HELP!!! Is giving up the scholarship the only way to ensure infantry?

confused mom

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My child has an Army ROTC four year scholarship at a difficult college. They (I don't want to reveal gender) are in their first year, and their grades were not good the first semester. Someone (an upper level cadet/maybe platoon leader?) told them that one of the most popular choices for officers upon graduating is infantry, which is what my child desperately wants at this point. They were told by this cadet that only graduates with the highest gpa's get their first choice, so now my child thinks that it is impossible to get it, and if they want infantry, the only way is to drop out of college and enlist. I think this would be a huge mistake after so much has been given to my child. Does anyone know if the advice this older cadet gave is accurate?
 
My child has an Army ROTC four year scholarship at a difficult college. They (I don't want to reveal gender) are in their first year, and their grades were not good the first semester. Someone (an upper level cadet/maybe platoon leader?) told them that one of the most popular choices for officers upon graduating is infantry, which is what my child desperately wants at this point. They were told by this cadet that only graduates with the highest gpa's get their first choice, so now my child thinks that it is impossible to get it, and if they want infantry, the only way is to drop out of college and enlist. I think this would be a huge mistake after so much has been given to my child. Does anyone know if the advice this older cadet gave is accurate?

Encourage your DD/DS not to make a dramatic life choice solely based on their first semester grades as there is still ample time to improve her/his GPA. I would encourage her/him to use this as their wake-up call and refocus their efforts for the spring academic year. College life is a big adjustment, so give it at least a full year (or two) before considering enlistment. IMHO.
 
An Army officer serves based on the needs of the military.

That said, my DS, who is an MS-IV (senior) received his first choice even though he falls smack in the middle of the OML He had good, not great grades, a solid APFT, and performed well at Advanced Camp. He knows of some top performing ROTC cadets who did not receive their first choice and he also knows some with much lower scores (grades and APFT) who received the branch of their dreams!

Another consideration is the fact that many cadets will change their mind about their preferred branch over the four years. A lot of first year cadets come in "fangs dripping with blood" wanting to go infantry/Rangers, only to realize as a senior that they desire experience in a completely different branch, such as a quartermaster officer to learn supply chain logistics! My DS started wanting infantry and ended up realizing that he had other interests. As a result, he discovered many other branches and will now become an Armor officer instead.

Your DS has a full year based on his/her contract to "try" ROTC and drop it with zero financial obligation at the end of that year. As FMHS stated, it is highly recommended that he/she stay the course and re-evaluate his/her study habits before bailing out of college and ROTC to become an 11B, making $1,638.28 a month.

Good luck.
 
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Grains of truth to all of it.
ROTC is for students who want to be Army Officers.
If being in the infantry is more important than being an officer that should drive his/her decision.
If being an Army Officer is more important then he/her should focus on that.
My son wanted to be an infantry officer since he was 12 years old.
He is an MS3 at an SMC and guess what, now not so much.
His/her thinking will evolve. They should give it some time.
They have the whole year. If they decide to drop out and enlist they can do so without any repayment.
 
As others have said, there's no guarantees he'll get Infantry anyway unless he's in the top (I think) 10% of his class. That being said, you CAN still get Infantry if you don't have the OML scores of others who get denied Infantry. At my son's college, there was a young lad that the staff tried to get removed from ROTC together but the LTC wouldn't approve it. This same lad had an OML score that should have forced him into the Reserves yet not only did he get to go Active Duty, the lad was rewarded with an Infantry slot. He obviously filled a "need" the Army had. In any case, he failed at Infantry school and was sent elsewhere.

As AROTC-dad stated, your son may very well change his mind over the next 4 years anyway. I know my son changed his mind several times. Then, even though he had an OML score high enough to get his 2nd or 3rd choice of assignment, he was given his 9th choice. His LTC told him "you got screwed but those guys in your new assignment need great leaders too". Lastly, there's no reason your son.daughter can't turn their grades around from this point forward and end up in the top % needed to get Infantry. That way he can spend 4 years humping an 80 lb pack and leave the Army four inches shorter :rolleyes:
 
That way he can spend 4 years humping an 80 lb pack and leave the Army four inches shorter
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On a serious note, my DD's husband was a combat medic (68w) and now has a compressed vertabrae as a result of dodging ISIS mortar shells by jumping off an eight foot wall with a full ruck along with his medical gear.
 
On a serious note, my DD's husband was a combat medic (68w) and now has a compressed vertabrae as a result of dodging ISIS mortar shells by jumping off an eight foot wall with a full ruck along with his medical gear.
Yep, Doc has to carry the same gear everybody else does, plus medical gear.

Also as implied above, people want infantry until they have to do infantry stuff.
 
On a serious note, my DD's husband was a combat medic (68w) and now has a compressed vertabrae as a result of dodging ISIS mortar shells by jumping off an eight foot wall with a full ruck along with his medical gear.

