I hope lurkers and posters that are thinking about doing Xtown for ROTC, read this thread, because it is one of the drawbacks when you make that decision for some. They may feel as if they are really in a limbo situation. Your friends at college don't get the commitment you are giving to the AF, and your AFROTC friends aren't at your college so they can't relate to your situation.
Clarkson,
I don't think the AFROTC CC would have a problem per se, but because AFROTC has SFT as a must attend, it also puts them in a precarious situation come next fall when they must submit their recs. Do they support him over another cadet that never switched? That rec is due at the end of Dec. No SFT and chances are they will be dis-enrolled. If an AFROTC cadet is dis-enrolled they cannot apply for OTS upon graduation. There is no 2nd option of becoming an AF officer.
If I was Duke Fool I would talk to the CFC or CWC informally. If they still are playing with the idea, than I think they need to talk to the CC or DO. I only advise this because they need to think about SFT selection.
LY a ton of people were shocked that 93% were selected, whereas, the yr before it was @58%. The fact is they only added 100 more slots, and when 2k+ attend, that minimal amount statistically should not create a 35% jump. The realistic reason behind this was a mixture of 2 things.
1. Class sizes are smaller.
2. Some dets., not all had mini-boards.
~~~ In other words the CC sat them down in the fall and said I don't think you will be selected. By doing so, some voluntarily dis-enrolled knowing that it would be over come next fall.
~~~~~ At our DS's det., I know 2 cadets that were given this news. 1 was because they sent her for a DoDMERB exam and the results were she would need a waiver. The other because although they were scholarship, never on probation, their cgpa was just way too low to be a viable candidate. Scholarships are 2.5, but for SFT it varies from 3.1-3.4 avg cgpa depending on if they are tech or non-tech. This cadet had @2.9. Like scholarships, cgpa is a big chunk on the OML for SFT.
Dukefool is a freshman and that is also an issue because right now he doesn't know his gpa. He could get a 3.6 this semester, but a 2.8 next, that means he has to pull at least a 3.1 as a tech major fall soph yr to feel comfortable. If he is non-tech he is looking at a 3.6 fall soph.
The CC may look at his grades, and place into the equation he left and came back when it comes to recs for SFT. I don't think they wouldn't welcome them back. I think when they do and that board hanging over them, he will be under a microscope. He needs to be prepared for that factor.
Additionally, part of the SFT includes positions held in AFROTC. He leaves and jumps back in his peers will have an edge. The jobs are given out for spring @ Nov./Dec timeframe. They will not offer him a position since he will be going AROTC. Assume come Apr. he decides he will go back to AFROTC, the problem is the fall C200 jobs for the majority will be handed out at this time, thus, he will not get a leadership position for C200 fall.
Again, the CC will write a rec. for him, but now the CC knows all of these C200 cadets personally, their positions etc., and can write a strong rec. The CC might welcome him back, but what does he write about the cadet, he has no positions, he left and came back, he can't put his name to a face, and if he did it will be Oh yeah, the kid that left and did AROTC last spring? You know, I know, we all know, the board will see this as a sign. There will be no top cadet, no one of my top cadets, cadet as CFT had the highest scoring flight for PFT, etc. It may be filled with generics; strong candidate that illustrates his commitment to the AF. (He has illustrated it by coming back).
Even if they stay at the 93% rate of selection, 7 out of 100 cadets aren't selected. There has never been a 100% selection rate for SFT. The question remains would jumping put him in that 93% or 7% pile? What if he is in the 7% pile, and decides to jump back into AROTC, how will that impact him if he is now going to graduate in 16? As you stated
clarksonarmy said:
You will probably have a tough time switching back,
Would that be true for him if he doesn't get SFT and wants to come back to AROTC? Would it be a tough time to do it? Remember SFT results don't come out until Mar C200 (MSII), so it would be fall MSIII that he would re-enter. This board yr after yr is littered with AFROTC cadets that don't get SFT and do jump to AROTC, yet the difference is those cadets never jumped back and forth between the two over two yrs. They stuck it out for 2 yrs in AFROTC and than jumped.
I am not saying he shouldn't do it. I think he should if he still feels this way after placing all of the facts into the equation, and not just how emotionally he feels about AROTC members seem to bond more at his school. This is an AFROTC cadet that is not at the host college, and it appears the college has AROTC on campus, or at the very least many AROTC xtown attend his college.
