Ike Skelton Early Commissioning Program Scholarship Offer

l2018a

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Just wondering if any other AROTC scholarship applicants received the Ike Skelton Early Commissioning Program Scholarship Offer. Has anyone taken this offer? If so can anyone expand on what it entails?
 
It is what it says, a scholarship offer for the ECP program. The scholarship covers your first two years at least for a Junior Military College. You would go to ROTC Basic Camp before school starts, start college as a MS3. Once you complete your two years at the JMC you would Commission a 2LT and would start drilling with a NG unit. You will not attend BOLC and will not be designated a Branch within the Army until you complete your degree. You would be required to complete your 4 year degree at a 4 year university within a certain timeframe while you are drilling with your unit. Once you are close to finishing your degree you will select your branch based on what is available through whatever NG unit you wish to join.

After to have your branch you would attend BOLC for that branch. You will be required to fulfill your service obligation in the NG/Reserves, you will not be able to commission Active Duty unless they release you from the NG/Reserves, that is rare.

There are a lot of threads on this board that discuss the ECP in detail and there is at least on member here that has a son that went through the program. Search this board and google as much information as you can about ECP before committing to any scholarship or program.

There has also been discussion on this board on whether you will still be in the running for the National Scholarship if you have been offered an ECP scholarship. The ROOs that post here will be able to better discuss those issues.
 
My son was offered this last year, but declined. There were no programs anywhere close to us, so we couldn't check out any of the schools, and he wanted active duty.

Anecdotally, when I posted the question last year, none of the Ike Skelton awardees were offered conventional 3 or 4 year national scholarships from the Army. He is now in AFROTC on a type 7 scholarship....

https://www.serviceacademyforums.co...ke-skelton-early-commissioning-program.52274/
https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?posts/546028/
 
Once you complete your two years at the JMC you would Commission a 2LT and would start drilling with a NG unit. You will not attend BOLC and will not be designated a Branch within the Army until you complete your degree.

That statement is only true if you do get to go active duty after graduating with your 4 yr degree.

As an ECP 2LT you get to choose what NG branch and unit you want to drill with (actually you pick 3 units and the states strength officer evaluates the choices and places you). If you remain in the NG then you get to choose what type of unit you want to continue with and go to that BOLC (it has to be approved by your state). If your state does not have any NG guard infantry units they will not send you to IBOLC.

I know an ECP LT that chose and served in a transportation unit in the state he finished school in. Upon graduation he moved back to his home state and chose to go to AG BOLC.
 
That statement is only true if you do get to go active duty after graduating with your 4 yr degree.

As an ECP 2LT you get to choose what NG branch and unit you want to drill with (actually you pick 3 units and the states strength officer evaluates the choices and places you). If you remain in the NG then you get to choose what type of unit you want to continue with and go to that BOLC (it has to be approved by your state). If your state does not have any NG guard infantry units they will not send you to IBOLC.

I know an ECP LT that chose and served in a transportation unit in the state he finished school in. Upon graduation he moved back to his home state and chose to go to AG BOLC.

It's great to have someone like you that can advise on what can sometimes be a confusing program.

I have a question so I can understand better the process.

When you said that a ECP 2LT gets to choose a branch and unit to drill with while they complete their degree, do they actually attend BOLC for that branch before they complete their degree or do they just work within that branch. Do they wear the branch pin for the branch they are working in. When they get their degree can they switch branches and attend the new branch BOLC. At what point do they receive the branch they will have during their service obligation in the NG/Reserves?

There are so many in's and out's with the ECP program that it's hard to understand it all unless you've been through it. Thanks for all your advice you give here.
 
That statement is only true if you do get to go active duty after graduating with your 4 yr degree.

As an ECP 2LT you get to choose what NG branch and unit you want to drill with (actually you pick 3 units and the states strength officer evaluates the choices and places you). If you remain in the NG then you get to choose what type of unit you want to continue with and go to that BOLC (it has to be approved by your state). If your state does not have any NG guard infantry units they will not send you to IBOLC.

I know an ECP LT that chose and served in a transportation unit in the state he finished school in. Upon graduation he moved back to his home state and chose to go to AG BOLC.

It's great to have someone like you that can advise on what can sometimes be a confusing program.

I have a question so I can understand better the process.

When you said that a ECP 2LT gets to choose a branch and unit to drill with while they complete their degree, do they actually attend BOLC for that branch before they complete their degree or do they just work within that branch. Do they wear the branch pin for the branch they are working in. When they get their degree can they switch branches and attend the new branch BOLC. At what point do they receive the branch they will have during their service obligation in the NG/Reserves?

There are so many in's and out's with the ECP program that it's hard to understand it all unless you've been through it. Thanks for all your advice you give here.

