Joining the guard vs ROTC scholarship

Could someone please
Explain the differences In commitments (during school and after graduation)and funding/ scholarships between a student joining the National Guard (VT guard ) while a student at
norwich.

what are the benefits to receiving an AROTC scholarship vs joining the guard?

Commitments?

Is it doable with life as a cadet/ ROTC/ playing sports?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

Someone will chime in with the full details but first and foremost, you should not join the Guard unless you are prepared to serve that entire commitment as an enlisted member of the Guard. Many people join it as a way to pay for school and commission onto active duty, but many people also fail to understand that it is not guaranteed and does not always happen. SMP is not guaranteed and if it doesn't work out, for whatever reason, the guard contract must be fulfilled.

Joining the National Guard and ROTC will increase your benefits, but if you fail out or ROTC, you will be forced to fulfill your National Guard Commitment. Federal Scholarships are not guaranteed Active Duty so you must focus on high GPA, APFT scores, and activities.

Cadets with Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training are very well rounded because they have 5-8 months of "on-the-job-training" They understand Drill and Ceremony, the Army Values, Rank Structure, and several other skill level 1 tasks. This helps them excel at CLC, CULP, CTLT, and other Cadet Training events.

Commitments in National Guard can vary while in school. To receive GI Bill and Federal Tuition Assistance you must attend Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training. The National Guard will also require you to attend Drill one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. As for sports, the National Guard, and ROTC, you need to speak to your local recruiter, football coach, and Professor of Military Science. They will need to be flexible. It's not impossible.

Time Commitments. National Guard Contract is 6x2 years. 6 years in the National Guard and 2 years in the Inactive Ready Reserve. If you contract within two years of going to MEPS, your MEPS Physical will count as your DODMERB. After two years, you will need to complete a DODMERB physical. When you contract ROTC as a SMP with or without GRFD you are committing to serving the Active Duty or National Guard/Reserves when you commission and graduate.

Example. One year into your National Guard obligation you contract ROTC. Three years later you commission.

As a SMP with GRFD or SMP who does not make/ chooses Reserve Forces, after commissioning you will owe another Six years to the National Guard or Reserves and 2 years to the Inactive Ready Reserve.

As a SMP without GRFD, who chooses and makes Active Duty, you will owe 4 years to Active Duty and 4 years to the Inactive Ready Reserve. There are stipulations to this. When you go through accessions, you can add years onto your obligation to help your chances for your top branch.


Federal Scholarships http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/scholarships.html
100% Tuition and Fees or Room and Board
$300 to $500 Monthly Stipend based on academic year ($300 Fresh, $350 Soph, $450 Junior, and $500 Senior)
$600 Semester Book Stipend


SMP without GRFD (Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty) Means you can compete for Active Duty
Promoted to E-5. (Years in Service begins when you are sworn in at MEPS)
Drill Pay $250 a month (one weekend) Annual Training $1,100 (two weeks)
Some States have Loan Repayment (Nebraska's is currently 50,000) (Reserves is $30,000)
$300 to $500 Monthly Stipend based on academic year ($300 Fresh, $350 Soph, $450 Junior, and $500 Senior)
State and/or Federal Tuition Assistance (usually about 75% of tuition.)
Bonuses for critical MOS. BE CAREFUL with bonuses!! Your State or Reserves can recoup or prorate them for not serving your whole enlisted commitment. (example. $6,000 bonus for 6 by 2 contract. 6 years guard/reserve 2 years Inactive reserve. If you serve 2 of your 6 years. They can recoup $4,000.


SMP with GRFD (Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty) Means you commission into the Reserves or National Guard
100% Tuition and Fees or Room and Board
$300 to $500 Monthly Stipend based on academic year ($300 Fresh, $350 Soph, $450 Junior, and $500 Senior)
$600 Semester Book Stipend
Promoted to E-5. (Years in Service begins when you are sworn in at MEPS)
Drill Pay $250 a month (one weekend) Annual Training $1,100 (two weeks)
Some States have Loan Repayment (Nebraska's is currently 50,000) (Reserves is $30,000)
Again BE CAREFUL with bonuses.
Can contract without Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training.

Norwich could have additional benefits I am not aware of. Like Room and Board Scholarships.

I hope this helps. I know it's a lot and can be confusing. If you have any questions feel free to call or post.

Chadron State AROTC
Chadron, Nebraska
308-432-6030

Chadron State ROTC said:

Joining the National Guard and ROTC will increase your benefits, but if you fail out or ROTC, you will be forced to fulfill your National Guard Commitment. Federal Scholarships are not guaranteed Active Duty so you must focus on high GPA, APFT scores, and activities.

Cadets with Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training are very well rounded because they have 5-8 months of "on-the-job-training" They understand Drill and Ceremony, the Army Values, Rank Structure, and several other skill level 1 tasks. This helps them excel at CLC, CULP, CTLT, and other Cadet Training events.

Commitments in National Guard can vary while in school. To receive GI Bill and Federal Tuition Assistance you must attend Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training. The National Guard will also require you to attend Drill one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. As for sports, the National Guard, and ROTC, you need to speak to your local recruiter, football coach, and Professor of Military Science. They will need to be flexible. It's not impossible.

