ROTC Scholarship & Contracted: What Options Exist?

Good Day:

My son is a student at a Sr. Military College, and has a 3-year Army ROTC Scholarship. He is in his Junior yr. currently.

He contracted last year, and plans to graduate in May 2020.

What are his options upon graduation? We've heard so many conflicting answers: I am trying to understand the process. He is about 50/50 if he truly want a military career vs. a career in law enforcement (He's a crim. justice major). He has told us (Mom & me) he was thinking about going into the Guard after graduation, and we did not think this was possible since he had contracted. We thought he had to enter the Army for 4 years, and then could do 4 more years Guard/Reserves as part of his Scholarship requirements.

My questions are:

1) Does he have to enter the Regular Army upon graduation, or can he opt for the Reserves or Guard if he prefers?
2) If so, what are the terms of service/commitment.
3) Any potential drawbacks/negatives to going the Reserves/Guard route?
4) What exactly is the difference between the Reserves and the Guard?
5) If in the Reserves/Guard, what sort of geographic restrictions are there, if any, in terms of relocating to another part of the country? If he wanted to say move to Montana, could he?

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide.

My son is in the exact same situation. maybe even the same SMC as this seems to be a hot topic with him and his classmates.
Particularly after the class of 2019 branching.

1) He chooses prior to graduation and probably gets what he wants (AD or NG).
2) 4 AD/ 4 IRR or 8 NG
3) Really depends on the situation. 8 years is a long time to have that type of commitment, could interfere with civilian career development.
4) The reserves are mainly support units, the NG has all types of unit. The NG can get called out for state emergencies.
5) He needs to find a guard opening. he could look in Montana

Rongos said:

1) Does he have to enter the Regular Army upon graduation, or can he opt for the Reserves or Guard if he prefers

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After he completes his junior year he will have to go to Advance Camp and after that, cadets will be able to put in their preference of branches and if they want Active/reserve/guard. So yes, he can choose reserves or guard if he wishes.

Rongos said:

3) Any potential drawbacks/negatives to going the Reserves/Guard route?

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I wouldn't say there are draw backs, it really depends on what he wants to do with his career. But he won't get paid as much as an active duty soldier.

Well, as a retired law enforcement officer myself who has a son who is currently an Active Duty 1LT that plans to go into law enforcement himself, I would suggest to your son that he thinks about all the benefits of spending 4 years of AD. Recruiters from many departments salivate at applicants with 4 year college degrees and military experience, especially those in leadership positions. Once he's hired somewhere, when promotional opportunities come around, he'll most likely be able to proudly state that he was in charge of and responsible for the well being of 30-100+ soldiers and possibly 100's of millions of dollars of equipment depending on his assignment. That's a big deal. The only thing that would improve your son's hiring potential was that if he spoke Spanish or some other desirable language in the area where he wants to work. A college degree, military experience and being bilingual is the trifecta bonanza in law enforcement.

Plus there's MPs in the military.... maybe he can end up leading a platoon of those guys.

How does the Army determine who gets what job for ROTC students? I assume that if you want combat arms their is always space. But what about other fields? If you are a finance major and want to branch into finance or a human resources type major can you branch into personnel? What about the new cyber command or IT fields? What are the key aspects that determine your chances of getting you first choice of Army MOS? School reputation, GPA, how well you did in ROTC? I also assume that a lot depends on the needs of the Army for that current year.

Your assumption is somewhat incorrect. Infantry is one of the most sought after branches. Keep in mind also that some branches are smaller than others. The Army only needs about 20 finance and 20 cyber officers a year, whereas they need hundreds of Field Artillery officers.
Branching/Assessions is a competitive process. The decisions are based on the Cadets performance over 3+ years, the Cadet’s Cadre’s assessment of their performance and potential, the needs of the Army, and the Cadet’s desires. It is a complicated process and hard to adequately explain on a discussion board. Rest assured the process has been explained fully to your Cadet and he or she should have plenty of help understanding the process and options.

Clarkson - as always, thanks. I knew you would know !!!!

are all the ROTC graduating cadets ranked nationally? for instance someone at dickinson has the highest overall rating so would be #1 and get first choice? then some say at clarkson has 2nd highest and so on?