It takes a warped mind and a lot of questions to begin to understand so here it goes, and you know me it won't be short:)

I'm gonna start by responding by what our state does, I'm guessing it's across the board but who knows.

By the contract they sign, they must graduate before they go to BOLC, WITH THE EXCEPTION that if the BOLC they are attending is short enough they can attend it during the summer break and their NG unit wants them to go for some reason, say a deployment was coming up and they wanted to get the BOLC out of the way so the ECP officer could deploy immediately after graduation. DS's current commander wanted to send him to EBOLC (20 weeks) immediately and skip a semester of school so he could deploy if needed. NOT HAPPENING.

ECP 2LTs are deployable for domestic assignments only THEY CANNOT DEPLOY OVERSEAS UNTIL ATTENDING BOLC, non-negotiable. If they are deployed domestically it is their responsibility to maintain and continue their education during the deployment (online classes would count in this instance).
Again DS's unit is doing there 3 week AT (yes 3 week not 2 week) starting next week. First week of school. His school has a policy that if you do not attend for 2 weeks you are dropped. His commander will not allow him to miss. Plus they have a 5 day drill in March. The ROTC department that is technically still responsible for him until he graduates okayed the online classes due to his NG commitments. I would not call this typical.

Yes they wear their branch's insignia while drilling but before attending BOLC.

Yes they can drill with one Branch but choose a different BOLC and branch to transfer to after graduating (has to be approved by the state).

National Guard officers get to choose what branch they serve in as long as there is an opening or they can find an opening in a different state and travel at their own expense.
Our state is heavy in engineering, MP, and transportation units but there are some other branches scattered or attached to these main units (infantry, artillery, etc.) DS chose a multi role bridging unit (engineering branch). There was an opening and he was approved by the state strength officer so that is where he went and still is. He will go to EBOLC and continue with some sort of engineering unit (being pushed to go with a sapper unit by superiors).
His first commander (captain) lived in another state and drove 5 hours for drill. He then took a job on the east coast and flew back for about 5 months until another captain came in.

I assume active duty officers can transfer branches if the need arises or a position is available. They would have to attend some sort of class for this?

DS has attended many classes and obtained lots of training and certifications while being an ECP LT but before attending BOLC. Let's just say his ECP and national guard experience has been overall positive to this point. I attribute some of that to him and his skills but also to his unit commanders and even higher that he has met for not pigeon holing him until he attended BOLC.
 
So from what I've gathered, if I get the ike skelton scholarship, I am basically not going to win the national scholarship for the 3rd board.
 
So from what I've gathered, if I get the ike skelton scholarship, I am basically not going to win the national scholarship for the 3rd board.

From the self-selected sample that chose to report here in past years, no. But that is a lot of qualifiers, so I doubt anyone can (or will) tell you for sure. Don't forget the on-campus scholarships, though. You were competitive enough for the Ike Skelton. If a two year school and reserve duty aren't for you, go join your campus ROTC, get good grades, do well on the PFA and participate. There are a couple of people on this board who won (or their kids won) 3 and 3.5 year scholarships.
 
So from what I've gathered, if I get the ike skelton scholarship, I am basically not going to win the national scholarship for the 3rd board.

From the self-selected sample that chose to report here in past years, no. But that is a lot of qualifiers, so I doubt anyone can (or will) tell you for sure. Don't forget the on-campus scholarships, though. You were competitive enough for the Ike Skelton. If a two year school and reserve duty aren't for you, go join your campus ROTC, get good grades, do well on the PFA and participate. There are a couple of people on this board who won (or their kids won) 3 and 3.5 year scholarships.

Those offered a 2YR Ike Skelton are not projected to be high enough on the OML to get a 3 or 4YR scholarship. Cadet Command is offering the 2YR scholarships to those that are projected to just fall short of the 3YR scholarship cut line in order to increase the quality of cadets at the JMCs. If you have a strong desire to serve on active duty, then you should decline the Ike Skelton and work to earn a campus based scholarship. Only a small percentage of the 2YR winners are able to get onto active duty.
 
I wanted to report that my DS was offered the Ike Skelton scholarship in Feb. We were disheartened as his plan was a 4 yr university and AD commission. From this forum we had little hope of a scholarship offer as we figured his OML was not going to be high enough. Well today he was offered a National 3 yr Scholarship to his to three choice schools. I'm relieved and glad he never gave up hope. Best of luck to you all.
 
I wanted to report that my DS was offered the Ike Skelton scholarship in Feb. We were disheartened as his plan was a 4 yr university and AD commission. From this forum we had little hope of a scholarship offer as we figured his OML was not going to be high enough. Well today he was offered a National 3 yr Scholarship to his to three choice schools. I'm relieved and glad he never gave up hope. Best of luck to you all.