Absolutely. When I was working the recruiting trail with the police department, I had an Army Captain applicant (who we later hired) one day tell me to convince my son to avoid Infantry for exactly that reason. He also had compressed vertebrae and claimed he left the Army shorter than when he went it from nearly (8) years of humping that pack. An enlisted guy we met while sharing a table in the Seattle airport told us he specifically went Military Police because when they're in the field, they are predominantly being transported in vehicles. :cool:
 
Absolutely. When I was working the recruiting trail with the police department, I had an Army Captain applicant (who we later hired) one day tell me to convince my son to avoid Infantry for exactly that reason. He also had compressed vertebrae and claimed he left the Army shorter than when he went it from nearly (8) years of humping that pack. An enlisted guy we met while sharing a table in the Seattle airport told us he specifically went Military Police because when they're in the field, they are predominantly being transported in vehicles. :cool:


I spoke with a Major at West Point who was a pilot before transferring to MI. His philosophy... “Why walk when you can ride? Why ride when you can fly? Why not shoot back if you’re being shot at?” As you can probably guess, he flew the AH-64.
 
Not everyone has what it takes to be Infantry.....no one said it was easy.
Follow me
 
He should also keep in mind that if he enlists and starts out to be infantry things can happen.
He could injure himself or be otherwise dropped and end up a cook (nothing wrong with cooks).
 
As a career Infantry officer I can understand your son’s desire to be an Infantryman. At the end of the day - the Infantry is the Army and all of the other branches are there to support them ( for those offended - sorry but there it is in all its politically incorrect reality! [emoji33]) But as others have said above - the number of folks who start as freshman more gung-ho than Chesty Puller and then get to first class year desperate to commission as QM officers, is legion and who really knows what you will want 3 years down the road?
And- while Dropping out of school and enlisting could be a way to become an 11B - but what happens when you discover that a PFC 11B in a mech Infantry unit in Fort Riley or Fort Hood spends a ton of time sitting in a motor pool - not much Hooah happening there. What does he run to then?

There are no guarantees in the Army (or the rest of life) and disappointment is part of the military and every other job. His best bet is to work as hard as he can in school now and deal with what comes in the future when it comes. You can do a good job and be happy wherever you wind up if you commit to it.

Finally - a “senior cadet” giving advice on Army careers is a definite case of the blind leading the blind. If he really wants to get some accurate feedback then he should go talk to the officers assigned to his ROTC detachment and lay out his worries.
 
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To second Bruno these idealistic cadet comments remind of the night a 20+ year sergeant and I sat on an LZ on a night air assault and he showed me the 1986 recruiting video that lured him in. He said I didn’t know that really meant three years of dry sweep in a motor pool.
 
To second Bruno these idealistic cadet comments remind of the night a 20+ year sergeant and I sat on an LZ on a night air assault and he showed me the 1986 recruiting video that lured him in. He said I didn’t know that really meant three years of dry sweep in a motor pool.

I think I’d take an idealistic, infantry-minded cadet over one coming in with an already cynical, administratia type mindset. They’re going to be Army officers, and the infantry is as Army as it gets. And this is a service academy forum, so the user community is going to be young people. As cadets get exposed to a wider set of experiences it’s fine if they zero in on something else, as all the branches are necessary parts of the whole. But an attraction to infantry, even if it is somewhat uninformed, is not a bad place to start from.
 
I was not Army, but saw a lot of this at USNA and TBS. Alot of gusto for infantry or nothing. I think it’s normal for many to start out this way. Many will stay this way, but as they get deeper into training and really understanding what it entails, what day to day is, life goals, strengths, likes and dislikes, etc. it can change.

The bottom line is weighing being an officer vs infantry. If he does what he needs to do there is a good chance he could get infantry. I will leave it to the Army experts on here about branch detail if he went something else or even pipeline to Rangers or SF if he doesn’t start as infantry. If he wants to be the first guy to bust down a door and that is all he can see in his future then enlisting isn’t a bad idea. But the chances he busts down a door vs sweeping a floor.... he will sweep a lot of floors first. For all the field time someone does there is still more non-field time and that time isn’t fun for a PFC. working parties galore, PT, and random training. Day to day isn’t often glamorous. With the current climate... how many forward deployments are there? And when I say that... ones that are out and about from the wire. I think it’s best he really evaluate his goals and reality vs expectations. He has until next year to commit on his scholarship. Get out and about this summer and do training and learn first.
 
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Not sure what you mean by "difficult college." Do they have to climb a rope or crawl through mud to get to class? Possibly your daughter thought she could coast like in high school or just didn't use her time efficiently. Cut out the video games and facebook, don't skip any classes, restrict binge-drinking to weekends, do all assigned work, and set a goal of getting As in every course. If you fall behind get academic help - don't let it slide.

The first semester is tough for a lot of people, but she can turn it around. My son had a mediocre first semester academically but then set goals and ruthlessly followed them. By the end he was a DMG, summa cum lawdy, and got his goal of active duty infantry
 
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