AF decisions

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mtnwing said:
AFROTC is bouncing out sophomores with straight A's from field training for this summer and gone from the program entirely. Straight A's at top schools and they are being bounced out anyway due to a lack of retirements and cost savings. Sad for those that committed two years of their life to lose their scholarships with good participation. This is the new norm I guess. But why would you try if they do this?
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I’m reading elsewhere that some of the Army and Navy/Marine ROTC programs are looking to pick up the AFROTC cadets who didn’t make the cut. Looks like that is a possible option.
 
Here is what kids need to know that "NO ONE" told my family. 1) Be a stem major to be safer 2) Select Type Rating For my son with straight A's it was not enough after two years and good performance in the unit. He was above 50% but a military history major and he got bounced. So if you fit the first two it's a good gamble. If you don't it's a roll of the dice. It's sad to see a A student kicked to the curb and that's what they just did.
 
gibsontrio said:
Yes this !!

My ds and I had this discussion so he understands what is happening and what the risk is. His reaction..
So if I don’t get picked up then I lose my scholarship but still finish college with an awesome Aero Engineering degree with minimal debt🤷🏻‍♀️
There’s no certainty in the military, gotta roll with the punches
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We've had similar conversation here. What is Plan B is you don't make field training especially with reduced numbers? What is Plan C? Hopefully, since that is 2 years off for him, the numbers will have changed significantly. His response to me is, "I'm going to knock my physical fitness test out-of-the park and do my best to set my self apart as a leader and willingness to serve." Those things may not be enough, but he is willing to look for alternate paths if needed.
 
Seriously, what is wrong with you. I didn't bash the AF. I simply reported what is happening. Are you cancelling the news? What is wrong with you?
 
Stealth_81 said:
Because the Air Force has a limited budget and can only keep so many people at one time. Their leaders manage their personnel just like everyone else and sometime events dictate tough choices. My son is one of those pesky non-retiring O-4 pilots who dedicated 4 years at USAFA, 10 years on active duty, and has thousands of hours in the jet. Would it be a better decision to cut him loose so that a college student with two years of participation can stay?

Your continued bashing of the Air Force process is tiring.

Stealth_81
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I guess your son is most deserving. Thanks for clarifying that. I never said he wasn't. My brother was 20 years. I guess he also is deserving. Incredible comments here.
 
WMTA said:
We've had similar conversation here. What is Plan B is you don't make field training especially with reduced numbers? What is Plan C? Hopefully, since that is 2 years off for him, the numbers will have changed significantly. His response to me is, "I'm going to knock my physical fitness test out-of-the park and do my best to set my self apart as a leader and willingness to serve." Those things may not be enough, but he is willing to look for alternate paths if needed.
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I love that. We had the same exact conversation with our two sons. One at Yale and the other at Notre Dame. We told them get off the dirt after being dropped from the punch and keep swinging. But some of the folks here are not very nice.
 
Jdjuli said:
I received an appointment to USAFA this year and just recently received a Type 1 AFROTC scholarship which if I used would be at Duke. With more AFROTC cadets being dropped in sophomore year, would it be wiser to go to USAFA vs. Duke?
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If your goal is to become an Air Force officer, the Academy is the safest bet. However, if you factor in lifestyle, pick the one that best fits you. EAs were near 100% when I was selected, but when I was applying for my scholarship they were low and even commissioning seniors were being offered a way out. I had the same dilemma, but I came to the conclusion that I would be miserable forcing myself through 4 years at the Academy when I had no real interest in that lifestyle. Weigh the risk reward.
 
Tex232 said:
Well at least they got two years of free college that they don’t have to recoup.
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when the AF shows up and tells the parents and kid you have a 4 year type 1 and doesn't say we can take it away you assume there is integrity. Then you realize that has been lost when they take it away and say they can do that. No one ever told us our son can lose his scholarship if he has straight A's and scores well in the unit. No one did. Not at his unit and not at his recruitment office. So this is crap.
 
mtnwing said:
Here is what kids need to know that "NO ONE" told my family. 1) Be a stem major to be safer 2) Select Type Rating For my son with straight A's it was not enough after two years and good performance in the unit. He was above 50% but a military history major and he got bounced. So if you fit the first two it's a good gamble. If you don't it's a roll of the dice. It's sad to see a A student kicked to the curb and that's what they just did.
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If no one told your son that as a non-tech non-rated applicant he was in a risky spot, his cadre didn't do their job. All cadets are counseled individually before putting in an EA.
 
Thunderbolt462 said:
If your goal is to become an Air Force officer, the Academy is the safest bet. However, if you factor in lifestyle, pick the one that best fits you. EAs were near 100% when I was selected, but when I was applying for my scholarship they were low and even commissioning seniors were being offered a way out. I had the same dilemma, but I came to the conclusion that I would be miserable forcing myself through 4 years at the Academy when I had no real interest in that lifestyle. Weigh the risk reward.
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bad advice. Go to the academy as my son is at an Ivy and has a perfect A for two years and he is losing his scholarships for the next two years. I have in writing that he did well in the unit and was top on enthusiasm. They can take it away in a blink.
 
