NROTC questions

I am looking to apply to the Navy ROTC program and I was wondering if you can join the program without getting a scholarship and if it would be the same as someone who got a four year scholarship minus them getting their college payed for.

Also after college I’m looking to doing my service commitment as a SWCC-special warfare combatant crewman, how would I go about joining after college.

I appreciate anyone who takes their time to help me out.

Moving to ROTC forum...

Most people in Rotc dont have a scholarship. The program is the same no matter if you get money or not. You can join up with NROTC and then later get a scholarship through it or be like my son who never got one penny from AFRotc outside of the stipend which you start getting Junior year (non scholarship). There are other requirments once you get in. For example in the AFROTC, you have to be invited to AF Field Training during the summer between Sophomore and Junior year. And of course you have to pass the training. The Navy has their own program but it is the same that you have to be invited (for a better word) to continue after Sophomore year.

NROTC units include both scholarship and non-scholarship mids. Mids who arrive without a national scholarship (i.e. four years) can eventually apply for a unit scholarship (i.e. three years and two years). The mids have the same status, with the notable exception that scholarship mids have access to summer training sooner.

It’s good that you have your eye on a particular officer role. But don’t get too fixated on it. Your primary goal should be to become a naval officer, and you should be open to different jobs. A lot of things can happen between now and commissioning that affects which job you get.

Smart move now is to go on the NROTC website and read every link, tab and pulldown. More than 95% of the information you seek will be there. Best wishes to you.

Here is a good summary, with FAQ's on the topic of the NROTC College Program. This is from Iowa State University, but the policies are generally the same at all colleges that offer NROTC.
https://www.navy.iastate.edu/about/college-program/

SWCC does not have a community for officers since the field is so small. Officers assigned to SWCC units are SEAL officers. Becoming a SEAL officer is extremely competitive both in physical strength and luck. I did a year in NROTC before figuring out that chairs are very comfortable, and we had 5 self-professed “future SEAL officers” join. By the years end, only one remained. Said midshipman was also a tri-sport varsity athlete in High School and jumped at every chance for extra PT even if it meant waking up at 0500 to train every single morning. Every year across the entirety of NROTC usually around 500 people apply for the SEAL pipeline (SOAS to BUD/S). Usually only 30 are picked for SOAS, 10 finish SOAS and perform well enough that a board of SEAL officers believe they can join their ranks, and of that usually only 5-6 graduate BUD/S.

If you are serious about this I would seriously recommend joining a organization in NROTC that would help you in your goals. My unit had a endurance workout team that met for PT every morning Mon-Fri and was usually allowed to run their own workouts (They were much much harder than what a normal mid did). They would send guys to compete with the endurance teams of other units and even select people to attend mini-BUD/S sessions. We had three guys from the team go to SOAS over the past couple years and one commission EOD. Seriously, becoming a SEAL officer is a insanely competitive gig. To go SWCC as a SEAL officer is even more competitive, like “if you did this through ROTC you should probably buy a lottery ticket” competitive. If all you want in the world is SWCC, then enlist; a SEAL officer isn’t assigned to a SWCC unit permanently but a SWCC enlisted man is.

Midcakepa thank you so much for the help, I neglected to mention that I also am looking at being a FAO and pursuing that as my main career,but your right about keeping my options open and not focusing on one thing.

Curiousas250 so the only way to join SWCCs is by becoming a Seal Officer,there’s no alternative if your fresh out of the academy or the NROTC program and you want to join the SWCCS.

And thank you for all the information.

Nicolasgomez said:

Midcakepa thank you so much for the help, I neglected to mention that I also am looking at being a FAO and pursuing that as my main career,but your right about keeping my options open and not focusing on one thing.

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Newly commissioned officers are not FAOs. FAOs are selected later in the career so you'd have to have a regular warfare specialty first. The vast majority of Naval Officers begin as Surface Warfare, Aviation or Submarines and a few get into Special Warfare and Special Operations (Dive/EOD/etc). Getting into FAO or many other side communities happens after 5 years or more as an officer and both the new community AND your old community have to agree. Generally, sustained top performance is needed along with schooling, physical ability etc as appropriate for the community.

Nicolasgomez said:

Midcakepa thank you so much for the help, I neglected to mention that I also am looking at being a FAO and pursuing that as my main career,but your right about keeping my options open and not focusing on one thing.

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See the link below on Navy FAO community. As noted by another poster, it’s not a direct access program, but one laterally transferred into several years into a career, with stringent requirements. FAO officers start out in another warfare community, rack up stellar fitness reports, and compete for very few slots.

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-...tive/restricted/Pages/ForeignAreaOfficer.aspx

You will get plenty of briefs about various warfare communities, talk to your unit officers about their career paths, and spend parts of your summer getting exposed to officers actually doing their jobs in these communities. As long as you know you’d be open to one or more of those communities, relax, learn and make your decision when you know a lot more.

MidCakePa said:

NROTC units include both scholarship and non-scholarship mids. Mids who arrive without a national scholarship (i.e. four years) can eventually apply for a unit scholarship (i.e. three years and two years). The mids have the same status, with the notable exception that scholarship mids have access to summer training sooner.

It’s good that you have your eye on a particular officer role. But don’t get too fixated on it. Your primary goal should be to become a naval officer, and you should be open to different jobs. A lot of things can happen between now and commissioning that affects which job you get.

Smart move now is to go on the NROTC website and read every link, tab and pulldown. More than 95% of the information you seek will be there. Best wishes to you.

Click to expand...

NROTC does not have any unit based scholarships. They are all a national competition.

ProudDad17 said:

NROTC does not have any unit based scholarships. They are all a national competition.

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I think maybe what the other poster meant is that the ROTC units each have their own specific number of scholarships that can be filled at their school. But yes, still a national board

Nicolasgomez said:

I am looking to apply to the Navy ROTC program and I was wondering if you can join the program without getting a scholarship and if it would be the same as someone who got a four year scholarship minus them getting their college payed for.

Also after college I’m looking to doing my service commitment as a SWCC-special warfare combatant crewman, how would I go about joining after college.

I appreciate anyone who takes their time to help me out.

Click to expand...

If you're serious about Special Warfare go to a school with a history of sending people to the SEAL or EOD teams/units. Often times knowing people in those communities can be one of the things that helps get you one of those coveted spots (assuming you are qualified in every other aspect). I'm bias but Texas A&M has a very good program for that.

OP,
First, I would suggest that you ask a mod to change your user name if it contains your real name.

Nicolasgomez said:

I am looking to apply to the Navy ROTC program and I was wondering if you can join the program without getting a scholarship and if it would be the same as someone who got a four year scholarship minus them getting their college payed for.

Click to expand...

Tons of information you can easily search for and you have received some good responses here. I assume you are in high school now? Do your research and make sure you really want to serve as a Naval Officer. Also think about Marines, Army, AF and CG as well if you are open to service other than Navy. You can apply to all service academies and multiple ROTC scholarships to increase your options if you are open to any service. The exception to this is that you have to choose between NROTC and NROTC MO - can't apply to both. Don't overlook SMC's in your college search. If you are thinking special forces a SMC may be a good fit.

If you decide you want to go Navy, apply for USNA and NROTC 4 yr scholarship and if you don't get either one, you can still join NROTC as a college programmer. Perform well in your unit and academically and you can compete for a 3 yr or 2 yr scholarship. If you don't get either of those you will need to be selected for advanced standing to continue in your junior and senior years of college. Advanced standing won't pay tuition, but you will get a monthly stipend and it is a solid path to commissioning.

Good luck and thanks for your willingness to serve.

@ProudDad17, @JAGman: Thank you for the clarification.