They are competing Nationally, not regionally or by school. And as I understand it, it is very similar to WP in that the top ranked students per class get their first choice of available billets, and so on, with some exceptions. As Clarkson says, there are tons more "field" related billets than administrative, and in order for an officer to go into L/E a lot of the services restrict them to supervisory roles, patrol and general arrest powers are left to the M/P's, S/P's Etc....and Criminal Investigators are mostly either Warrant Officers or civilian GS-1811's. NCIS and CGIS are mostly civilians and some reserve Warrant Officers. The Army offers Officers Military Police Officer positions but not Criminal Investigative Division positions. Military Police Officer positions in the Army mostly consist of civil affairs duties and military prisoner guards, very little criminal investigation (JAG does most of the actual criminal Article 31 Investigations). Have no idea about the AF.

One thing to remember is most services require newly commissioned officers in "company rank 01-03" to do regular tours prior to going into specialties that require outside service training like Law, Medical, Pentagon, Congressional Aides, etc. https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/officer-careers-and-specialties.html

A Quick thought here....The Posse Comitatus Act specifically prohibits active duty soldiers (officer or enlisted) from enforcing any laws other than UCMJ. The only exceptions are the USCG, where Petty, Warrant, and Commissioned Officers are "Federal Law Enforcement Officers" and empowered as such, which is why the USCG is NOT part of DoD. Also the NG, when acting within it's state borders can and does have certain law enforcement authority. The Posse Comitatus Act specifically by wording applies to the Army and the Air Force, but the Navy and Marine Corps have enacted regulations that give the Act force with respect to these forces also.

Impulsive said:

They are competing Nationally, not regionally or by school. ...

One thing to remember is most services require newly commissioned officers in "company rank 01-03" to do regular tours prior to going into specialties that require outside service training like Law, Medical, Pentagon, Congressional Aides, etc. https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/officer-careers-and-specialties.html

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The parts I bolded from your post aren't completely accurate for Army. The initial 'competition' for accessions does occur at the school/battalion/detachment/unit - this determines a PMS ranking (OML) which becomes part of the 'score' for National OML. Educational Delay out of ROTC for Law and Medicine do not require completion of any obligated service ("regular tours") prior to acceptance, though FLEP is also available each year for specified year groups. The number selected for a Medical School Educational Delay each year is small (less than 50) and an even smaller number per year group leave active duty to pursue military medicine.

Thanks AROTC....I understand what you are saying. My DS's PMS did advise him that it is possible to attend Grad School right after graduation but it is not likely. The PMS also told us if he did, the Army would be adding 2yrs AD Service for every year of grad school so he would end up owning the Army 11 years I think (5 from ROTC and 6 from 3yr grad school). Do you happen to know what happens to their advancement potential if they go into grad school as an O-1? Every one of their fellow graduates would be so far ahead of them in rank and experience when they come out of grad school, and I have never seen a 2lt Attorney or Doctor?

I do know they will Direct Commission doctors and lawyers as O-2 (1stLT) if they enter without ROTC or Academy service. But they can almost never leave Law or Medicine this way.....probably capped at O-5 or maybe O-6 if lucky.

Impulsive said:

Thanks AROTC....I understand what you are saying. My DS's PMS did advise him that it is possible to attend Grad School right after graduation but it is not likely. The PMS also told us if he did, the Army would be adding 2yrs AD Service for every year of grad school so he would end up owning the Army 11 years I think (5 from ROTC and 6 from 3yr grad school). Do you happen to know what happens to their advancement potential if they go into grad school as an O-1? Every one of their fellow graduates would be so far ahead of them in rank and experience when they come out of grad school, and I have never seen a 2lt Attorney or Doctor?

I do know they will Direct Commission doctors and lawyers as O-2 (1stLT) if they enter without ROTC or Academy service. But they can almost never leave Law or Medicine this way.....probably capped at O-5 or maybe O-6 if lucky.

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I would have to find the regulation that governs service obligations to confirm the two year obligation for each year of funded graduate school - some funded options are 3 for 1. An Educational Delay from ROTC for law school is not funded - It is for FLEP. My understanding (can't cite the regulation) is that an Educational Delay for law school does not guarantee commissioning as a JAG Officer.

Other than an extra year of ROTC scholarship funding (ex: Engineering) AROTC does not currently have a 5 year obligation.

Medical doctors (MD and DO) are Direct commissioned as 03 (CPT) at a minimum regardless of commissioning source. ROTC Cadets that complete their Educational Delay are commissioned as 03 (CPT) upon completion of medical school. Many doctors leave active duty before retirement, after completion of their obligation - the calculation is more complicated than a+b as length of medical residency can add additional obligation depending if it is funded or not.

Your question about advancement potential for those that pursue unfunded graduate school (or civilian work experience) is handled with Constructive Credit or by regulation based on the degree completed - AR350-1 might be the relevant regulation. This is how the Army recognizes the unfunded time away from service pursuing an advanced degree.