Congratulations! My DS was also offered the Ike Skelton scholarship -- Yesterday (30 Mar). We will have to turn it down. Unfortunately for my DS, there is no other board to hope on! We will have to follow the recommendations of this board -- Seek an AROTC scholarship at the "local level". Again -- Congratulations BigRivermom!
 
So from what I've gathered, if I get the ike skelton scholarship, I am basically not going to win the national scholarship for the 3rd board.

From the self-selected sample that chose to report here in past years, no. But that is a lot of qualifiers, so I doubt anyone can (or will) tell you for sure. Don't forget the on-campus scholarships, though. You were competitive enough for the Ike Skelton. If a two year school and reserve duty aren't for you, go join your campus ROTC, get good grades, do well on the PFA and participate. There are a couple of people on this board who won (or their kids won) 3 and 3.5 year scholarships.

Those offered a 2YR Ike Skelton are not projected to be high enough on the OML to get a 3 or 4YR scholarship. Cadet Command is offering the 2YR scholarships to those that are projected to just fall short of the 3YR scholarship cut line in order to increase the quality of cadets at the JMCs. If you have a strong desire to serve on active duty, then you should decline the Ike Skelton and work to earn a campus based scholarship. Only a small percentage of the 2YR winners are able to get onto active duty.

MohawkArmyROTC: In your experience, how difficult is it to get an AROTC from the AROTC Det on campus? Would it help for my DS to ask to meet with the AROTC cadre and the CO of the Det, before starting college? Thanks!
 
Some units may get one or two additional scholarships to give out to incoming freshmen, so if you didn’t get an offer, start reaching out to the school/unit you plan to enroll in this fall. In most cases. If they don’t get the “one to give” then you will have to show up, enroll and participate, and compete for a scholarship. For us ROOs, if you say you are coming regardless, and tell us you plan to enroll and compete you are going to be ahead of the one that says I don’t know if I’m coming, but I need you to give me a scholarship for me to come.

Does that make sense without sounding too harsh?

Bottom line is your child should definitely be touching base with the ROTC program ASAP if he wants to be an Army Officer. I don’t recommend he bother the PMS. Dropping a note to the ROO should work in most cases.
 
My son was offered this last year, but declined. There were no programs anywhere close to us, so we couldn't check out any of the schools, and he wanted active duty.

Anecdotally, when I posted the question last year, none of the Ike Skelton awardees were offered conventional 3 or 4 year national scholarships from the Army. He is now in AFROTC on a type 7 scholarship....

https://www.serviceacademyforums.co...ke-skelton-early-commissioning-program.52274/
https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?posts/546028/
Not true, in 2016 my DS was offered an ECP scholarship to an MJC after not receiving an offer 1st board. He declined and then was offered a 3 yr AD on 2nd board which was upgraded to a 4 yr after 3rd board.
 
I wanted to report that my DS was offered the Ike Skelton scholarship in Feb. We were disheartened as his plan was a 4 yr university and AD commission. From this forum we had little hope of a scholarship offer as we figured his OML was not going to be high enough. Well today he was offered a National 3 yr Scholarship to his to three choice schools. I'm relieved and glad he never gave up hope. Best of luck to you all.
Hey not sure if not sure if your seeing this or not but definitely gave me hope. Thank you
 
Some units may get one or two additional scholarships to give out to incoming freshmen, so if you didn’t get an offer, start reaching out to the school/unit you plan to enroll in this fall. In most cases. If they don’t get the “one to give” then you will have to show up, enroll and participate, and compete for a scholarship. For us ROOs, if you say you are coming regardless, and tell us you plan to enroll and compete you are going to be ahead of the one that says I don’t know if I’m coming, but I need you to give me a scholarship for me to come.

Does that make sense without sounding too harsh?

Bottom line is your child should definitely be touching base with the ROTC program ASAP if he wants to be an Army Officer. I don’t recommend he bother the PMS. Dropping a note to the ROO should work in most cases.
Clarksonarmy - First, thank you for all the advice you give out on these boards. I imagine answering the same questions over and over must be frustrating so I apologize if the question I am about to ask has been answered by you before. You mention that some units get "one or two additional scholarships to give out to incoming freshman", how common is this?

Regards,
 
Clarksonarmy - First, thank you for all the advice you give out on these boards. I imagine answering the same questions over and over must be frustrating so I apologize if the question I am about to ask has been answered by you before. You mention that some units get "one or two additional scholarships to give out to incoming freshman", how common is this?
I believe every program has 1 3AD to give out. Possibly more but all $ dependent. We usually get one out of state 3AD and one in state room/board ($10k/yr)
Regards,
 
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