Time Commitments. National Guard Contract is 6x2 years. 6 years in the National Guard and 2 years in the Inactive Ready Reserve. If you contract within two years of going to MEPS, your MEPS Physical will count as your DODMERB. After two years, you will need to complete a DODMERB physical. When you contract ROTC as a SMP with or without GRFD you are committing to serving the Active Duty or National Guard/Reserves when you commission and graduate.

Example. One year into your National Guard obligation you contract ROTC. Three years later you commission.

As a SMP with GRFD or SMP who does not make/ chooses Reserve Forces, after commissioning you will owe another Six years to the National Guard or Reserves and 2 years to the Inactive Ready Reserve.

As a SMP without GRFD, who chooses and makes Active Duty, you will owe 4 years to Active Duty and 4 years to the Inactive Ready Reserve. There are stipulations to this. When you go through accessions, you can add years onto your obligation to help your chances for your top branch.


Federal Scholarships http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/scholarships.html
100% Tuition and Fees or Room and Board
$300 to $500 Monthly Stipend based on academic year ($300 Fresh, $350 Soph, $450 Junior, and $500 Senior)
$600 Semester Book Stipend


SMP without GRFD (Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty) Means you can compete for Active Duty
Promoted to E-5. (Years in Service begins when you are sworn in at MEPS)
Drill Pay $250 a month (one weekend) Annual Training $1,100 (two weeks)
Some States have Loan Repayment (Nebraska's is currently 50,000) (Reserves is $30,000)
$300 to $500 Monthly Stipend based on academic year ($300 Fresh, $350 Soph, $450 Junior, and $500 Senior)
State and/or Federal Tuition Assistance (usually about 75% of tuition.)
Bonuses for critical MOS. BE CAREFUL with bonuses!! Your State or Reserves can recoup or prorate them for not serving your whole enlisted commitment. (example. $6,000 bonus for 6 by 2 contract. 6 years guard/reserve 2 years Inactive reserve. If you serve 2 of your 6 years. They can recoup $4,000.


SMP with GRFD (Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty) Means you commission into the Reserves or National Guard
100% Tuition and Fees or Room and Board
$300 to $500 Monthly Stipend based on academic year ($300 Fresh, $350 Soph, $450 Junior, and $500 Senior)
$600 Semester Book Stipend
Promoted to E-5. (Years in Service begins when you are sworn in at MEPS)
Drill Pay $250 a month (one weekend) Annual Training $1,100 (two weeks)
Some States have Loan Repayment (Nebraska's is currently 50,000) (Reserves is $30,000)
Again BE CAREFUL with bonuses.
Can contract without Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training.

Click to expand...

To the Mod's (if we have any left), can this be made into sticky? Since 60% of the AROTC folks will be going this route and the fact that is was supplied by a verible source I would think this would be great info to have readily available. Thank you.

Great Post for those that are thinking about the Reserves/NG and SMP.

One thing to be very aware of....If you accept a GRFD Scholarship through the Reserves/NG you "Will Not" have the choice to serve Active Duty, you will be obligated to the Reserves/NG.

Questing for Chadron State ROTC, Has there been much talk about non GRFD SMP cadets not being able to select AD, will some be told they have to fulfill their obligation in the Reserve/NG in the future based on which state they serving. There have been rumors and it would be great to hear from someone in the know.

First off. I want to remind everyone that every state's National Guard benefits are different. So check with your local recruiter.

You could also pick up additional perks through the National Guard/ Reserve. (TS, Airborne, Rigger, Air Assault, etc)

As for SMP without GRFD, I have not heard anything from Cadet Command not allowing them to select Active Duty.

Thank you for the reply.

Very good post on NG options above. My DS choose to go the SMP route and is now AD. Know what you are signing for and how your future choices may affect your benefits. I never saw his contract but we were told that accumulated students loans would be paid up to a certain cap. I have an e-mail stating this fact when making decisions on the type Fed Loan. Well, we were just informed that after further review, since he choose to go active he no longer meets eligibility for loan repay??? BEWARE...or maybe a better way to phrase it Be Aware....

I'm not keen on stickies of this stuff. As stated it varies from state to state and also year to year. It would be very difficult to keep current and might very well provide someone with inaccurate information at some point. IMHO it's best to let folks query as to the current state of affairs rather than potentially mislead them.

Thank you everyone! Extra thank you to Chadron State. I admit I am still confused but your info definitely answered questions...... and I will continue to research while my son continues to present me with options he feels
are good for him.

I have read on other posts(Chardon was on it) to branch out and look at smaller
Schools for ROTC scholarships, as some don't always fill their spots.

Do other ROTC programs find students through the scholarship program if you are not awarded one to a school on your list? Ie- if you didn't apply to Chardon or another school but they came to you after boards were done if spots available?

Also-Just trying to figure out how to tell if it is a competitive ROTC scholarship program or
Not. Am assuming Norwich and UNG are because they are SMC.what about a maritime school or BC or Loyola. I would assume less applicants to those?

I have heard of USMA candidates who are Qualified but not selected
Getting calls from ROTC units.
-Does that happen during this process as well.? Does the NG approach the students after scholarship boards are done also?
The NG option seems to be a route many go and we will continue to research and am thankful for all input.

Thank you everyone. First board will be here before we know it.