Thunderbolt462 said:
If no one told your son that as a non-tech non-rated applicant he was in a risky spot, his cadre didn't do their job. All cadets are counseled individually before putting in an EA.
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They did not. In fact he was told to not pick Rated earlier this year if he wasn't 100% sure he wanted to be a pilot. At the time he was 99% and had taken many lessons.
 
mtnwing said:
when the AF shows up and tells the parents and kid you have a 4 year type 1 and doesn't say we can take it away you assume there is integrity. Then you realize that has been lost when they take it away and say they can do that. No one ever told us our son can lose his scholarship if he has straight A's and scores well in the unit. No one did. Not at his unit and not at his recruitment office. So this is crap.
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Again, when cadets sign the paperwork they are counseled on this exact scenario. It's called "contracting" for a reason. You sign a contract that states this exact situation. I'm very sorry this happened to your son but they made him very aware of this.
 
mtnwing said:
They did not. In fact he was told to not pick Rated earlier this year if he wasn't 100% sure he wanted to be a pilot. At the time he was 99% and had taken many lessons.
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And ironically he's a military history major with the top grade out of 150 kids
 
mtnwing said:
I love that. We had the same exact conversation with our two sons. One at Yale and the other at Notre Dame. We told them get off the dirt after being dropped from the punch and keep swinging. But some of the folks here are not very nice.
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I'm not sure we would have even been aware of this issue without this forum. This forum has helped us greatly in getting an idea of what to expect. I stumbled upon it last fall while searching for answers about the ROTC. My DS was very much prepared not to get a scholarship offered last week. The discussion about reduced scholarship offers had him completely ready to choose our in-state university which is 30 minutes away. He would have lived at home and commuted. He had their top merit scholarship, so financially there was going to be limited impact. However, the forum has also made us very aware that there is looming out there the possibility of not being chosen for field training. He appears to be completely open to the branches should that happen.
 
mtnwing said:
bad advice. Go to the academy as my son is at an Ivy and has a perfect A for two years and he is losing his scholarships for the next two years. I have in writing that he did well in the unit and was top on enthusiasm. They can take it away in a blink.
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I would suggest you get a copy of the contract that your son signed when he accepted the scholarship and read through it. This scenario is spelled out in it and he agreed to it. They have it in writing.

Stealth_81
 
Thunderbolt462 said:
Again, when cadets sign the paperwork they are counseled on this exact scenario. It's called "contracting" for a reason. You sign a contract that states this exact situation. I'm very sorry this happened to your son but they made him very aware of this.
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We got ZERO counseling. Are you serious that they were supposed to explain this? No one told him or us anything.
 
mtnwing said:
bad advice. Go to the academy as my son is at an Ivy and has a perfect A for two years and he is losing his scholarships for the next two years. I have in writing that he did well in the unit and was top on enthusiasm. They can take it away in a blink.
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I'm with Stealth on being frustrated with this. I chose the AFROTC path with a non-tech major and now I'm a pilot after initially attending FT on a non-rated EA. I followed my own advice and it worked out. I was fully prepared to accept the consequences if I wasn't selected. I was made well aware, as I promise your son was.

I would very much appreciate you not giving advice to incoming cadets based on your negative experiences. It's not valid and not constructive to call my advice "bad" when it works.

Also, literally anything you do in the military is in writing with your signature and social on it. Unless his cadre are forging signatures, he was made aware.
 
mtnwing said:
We got ZERO counseling. Are you serious that they were supposed to explain this? No one told him or us anything.
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For the second time I am the stupid parent. I hope other parents learn from our mistakes. The AF is great but we did not have a good experience and I guess it was our fault again.
 
Thunderbolt462 said:
I'm with Stealth on being frustrated with this. I chose the AFROTC path with a non-tech major and now I'm a pilot after initially attending FT on a non-rated EA. I followed my own advice and it worked out. I was fully prepared to accept the consequences if I wasn't selected. I was made well aware, as I promise your son was.

I would very much appreciate you not giving advice to incoming cadets based on your negative experiences. It's not valid and not constructive to call my advice "bad" when it works.

Also, literally anything you do in the military is in writing with your signature and social on it. Unless his cadre are forging signatures, he was made aware.
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NO we were not made aware. Sorry. And you didn't get in during Covid. You are very condescending
 
WMTA said:
I'm not sure we would have even been aware of this issue without this forum. This forum has helped us greatly in getting an idea of what to expect. I stumbled upon it last fall while searching for answers about the ROTC. My DS was very much prepared not to get a scholarship offered last week. The discussion about reduced scholarship offers had him completely ready to choose our in-state university which is 30 minutes away. He would have lived at home and commuted. He had their top merit scholarship, so financially there was going to be limited impact. However, the forum has also made us very aware that there is looming out there the possibility of not being chosen for field training. He appears to be completely open to the branches should that happen.
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Thank you. The Moderators don't seem to want me to speak about risks of what happened to my family. If you want to see it I will show you privately how outstanding my two kids were that got badly handled and my brother was in for 20 years as a pilot. I am not saying the AF is bad, but I am saying they are currently handling youth very very poorly and there are some folks here that are very uncomfortable with the facts I presented. I am sure I am going to be band for speaking about this. But they can't explaining why A students get cut from Yale with commander recommendations. They can't. Instead they will delete this post.
 
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