting American public.
 
I agree with LITS and what he is stating.

Luigi, at the end of the day when have you ever known all other things being equal in politics? It never is.

Do I place weight on their position regarding the military as far as budget and op tempo? Yes, but serving in the military will not make me pull the lever for you. Kerry served AD, I didn't vote for him. Their ideology is what I base my decision.
I care more about how my tax dollars are spent and recognizing gay marriage than if the candidate served 5, 10 or 20 yrs. If a dem that never served is on the same page and a republican that has served isn't, I am voting dem. Let's be honest, to find an R that is on my page would be equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.

nick4060 said:
If you want to serve and lead other people, there are a lot of ways to do that. You don't have to commit to the military to do it. Like I said in my last post, its not fair to the airmen or sailors you'd be working with if your heart isn't in it.

If you truly do want to be a military officer - Your question should be "How can I be a good military officer?", not "How can being a military officer make me a good politician?"
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:worship::worship::worship::worship:

Deshawn,

Honestly nobody is saying you should not go down this route. We are really trying to stress to you that you have not investigated the military life enough.

There are always candidates and applicants that are waivering between branches, or career fields, but still they have a military career goal. I don't think anyone here even understands why you have decided AF or Navy. You have yet to say anything more than political reasons. I am curious why not the Army? Don't want to be in the Army, okay, but at least, I feel you have investigated to some level regarding the military. I don't feel that currently.

Secondly, I don't think you have taken the time to grasp how AF/NROTC works.
Both branches, have the same make or break yr. (soph in college).

AFROTC requires you to attend SFT. Scholarship is what the military calls "masked" for the selection board. In other words it is all about your AFROTC stats. Don't get selected, and you are dis-enrolled. No POC, no commissioning. Take the time to pull up old SFT threads, to see it is very competitive, cgpa for Poli Sci (non-techs) need to be in the 3.3.-3.4 range. Tech is @3.1 cgpa. Not an easy feat...pull 1 semester of 3.0 as a non-tech and you only have 2 semesters to get it to a 3.3...basically you need one semester at a 3.5, and another at 3.4.

NROTC is different. I will allow others to correct me if I am wrong. Soph yr is also make or break if you are not on scholarship. You must meet a board and get "contracted" at the end of that yr. Again, like AFROTC it is NATIONAL. It is highly competitive, and techs get an edge. Do not contract, same deal as AFROTC, disenrolled.

Bullet discussed the cart and the horse issue. You have to acknowledge that you have many carts right now.

Nobody knows your PAR, nor your PFA/CFA, ECs and the OMG issue of DoDMERB.

Throttle back. You want Norwich, you want AF or Navy, how about giving stats now. Leave your political aspirations at the door, let's address if you are competitive to even get into Norwich or get a scholarship. Signing up for ROTC does not equate into pinning on butter bars.
 
Hey Dewshawn - Wrestlling

Great sport - My son did it for four years in high school. It was a little tough for me and my father (we were basketball players)

Are you weightlifting now? It usually comes with Wrestling. Just make sure you have some one teaching you proper methods. Never do it alone. My son joined a gym by us when was your age and these two guys in law enforcement took him under their wing. All they asked is that he help others(later on) with it. Look to do that. Nothing crazy in terms of weights but build with that. It will help you a lot going forward.
 
Wooooooooooooow

There is alot more to this ROTC than I thought it was. I thought it was Pt, class, evaluations, make good grades and you are in, but now I know.
I except the challenge
 
deshawnjamison said:
I'm human. I make mistakes!
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We all make mistakes. When my son was your age he was a horrible writer. Much worse than what I have you seen of you. He is at IBOLC now and got a high grade on a very detailed op order. There is a determination you will develop. Things like grammar, coherent writing and mostly confidence will increase as you get older. You will get there and be able to run 10 Miles with 80 pounds on your back plus 20 pounds of water and 30 to 50 pounds of weapons in loverly Georgia at about 113 degrees. Enjoy high school now and work for the future. Don't worry about it. You will get there soon enough.
 
Deshawn,

I am glad you see now that ROTC is not an automatic commissioning. Please still take the time to find a career field. 4 yrs 24/7/365 is AD AF or Navy life. You need to want to be there 24/7/365.

Honestly, you are the 1st poster in my yrs here that has no goal regarding career fields. I have seen the service question, but knows their career goals, I just have yet to see the poster who is going with the flow and leaving everything up in the air. Career field, and branch are HUGE.

I understand Packer's post. He was only trying to illustrate that attention to detail matters. I don't think he was trying to be mean, he was trying to prepare you for next yr. CGPA matters, Eng101 will nail you for except when you meant accept. AFROTC as a non-tech major, 3.0 cga 1st semester puts you behind the 8 ball.

As harsh as his comment may sting, 10 will get you 20, he helped you. From now on you will always think twice before you write except or accept. That criticism will always be in your mind, it will be an asset later on..
 
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I couldn't see it

I thought it was grammatical, or something like that. The word was spelled correctly,but it was tyre wrong term
 
Deshawn,

This site is critical regarding grammatical errors. Goal is to make sure you get you are conversing with adults, not texting peers.

The harder we are on you, the better you are off. If we bust you on except when it should be accept, you will not trust spell check.

Every point counts for scholarships.
 
