They live together in an area of campus known as the Quad, which has 12 dorms. Cadets are assigned to a company (Army and Navy units generally) or squadron (Air Force units generally). There are also Band-only units. ROTC is required of all cadets the first three semesters after which it is optional. About 40% of cadets commission. Most of the units are coed, but a few are male-only.At Texas A&M, do all the students in ROTC live together? Is there a designated dorm?
Thank you for taking the time to answer. I do have a question. Do only 40% commission due to people dropping out / being "invited" to leave the program, or at the two-year mark not meeting the requirements and getting dropped? I'm not referring to the band only corps of cadets. I mean kids who are in the ROTC program and benefitting from the scholarships.They live together in an area of campus known as the Quad, which has 12 dorms. Cadets are assigned to a company (Army and Navy units generally) or squadron (Air Force units generally). There are also Band-only units. ROTC is required of all cadets the first three semesters after which it is optional. About 40% of cadets commission. Most of the units are coed, but a few are male-only.
There is an exception is for military veterans, who have their own company but do not have to live on the Quad.
The Secretary of the Army shall ensure that a graduate of a senior military college who desires to serve as a commissioned officer on active duty upon graduation from the college, who is medically and physically qualified for active duty, and who is recommended for such duty by the professor of military science at the college, shall be assigned to active duty.Could somebody explain the advantages of doing ROTC at say VTech or Texas A&M over a "regular college"? Would it just be that at an SMC, you would have a similar schedule/experience as Cadets and Midshipmen at a SA?
Can’t speak for other SMCs, especially the large universities like TAMU or Va Tech, but having graduated from The Citadel and being involved with admissions as a volunteer interviewing prospective cadets, I can provide some perspective. Personally, I believe a civilian college can offer just as good an ROTC experience as an SMC. I often reflect that General Colin Powell, one of the finest generals to ever serve, graduated from CCNY. I served in the Army with graduates from WP and all the SMCs and many large and small civilian colleges. Most were excellent officers.Thank you for taking the time to answer. I do have a question. Do only 40% commission due to people dropping out / being "invited" to leave the program, or at the two-year mark not meeting the requirements and getting dropped? I'm not referring to the band only corps of cadets. I mean kids who are in the ROTC program and benefitting from the scholarships.
TAMU C of C have many cadets who do not pursue AD or reserve commissions. It's a big deal in Texas a very large state population to be a grad of TAMU and even a bigger deal to be a TAMU C of C grad. They are D and C cadets who are jr's and sr's. They choose to be in th C of C for the military lifetsyle experiences and networking not only for TAMU but newtowrk with in the TAMU C of C.Thank you for taking the time to answer. I do have a question. Do only 40% commission due to people dropping out / being "invited" to leave the program, or at the two-year mark not meeting the requirements and getting dropped? I'm not referring to the band only corps of cadets. I mean kids who are in the ROTC program and benefitting from the scholarships.
It ebbs and flows but competition for AD slots in general is not difficult as of now. Even when I was commissioned and the Army was "downsizing", as long as you weren't bottom of the barrel you at LEAST got AD and one of your top 3-5 choices.The Secretary of the Army shall ensure that a graduate of a senior military college who desires to serve as a commissioned officer on active duty upon graduation from the college, who is medically and physically qualified for active duty, and who is recommended for such duty by the professor of military science at the college, shall be assigned to active duty.
That's huge in my opinion.
I'm not sure today but AROTC grads in the late 80's and 90's had to be DMG to get RA/reserve officer on AD with branch of choice. Scholarship grads had to be very high on the OML list to get branch of choice. Everyone else had to settle for what's left over to get AD.
Remember TAMU C of C is really more of a SMC on a SEC 80k student body population, Football is king and the real "Keeper of the Spririt of Aggieland". This is the last year cadets march into Kyle Field pre-game, why.....Football.
If you want an SMC experience look for the smaller schools with the "4th class system."
My son is at Norwich with no regrets.
Two-part answer starting from the end of your response.Thank you for taking the time to answer. I do have a question. Do only 40% commission due to people dropping out / being "invited" to leave the program, or at the two-year mark not meeting the requirements and getting dropped? I'm not referring to the band only corps of cadets. I mean kids who are in the ROTC program and benefitting from the scholarships.
Absolutely true. My dad was a West Pointer, and he told me that decades ago. I went regular ROTC, and when my son was entering A&M, which I think is also a great experience for a variety of reasons, I impressed on him that the "real Army" is nothing like being in the Corps of Cadets. And I suspect spending four weeks in Germany at CTLT this summer drove that home, which is a good thing.A SMC environment is not a real military environment, this is something both USMA/SA and SMC grads have in common.
I've never really thought of it like that, that's a really good perspective. You truly only are young and in college once, I suppose ROTC at a "regular college" would be the better fit for me. I've been looking forward to graduating high school and going to college somewhere new, meeting new people, and having personal freedom for a while now, I still can't believe I graduate in 9 months...I will be honest, I don't see a huge advantage of SMCs. If you want AD, you will likely get it. I didn't notice SMC cadets performing better at LDAC either. In fact, I observed that many had a chip on their shoulder for some reason as if they were USMA-lite (anecdotal obviously). After spending 10+ years as an officer, I have grown to REALLY appreciate my college experience. It is something you really only get once. Enjoy it.
A SMC environment is not a real military environment, this is something both USMA/SA and SMC grads have in common. It's a pretty jarring reality when you get to your first unit. Oh boy, the shenanigans I had to deal with at 23...
Obviously, everyone is different, just my perspective.
Yes, helps very much. Thank you!Two-part answer starting from the end of your response.
1) Not all ROTC students come in with ROTC scholarships, so not all are "benefitting from the scholarships." That may help clarify the rest of the answer.
2) Believe it or not (and it took me a while to grasp this myself, not having any connection to A&M until my son -- now a senior Army ROTC cadet -- went there), many people join the A&M Corps of Cadets with little or no interest in commissioning. They are referred to as "D and C" (drill and ceremonies) cadets. As mentioned above, it is a big thing in Texas to be a Corps graduate, whether or not having commissioned. Also, I suspect many are following in family footsteps. But whatever the case, many don't commission, and it's almost always because they don't want to. (I would guess, although I don't know one way or the other, that those who are "invited to leave" ROTC probably leave the Corps altogether.)
Hope that helps.
Like I said, everyone is different. Let's just say my "hooah" has cooled since I have been in for a decent while. I had similar thoughts when I was finishing HS.But at the same time, it would be cool to have a "different", military-oriented college experience. My dream is to attend an SA and an SMC would provide that SA atmosphere while also being a student in college. Gonna be a tough time choosing.