Deshawn,

I defended you regarding your grammatical error, but please do not mistake that for the fact I believe you are an ideal AF/NROTC candidate.

I and others are still waiting with baited breath for your career field.

We all know you want to go political after your military stint, be it AF or Navy. We just don't know what career field?

Navy, Subs?

AF rated or non-rated?

Ball is in your court. We will help you, but unless you are honest and open with us, I personally think we let this thread die.

NO I want to serve this country. That is an easy out. I want to serve as an Intel Officer, I want to serve as a SWO. Give a career field. AF calls it AFSC.

Commit to at least some career field.
 
Deshawn,

I will grant you I do not know every code, but in the 4 yrs here "human" is not an AFSC code.

I am not trying to be harsh, I am only trying to assist.

ALO or CoC scholarship SA interview:
So Deshawn what is dream career in the AF?

You:
Human.

:confused::eek::eek::confused:

Do you get what I am saying? Interviews are part of the WCS.

I think you meant to say Personnel or Resources, aka Manpower. I don't think you meant HUMAN.
 
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Deshawn,
You don't have to know exactly what you want to do in the service. You will have several years in ROTC in which you will learn more about the different opportunities. You should, however, have a couple that you are interested in (plan A and B) and study up on them. Your ability to talk about what you want to do in the service and answer questions about what you will do if you don't get your first choice will be valuable in your interviews. The interviews do carry some weight in scholarship consideration. Just because you say you want to be in intelligence does not commit you from changing your mind later on.

My comment on your incorrect word useage was to draw your attention to paying attention to detail. Those errors will hurt on an application/cover letter, etc.

Good luck.
 
^ Also, identifying what you want to do and researching that job in each service will help you decide between the services, or at least an order of preference. I thought that was one of the original purposes of this thread.
 
Deshawn,

That is all anyone here wants you to do. I know it appears we are being hyper critical, but I believe most of us feel that way out of a sense of protection for you.

This is a very serious commitment. After 1 yr on scholarship you will owe the military. They decide whether you pay it back in a form of a check or in time served as an enlisted member.

The further you go down the path, your ability to bolt on your terms becomes more difficult. Said it before, college is not 24/7/365 days a yr. AD military life is. You can submit your wish list of being stationed at Ramstein, Eglin and Hickham, but they can drop orders for you to go to Cannon, NM. You can't fight it, you just go.

Same for AFSC, You can request Intel, MP and Maintenance, but they can say you are going to Public Affairs. Likelihood of that occurring is rare, but you have to be willing to accept that chance.

As Packer stated we are not trying to be nosy about your career intentions, but it was apparent to almost every poster that it felt like you were filling a square.

AFROTC and NROTC will require an interview same as every SA. That interview is part of the WCS. Every single point matters. An ALO or BGO may feel you are a great student, a great candidate, but because you are focused on life after the military, you are not the right candidate for their branch.

I would also suggest that if this is the path you want to start practicing your CFA/PFA. Certain things you have no real control over, but this is not one of those things. Just like the interview counts for points, so does the CFA/PFA. You have control over this aspect. Practice, practice and practice some more because it can be the difference between getting a scholarship and a TWE. At the end of the day, there will always be multiple candidates vying for that 1 last scholarship.

Finally, it is important to also research how AFROTC and NROTC vary in awarding scholarships. The one thing they have that is similar is bot branches award @80-85% of their scholarships to TECH majors aka STEM. You want to go non-tech, that makes the competition even harder and why the interview and the CFA may be what transitions you from the TWE to the Congrat letter.

Best wishes, and we are all here for you to assist in any manner we can.

OBTW, while you are also getting your ducks in a row, make sure you are 1000% positive that medically you have no issues. This is always a problem, and becoming more so now since the DoDMERB exam is being pushed back until the candidate is deemed competitive. Every yr there is a kid that didn't realize the inhaler prescribed when they were 14 and never used would put them in a DQ pile and the waiver process. Believe it or not, every yr there are NROTC candidates that didn't realize they would fail the color vision test. It happens at a higher rate than you can imagine. If you right now know you have any medical issue that might be flagged, go to the DoDMERB forum on this site. Get your medical records in order. They could send you for an exam in Jan., and you might clear the waiver process in 3 weeks, or it might be 3 months.

Also, while you are doing your college tours, take the time and set up a one on one appt with the ROTC units at the college. Colleges all have their own feel, and so do the dets. I know Norwich is your 1st choice, but you need to have back up colleges too. Unless your folks have deep pockets, cost becomes an issue. Competitive students for ROTC scholarships traditionally get merit money from the college too. DS's merit money ranged from 8K to 100K back in 07/08 yr. Had DS not received a ROTC scholarship, I am not sure he would have attended there because it would have been a financial stretch for us, he probably would have gone to a college with more lucrative merit awards.

You will also need to be honest from an AFROTC perspective, what if you don't get SFT and the scholarship is revoked? Can you afford to stay there with no financial assistance? This is a conversation to have with your parents today, not 2 yrs from now when AFROTC SFT board meets and you have created a life at college.
 
Consideration

All valid points, and I will look at them closely, and with much thought. Thank you all, for your support, and ask the information and tips that were given unto me. Thank you all.



Respectfully,


Deshawnjamison
 
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